Do you want to promote your blog, so to get your posts read and shared?
In this article, we will analyze the strategies to take in order to properly market your content and get more traffic.
Make sure you follow the steps in this list to hopefully see improvements right away.
Here are the eight things you need to do to promote your latest blog post.
Before Starting The Promotion, Read It again
Before publishing your new article, proofread it.
Look for any grammar and spelling errors. Check also that there is the right explanation on the pictures and all links are functioning.
Pay attention to paragraphs. If they are too long, try to break them into shorter sentences.
Tip: there are many free online tools you can use to improve your writing. Grammarly is a good one.
1. Optimize It
If you have not done already, you should do it now!
Optimization means writing your post, with an eye for search engines. Otherwise, you’ll end up losing those valuable visits from organic traffic.
Some basic rules include researching your keywords and add them:
- in the title of the article;
- in the permalink;
- in the first paragraph/sentence of the post;
- in subtitles (H2, H3, H4, etc);
- within the content, in a percentage that vary depending on specific parameters.
If you use WordPress, you have a range of tools (and plugins) that will help you work on your SEO, making your content search engine-friendly.
Tip: WordPress SEO By Yoast is a great plugin you can use to write better content and have a fully optimized WordPress site.
2. Promote It On Social Networks
Social networks are excellent channels to promote your content.
You want to write catchy headlines and also use a URL shortener tool (for example, with Goo.gl), which lets you easily meet the standards of length on social media posts.
You can promote your latest post on:
- your Facebook fan page: be sure to add an interesting description and choose an explanatory image for the topic of your content;
- your Twitter profile: maximize the effects of your tweets by adding the hashtag (#) of your keywords and the post title;
- your Google Plus page: share it with your circles, describing the subject of your article and ask them to leave a feedback.
Tip: if you have many social accounts, you can use Hootsuite. This tool provides you with a dashboard from which you can easily manage all your accounts.
3. Make Some Comment Marketing
Intriguing people is crucial to push them to read your post.
One of the things you can do to promote your latest article is visiting various blogs and leaving a comment so to get a link back to your blog (better if they use CommentLuv plugin, so you can gain a link to your site and one to your latest post).
Commenting on other blogs is a good practice, not just for getting traffic and links back to your blog, but also to interact and meet other bloggers of your niche.
Your goal should be to build a community around your blog. Obviously this is not achieved in a short time. In fact, it needs a constant activity of commenting and participation on blogs related to your market.
Tip: it’s important you set your gravatar, if you haven’t done it yet. This way, every time you comment, the image associated to your email will be displayed next to your comment. It’s an effective way to build your brand and name in the blogosphere. To set your gravatar, just visit Gravatar.com.
4. Post On Blogging Communities
Blogging communities are the place you want to be to promote your blog.
Choose the ones to join, depending on your niche.
If you are in the internet marketing and online business market, these are the ones I suggest you:
There, you can find new people to engage with and build new relationships. This is very important for branding your online presence.
Remember to be an active member of those communities, before thinking to share your own content. This means voting other user stories, leaving comments and visiting the original URL of the posts submitted by community members.
Tip: keep in mind the 80/20 rule. Share 80% of the most interesting articles you find on the Web and 20% of your own content.
5. Search Directly For Your Audience
Bloggers often forget that the main purpose of their blog posts is to provide useful information to readers.
But how can you find your target audience?
Well you can do this through different methods, like forums, for example.
They have been for years the best marketing method and they have lost some of their appeal now, but you can still get good results from using them. Here people ask for help, they engage and exchange information. You can find questions related to the topic of your article and provide users with a solution, putting the link to your content for more information.
Twitter is another powerful channel to search for your audience. Use online tools like Tweetdeck or Social Mention to be notified of discussions about your specific keywords. This way, you will always be ready to respond, to engage and recommend your article.
Also Yahoo! Answers is another place you can use to smartly market your latest blog post. Just enter your blog topic in the search box and find users who are looking forward to getting answers.
Tip: Quora counts on a community of experts and a store of information about many different topics, from information technology to medicine. Use it to provide useful information, with added value to the users. You can sometimes add the link back to your latest blog post.
6. Post It To Bookmarking Sites
Sharing your articles to bookmarking sites can expose your blog to thousands of potential new readers, who they are actually searching for content within your niche.
Make this a must-do strategy each and every time you publish a new post.
Here are my favorite websites to use:
Tip: Reddit is a very unique community, made of smart users. Don’t just drop your link, but build a presence there. Search your favorite topics by browsing through “sub-Reddit’s”, that act as categories.
7. Send It To Your Mailing List
If you have a mailing list, send your article to the subscribers inviting them to continue the reading on your blog.
And if you do not have a mailing list, it’s time to build one.
Your subscribers are your most loyal fans and they will be happy to help whenever you need it.
Tip: the secret of managing a successful newsletter is giving added value to users, focusing on understanding their needs and providing solutions to their problems.
8. Ask Other Bloggers To Promote It
The relationships are essential, both in life and on the Internet.
You should build connections within your market, so to have a number of trusted bloggers with whom sharing content and reciprocating favors, asking them to promote your blog in return of the same in the future.
You can then increase your audience, by reaching new contacts, thanks to the circles of your blogger friends.
Tip: keep in mind to give first, before asking something in return.
Final Words
In this article we talked about how and where promoting your latest article, to get fresh traffic and increase the engagement of your blog.
If you follow the above-mentioned steps, you will be able to build a long-term strategy, that will give and maintain results over time.
What do you think?
Do you have some other strategies to market your latest post?
Please share your tips in the comments below, thanks!
