The Absolute Beginner’s Guide on How to Start a Successful Blog: Promotion, Promotion, Promotion
So, after all the hard work you put into setting your blog on its own two figurative legs, you’ve finally typed out that awesome post, proofread and edited it three times before actually posting it. And after considerable time, there are still no comments or buzz. The sad truth is, your post can be most educative and informative, but without any promotion, it is dead in the water. So in this installment, we will help you in promotion department.
Announce Your Existence
First and one of the most obvious tactics is promotion on social networks. No matter if it is Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Vine, Tumblr, Google+ or any other. Probability that you are using at least two of those is pretty solid, so setting one for your blog shouldn’t be too strangea an experience. We will skim through some of the major players.
On Facebook, you should add it to your “About section” and/or create a page just for blog. If you have Twitter, tweet about your post 2-3 times a day and change your tweets, so they aren’t copy-paste. On Instagram, you can put up a picture from your post. Setting a separate board on Pinterest for your blog is easy and not different from any other board. Lastly, you can post it on LinkedIn, butyou can read more about that in the previous installment. Most of them allow interconnectivity, so posting on several social networks can be done with a single click.
Bookmarking Sites
You can also use bookmarking sites. Advantage is that they have literally million of users, so promoting isn’t limited only to your contacts. One of the most popular ones are Reddit, StumbleUpon, Digg etc. Also, don’t forget about top search engine for blogs Technorati. Setting an account there is easy and it allows you to connect with other bloggers, and if by any chance you go viral, you will be unstoppable.
That brings us to next helpful tip: guest posts. Yes, this means that you would write on somebody else’s domain, but hear us out. No matter if that are public blogs only with guest bloggers, or somebody that you know, it is the best way to get people who haven’t heard of you to your blog. It will send external links from those sites, and if you have more of them, the better your blog will be placed on different search engines. Also, if you refer to some of your previous posts, link them too.
Commenting And Links
Another way of getting external links is through comments. However, be careful, don’t spam and make sure to leave only useful comments with links to your post. If you leave only links, it could be recognized as a spam, not by technology, but by annoyed readers of that and other blogs. And don’t be shy, ask influential bloggers to link to your posts. Sometimes you’ll get a no for an answer, but sometimes you won’t. Be nice, polite and logical. If you write about similar topics, the chances of promotion are bigger, but you never know.
Don’t be just people friendly, be also “google friendly”. That way you can get traffic from Google, Bing, Yahoo or any other search engines. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) can be crucial to place your blog before others. Figure out your keywords and how others are finding you. If it is one specific post, you can expand with another of similar theme. Add keywords in your image “Alt” tags, because they can be searched too. Search engines are smart, but they still need your help.
Discuss And Engage
Similar interests drive conversations, so don’t hesitate to join a specific forum or board. One of the helpful tricks is linking your blog/post in your signature. but don’t stop there, add it in your e-mail signature or even better, create a newsletter and/or mailing list. The key to promotion is connecting and who are you connected to. Figure out your target audience and be true to yourself. The message that you are sending is one of the most important parts of blogging.
Just keep in mind that content is the king. You may lure ten thousands of readers to your blog, but if you don’t offer any substance, they will leave never to return again. You should be equally consistent in your blogging as you are in your promotion. Pick a frequency and stick with it, even if that means blogging less frequently. Don’t expect miracles over night, building and audience takes time.
