25 Ways to Promote a Blog Post After Publishing
You’ve blogged a masterpiece: Great topic, sources, photos, all grammatical and spelling errors fixed, and this is one post that you put your heart and soul into. You hit publish and wait to see what happens. Mistake #1: Never wait to see what happens: Being proactive about a blog post is the first step in getting eyes…and traffic to that post.
There is so much chatter online and a universally held belief by many that one must publish a blog post daily in order to get traffic. This is not necessarily the case: A more effective way to garner traffic is to spend time promoting a blog post in the first place. Here then are 25 ways to promote a blog post after you hit “publish:”
(25) Thoughtful Spaced Out Sharing on Social Media
If you are publishing a blog post, you are utilizing social media. Do not make the mistake of posting everywhere imaginable online right after publishing. You also need not be on every social media channel known to mankind. Pick the ones where you want to excel and then make it happen. Here’s a typical social media calendar for me that I use the day I publish a blog post:
Facebook: Right after publishing, tied in with my Twitter
Pinterest: Same day, various boards, various pictures from the blog post that make sense to pin
Instagram: The day before I post to tease the content or the day after to get Instagrammers: A high quality image
Twitter: I re-tweet the tweet, especially for brands on campaigns: According to InternetLiveStats.com (yes, there is such a thing), every second, on average, around 6,000 tweets are tweeted on Twitter (visualize them here), which corresponds to over 350,000 tweets sent per minute, 500 million tweets per day and around 200 billion tweets per year.
Re-tweet. Does a commercial air one time and never get aired again? Nope. So be thoughtful and use something like Buffer, Tweetdeck, or Hootsuite to time your tweets out.
Bonus tip: Be original in your social sharing: Which sounds better?
My Review of Dog Food
or
Dog Food for Active Dogs Hits the Market
Seriously, which of the above would you click on?
You do NOT need to be everywhere. You need to be where YOUR ideal reader is. Repeatedly. With a purpose. With a plan.
(24) Write a Totally Irresistible Headline
Post titles matter. Here’s a quick and dirty tip: Scan the tabloids and covers of magazines at the supermarket next time you go out for groceries. What makes you look at those titles? Those publishers know they have seconds to get your attention. They lure you in with those “call outs.” Be those call outs. A title makes a difference. If the title is boring, then the reader is likely to pass over the post. Click here for blog title tips.
(23) Use Social Sharing Buttons on Every Post
Can I tweet, Facebook, Pin, and more? Each of your blog posts needs to have this capability so I, your reader, can share the great post you wrote with ease.
(22) LinkedIn and LinkedIn Groups
Don’t pass over LinkedIn: It has come into its own. If you want to drive traffic to your blog from LinkedIn, then you need to be active, and post frequently on the site. Yes, it is yet another task, but yes, this is yet another source of traffic.
(21) Submit Content to Content Aggregators
In a nutshell, when submitting a blog post to different aggregator websites, your content has the potential to get in front of thousands of people that may not have known about it. Here is a list of blog aggregator sites for consideration.
(20) Consider Paid Promotion
Good old Facebook ads or boosts, Twitter cards, and the growing in popularity method, “promoted pins.” If a pin gets good organic engagement and/or repinds, then this might be a good pin to promote. Yes, you pay, but once momentum hits, the sky’s the limit. Have a budget and audience in mind. Make sure the pin is re-pin worthy. Something that makes people want to share and look twice, in other words.
(19) Attach Your Latest Blog Post in Your Email Signature
This is a fun and often overlooked way to get a blog post out there in the universe. I use WiseStamp and recently upgraded to the paid model. It allows me to create an email signature and automatically populates my latest blog post. You look professional, anyone you email or reply to gets a hyperlink to the post, and best of all, it is unobtrusive.
(18) Show Brands What You’re Made of on Social: Repeatedly
One trick ponies are out: Repeat riders are in. You should never ever ever work with a brand and then only share the content once. Consider, for example, when to tweet. A post years ago on Ragan.com revealed the best times (and some fab resources) to tweet. Apparently the most traffic on Twitter happens in the 9 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 3 p.m. blocks of time, EASTERN TIME. Further, the blog post revealed that the best time of all to tweet is 5 pm. EST. The biggest takeaway for me was learning that “80 percent of the general U.S. population lives in the Central and Eastern time zones.”
Bottom line: Share multiple times, experiment with different hashtags. See what works and then repeat and mix it up, too.
(17) Grow an Email List and Start Sending Key Posts to Subscribers
Are you spending time growing an email list? If social media were to go away or Facebook shut you down (it’s happened to many people), what would you do? Could you connect with your followers? An email list is yours. Right away, add a sign up form to your Facebook page. Use a Facebook ad. Make an opt-in form on your landing page prominent but not annoying. Capture your readers and keep them. There are entire courses on email marketing.
(16) Pitch A Blog Post to the Press
I’ve spoken at BlogPaws on this topic, and it bears repeating. Keep an eye out for online media queries that are related to a blog post. I subscribe to Help a Reporter Out (HARO) for this reason. . You never know… there might be an opportunity where your article could be uses as a source.
Alternatively, pitch the media with a blog post idea. Bernard Lima Chavez of Dog and His Boy did it. Click here to see how he pitched the media and got published.
(15) Attend #BlogPawsChat
Want to get people on your radar? Come to the three-times-a-month Tuesday night #BlogPawsChat sessions on Twitter. They go from 8 to 10 pm EDT and are so worth your time. Not sure why and want to get involved? Watch this:
(14) Go Back and Update Old Posts
This is probably one of the most spot-on things you can do as a blogger. Here are a few pointers to this often overlooked way to reclaim traffic from an old post:
a. Create new and updated Pinterest friendly images for the post. SEO optimize the photos.
b. Update the content; lengthen the post and bring it up to date content-wise.
c. Get rid of dead links and those that are busted.
d. Proof for grammatical and spelling errors
e. Break up the text into subheads
(13) Have Killer Images
The best images to use are your own, honestly. It makes sense to carry a cell phone camera with you when out and about or just nearby for candids of pets. I do this all the time and have amassed a library of thousands of photos that I label and organize.
If you must get stock images, a recent discussion from the BlogPaws Facebook Group shared these sites:
PhotoPin.com
DeathtotheStockPhoto.com
Pixabay.com
Freeimages.com
Morguefile.com
Be sure to file attribution and credit rules.
(12) Engage with Other People
Spend more time talking to people. Visit the blogs of people in general. Leave comments, get to know them, and build on existing relationships while forging new ones. Put the “social” in social media. No one likes to hear another person ramble on and on about themselves. Ensure you aren’t labeled as a taker and not a giver.
(11) Teasers on Instagram
Lights. Camera. Action. Video is eating the Web. The headline is oh so click-worthy, is it not? In this hectic day and age, bloggers need to use video in blog posts.
Doing a product review and have it slated for a Friday? Start teasing your fans on a Monday. I turned a blooper that was pretty cute and funny into a highly trafficked teaser for a paid blog post planned for later in the week. I shot the video on my iPhone. The beauty of Instagram and Vine is that you can embed the code directly into your blog post, so I did that, too.
(10) Become a Trusted Source in Facebook Groups
Facebook groups are a terrific place to connect, engage, exchange, and offer advice. Use your time there wisely and don’t be the only one talking: Give advice, take it, comment on things, and be social.
(9) Reference People Whose Radar You Want To Be On
But don’t be a stalker.True story: For one year, nearly every day I would simply tweet @JimmyFallon in my daily call outs on Twitter. After a year, one night around midnight I get a notification that Jimmy Fallon has followed me. Yes, I screamed aloud: He has millions of followers and only follows a few thousand back
People love being references and the more you do this, the better your chances of getting noticed. It must be done with purpose and a plan.
(8) Submit Posts to Social Bookmarking Sites
Social bookmarking websites are centralized online services which allow users to store and share Internet bookmarks.
(7) Make Content Easy to Share and Commenting Super Easy to Find/Do
Include social share buttons at various points throughout the post not just at the bottom where people might not make it to (even when reading a great post people get distracted).
(6) Consider Flipboard
Flipboard is a mobile app turned web based platform that has over 80 million users. It turns your content into stunning magazine style formats and taps into their 80 million users with just a couple of clicks. I’ve seen Copyblogger on Flipboard.
(5) Tumble Time
As of this writing, Tumblr has about 100 million users – this is a very photo rich platform. The content moves fast, and it’s worthwhile to grab your domain just to have it for future use (and so no one else gets it).
(4) Message Boards/Forums
Despite the naysayers, message boards are long from being dead. I belong to one of the biggest online forums for Cocker lovers. I engage in conversation and share my content in a meaningful and helpful way. When a member’s dog has an ACL leg issue, I offer up my series on the topic. This instigates traffic for me. See where this is headed?
(3) Infuse Video
Get in front of the camera and give people a teaser of your post asking them to jump over to your site to see the rest of it. Do you go out and about with your pet? Attend conferences? Visit interesting places? Try a YouTube video with images and show as well as tell. Instagram allows for 15 second videos with Vine allowing for 6 seconds. Embed the videos into blog posts.
YouTube is soaring and getting bigger and bigger. Know how to SEO optimize, too!
(2) Rinse and Repeat
This bears repeating. You can’t just post a blog post one time and do one social media share. Return to tip #18.
(1) Connect Face to Face
Sign up for the BlogPaws Conference and invest in you. Ahead of time, know that you are going to meet people and make time to do everything you want to do. I say this because I get wrapped up in conversations or sessions and realize later that I forgot to talk to such and such. And then a whole year goes by before we may see each other again. Exchange business cards, follow up, set a few moments aside. Head to the Yappy Hour and engage in conversation. Peruse the conference exhibit hall and say hello. Don’t miss the Welcome Reception, find opportunities outside of the sessions.
Knowing how to promote a blog post and making the time to do so are pivotal to your success. What ways are you promoting blog posts?
Carol Bryant is the Marketing and Social Media Manager for BlogPaws and runs her own blog, Fidose of Reality and its fundraising arm, Wigglebutt Warriors. When not busy playing with her Cocker Spaniel, Dexter, she stays far away from cooking. Her trademark is her mantra and is tattooed on her arm: My Heart Beats Dog.®
Image: Alena Ozerova/Shutterstock.com
