In this post the focus is on Social Media and taking full advantage of (Even exploiting) Social Media to promote your blogs.The key point here is there is no tricks or cheats and no special formula that will build your following and reach on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and the others.But there is a right way and a wrong way.
The Right way will build your social following, social influence and reach - It's a no-brainer to say you want to have a high number of followers.But you also want those followers to see you as influential and entertaining this will lead to more interaction and increased reach.Reach is a term popularised by Facebook, in essence it refers to the amount of people that see something you post.
The Wrong way will leave your social profiles looking like spam infested link farms - So many bloggers social profiles and pages have only auto posted links to their content.No interaction or variety to keep people entertained and Variety is were we will start our list !
Post varied Content
Don't only post links to Your latest posts give your followers an assortment of interesting content.Share other stuff from your niche (A Niche is basically the topic of your blog) you know they would be interested in.Share images and videos, if you can find humorous images that are actually related to your blogs niche these will be very popular.Basically make your profiles and pages an entertaining place as well as informative resource.
This does not need to be time consuming especially if you take advantage of scheduled posting on Facebook and Twitter.Take 20 minutes to find interesting images, video and other content then schedule it to go out over the following few weeks.
Schedule Posts On Facebook :
Schedule Tweets On Twitter - For Twitter you can use a tool like future tweets.com or checkout these 3 Ways To Schedule Tweets.
Get your virtual house in order
The look of your profiles will be used as a reflection of you ! Have your profiles and pages shining.Fill out the bio sections, use a quality profile picture and cover picture.Try to theme your social profiles in a similar manner to your blog.
Use hashtags and @users
@username also works on all three.When you share content from another user adding @username will tag them in that post letting them know you shared their stuff.This can lead to more interaction from top users as we will cover later in this post and maybe even a reciprocal share of your content to their followers.
Tip : Google+ is fully integrated with Blogger for tagging G+ users in your posts.When writing a post simply typing @ followed by a G+ username will bring up the user for you to quickly tag them.
Optimize your blog to encourage followers
At the very least you will want to have links to your social networks in a prominent position on your blog (Usually the very top of the sidebar).For Facebook having an actual Facebook Like Box has shown to increase fans.For Twitter the Follow Button and Google+ the Follow button or box again attract more followers.Of course adding large boxes for all your social profiles takes up some serious real estate in your sidebar so you may need to compromise.
Tip : Also try adding links to your social profiles below your posts as well.This will be a call to action when people finish reading a post.
Create content that people want to share and re-share
Two easy ways to do this are :
Use Number Post Titles : Number post titles are just like the title of this post "Ten Best Ways To..." or "The Five Funniest...".Post titles like these are proven to attract more readers and more shares.
Use Impact In Your Post Titles : This time we are going for the hard sell making your title describe a post people can not miss.Using words like Amazing, Awesome, Unreal, Shocking or "You Must See", "You Can Not Miss" may oversell the post but the are extremely effective.
Tip : Mix Them Up You Can Get Something Like : "10 Shocking Pictures You Must See" or "20 Amazing Facts You Don't Want To Miss"
Connect With The Top Bloggers In Your Niche
You may want to compete with others in your niche and in the long term surpass them but for now they can help you.By connecting and reaching out to the influential bloggers you can not only learn from how they have built their success but also use their help to promote you socially.
Buy Your Way To The Top
OK I was trying to grab attention with this title but everything has a price.Facebook have long offered advertising options to promote your Like Pages and Twitter now does as well.If you have the budget you can invest some funds into promoting your Facebook Page and Twitter Profile.
Tip : Do Not use "Buy Facebook Likes" Or "Buy Followers" sites.These get you likes and followers from fake profiles.So while the numbers will show they are not real and the fake accounts will be shut down over time leaving you with nothing.
Straight Out Ask People To like And Follow
This is easy to explain as I'm about to do it !
After all the hard work on this post I think we deserve a follow and you will never miss any of our posts check us out on Facebook, Twitter And Google+.
How have you fared using social media with your blog and attracting followers ? Have you any tips you would like to share with us ? Let us know in the comments.
Image Credit.
Paul Crowe
I'm the owner and main author here on Brighter Blogs.I've been a full time Blogger and Web designer for over eight years.I have worked on thousands of projects and blogs over the years and I bring this information to you here on BB.Making every tutorial easy to follow for bloggers of all levels.
Love your honesty in this post Paul great info as always !
ReplyDeleteI have found it very hard to build the twitter and facebook for my blog.I invited my friends to like the facebook page which most of them did but they are the only people that like the page.
ReplyDeleteI hope your tips here will help me build my pages.What do you think of Google Plus should I spend more time on it will it help my blog ?