Why Should You Promote Blog Posts?
Have you ever wondered why and how to promote blog posts you create?
Can you recall that horrible empty feeling of having triple checked your blog post, added in the best images you could think of, used your wordpress Yoast SEO plugin to maximize your blog posts chances of being found online and after all this all you get is…..nothing. Zilch. Not even one single comment.
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You start asking yourself “why did this happen to me?” It’s not bloody fair because I really did come up with one heck of a great post.
Well that’s what you think anyway but you have no one else’s opinion on your blog post content because no one else has even seen it.
Surely those search engines must have seen my post by now so why aren’t I getting any traffic or interest in my post?
You’re devastated after all the work you put into your post and once again those feelings of failure and frustration start creeping in. You’re probably asking yourself “Why bother with all this if this is all I get as a result?”
These feelings are very, very common and NOT just among beginner bloggers either.
You may be surprised to learn that most bloggers have experienced this at one time or another. And for many they experienced this one time too many and their blogs have long been abandoned.
[Tweet ““Don’t focus on having a great blog but on making a blog that’s great for your readers.” Brian Clark”]
Did You Promote Your Blog Post?
If you’d asked me that question when I first started blogging my answer would have been – What do you mean promote?
I can clearly recall my very first few posts when after waiting at least a week for people to find my “blog post masterpiece” I asked in a Facebook group if anyone else was having this problem or was it just me?
It was then I was asked what promotion activities I had undertaken. Immediately my answer was “what do you mean?” “I published the post nearly a week ago already but still I had not seen any results.”
Obviously I was completely missing the point.
As a beginner blogger I had absolutely no conception of the need to “market and promote my blog posts.”
This was the start of a complete revelation for me and it soon became apparent that to be a success in my blogging I would have to spend the majority of my time marketing my post to attract visitors to my blog.
In fact my time allocation to promote blog posts now comes close to 80% of the time I spend on each post.
These were hard and difficult lessons for me but now I am very happy to share what has worked for me.
If you are a beginner blogger then underestand you're in the marketing game whether you like it or not. You may not like this but to survive as a blogger you have to “sell yourself” and what you offer with your blog posts.
If what I am about to share with you makes little or no sense to you then please, please make sure you leave me a comment below. Deal?
Using Influential Blog Links
Before I give you the very steps I take to promote my posts I’d like to add that on occasions I have quoted authorities or influential bloggers and linked directly to them in my posts.
Usually I contact the authority I am quoting and let them know in advance with a link to the relevant post. This has been very successful for me in building relationships with highly experienced and skilled bloggers.
Create a Personal Thank You Video
Every new reader who visits my blog and leaves a meaningful comment gets a 45-60 second “thank you” video from me and this also has provided me with more relationship building opportunities plus more traffic to my blogs as well as some substantial sales of the affiliate offers I have available.
TIP: Sell More By Not Selling Anything On Your Blog
Pease note that I do NOT sell anything on my blog apart from the offers to join with “my tribe” (my email lists) – all my selling is done via email marketing follow up plus very personalized video marketing as well as Skype and Facebook chats.
For more information about this check out my “Most Bloggers Are Broke” post
15 Smart Ways to Promote Blog Posts
These are the 15 exact steps I take with each and every post I create to ensure I get the best possible exposure and resultant targeted traffic.
Are there other ways to do this? Yes of course and I’m adding to this process as I learn more blog post marketing skills.
But today I simply sharing with you what is working for me right now
- As soon as my post is published I “ping it” with “Ping o Matic” just to make sure the search engines are at least aware of my latest published post
- I add this post to a paid sharing site called TribePro
- Then I share the post with all my social platforms using a service called Buffer
- I add my post with 2 Facebook blogging groups I belong to and start my “blog hopping” activities whilst I am there. By “blog hopping”I mean the process of visiting other blogs and leaving my best possible comment on these posts.
- Then the real marketing starts with my visits to influential blogs in my niche that I have researched and bookmarked.Every comment I leave on these leading blogs is very carefully considered and on some occasions I get carried away with my enthusiasm and my comments are almost a mini-post.I have a list of 15 niche leaders that I visit after I have published my weekly blog post.The real purpose of these visits is to build your blogging reputation and credibility.
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I preferably only comment on blogs that are in my niche because this part of the blog marketing process is extremely time consuming. However, it’s a very enjoyable experience as well as being a great learning curve.
- I then share these posts socially using Buffer and more often than not, making adding my own unique wording to the social share.
- Before leaving these influential blog posts I check out the other comments made looking for potential readers of my post and if I find any I immediately go over to their blog post and repeat the process.
- I will spend 3 days doing this process spending about 2 or 3 hours each day – it’s that important to both building my reputation as well as my skills learning process.
- Sometimes I spend a few hours on forums in my niche but to be honest this has not been at that successful for me re targeted traffic.
- To further promote blog posts I visit a “question and Answer” site called Quora and spend at least 2 hours each day for 2 days answering specific questions in my niche (especially “affiliate marketing” and “list building” with every well thought out answer including a link to a relevant blog post and/or a relevant optin page.
Go here for my free training video about Quora
[Tweet ““Blogging is a conversation, not a code.” Mike Butcher”]
- Another important step to promote blog posts involves re-purposing my post content in my Slideshare Presentations Podcast episodes called Internet Marketing for Beginners and my YouTube Channel videos.
- Once my YouTube video is published it automatically is posted to a variety of sites using a free service called IFTTT.This is the “If This Then That” site where I have set up a series of what they call “recipes” that automatically share my YouTube videos that contain my blog post links to Flickr, Pinterest, Google Drive, Buffer, Twitter, Dropbox, Tumblr and one of my Facebook pages.
- In addition to these shares I also share this repurposed content in my Facebook group called Peter’s Tribe.
- Most importantly my email list is sent links to the blog post and the repurposed content because people on my list will consume my content in different ways – some prefer audio or video to the written word.
- The last steps I take to promote blog posts sometimes involves paid promotions like a boost to a specific Facebook post that is linking to my blog or a YouTube video that again links to a blog[emvid btn_color=”blue” btn_icon=”false” btn_url=”http://villagemarketer.info/25-hot-ways” btn_text=”Click Here To Get FREE Targeted Traffic For Your Posts” btn_size=”large” btn_pos=”undefined” redir_settings=”]
TIP: Video Live Events and Blog Post Traffic
I have not spent much money on paid promotions as I have had much better success using “video live events” with YouTube that have given me very high rankings both in Google and YouTube for relatively competitive key word phrases.
This process is where you use an existing video and upload it to YouTube not via the usual “uploading process” but rather using “YouTube Live Events” upload function.
If you would like more information about this or any other step I use please leave me a comment below and I’ll get back to you.
TIP: Highly Recommended Reading
From Stuart Walker and his wonderful team at Niche Hacks:
“31 Ways to Promote Blog Posts” – whether you're a beginner or established blogger this is definitely one website you MUST connect with. These guys have so much brilliant content that has really helped this 70 year-old Aussie to become profitable online.
It’s Your Turn
I know just how busy you must be so many thanks for taking the time to leave me your comments – it is always appreciated.
As a beginner blogger what were the key things you got from this post?
What do you use to market your blog posts?
Do you need help in promoting your blog posts?
Need help in identifying your target audience?
Would you like me to help you with your blogging?
