Promoting Your Blog & Increasing Traffic Part 3: Social Media

In my last couple of posts, I’ve discussed some of the numerous ways you can promote your blog and increase traffic. This week, I want to outline one more very important piece to the blog promotion puzzle: social media.

Social media promotions can be a lot more powerful than you think – and it’s not just Twitter and Facebook. You can also promote your blog through online community sites, blogging sites, etc. Social media can be a great gateway to both your blog site and your website. Let’s look at the different ways you can use social media to your advantage when promoting your blog:

Facebook
This is a no brainer. Every business should have a Facebook page and you should most definitely be promoting your blog on it. Facebook is a site that is worth your time – especially when trying to gain traffic to your blog. You can set up RSS feeds to your blog through your Facebook page so that your posts will get pushed out to all of your “fans.”

Twitter
Twitter was once the “up and coming” social network, but now it is here and it’s clear that it’s the place for businesses to be. Your business should have a Twitter account associated with it. You can push out all of your blog posts through Twitter as well, providing your “followers” with links back to your blog. You can also use Twitter to “re-tweet” other useful blog posts from colleagues and industry experts.

Community Sites, Blogging Sites, Forums
It’s also beneficial to connect with people outside of the major social networking sites. Promoting your relevant blog posts through community sites, other industry blogging sites, and appropriate industry or community forums can also be a great tool in increasing traffic and readership.

Commenting on Blogs
Commenting on other blogs is a great way to build relationships in your industry blogging community. Even if you can’t always fit a relevant link back to your blog in your comments, building that relationship with other industry bloggers can bring interest to your blog and as a result, traffic. It’s important to comment on relevant blogs with relevant information – you don’t want to spam other blog sites with links to your blog.

Guest Blogging
Guest blogging can also be a great relationship builder, and in turn, a link builder. Guest blogging allows you to post relevant and informative blog posts on other blog sites while giving you an opportunity to link back to your blog and/or website. This can help establish you as a blogger and give you authority as well. You can also invite other bloggers to guest blog on your site. Creating that network can aid in establishing your reputation as a relevant and useful blogger – all while boosting the reputation of your own blog as well.

How do you use social media and guest blogging to your advantage? Do you have any success stories? If so, share them with me on Twitter, @Astonish_Shawna. Until then, happy blogging!