16 Ways to Promote Your Blog

The other day I published a post about how I climbed the Tots100 rankings. One of the major parts of that was getting more traffic – unique visitors and over all page impressions. With that in mind, here is a list of ways to promote your blog. This list is by no means exhaustive; if you have any other tips do please leave a comment for others to see!

1. Facebook

Durr, obviously! A couple of tips: use a page rather than a personal account (unless you’re 100% sure all of your friends are interested in your blog). And don’t only post links to your blog; they should be a very small part of what goes on with your Facebook presence. You can also join Facebook groups and share your links in them. Take a look at this post and this one for more ideas.

2. Twitter

Another obvious one, but another one where you can’t just tweet a bunch of links; you need to interact with people, or they just won’t care what you have to say. Use hashtags to get your links under as many noses as possible, but also just chat and build relationships. This post has more tips for using Twitter to promote your blog.

3. Pinterest

Pinterest is another biggie – but it really only works if you’re posting good, pinnable pictures on your posts. Pinterest works best for things like recipes and tutorials, rather than long, ranty opinion pieces. You can also share to group boards as well as your own. This is the bit where I plug my own group board, the Weekend Blog Hop Group Board. All bloggers are welcome to post on that board; just give me a yell to add you!

4. Instagram

If you have a great post at the top of your front page today, why not Instagram the feaured image with a little blurb, “on the blog today: blah blah blah, link in bio.”

5. Other Social Media

Your audience may not be on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Instagram; you might find that your readers are on Google+ or LinkedIn. Experiment with where you share your links and see where you get the best click rates.

6. Join in Linkys

A linky is a great way to bring new readers to your blog. Be sure to read the rules each host has for their linky – and to follow them! Linky hosts are apt to get a bit sniffy if you just link dump without following basic instructions regarding which posts to link up and visiting other linkers! *ahem* You could take a look at the Weeeknd Blog Hop for a great place to link up on the weekend as well as a list of linkys running throughout the week… *ahem*

7. Comment

Leaving comments on other blogs in your niche is a great way to get people to look at your blog. The trick is, rather than leaving a generic “nice post blah blah” comment, to add to the conversation. Give your opinion, provide more information and tips. Others reading the post and comments will see your comment and think “ooh, this person has something interesting to say.” Many bloggers now use CommentLuv too, which gives you the option to include a link to a recent post of yours at the bottom of a comment.

8. Write Guest Posts

A lot of people advocate writing a guest post for a bigger blog in your niche – but I think any blog in your niche is a great place to publish a guest post. No matter how big your own audience is, you can bet your bum that a similar sized audience for another blog is not made up of the exact same people. Writing a guest post for a different blog will allow you to reach other readers and wow them with your amazing abilities. If you’re in the mood for a guest post, you could join in the #DayInTheLife project on my blog.

9. Join #LovelyBlogs

Okay, this one is really just me promoting my #LovelyBlogs project, which is an initiative to showcase newer blogs. Each Tuesday I usually showcase a different blog, including screenshots and links to their blog. Do feel free to apply using the form, regardless of whether yours is a parenting blog or not!

10. StumbleUpon and Flipboard

I have both of these apps on my mobile, and in the mornings before I get out of bed (if I’m awake early enough) I use them to submit my own blog posts. The good thing about StumbleUpon is that something you posted months ago can suddenly become popular, because of the way it works. It’s not brought me masses of traffic yet, but every little helps – and there’s always hope that today will be the day one of my posts goes viral…

11. Work on Your Headlines

Spend a little time researching what people are Googling, in relation to the content of your post. Try to come up with a headline that includes the relevant keywords but also grabs attention. For example, I could have called this “how to make sure your blog is seen by as many people as possible” – but that’s just not very catchy, is it. If you have a great headline, then people will be more likely to click on your link – whether that’s on social media, a search engine or elsewhere.

12. Send an Email

Do you have an email list? Make use of it! Don’t send an email every time you post; people already get eleventy different pieces of spam mail a day. I’ve just started a monthly roundup type email though, with the idea that people are highly likely to have missed at least one post I’ve published throughout the month. It can’t hurt to put your posts right under people’s noses, can it! So far I’ve had a good open and click rate on that email – better than I expected, if I’m honest. If you’d like to receive my next email, you can sign up here.

13. Business Cards

Around this time of year, bloggers are looking to get business cards printed up in preparation for BritMums Live. We typically go for a short print run, hand out a few cards at BritMums (or another convention, if you’re going to it), and then bring the “spares” home and put them on a shelf. I have business cards for my blog, which I carry around in my handbag alongside my “business” business cards. Whenever someone asks me a question about my blog, I give them my card to help them remember.

14. Postcards

I sell a lot of things on Ebay, and have some “Single Mother Ahoy” postcards which I send as a sort of compliments slip with anything I send out, usually with a little “thanks for your order” or similar. If you’re sending notes to people or deliveries of any kind, why not send your own version of a compliments slip, and promote your blog at the same time?

15. Think Outside the Box!

Ha, I love saying that. Think about who your ideal reader is, and where they hang out – where you’re likely to catch them thinking “hmm, I wish I had a great blog post about XXX to read…” I’ve heard of bloggers leaving business cards on trains or inside library cards; I managed a massive coup (unintentionally) when I went on This Morning and (while I completely forgot to mention the blog) they showed a photo of S and I – and it was the one from my blog header. If your blog is a craft blog, why not see if a local craft supply shop will have some of your cards on their counter? If you write about cake decorating, ask the local cake decorating place to have your cards on display. This sort of thing works better with indies than corporations who tend to have universal rules about these things.

16. Content, Content, Content!

In all honesty, you can plug your blog from here to kingdom come – but if you don’t have the content to wow people when they get there, they won’t stick around – or come back! Content really is king! I’ve put this one at the end because I really feel it’s the most important one. Although that “if you build it, he will come” line from Field of Dreams doesn’t really apply here – people won’t just come looking for your amazing content – they also won’t stick around if they come, and you didn’t build it!

Do you have any others to add to the list? Do leave a comment if you have a fantastic idea!

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