How I Promote My Blog Posts

No matter how great your blog post is, it doesn’t matter if no one reads it. If you don’t know how to promote your blog posts, who cares if your post is amazing? About a year ago, I shared how I promote my posts, but a lot has changed since then, and my blog traffic has grown a lot since then, too. As in, it has doubled. By sharing my practices, I hope that I can help some of you get more blog traffic, or maybe even get some suggestions from you! (And scroll down to the bottom to enter to win a Starbucks gift card.)

 

How To Promote Your Blog Posts on Social Media

Twitter: When I write a new post, I share it on Twitter 7 time over the course of 17 hours – 8:05 AM, 10:30 AM, 1 PM, 3:30 PM, 6 PM, 9 PM, and 1 AM the next day. In 3 of those tweets, I tag an RT account. I recently started sharing it at night (for me) because I remembered that there are people who follow me who are not in the US, and maybe it would help if I promoted my blog posts when they’re awake and on social media. Helpful, right? I also schedule promotions of the post 3 days after it goes up and 2 weeks after it goes up. On days that I don’t have new posts, I schedule Twitter promotions according to the aforementioned schedule. I schedule my Tweets with Hootsuite.

Facebook: Every day I promote a post on my Facebook page, I share it at 9:30 AM, 2:30 PM, 8 PM, and 12 AM the next day. As you can see, I make sure to share these posts in between when my Twitter promotions. This way, my posts hit as many people as possible. I also make sure to always include an image when I share my posts on Facebook, as those tend to be seen by more people. I also share my posts in several Facebook groups, and participate in follow trains where you post a link to a social media account and follow a certain number of other accounts. I am a member of the Her Campus Blogger Network, Northeast Bloggers, Boston Bloggers, BlogHer Network, Her Campus Premier Bloggers, The Blog Loft, Blogging Boost, All Bloggers United, Fire and Wind Co., Blog + Biz BFFs, The Pillow Fort, and some others. I don’t share posts every day in all groups, but I try to stay on top of things when I can and create relationships with some of the other bloggers in the groups.

Instagram: I don’t promote a lot of my blog posts on Instagram, but I try to promote at least a couple every month. I do this because I don’t always feel comfortable promoting a post, mostly because it doesn’t always feel authentic and I try to keep my Instagram as authentic as possible.

 

Google+: Every time I have a post, I promote it on Google+! Sometimes I also share them in communities, which are like Facebook groups.

Pinterest: Oh, Pinterest. It’s a blogger’s goldmine. I always share my posts on Pinterest, and I try to share them in as many different boards as possible. I have a lot of traditional boards – clothes, studying, and life inspiration, for example – but I also have a board just for my blog posts. So, for example, I shared my post about accepting your body with chronic illness on my blog post board, my health board, and on the group board for the Her Campus Blogger Network bloggers. I make sure to share my post at different times of the day to hit as many people as possible. I also schedule all of my Pins – blog related or not – by BoardBooster, which lets me not have to be glued to my computer throughout the day.

Tumblr: Every couple of months, I sit down and schedule promotions of blog posts for every night. I pick the best picture possible (because Tumblr is very image-focused), put the link to the blog post as the content source, write a sentence or two about the blog post as the caption, and link that caption to the blog post. I also tag as many things as possible – that apply! – so, you guessed it, as many people see it as possible. If I’m on Tumblr and I see the post, I add it to my queue because I run my Tumblr entirely on a queue.

How To Gain More Traffic to Your Blog

How do I promote my blog posts on days when I don’t have a new one? I pick an older post and promote that one on Twitter and Facebook. I try to choose a post that is at least a month old and is a different topic than ones that I promoted the day before or the next day. This isn’t as relevant for some bloggers, but since I write about health, writing & blogging, and general lifestyle, I try to mix up my promotions as I have a varied audience, both on the blog and on my social media accounts.

What about promoted social media posts? I try to promote 2 posts on Facebook and 2 pins on Pinterest a month. I pick these carefully in order to reach the most people and to turn as many of those people into readers. While setting up these advertisements, I try to select 20-30 terms that fit with the post I am promoting. If I promote 2 posts on these networks, I spend around $10-20 a month. You can set your price so that you spend as much or as little as possible.

How did I grow my social media networks? To be honest, it took a lot of time. But there some key things you can do!

1. Don’t just post your blog posts – More people will follow you because of you than because of your blog posts. They have your blog for that! So show a little of who you are.
2. Interact – Like, respond, and comment on what others post. This helps develops relationships and encourages more people to follow you.
3. Follow others – Whether it’s people who follow you (you should follow some of the people who follow you) or people you admire, follow others and share their work. If you do that, they may share yours.
4. Have a social media calendar – I so advise this! Kayla explains it really well, but basically the idea is that a social media calendar will help you find the right combination of things to post on your social media networks that will help you grow your social media networks.

How do you promote your blog posts?

Disclaimer: This post contains some affiliate links, which means that if you click on them and buy something, I will earn a small profit. For more information, check out my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting Kate the (Almost) Great!