In recent years, blogs have proven to be an integral part of the internet. Whether you’re a business owner or simply a blogging enthusiast, there is so much you can achieve with them. However, no matter how well you write, blogs don’t attract traffic on their own.
Social media is one tool you can explore if you’re looking to grow your blog’s traffic. Platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are an excellent avenue for reaching a larger audience than you are at the moment.
In this post, we’ll share seven tips you can take advantage of in order to grow your blog with social media. Let’s get started!
1. Add Share Buttons to Your Website
One slight drawback to having multiple channels for your content is linking them together. As such, most websites offer a menu or section – often in a tucked-away corner of the page or at the bottom of a post – that lets you share the content on social media:
This is a fantastic way of growing your blog’s traffic, especially because you’re providing a solid Call To Action (CTA) for qualified readers. By adding share buttons to your site pages, you’re subtly encouraging your readers to share your content on social media.
If you place these buttons strategically enough on your blog pages, you can easily impact your social shares positively and eventually improve your blog traffic.
Apart from simply including social share buttons, you can also add features like ‘Click to Tweet’ boxes to your blog. This feature lets the reader share specific portions (highlights) of your posts that you’ve initially hand-picked (more of which, later.)
2. Use Your Hashtags Strategically
Writing great content is always a primary consideration, but getting this content to the right audience is just as important. Enter ‘hashtags’. They are simply labels, prefixed with an octothorpe (“#”) that makes your content visible to other social media users:
Each time you add a new post to your blog and share it on social media, you should also make sure to use the right hashtags. When you use them strategically, you immediately make your content discoverable by your target audience within the channel’s search functionality. Your reach will no longer be limited to your present followers and you can as well attract more followers in the process.
Twitter and Instagram are two social media platforms where you can benefit the most from the strategic use of hashtags. You’ll likely want to do some research to find the best hashtags for your needs. This may include keeping track of trends, using your own branded hashtags, creating customized hashtag campaigns, and much more.
3. Share Your Posts Automatically
Another interesting way to grow your blog traffic is by automating content sharing. Instead of having to share your blog posts each time you create one, there are tools you can use to help. This way, content sharing is both faster and open to fewer errors.
When it comes to content sharing, we think the Jetpack for WordPress plugin is ideal:
Jetpack integrates directly with WordPress (naturally) and lets you review your social media sharing options each time you’re about to publish a new post. These posts will then be shared on your linked profiles on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
4. Repost Your Old Content
Each time you post new blog content, the chances are high that you can squeeze more visibility from it in the future. As your blog continues to grow, you get to build a great collection of articles and ideas. As such, sharing your old content is going to be a valuable way to grow your traffic.
Of course, the first thing you’ll need to do is identify the right posts to reshare. Your choice can be based on prevailing trends or any other metric you choose to prioritize. You can share the posts as they were posted originally, or even update and refresh them.
Rehashing your old content may involve changing the title or updating certain dated elements of the article. However you do it, the goal is to make sure that the articles you’re reposting feel as fresh, useful, and timely as possible.
5. Share Quotable Snippets of Your Posts
Many bloggers only include titles, images, and links when they share their posts on social media. While doing this is obviously important, it may not be sufficient enough to get your target reader’s attention. Sharing quotable snippets of your posts on social media can be a perfect way of piquing your reader’s interest, and eventually getting them to visit your blog:
First, you’ll need to find a post and carefully pull out some choice snippets. Choose these with social media in mind and consider the lines that can attract the most engagement from users. Quotes, stats, and other interesting elements always make for great snippets.
From there, you can then share multiple snippets using different scheduling software tools, or utilize them in other ways. For example, we mentioned offering them as Tweetable quotes for social media, which is an ideal way to reach new readers.
6. Create Exclusive Content for Your Followers
If you want to attract more followers, you should always give readers an incentive to follow you on social media. The long-term payoff here is that as the more your social followers grow, the larger your overall audience. You can attract more followers by creating special content exclusive to them.
A common strategy bloggers use is to request their readers to follow their social media profiles to gain access to some exclusive articles:
These articles should provide additional value over the free posts. After following your profiles, they may receive a code in their emails or gain instant access to the exclusive content after logging in. Tools like ShortStack are useful for tracking social media subscriptions and automating email responses.
7. Collaborate With Other Bloggers on Social Media
Many bloggers make the mistake of approaching their sites as a solo project. Social media doesn’t only let you interact with your readers, you can also use it as a means of networking with other bloggers. Through collaboration, especially with those in your niche, you can easily gain access to their follower base legitimately:
However, blogger partnerships are about more than just increasing your audience. They are also an ideal avenue for learning from other bloggers’ experiences. This is why it is always a great idea to reach out to other bloggers, feature on each other’s social media profiles, and form a rewarding symbiotic relationship.
In a nutshell, you’ll want to put on your salesperson hat for this one. The idea is to provide the benefits of the collaboration for the blogger you’re trying to target. If you can show them how they’ll get a boost, the odds are good for a successful partnership.
Conclusion
Growing your blog traffic can be a demanding task. Although social media offers great potential, there are still certain important points you must bear in mind in order to maximize social media marketing.
If used strategically, sharing buttons can be very powerful tools that can help you showcase your blog content to a larger audience. Among many other strategies, you should also learn how to use hashtags and partnerships with other bloggers to reach your goals for your site.
Image credits: Pixabay.
