Getting traffic to your blog is a fundamental part of blogging, otherwise your posts, no matter how great the content might be will not get read. There are a variety of social media platforms out there that are fantastic to promote your blog including Twitter and Facebook. Google+ is a newer social media platform that has just as much potential as the well known platforms to promote your work, and could even help you get onto the first page of Google. Google+ is a multi dimensional platform with lots of different aspects to help you build your blog.
Create your page
Firstly you'll need to create a personal page. I have my personal page linked to my blog which is perfect for promoting new content.
- Your blog url
- Call to action (why they should visit you)
- Your social media links
- Profile image with cover picture - this can include a cta to your blog
My business page is linked to my Youtube so the updates are primarily videos. This is quite different to my personal page which has normal blog posts updates.
At first it can be quite confusing to switch between the two but to get back to your personal page when on your business page. To do this click on your email which is next to your name. Business pages include handy insights which give a breakdown of how much traffic you're getting and how many views.Once you have created your page you'll want to get involved in the community. Here's some tips on how you can get your content seen.
Tip 1- share with your circles
Circles are the perfect way to share your blog posts/videos to different groups of people. By using circles you can promote content to the different groups of people they're relevant to without annoying people who might not be interested. You can create circles for brands, other bloggers, PRs etc. Your circles are anonymous so people won't see who's in which circle. To add a brand/person to a circle simply click on their page hover over follow and add them to the circle of your choice.
Tip 2 - engage in communities
These are similar to Facebook Groups where you can join specific communities that are linked to different topics. When you click on communities it has a number of automatically recommended pages that you can join. For example as my page is linked to beauty it has recommended Beauty Bloggers, Beauty Talk, Beauty etc. Communities give you that personal touch and allows you to reach out and interact with other like minded people. If you have lots of content you want to share you can also create your own community but you will have to build up your memberbase of people.
To get interest in your brand you can:- Join the groups that are relative to what you're writing about
- Take part in conversations that are popular
- Comment on the updates, share them and +1 them
- After you've been posting a while start posting your link into the chats - you will then get that interaction of shares, +1s, comments etc
- When sharing a post be sure to write a good description including relevant hashtags so your niche market can be reached.
Tip 3 - use hashtags
Like any social media platforms, hashtags can really help you drive traffic to your posts. Hashtags are a way of categorising your content so people searching for that specific 'tag' will find it. For example if you're posting about a new mascara you may want to hashtag the post #mascara or #mascaranewreleases. If you include really detailed hashtags you will break your audience down even more so your exact target audience will find you. For example if that mascara is a new Revlon mascara you may put #Revlon(brandtype)mascara.
If you're running a competition you may want to create a hashtag specific to that and ask all the participants taking part to share that hashtag. That way you'll have a much bigger impact with your promotion and may attract more entries.
Use hashtags when posting to the public, circles and communities to get the biggest cross promotion.
Tip 4- don't post the entire blog
A catchy introduction is what can attract people into clicking your link and reading your post. It's like a good blurb on the back of a book. If you gave the entire plot away then there would be no need to buy the book - the same applies with your blog. People have short attention spans and get bored very easily so if you witter on then people will probably bypass your content. Keep it catchy, to the point and keep it share worthy.
Tip 5 - host a Google+ hangout
You can use Google+ hangout in conjunction with creating blog post/video content to get a discussion going on your content. A G+ hangout is like a webinar or video conference that's completely free and can have up to 10 guests participating. You can also use it for internal meetings, monthly gatherings or industry interviews. If you want more people to watch it you can also share the hangout on your Youtube channel.
Tip 6 - Including the +1 button
It's important when sharing your posts to ensure you include the +1 button next to them. The +1 is basically a share button so people can share your content with their followers.
Google+ is a great way of sharing your content and engaging with new groups of people and brands. It's a great tool of getting your content out there and is definitely worth exploring. Have you tried it? As always I love to hear your thoughts!
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