How to promote your blog like a pro
Did you know the hardest part about blogging is learning how to promote your blog?
Apart from (obviously) creating quality content, promoting your blog is the most important part about blogging. There’s an 80/20 rule, you should spend 20% of your time creating content and 80% promoting it. Now that’s a lot of promoting.
So how do you promote your blog?
There are a lot of different ways to promote your blog. In this post I’ll show you the 10 best ways to promote your blog and increase your blog traffic.
Don’t have time to read this whole post now? Pin it for later.
I may earn a small commission for affiliate links in this post at no extra cost to you. Please read my disclaimer for more information.
Before you promote your blog
Before you can even start on your 80% (promoting), you have to make sure your 20% (content) is the best it could possibly be. Make sure to proofread, edit and format every blog post.
For every blog post you should be able to answer these 3 questions:
- What is the purpose of my post?
- Who does it benefit?
- How does it benefit them?
You want to give your readers incredible value, you want to give them what they are looking for and more.
Related reading: How to write a killer blog post.
Another thing to check before you start promoting your blog is your Search Engine Optimisation. Optimising your content with relevant keywords will allow your audience to find you in Google.
To help you find the right keywords and phrases you can use this free keyword tool. Once you’ve got the keywords you want to use, install the Yoast SEO plugin to help you add your keywords to each blog post.
If you need more detailed steps on how to optimise your blog post for SEO, read:
SEO for Bloggers – The Essential Guide
Last but not least…
Your branding and blog design. Does your blog look professional? Will your branding connect with your target audience? Is your blog uncluttered and easy to read?
If you want a few last minute design tips read my post:
How to design a kick-ass brand for your blog.
And to double check you’re not scaring people away from your blog, read:
12 reasons people leave your blog and never come back
Okay now we know your 20% is in top shape let’s focus on the 80%.
Promoting your blog
Social Media is probably one of the first marketing tools you think about when it comes to blog promotion. And rightly so, since pretty much everyone is on social media these days.
But which platform do you go with? Or how many platforms should you be on?
When first starting out it’s probably best to focus your attention on 2 social media platforms (’cause you’d rather kick-ass on 2 then be average on 5).
Pick the 2 platforms that are best suited to your target market and products.
For most bloggers I recommend starting with Pinterest and Facebook, these platforms can drive some serious traffic to your blog if you use them right.
Have a look at the Buzzsumo results of craft blog ‘A Beautiful Mess’, especially the Pinterest shares are through the roof!
But social media is not the only way you can drive traffic to your blog so let’s have a look at 10 effective ways to promote your blog.
10 ways to promote your blog
1. Pinterest
If you thought Pinterest was just for drooling over exotic holiday destinations or discovering wacky craft hacks, think again. Pinterest is actually not really a social media platform but more a visual search engine.
Like online shops pin photos of their products, you can pin images from your blog post that will lead people to your blog.
To get the most out of Pinterest you need to set up a business page and create a keyword-rich profile. Add a friendly photo of yourself or use your logo for the profile picture.
To finalise your set up, you need to claim your website, you can do this in the settings.
Related Reading:
How To Claim A Website On Pinterest (without using code)
How to Create Tons of Pinterest Pins Super Fast
Now you’re ready to create some boards. I’d recommend creating at least 30 boards that are related to your niche. Think about topics that you write about on your blog, ideally you can pin each of your blog post to several of your boards. Give all your boards keyword-rich SEO description and add a category.
Create one board that will only contain pins that link back to your blog. Set this as your featured board, so it will show at the top of the page.
Now you have to create some stunning pins with click-worthy headlines. It is very easy to create your pins in Canva. The ideal pin size is 600 pixels wide by 900 pixels high. Canva has pin templates ready to go, all you have to do is add a your image and a caption.
- Quick tips for eye-catching pins:
- Use bright colours
- Don’t add too much text, make it easy-to-read
- Try using transparent overlays to make the text stand out more
- Use quality photos (you can get free stock photos at Pexels and Unsplash)
Here’s an example of one of my pins (make sure to pin it to your blogging board!)
With your account set up and pins added to your blog posts, you can start pinning. According to Pinterest you should be pinning 15-25 times a day. Pin mostly from your own blog and about 10 pins from other bloggers. Pin at different times of the day and never pin the same pin back to back or you’ll start looking spammy.
To increase the reach of your pins, you need to pin to group boards. Group boards are boards with multiple users but managed by one person. Group boards have their own followers so if you pin to a group board with 10.000 followers your pin will increase its reach dramatically.
To find group boards, have a look at other bloggers in your niche, go to their boards and you’ll see their group boards. They have multiple people in the profile picture, like this:
Click on the board and see if they accept new contributors. Often you have to send them an email with a request to join their board. Try to join about 20-30 quality group boards relevant to your niche.
If you’d like a step by step guide on how to set up a Pinterest business account, Pinterest SEO and how to enable Rich Pins -> get my free guide below.
FREE GUIDE
PINTEREST SET UP FOR SUCCESS
The secret to Pinterest success is to pin consistently every day and preferably at optimal times when your audience is online. The best way to do this is with a Pinterest scheduler like Tailwind.
My favourite thing about Tailwind is that you can upload one pin to 10 different boards with one click. This saves me a lot of time on scheduling.
Another great thing about Tailwind is that it schedules your pins at optimal times when your audience is online. This increase your pin engagement and gives your pin a better chance to get seen and go viral.
You can try Tailwind for free here.
2. Facebook
Start on Facebook by creating a business page for your blog. This way people can follow/like your page and get notifications when you post something.
Try to post a minimum of 3 times a week and twice a day at the most. Post both your own content and share content from others. This way you’ll have more content to post and the owner of the shared post will appreciate and notice you.
Make sure all content you share is quality and valuable for your audience this way you’ll become the go-to person in your niche.
You can follow my facebook page here 🥰
Facebook is a great platform to get truly social on. To get noticed you should join several facebook groups that are relevant to your niche and actively participate. Share and like content, tag people, be helpful, answer question and always reply to those who join in.
Most Facebook Groups have blog post promotion threads or social media threads which will really help you with sharing your blog content and growing your social media following.
I’ve compiled my favourite Facebook Groups for you, you can get them here. 👇🏼
30 FACEBOOK GROUPS FOR FEMALE BLOGGERS
GET THE FREE LIST
3. Your email list
Adding a link to your latest blog post in your email newsletter is sometimes an overlooked blog promotion technique by newbie bloggers. Yes, the people on your list already know about your blog, but without you prompting them, they might not read your blog.
Use enticing subject lines to improve open rates and compelling copy (introducing a problem that you solve in your blog post) to get people to click-through and read your post.
If you need help setting up your email marketing and want to learn how to create high converting lead magnets and automated sequences, make sure to check out this super in depth email marketing course.
4. Feature other bloggers in your blog post
Round up post are a great way to connect with other bloggers.
You could ask other bloggers in your niche to answer a question or give their best tips for a certain problem your audience might have.
Don’t approach the biggest bloggers out there. Try to find bloggers that have a similar audience size as you. Simply send them an email and tell them about your blog post idea. Be specific in what you want them to write about and once your post is finished, ask them to share it.
Bonus Tip
Do cross-promotion shout outs.
Mention another blogger in your blog post or newsletter and ask them to do the same for you.
5. Commenting on blog posts
Every one loves getting comments on their blog post. So if you read a post that you find helpful or inspiring, let them know! Be thoughtful and leave meaningful comments that show that you’ve read the post, not just: ‘great post!’ and run. Leaving comments on blog posts in your niche is an easy way to get your name out there (the author will surely check out your blog and some comment readers might too.)
To make your brand recognisable make sure you have your usual profile picture next to your comment. If you don’t know how to make your profile picture show up with your comment, check out this quick tutorial.
6. Join blogging communities
Increase your blog’s reach by joining a blogging community. Submit your blog post to sites like Bloglovin’ and Triberr and spread the love by sharing and commenting on other posts.
7. Guest posting
Writing guest posts on other blogs is another way to increase the reach of your blog post. Not only will your post be exposed to a new audience it also builds quality backlinks and search engine authority.
Make sure to only approach bloggers in a similar niche and preferably with an audience that’s a bit bigger than yours.
To find blogs that accept guest posts check out My Blog Guest.
8. Share your knowledge on Q&A sites
If you write a blog you are most likely knowledgeable on a certain topic. Why not use your skills to help others on Q&A sites like Quora or Yahoo Answers.
Answering questions and being active on sites like this will help you put your name out there and become an authority in your niche.
9. Host a webinar or facebook live
If you want to host a workshop or seminar for your online audience you could host a webinar (web-based seminar). Getting interactive with your audience builds trust and familiarity.
If your readers hang out on Facebook, you could create a facebook live. Connect to your audience and answer their questions in real time.
10. Create infographics
Infographics are an extremely popular way to share bite sized content. They are visual, they are jam packed with information and they are shareable, what’s not to love?
You can create your own infographics with Canva or you can get someone to design one for you on Fiverr.
Once designed, make sure to submit your infographic to several infographic directories like Visually and Reddit.
Bonus tips to grow your blog:
- Always reply to comments on your blog posts
- Make your blog look good
- Be your reader’s best friend
- Update old blog post to have links to new post
- Add social sharing buttons
- Add a comments section
- Be consistent
These are my 10 favourite ways to promote my blog, I would love to know how you promote your blog, let me know in the comments below. And if you could use some help with Pinterest, make sure to grab my free Pinterest Guide here.
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Thanks for sharing
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sassy boss
Pinterest and facebook are definitely my go to for traffic
I’m a new blogger and I’ve noticed how I spend so much time on writing my posts and then I barely promote them. I know it’s a big mistake but I just don’t have enough time to do all of that and I also didn’t exactly know how to do that. Your tips are very useful, now I’ll try to do it right. Thanks for sharing 🥰
I know the problem.. I take a lot of time writing as well. The main thing to focus on with promoting would be Pinterest, try uploading a new pin every day, that should bring you some traffic 🙂
I stumbled on your blog website from a group in Facebook, and I am so glad I did! I am just starting out with my travel & lifestyle blog and am finding some very valuable and helpful information. I will be bookmarking this site and referring back to it often. Thank you!
Thanks Jennifer, that’s so nice to hear. Come back anytime!
Thank you for sharing this with me! This is extremely helpful, and I never thought to make a Pinterest! 😊
These are really great tips! I especially enjoyed the Pinterest and cross posting/guest posting tips! Very insightful! I will be adding some of these in this week!
This is a great post. I’m not on Pinterest yet, but I’ve only recently started on Facebook. My page is growing slowly, but I’d really like to find some better ways to grow my blog. Content creation alone is hard work and I don’t want to start posting empty posts with no value for the sake of putting more stuff out there just so I can work hard promoting it. I want to promote something of value. I agree that content promotion is super important though, especially in the beginning stages.
Thanks Rozanne, yes you definitely want to create quality content otherwise you’d waste all your time promoting posts that no one is interested in any way. But once you’ve got a few quality posts in place, you want to spend a lot of time promoting. Good luck!
This was really helpful. I haven’t been utilizing Pinterest, thanks for sharing. Easy read too!
Glad you liked it Zoey!
Thank you for this post! I found it very informative and I clicked through and read more of your posts as well. I pinned them on pinterest also, I will be referring back to your blog!
Thanks Sharon!
That’s a really helpful information. Thank you so much! I will try to go through step by step and see how my site grows 🙂
Thanks Florentina, good luck promoting your blog!