Having your blog and blog posts shared on social networks and social bookmarking websites is kinda like getting free advertising.If the right people share your blog it can have a viral effect and could lead to lots of new visitors, members and subscribers.Think of a video one of your friends (We will call him John) added to their wall, you see it on your Facebook homepage and click the like icon below.Now all your friends also get to see the video on their homepage even though they are not friends with John.When one of them also clicks the like icon all their friends also get to see the video and they don’t know John or you !.
This is a very realistic ripple effect that happens to thousands of blog posts, videos, links and pictures on Facebook every day. All you have to do is get the ball rolling and have a little luck. I’m afraid i cant help you with the luck but their are steps you can take to get the ball rolling. The first and most important thing you can do is make it as easy as possible for people to share your blog on Facebook.
Share The Love
I personally share a lot of content on Facebook and Twitter, We all like to share a funny article, Picture or video with friends.In fact i share the latest post from one of my favorite Funny Stuff blogs called Oddee every single day.It’s possible that i have sent thousands of people to Oddee just by clicking a Like Button.I’m happy sharing funny content with my friends and Oddee are trilled to be getting the traffic.
Oddee like all the top blogs and websites make it as easy as possible for you to share their content.They have links to all the top networking and bookmarking sites at the top and bottom of every post.On the top Tech blog Mashable you can not scroll to any part of the page that does not contain a social icon of some description, they almost over do it (Note – Just had a quick look and the latest post on Mashable has been Tweeted 1339 times and shared on Facebook 258 times – guess it works).
I can say without any doubt that on not even one occasion have i gone looking for a button to share a post or link. In the same vein i never think half way through reading a post “I think i will share this on Twitter”. Sharing a post, image or video is an off the cuff decision we make when presented with the options at the end. In fact, silly as it may seem, it’s proven that when there is a message at the foot of a blog post with something like “Please Leave A Comment” more people tend to leave a comment. Yes we are like trained dogs when we browse the Internet.
Social Networking V’s Social Bookmarking
I’m not a huge believer in the power of Bookmarking sites like Digg and Stumble Upon (Check out the article i wrote on infobarrel last January – Becoming Popular On StumbleUpon Is Like A Bad One Night Stand), but i do believe Facebook can have a huge impact. In fact i believe Facebook alone could turn a blog into a success overnight. The people that hang out on Digg, Stumble Upon, Reddit and the rest are experienced Internet users, how many people go online for the first time and open an account on Digg ? How many would even know what Digg or social bookmarking is all about ? But even your Gran has heard of Facebook.
So whats wrong with experienced Internet users ?
Well on the face of it nothing at all but new or casual Internet users offer much more.
Experienced users scan content and move on quickly they’ve seen it all before.
Experienced users are already subscribed to too many Rss Feeds and Newsletters so you gotta be special to entice them.
Experienced users have trained themselves to not even see AdSense and other ads (I recon it’s a few years since i last clicked on an AdSense ad).
Experienced users are sceptics, before they even start they have the opinion most sites are garbage so you have to prove different and you don’t have long.
The new or casual Internet user has no such preconceptions. They are open minded and looking to be informed. You have the chance to make a first impression and just a little effort could see you pick up a life long fan .And Facebook is full of millions of these new users just crying out for a blog they can visit to pass half an hour. Even if your blog is on a subject as obscure as multi colored socks you can be sure there are people with similar interests to be found on Facebook.
From Myspace To Facebook
Being a long time Blogger from the time when Myspace and Bebo controlled the budding social networking landscape i am still struggling to get on board the social bandwagon. Bands and girls on web cams (Not putting both in the same category) were the only people using Myspace to promote. Posting a link to your blog on the Myspace homepage was almost seen as spam, people still have to click a second link on a page warning them your blog could be a phishing website looking to steal their identity!
Spice up your blog however is a blog for experienced Internet users, not many new or casual Internet users keep a blog or would know how to. So i have been climbing the social bandwagon with some of my other blogs and the overwhelming evidence is Facebook has the most traffic to offer. On a Guitar based blog i write i was able to turn almost zero traffic from Facebook to Facebook actually providing 25% of total traffic in one month ! Stats that defiantly opened my eyes, also that blog gets similar visitor numbers as Spice Up Your Blog yet it earns 3 times more revenue.
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Helping You Get On The Social Bandwagon
So that’s my case for really targeting Facebook to promote your blog. In the next two posts i will show you steps you can take to get people sharing your content and also how to set up a professional looking Facebook fan page.
Have you had success using Facebook to promote your blog ?
Do you agree that Facebook is the best social network/bookmark site for getting visitors ?
Have you any tips for using social websites to promote blogs ?
Let us know. And Click The Like Icon Below ↓↓↓↓↓ 🙂
