Blogger Traffic: Top ways to promote blog or website

So you have written the most amazing, most spectacular, most brilliant blog post EVER.  You’ve optimized it for SEO.  It is unique, fresh, and even a little witty.  What now?  How do you ensure the world knows about this tremendous piece of art?

You could always fork out the big bucks for paid advertising in Google Ads, Facebook Ads, or premium ad space on other well-known blogs and websites.

Or, you could go a more financially efficient route and use the following five ways to promote your most awesome blog post:

1 – Post to Social Media
While this may seem obvious, the use of social media to promote your blog post cannot be overstated.  Make sure you have created a Twitter account, Facebook Page, and Google+ Page for your blog.  Other platforms like LinkedIn and Pinterest can also be leveraged effectively.  It is a good idea to use a social sharing app like Hootsuite or Buffer to consolidate your social media accounts as well.  In addition, these apps give you the opportunity to share across several social media accounts all at once.  Utilizing hashtags related to your post can also get your post noticed more often.

2 – Comment on other blogs
Now I am not advocating that you leave a link to your latest blog post in the comment section of every blog you visit.  However, most commenting systems on other blogs will give you the option to link back to your blog.  So commenting on other blogs can drive traffic to your homepage.  Or, if you use the URL for a specific blog post, that traffic will be headed straight to the post you are trying to promote.  An even better option is commenting on blogs that utilize the CommentLuv plugin, which automatically links back to your most recent blog post.  As a side note, treat others’ blogs with the same respect you would want for your own blog — don’t leave comments that have no real value or don’t contribute to the discussion.  Be a part of the community.

3 – Submit your post to voting sites
Submitting your post to sites like Reddit, StumbleUpon, and BlogEngage are also great ways to get your post noticed.  While these sites may not raise your rankings in search results, they do provide valuable backlinks and traffic to your blog.  In addition, several of these sites are more than just voting sites; they are communities of bloggers — places where you can connect and network with many great bloggers as well as learn from them and catch up on the latest blogging trends.

4 – Communicate with your readership
One of the best ways to maintain regular communication with your readers is to develop a way for them to subscribe to your blog by email.  Using a service like MailChimp will accomplish this for you and it will also allow you to send regular updates, thank you notes, and targeted blog posts to your subscribers.

5 – Utilize Twitter as a networking tool
This process has been particularly successful for me, so I would suggest you try it as well.  Develop a network of blogging friends and acquaintances on Twitter.  Read and comment on their blogs.  Cultivate a real relationship with them.  Then, when you have written that amazingly spectacular and brilliant post, mention or DM them with a link to your post.  If you have shown yourself to be a true blogging friend, they will most likely read your post, comment on it, and retweet it for you — the blogging trifecta!

Thank you so much for reading!  I would love to hear the ways you promote your blog posts!  Leave a comment and then share the love with a Retweet, Facebook like, Google+ share, etc.