Blogging on a frequent basis is a great way to share your insight, tips, and advice while simultaneously enhancing your inbound marketing tactics. When running a small business it is imperative that you promote your blogs to reach a wider audience, it is also an inexpensive way to drive traffic to your website and draw in potential customers. Below, we have listed the best websites and tips to help you promote your blog and increase leads!
When promoting a blog, sharing your blog on social media sites is not enough, unless you are a well-known company with a big following. Fortunately, there are dozens of free websites where you can connect with other small businesses and people in your community and share your blog content to a specific audience. Free websites include:
- Social Media Sites– (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linked-In) Social media is one of the best ways to connect with potential customers and increase leads. Having a presence on the most popular and relevant social networks, allows you to connect to an audience willing and ready to connect to your brand. One essential way to increase your blog views is by incorporating hashtags when using social media networks.
- Google My Business– An Internet-based service operated by Google, for business owners. Google My Business gives business owners more control over what shows in the search results when someone searches your company name. It also lets you publish your products, services, and events directly to Google Search and Maps.
- Linked-In Groups– These are online meeting groups where people with similar interests and/or interest in your service or product, can post and share blogs and other content as well as have conversations. Participating in groups, allows you to grow relationships with people interested in your business.
- Smallbusinesssbrief.com– A website where small businesses can share ideas, encouragement, questions, and knowledge.
- Ogoing.com– A social network for small businesses. Gives you the ability to post your blog content and engage with potential customers.
- Ryze.com– A social networking website that links business professionals and new entrepreneurs.
- Quora.com– Quora is a website where you are able to promote your blogs, ask questions, and answer other users’ questions as well.
- Reddit.com– A discussion website, where registered members post content that is voted up or down by other members. Content can include blogs, links, images, text posts, and etc.
All of the websites above will help your small business grow a following and increase leads, but the only way to have followers open and read your content is by using promotional language to catch the reader’s attention. You want to use questions, phrases, or words that draw consumers in and are attached to your product or service. For example, if your blog is about studying techniques, you can start your caption with “Have you or do you struggle with studying for exams?”. Then follow with a call-to-action, “Click here to read our best studying techniques”, a “call-to-action” is a way to compel a viewer to take immediate action. It is a link that connects the viewer to the website’s or ad’s intended action. Promotional words like “click here, check out, and click to read”, are simple phrases that can encourage a follower to pay attention.
Blogging is a very effective and inexpensive way to share your ideas and grow your small business. Though writing blogs for your business take a good amount of effort and time, it is important that you focus just as much on promoting the blog! If you’d like any help writing or promoting your blog, please feel free to reach out…We’re always happy to help!
Danielle Foley, Owner
Foley Marketing Advisors
dfoley@foleymarketingadvisors.com