Want to give your blog better visibility? Encourage more comments? Gain new fans? Secure your hard-earned place as one of the shining stars of the bloggerati (ridiculous word, I know) in 2013?
All teasing aside, almost every blogger dreams of building a bigger audience. And an increasing number are turning to the irrefutable force of social media to get more peepers on their works.
Social media is nothing new, and Gen Xers and Yers alike have taken to various social network platforms like ducks to water. Still, there remain a few who would rather spend their precious time writing than poking and pinning and tweeting and vining. And that’s fair enough… except, if you consider most readers’ expectations … it’s not.
Your average reader’s expectations of engagement and accessibility are very different than they were even five years ago. Chances are, your existing readers want to be able to connect with you across a range of platforms – and potential readers might never come across you at all unless you make yourself visible in the spaces they inhabit.
If you’re still not convinced, check out these five great reasons bloggers should utilise social media to engage existing and potential readers.
- Cost
Aside from your valuable time, utilising social media is free – making it the ideal tool for lifestyle and small business bloggers who have a limited or non-existent budget to spend on blog promotion. - Reach
Networks like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube have vast audiences. And their reach is mammoth. If you make yourself visible on social media, you’re far more likely to reach people who would otherwise never have the chance to gaze upon your blogging brilliance. - Connection and engagement
People are wired to want to feel connected, and part of the reason social media has been so revolutionary is due to the sense of connectedness people experience in using it. Engaging existing and potential readers via even one or two of the biggest social media platforms gives people a greater sense of who you are – the voice behind the blog – and encourages them to check back with your writings more frequently. - Join the conversation
Join in and add your two cents when people are talking about your area of expertise or interest online. If you strike up a conversation, most social media users will check out your profile – and potentially even click through to your blog. - Link love
You might not be all that interested in SEO and backlinks, but more links to your blog and individual posts can’t be a bad thing. Think of it as leaving new trails of breadcrumbs or carving out new roads for people to follow back to your content. Essentially, more links mean more opportunities for people to find your work. And, if it’s even vaguely important to you, more quality backlinks have the potential to help move your blog up the ranks in search results. Win-win.
There are a TON of social media plugins available for WordPress users, including Social Media Widget, Floating Social Media Icon, Social Media Feather, and Social Media Badge Widget.
