17 Easiest Ways to Promote a Blog in 2021

17 Easiest Ways to Promote a Blog in 2021

Last Updated on by Michael Brockbank

Part of creating an awesome blog is making sure people know it exists. Organic search is great, but you should also promote your blog to the right audience. It’ll do wonders for engagement and on-page time.

Personally, I’ve found people who find my blog outside of search spend more time reading the content.

Today, I’ll go over some of the easiest ways to advertise a blog without costing you an arm and a leg.

How to Promote a Blog Effectively

The important thing to keep in mind that marketing your website is all about getting it in front of as many people as you can. Keep in mind that not all methods will work the same for everyone.

However, you won’t know what works best for you without trying.

1. Write Guest Posts to Promote the Blog

Guest posts work exceptionally well, especially if you manage to write for a popular blog. Not only does it get your name in front of an audience that isn’t yours, but the link back to your site gives them something to click on.

This is aside from how a backlink can help in SEO. Well, as long as the other site owner doesn’t add a “no follow” tag to the link.

Still, writing a guest post is perhaps one of the easiest and cheapest ways to boost traffic to your site. All it takes is for you to create a great piece of content for the other blog owner to publish.

Personally, I like the idea of Googling my name only to see it pop up on other websites.

2. Set Up an Email Marketing Strategy

Email marketing is still one of the most effective methods of promotion on the Internet. In fact, studies show that for every dollar you spend on email marketing, it returns an average of $42 worth of income.

What’s great about email marketing is that you can get started right now without spending a single dime. If you build a blog with WordPress, you can install free plugins that will manage this for you.

To get started, Mailchimp offers a free account that allows up to 2,000 contact emails. You can build up quite the following before you actually have to upgrade to the “Essentials” plan.

This is one aspect that I plan to do in the very near future.

3. Promote the Blog as an Email Signature

Email is still one of the most common forms of online communication. But, have you thought about adding your website as part of your professional email signature?

Email Signature
From Mozilla Thunderbird

Of course, setting this up depends on the platform you use. But, adding the URL to your signature can easily help promote your blog. And, many email clients can help you create an attractive layout using HTML.

There are a number of ways you can promote a blog through email. If HTML is enabled, you can actually create links to your website instead of merely showing the web address.

Logos, images, buttons…get creative with it and see what you can add that encourages a reader to click and visit.

4. Keep Engaged with Your Commentors

OK, this isn’t exactly a way to promote your site outside of your content. But, it does help encourage people to come back to read more of your posts. Especially if your comment section is set up to email commentors when a reply is made.

In many regards, responding to commentors is just as vital as it is on social media. It’s all about providing that interaction and giving someone validation that they are worth your time.

Personally, I respond to nearly every comment whether they are on my websites or that of my clients. Not only do I want those people to come back, but I also enjoy helping and interacting.

5. Collaborate with Other Creators

Collaborations can work wonders for any type of website or YouTube channel. It’s similar to a guest post, but there is more of a connection between you and the other creator.

It’s more than just sharing each others content with respective audiences. It’s a method of networking that can help both of you grow at an exponential rate.

Especially if you both bring a great deal of talent to the table. And if it turns out to be a regular instance, it solidifies the expertise of both parties among consumers.

Essentially, you’re sharing audiences and sometimes resources to benefit both brands in a way that goes beyond just guest blogging. It builds a system that can have a variety of benefits for years to come.

6. Comment on Relevant Blogs

Some blogs are set up to share the URLs of commentors. So, if you leave a prolific comment on a blog post, it could drive quite a few people to click and visit your website.

However, you need to make sure you’re commenting on posts that are relevant to your website. If you run a fitness blog, don’t comment on a boat repair site thinking it’ll drive a ton of traffic.

In one instance, I received a quick boost of traffic from a popular blog because I made a few insightful comments. It was short-lived, but it did drive quite a few visitors.

That’s one thing you need to keep in mind: newer blog posts are more effective for comment links.

7. Answer Questions on Quora

Promote the Blog on Quora

A great way to promote your blog is to tie it together with answers on Quora. In fact, I’ve collected a few visitors myself by answering various questions about blogging, WordPress, and freelance writing.

Plus, it makes you look more professional if you’re able to provide accurate and actionable responses to questions.

Just like commenting, though, you want to make sure you’re linking from questions that are relevant to your blog. So, don’t answer fishing questions and link back if your site is about the best dog foods.

Usually, I’ll provide an answer with a link that goes deeper into details. And if you follow certain topics on Quora, you’ll get regular emails regarding new questions.

8. Help Others in Forums

Like the comment section, many forums will allow blog links in profiles or linking out to support topics. Join some forums related to your blog’s niche and do your best to answer questions.

It works much like Quora, but some forums are far more interactive.

Just make sure you’re not simply spamming your blog’s link. I usually use links back to my sites if the post’s information is relevant or provides a greater explanation.

You also have to make sure you follow the forum’s guidelines. Some are very particular about what kind of links you can share.

At any rate, forums are a great way to get your name out there as an expert in your field. And that can often be worth more than promoting your blog.

9. Promote Your Blog on Reddit

Reddit

So, Reddit can kind of be lumped into the Forums section above. However, it goes a bit beyond just a simple forum. In a way, it stands alone as a social media platform.

In fact, I still get visits to one of my videos that someone shared in a subreddit a couple of years ago.

Reddit works similar to forums, in that you try to help, share, or otherwise interact with those who favor your niche. And there are thousands upon thousands of subreddits you can subscribe to.

Join the right group and demonstrate your expertise, and you could easily drive tons of traffic to your website.

In any case, it’s a great way to find others for networking or collaborating purposes.

10. Set Up a Link-Outreach Plan

An effective method to promote your blog is by reaching out to others for backlinks. An outreach plan is a bit different than just guest blogging. All it requires is an email to the blog’s owner or manager.

It works like this: you find a blog that is relevant to your own. Go through the content and see if there anything you have that would accentuate a post. Then, contact the site owner and let them know you have a post that would fit perfectly with his or her blog.

Another way to do this is by using a backlink checker app to find broken links. If the broken link fits your content, you can suggest to the site owner to replace the old one with yours.

I would suggest setting up a link back to the other website as a form of reciprocation. A lot of site owners are OK with this, especially if the links are highly relevant and from high-authority sites.

11. Rewrite and Reshare Old Content

Updating old content is a great way to keep it relevant and scoring well in Google. But, don’t just rewrite the piece. Reshare it with your audience on social media.

For one thing, people who followed you within the last year probably don’t know about that epic article you wrote two years ago.

Not only will updating old content boost SEO, but it can generate new traffic from Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and anywhere else you share the link for your followers.

I’ve seen rewrites of client’s posts from six-year-old articles get a boost of traffic by 1,800%! All we did was add 500 words to the article and share it on social media.

12. Use Blog Sharing Networks

There are some networks out there for sharing blog posts that can help get your content seen. However, you need to be incredibly careful when using some of these platforms.

The biggest issue that can happen is a duplicate content penalty.

This is when you copy the post from your website and put it on sites like Medium or Bored Panda.

After Google’s Panda update, the search giant has been cracking down on copying text from one website and pasting it on another. Instead of getting a boost of traffic, your original post could be penalized.

This means a drop in search results or complete removal of your page altogether.

Share your blog, but be careful about sharing the entire post word-for-word.

13. Promote the Blog on Social Media

Building up your social presence can bring all kinds of visitors to the site. In fact, after putting in more effort to engage my followers, I’ve found a lot of benefits from social sites.

Promote the Blog on Social Media

When it comes to sharing your posts on social media, the biggest factor will be what platform you use most. For WriterSanctuary, YouTube is the biggest contributor, followed by Facebook and Twitter.

However, it takes more than just sharing your posts. Make sure you interact and engage your audience. Also, add your blog URL to your bios, if possible.

I’ve even had visitors from Wattpad, Blogger, and Instagram recently. Though, I only added the URL to Instagram very recently.

What makes this method ideal is that it’s a great way to promote your blog for free.

14. Add Sharing Buttons with a Good Call-to-Action

Great content is often shared by others with their own group of followers. This means that you can reach an audience who may not even know you exist because someone clicked the “share” button on your content.

But to get the most out of these social shares, you need to give people a reason to do so. Not only does it take stellar content, but you need to add a call-to-action.

A CTA can prompt people to take a variety of actions depending on circumstance. And they work exceptionally well. In fact, you can increase conversion rates by over 200% with a strong message.

This means people are twice as likely to share your content if you prompt them in a well-written call-to-action.

15. Consider Social Media Groups

Social Media Groups

Social media groups are kind of like subsets within certain channels. Kind of like how subreddits work, social media groups can give you access to a wealth of potential visitors.

For example, there are a lot of groups on Facebook and people often follow specific hashtags on Twitter. By sharing your blog posts with those audiences, you can promote your blog well.

However, you need to be wary of certain groups. Some groups on Facebook will kick you out if you constantly share posts, especially if they aren’t relevant to a topic or conversation.

Read the group’s rules before you start promoting your work.

Twitter is much easier to handle in this regard. Simply add the hashtag and you could reach a large number of people almost instantly.

16. Consider Paid Ads to Promote the Blog

When it comes to paid ads for a blog, I’m on the fence. Unless you have something for sale or have methods in place to generate a great deal of money, ads for a blog are almost pointless.

Sure, you’ll get a short burst of traffic. But if you rely on advertising revenue from AdSense or affiliate links, you may wind up paying more for ads than you bring in.

On the other hand, it can help you build up a following should people from those ads subscribe to a mailing list or push notifications.

Should you decide to try paid ads on platforms like Google, Facebook, or Twitter, keep a close on your return-on-investment. It’s easy to spend more money than your site brings in.

It may not be worth the investment.

17. Write Content People Want to Link To

Perhaps the easiest method to promote a blog is to write content people want to link. This will depend greatly on the type of audience you attract, the topics you cover, and if you write well enough to entice someone to use you as a reference.

About 5% of my external referral traffic comes from a single blog post. I wrote an article the reader enjoyed and he linked to my site from his post as a reference.

That was more than a year ago, and his audience is still finding that article.

Build up Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness (E-A-T). Not only for Google but for those who may use your content to accentuate their own materials.

Creating something stunning is one of the best ways to promote the content of your blog.

YouTube Channel

Why Set Up a Blog Promotion Strategy?

The vast majority of your traffic is going to come from search engines. However, having a promotion strategy for your blog can help you reach more of an audience.

See, search engine traffic relies on someone looking for information. If you provide the best answers, you bring in visitors.

When you promote your blog on other platforms, though, you show the audience what you have available. Some will visit simply because you put it in front of them.

Sometimes, you’ll share a post you create about a tool or product that piques the interest of your followers on social media. Although they aren’t actively looking for the content in Google, it’s something they may want to read.

And that’s what a blog promotion strategy is all about; engaging an audience outside of search engines.

The more often you can get your content in front of interested readers, the better. Since a lot of these methods are automated, all you have to do is set them up.

Get Every Bit Out of Your Site as You Can

Search engines are vastly important for the success of your blog. But don’t think for one second that other ways to promote your blog are pointless.

In fact, your target audience from some of these methods may have more of an impact on important metrics like on-page time and bounce rates.

Figure out a strategy that works well for you and market the blog. There is more of an audience than what you can pull from search results.

If you’ve found this post helpful, feel free to share! It only takes a second.

Michael Brockbank
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