Aug 30, 2012 / Beginner

Socialize your Blog

Remember that old saying that went something like, “Get new followers, but keep the old”? Okay, I may be stretching the truth a bit here, but one thing’s for sure: it’s always a joy to get new readers. Part of blogging is putting yourself out there to build relationships with those who come back to your site again and again.

As much as you love your current readership, it’s important to consistently draw in new visitors. Fortunately, social networking sites give us a plethora of tools from which we can choose to achieve this. Here are a few tips, for the total beginner to the seasoned pro, to help you make your social networking accounts work for you:

You can individually select which Publicize services to use on each post.

  • Publicize: WordPress.com’s built-in Publicize feature automatically shares your posts to any of the following services: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, and Yahoo! Updates. (Instructions for setting up Publicize are available here.) You can choose which services you share to, and can also turn the feature on and off on individual posts.

    Once Publicize is activated on your account, your site stats can give you a true reach of how many followers you have by including those on your connected accounts. For example, if you have 100 people who follow your updates on Facebook, they will also be counted among your blog followers on your site stats page.

  • Streamline your sharing: While you can manually share your posts to other services that may not yet be included in Publicize, there are also excellent tools cropping up that can help you manage your social networking profiles from a single hub, such as HootSuite.

    Other sites can help make the sharing process automatic. IFTTT, which stands for “If this, then that,” allows you to create custom sharing tools between your different online accounts, or what they call “recipes.” For example, you can create a custom “recipe” that says, “If I share a status update on Facebook, then publish it to my WordPress.com blog as well.”

  • Share more than your posts: Beyond sharing your posts, develop your online presence to connect with potential new readers. If your entire Facebook or Twitter feed is comprised of links to each of your new blog posts, that doesn’t make for an enticing read. Instead, shake things up with your own thoughts, photos on the go, or links to other blog posts that you’ve found interesting.

    For the Pinterest users among us, you can create a board that is specific to your blog posts. This allows visitors who are brought in by your various other pins to see a quick and easy overview of your blog’s archive.

Above all, remember that your blog comes first. You don’t need to be present on every single social networking site out there, but you do need to have content to share. As you build your readership and expand your presence to other social outlets, try what works best for you one by one and enjoy the new relationships that come from it.

Need some additional help with this? Check out the WordPress.com Support pages, forums, or contact Support with your questions!

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  5. I’m newbie sir, would you mind if I following this blog,
    for this article i didn’t understand @ all , because i’ve got some thing new here . Thanks

    Like

  7. I’m so much interested about everything,here! I have browsed through the various blogs and I’m learning a lot. But I’m sure I’m not ready to write a decent post in English! In my language(Italian) I think I know how to express the nuances and the subtleties ,requested by a good essay……… But what I’ ve read through the blogs makes me very discouraged about being able of reaching a similar level! One thing is putting together a few words to comment the entries , but writing an entire and worth the while composition, is different! Sorry for my confession,I wonder if I can follow the blog,without ever contributing ! I really love you!!

    Like

  8. Reblogged this on Myblog's Blog and commented:
    This is what I call “the quick and easy” for new bloggers made easy by WordPress. Sharing made easier. While your at it, the
    The features I love are audio posts and posts from my iPod touch. (don’t have an iPhone or smart type phone, but posting on the go is appealing and the new old “black” or should I say undiscovered.) Check it out!
    If you have trouble finding it, contact me, and I’ll point the way. “happy blogging” as they say.

    Like

  11. Wonderful Facebook idea, thank you! I had only been placing links on Facebook, going to start doing some posts on Facebook about daily life etc.

    Have also noticed that the more I try to connect with readers in the comments and thoughtfully read and comment on their posts, people have been commenting much more.

    Blogging is a constant learning process, that’s for sure. Learn something new everyday on how to be a better writer and blogger.

    Thanks!

    Like

    1. ‘the more I try to connect with readers in the comments and thoughtfully read and comment on their posts, people have been commenting much more.’

      That’s great! Thanks for sharing 🙂

      Like

  12. salut, am un blog cu povesti supranaturale si nu am prea multi followeri. cum fac mai multi? am incercat tot ce stiu, am facut o pagina pe facebook, am distribuit pagini si posturi, dar vizualizarile mele raman in jur de 40. cum fac mai multi vizitatori?

    Like

  15. Olá, amigos! Tenho dois blogs aqui no WordPress. O primeiro onde posto desde 2005, meus poemas, que venho escrevendo, e publicando os vídeo-poemas editados no youtube. Atualmente são 43 vídeos no Youtube, e estão publicados aqui no wordpress em conjunto com os textos dos poemas.

    O outro blog é o FAMÍLIA SPÍNOLA. A URL permanece como spinolapoesias, pois não consegui mudá-la. Neste coloco publicações sobre a história da família Spínola desde Gênova, de forma resumida, com ilustrações. Comecei este há uns seis meses. Há também um quadro genealógico da família de José Quirino Spínola y Castro, o primeiro da minha linhagem genealógica a chegar no Brasil. Não está terminado ainda. Caso você o visite, e tenha informações que possam completar o quadro, por favor deixe-me um recado no local da publicação, para que eu a altere e atualize. Obrigada

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  17. I find that sometimes a post comes up on Facebook, and sometimes it doesn’t. It seems random, and I can’t figure out why it is happening. I like the idea of manual posting though.

    Like

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  24. I always prefer taking the extra time to manually post to Facebook and Twitter. I often will write a longer message when posting to Facebook because I have more characters available than the 140 on Twitter. I also find it useful to use a URL shortener such at bit.ly as I can also track stats from that end. I agree though that it’s a great way of getting people read your blog. I just wish they would comment on the blog as well as the link on Facebook!

    Like

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  29. I recently started a blog for my writings and I would really like people’s opinions on it. Can someone tell me how to go about doing it? I think I write really well and could entertain a lot of people.

    Like

      2. Chrissy – I went to your site and liked it especially the variety of topics posted – they’re interesting (i.e., NASA recycling pee-water and air-cleaning billboard).

        I’m curious though in clicking on the “read more” link. It takes you to another site other than yours where you can read the post in it’s entirety. Are these posts on the other sites written by you?

        I was a little confused as I didn’t know if you also posted same material on this site to other sites.

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      3. Hi, thank you so much for looking at my site. Yes, these posts were written by me for another site. I have a lot of articles I have written for numerous sites but am not getting the kind of exposure I want so I thought I would create an online portfolio of all my work.

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      4. Your welcome Chrissy and thank you for the clarification of your posts on numerous sites. Wish you all the luck in the world with your blog. From all the comments I noticed you’ve received, it looks like you’re well on your way.

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