You know the most exciting thing about a new blog? Starting it! A lot of anticipations and expectations form the shape of the new blog. The downside is the part which comes after you start it - getting people to notice it and get traffic to the site. It is a long road which you have to travel to get people to notice your blog, read your posts, comment on it, recommend it to others, and become loyal. It is like playing a strategy game like Caesar (or Pharaoh, or any city-building or similar strategy game for that matter) - you would know how much time it took for you to build a whole city out of nothing though you have all the tools and guidance to reach there. But that was an exciting game, this is business reality.
Social Media is one way of getting past this long road fast. But it all depends on your content. If your content is original, and would help a lot of people, then social media marketing is one thing you should definitely try out to push your blog to the skies.
How to Start?
Traffic from a Niche social media site can be much more valuable than the traffic from a popular social media site. By the term “niche social media site”, I mean a site where there are categories which can fit your market in. This is the place where the people interested in your website or market will be around.
Social Media is all about socializing. Building a network of good contacts and friends on the social media site can make things much easier for you. In case you do not have this already, you just might have to put in a bit more of time than usual, but this can definitely send targeted traffic.
What you need to do is to identify a few social media sites which are right for your market. Don’t expect overnight traffic. This will take a bit of time if you are new. Join them, get a feel of the sites, help people and build a community around you.
Preparing your website for social media traffic
What is more frustrating for your readers (and you) than liking a good post, but not having a way of sharing it with like-minded friends? For you, it would be a lot of traffic lost.
Once you have identified your niche social media sites, consider adding some buttons or widgets that enable users to share the post on the media. You must have seen the Digg This button on most websites. Look for similar options on the social media site that you plan to market in, or add a widget such as ShareThis or AddThis to your site which can help users share the page on the media site. (You can look at this list of top 10 social media wordpress plugins collated by Steven Snell of Traffikd.com if you like.) If your visitors like your post, these buttons will remind them to vote for your site.
Using your existing community
You have a lot of friends and contacts, don’t you? Use them. Ask them to visit your blog, and tell them how great it would be having them visit your blog. Ask them to read your posts and comment on them, and if they use your niche social media site, vote for you. The good thing about this is, your friends and contacts would be able to give you valuable inputs regarding your site in a positive way than another person who visits your site for the first time. Ask them for constructive feedback, and see if you can incorporate good inputs on your site.
Writing content for social media
The reason why you need to join your targeted social media sites before you launch your website is because this will give you a chance to understand your future visitors better. This will help you understand what’s hot and what’s not with your community, and tailor your content for them.
Getting people to subscribe to your site
Many people are fond of RSS or email subscriptions of good websites flowing to them, because this saves them the trouble of going to sites individually unless they like the post. Encourage it! Let users subscribe to your posts. Ultimately, if your blog does not have subscribers, it won’t be easy promoting your content to people. Make your subscription options visible to your readers, so that they remember to subscribe to your site if they like your site.
The About page
Most webmasters forget this part of your site. When you write for the public, they would like to know who the author is. Make sure that you get that About page filled up. A short description of yourself and your site will do. Try to make it professional, quick and simple. You can write a short bio about you, but try to make sure it stays within the size of a normal page and not the size of a book.
What next?
Once you have traffic coming in and have got subscribers? Write for them now. Give them valuable resources related to your market. Write good content for them to come back to you again and again, and bring more people to your site. After a time, you won’t need to promote your site - your readers will do it for you. You should also look for other options of increasing your exposure, and then monetizing that traffic.
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