So you’ve just started a blog. Fantastic! You’re on your way to sharing your ideas with the world (or at least, the internet).
But now what?
Unfortunately, many amateur bloggers don’t realise that it’s not just a case of hitting publish and getting thousands of views on their blogs instantly. No, you need to promote your blog at first if you want people to actually read it.
The good news is, there are a number of ways to promote your blog, and a lot of these methods are free! By utilising some (or all) of the methods below, you can start driving traffic to your site and getting your voice heard.
So keep reading if you want to learn how to promote your blog for free! But first, let’s see why it’s important to promote your blog, especially as a new blogger.
Read also:
- How I grew my blog to 10,000 page views a month within 6 months of launching
- 101 Profitable Micro Niche Blog Ideas for 2022
- 25 Irresistible Opt In Freebies to Grow Your Mailing List
- Write for a Digital Nomad Blog: How to Stand Out From The Competition
- Amateur Blogging: 13 Mistakes Amateur Bloggers Make (and how to fix them)
- Blog Launch Checklist: What To Do Before Launching A Blog
- The Pros and Cons of Daily Blogging on your Search Engine Rankings
Full disclosure! See those links below? If you happen to click on one of these and purchase something I recommend, I’ll get a small commission (wohoo). Don’t worry, this is at no extra cost to you (in fact, often I’ll have some discounts you can enjoy!). As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying sales. You can read my full disclaimer here.
The importance of blog promotion
A blog is only as good as its promotion. Just like any other product or service, a blog needs to be marketed in order to reach its target audience.
Anyone who’s ever tried to promote a blog knows that it’s not as easy as it sounds. You can spend hours writing killer content, but if no one knows your blog exists, all that effort will go to waste. That’s why promotion is essential to the success of any blog.
While there are a number of ways to promote your blog (both free and paid), it’s important to utilise as many methods as possible, especially when you’re first starting out. The more people you can reach, the better chance you have of driving traffic to your site and getting noticed.
Ultimately, the goal is to get organic traffic through Google, however it can take months for Google to notice you and to rank for competitive keywords. So, in the meantime, you need to find other ways of driving traffic to your blog.
That’s where the below list comes into play!
Related post: Blog Launch Checklist: What To Do Before Launching A Blog
How to promote your blog for free
1. Social media
Social media is a powerful tool that can be used to promote anything – and that includes your blog! By sharing your blog posts on social media sites, you can reach a whole new audience who may not have otherwise found your site.
The key to promoting your blog on social media is to be strategic about it. Simply sharing a link to your latest blog post is unlikely to result in much engagement (and let’s face it, no one wants their social media feeds to be full of links to people’s blogs).
Instead, focus on posting interesting snippets or quotes from your blog posts, along with a link back to the full article. This will encourage people to click through to your site, and it also helps to increase the reach of your posts (as more people are likely to see and engage with a quote or snippet than a full blog post).
Additionally, make sure you’re sharing your posts at the right time. Timing is everything when it comes to social media, and you need to make sure you’re sharing your content when your audience is most likely to be online and engaged.
Some of the social media platforms you can use for blog promotion are:
Facebook – even if you don’t have your own Facebook page for your blog starting out, you can promote your blog on groups that are relevant to your niche.
For example, if you’re a mommy blogger and someone asks for advice on something you’ve written about in the group, you can respond answering their question and saying that you actually wrote an entire blog post about this topic! Just be sure that this is allowed in the group’s rules.
Additionally, many blogging Facebook groups have posts where you can promote or request feedback on your blog. These are great opportunities to get some eyes on your blog.
Twitter – Twitter is amazing for building comradery with other bloggers, getting advice and, you guessed it, promoting your blog. Many bloggers and writers hold ‘comment threads’ where you can leave the link to your new blog post and comment on other people’s. In return, they’ll do the same for you.
Not only does this give you some valuable feedback, but it also helps get your blog content in front of a whole new audience. It’s a win-win!
Instagram – Instagram can be a great platform for promoting your blog, especially if you have strong visuals to go along with your posts. Many bloggers use posts, reels and stories to promote their blog posts.
Additionally, hashtags are your friend when it comes to promoting your content on Instagram. By using relevant hashtags, you can make sure your content is being seen by people who are interested in what you have to say.
Don’t forget to have a social sharing plugin on your blog so people who like your blog posts can share it on their social networks too.
2. Guest blogging
Guest blogging is a great way to get your name (and your blog) out there, as well as drive traffic back to your site. Essentially, guest blogging involves writing a blog post for another person’s website or blog. In return, you usually get to include a link back to your own site.
When guest blogging, it’s important to make sure you’re writing for a site that is relevant to your niche or industry. This will help to ensure that the people reading your guest blog are also interested in what you have to say on your own blog. Make sure your guest blog is well-written and informative. Just because it’s not for your own site doesn’t mean you shouldn’t put your best into it, so take the time to write something that will really interest and engage your audience.
In addition to getting your blog noticed, guest blogging can also help increase your domain authority (DA) – which is a ranking factor that helps to determine how high your site will appear in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Read also: Write for a Digital Nomad Blog: How to Stand Out From The Competition
3. Comment on other blogs
When you leave a comment on another person’s blog, make sure you include a link back to your own site. This way, people reading the comments will be able to click through to your blog and check it out for themselves.
When commenting on other blogs, make sure you’re adding something of value to the conversation. No one wants to read a generic comment like “Great post!” or “Thanks for sharing”- so take the time to read the article and write something thoughtful and engaging. This will increase the chances of people clicking through to your blog, as well as encourage other bloggers to check out your site.
Related post: How to choose the right legal pages for your blog
4. Email your list
If you have a mailing list (and you should!), make sure you’re utilising it to promote your latest posts. Send out an email whenever you publish a new article, along with a brief description of what the post is about. Include a link back to your site so that people can click through and read the full article.
If you post a few new blog posts throughout the week, it may be better email your list once a week with a roundup of all the new articles you’ve published. This way people can choose which ones they want to read, and you’re not bombarding them with too many emails.
Make sure your emails are well-written and engaging, as no one wants to open an email to find a wall of text staring back at them. Keep your emails short and to the point, and make sure they’re relevant to your audience.
If you don’t have a mailing list set up yet, head over to Mailerlite or Convertkit and start growing your blog family!
Read also: 25 Irresistible Opt In Freebies to Grow Your Mailing List
Don’t have a list yet? Get started with Mailerlite or Convertkit today!
5. Forum marketing
Forum marketing is a great way to get your blog in front of a new audience. Essentially, you find forums that are relevant to your niche or industry, and then take part in the discussions taking place. Make sure you’re adding something of value to the conversation, and include a link back to your blog whenever relevant.
Forum marketing can be a great way to build up an audience for your blog, as well as increase your DA. However, it’s important to make sure you’re not spamming forums with links to your site. This will just get you banned from the forums, and it’s not an effective way to promote your blog anyway.
6. Pinterest
Pinterest is effectively a mix between a social media platform and a search engine.
It’s a great platform for promoting your blog, as you can share pictures and infographics from your articles as well as links back to your site. If you have a lot of visual content on your blog, Pinterest can be a great way to drive traffic back to your site.
To make the most of Pinterest, make sure you’re using keywords in your descriptions, and also utilising hashtags. This will help people to find your content more easily, and it will also make sure your pins are being seen by as many people as possible.
Pinterest can be a bit of a pain in the a** to get the hang of and you have to be consistently pinning to see any real results, but it’s worth it in the long run. Even if you only ever have one pin that goes viral, you can end up with thousands of eyes on your blog.
Read also: How to Make Money on Pinterest Without a Blog: 6 Worthy Ways
7. LinkedIn
If you’re in a B2B industry, LinkedIn can be a great platform for promoting your blog. You can share your articles with your connections, as well as join or create LinkedIn groups relevant to your niche
When sharing your articles on LinkedIn, make sure you write a compelling headline and include a short description of what the article is about. You should also include a picture to make your post more visually appealing.
LinkedIn can be a great way to reach out to other businesses and connect with people in your industry. If you’re not using it to promote your blog, you’re missing out on a lot of potential blog traffic.
8. Youtube
Youtube is the platform to go to if you also create video content. You can include links to your articles in the description of your videos, as well as in the annotations. If you don’t have any videos on your blog, you can always create a simple slideshow with some pictures and text from your article.
While Youtube is a great way to get traffic to your blog, it’s important to remember that people go on Youtube to be entertained, not to be sold to. So make sure your videos are entertaining and informative, and don’t try to sell too hard in the description or annotations. If you do this, people will naturally want to click through to your blog to find out more.
9. Word of mouth
Tell people about your blog! Seriously, the people in your life are likely to be interested in what you have to say, so don’t be afraid to tell them about your blog. You never know, they might even want to share it with their friends and family.
Word of mouth is still one of the most powerful marketing tools there is. If you can get people talking about your blog, you’re sure to see an increase in traffic.
10. Throughout your own blog
Make sure you’re promoting your blog throughout your own site. Include links back to your latest articles in your sidebar, as well as at the end of each post. You can also create a dedicated page on your blog with links to all of your latest articles.
Throughout your blog posts, include links to related posts. This will keep readers on your site for longer, and it will also help search engines to index your site more effectively.
If you want people to keep coming back to your blog, you need to give them a reason to. Promoting your blog throughout your site is a great way to do this.
11. Podcasts
Podcasts are becoming more and more popular, so if you’re not already doing one, now is the time to start. You can promote your blog on your podcast by reading out snippets of your latest articles, as well as giving listeners a link to click through to read the full thing.
Podcasts are a great way to reach a new audience, and they’re also a great way to build up a relationship with your existing readers. If you can get people hooked on your podcast, they’re sure to check out your blog to see what else you have to say.
If you don’t have your own podcast yet, you can guest speak on other podcasts and get your blog’s name out there.
12. Review post
Have you ever used a product or a service and you just want to tell everyone about it? Many bloggers offer courses and services and if you share a review you’ve written about their specific product, they’re likely to link back to your raving review on their site!
When you’re reviewing a product or service, make sure you mention the company’s name and include a link to their website. Then email the company and let them know you’ve written about them.
13. HARO (Help a Reporter Out)
HARO is a great way to get exposure for your blog, and it’s also a great way to build up your portfolio as a writer and your DA. All you need to do is sign up for their daily email list, and you’ll receive a list of reporters who are looking for sources for their stories.
If you see a story that you think you could be a source for, simply send the reporter an email with your credentials and why you would be a good source for their story. If they decide to use you as a source, they will quote you in their article and include a link back to your blog or website.
So there you have it – a comprehensive guide on how to promote your blog for free.
I hope you found this information helpful and that you’re now ready to take your blog marketing strategy up a notch. If you put these tips into action, I guarantee you will see an increase in website traffic and readership. And who knows? You might even start making some money from your blog in the process!
Do you use any of these methods to promote your blog? Which of these is your favourite?
