7 Approaches to Business Blog Promotion You Need to Consider

Is your blog languishing in some obscure corner of the Internet? Do you struggle to attract readers to your blog on a regular basis? Are your blog subscriptions low—or worse, non-existent?

Even when you offer useful information that answers prospect and customer questions, you need to put effort into business blog promotion to attract visitors and readers.

Here are 7 strategies to help with you promote your business blog.

#1 Social Media Sharing

There is an important connection between successful business blogging and social media sharing. Whenever you publish a new post, share it to the main social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and Pinterest. Spend some time developing a following on each platform to help ensure you have an audience.

Another important best practice is the inclusion of social media share buttons on all your blog posts (“like on Facebook,”"tweet,”"share on LinkedIn,”"pin it,” and more). The most popular locations for buttons are above the content, below the content, or to the left of the content. Easy to access share buttons encourage readers to promote your content to their followers and increase your readership.

#2 Other Bloggers

Find influential bloggers in your industry and start to build a relationship with them. Share their posts with your social media networks. Comment on their blog posts. Mention them in your posts and link to them.

Once you establish yourself as an expert in your field, approach other bloggers with an idea for a guest blog. Although it is time consuming, guest blogging also creates a link-building opportunity for your blog to help it rank higher in search engines.

#3 Run a Contest

Consider running a contest on your blog that encourages other bloggers to link back to you. For example, earlier this year Brent Carnduff from SEO Echelon ran an eBook contest on his blog, inviting people to nominate their favourite marketing eBook. Carnduff narrowed the entries down to the top 25 then invited readers to select the 10 finalists. A panel of high profile marketers narrowed the finalists down to the top five winners.

#4 Email Signatures

If you’re like me, you probably send a lot of emails every day. Add a blog link to your email signature as part of your business blog promotion strategy—and encourage others in your company to do the same.

#5 Events and Presentations

If you are at an event giving a presentation on a specific topic, refer the audience to your blog for further information.

#6 Website Banners

Calls-to-action are critical to driving traffic to your blog. Use buttons or banners on different pages of your website, including your home and About Us pages.

Carefully consider the copy for your calls-to-action. Try emphasizing the number of people already subscribed to your blog to give it credibility and encourage others to subscribe.

#7 Bookmarking Sites and Blog Directories

Bookmarking sites allow you to submit articles to a community interested in your topic. Sites such as Reddit, StumbleUpon and Digg are popular for sharing stories.

Blog directories are another opportunity for blog promotion. There are hundreds of blog directories so be sure to submit your blog to the top 25. This approach will help your blog get more traffic and potentially create inbound links.

Using these seven strategies for business blog promotion will help you build a popular blog in your business niche.

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