Without a readership, blogging would be an exercise in futility, like delivering a speech to an empty hall. All the wonderful tricks, tips and hints that you have to share would be useless if no one reads them or if those who should be reading them aren’t reading them. That’s what blog promotion is all about – bringing top-notch content to people looking for the information you have.
1. The Favicon. Mulani previously wrote about the favicon as one of three basic images every blog should have. As far as the image is concerned, she’s right; favicons are a huge element of blog branding. But what you probably don’t realize is the functional aspect of carrying a favicon – it’s easy for readers to share or forward an entry they like with their own networks. Imagine if a visitor tweets one of your entries. Imagine further the reader has a Twitter network of 100 followers. Imagine each of these 100 followers shares your blog to their Facebook network. Are you getting the exponential multiplier effect of carrying a favicon?
2. Your email signature. Yep, that’s right. Include a link to your blog on your email signature. Yahoo allows custom signatures with HTML codes. So does MSN. Gmail however, only allows text signatures and that’s fine. Point is, it’s no trouble adding a link to your blog on your email signature so, just do it. Emails travel all over the world wide web. That’s an exposure you don’t want to waste especially if you have a large email contact list. It doesn’t matter if it’s a personal or business email; add it!
3. Your forum signature. Of course, not every forum allows links in signatures. But where a forum does, by all means, please add a link to your blog on your signature. The interaction in a forum is a fantastic way to build random readership base, especially if you actively participate in forum discussions. Want to stretch things further? Comment on controversial issues. Sports, politics, and religion always draw a lively debate. Just be careful with the quality of your comments though and mind your netiquette. You really don’t want negative feedback or publicity to spill over to your main blog or website.
4. Your Facebook profile. Yes, right below your profile picture, type your blog’s url with some caption that says, “If you’d like to learn more about me, check me out at www.MyBlog.com” or something similar. Your friends would want to know more about what you’re up to and they will check in sometime to see what you’re about. Of course, if you have MySpace and other social networking accounts, this tip applies to those accounts as well.
5. Your comments on other blogs. If you’re following other blogs – which presumably, you are – commenting on posts and getting involved is often inevitable. Sometimes, you just want to drop the blogger a note to say how much they’ve helped. When you type in your blog’s url to submit the comment, type in the url to a specific post – a post relevant to the discussion you’re commenting on. Anyone who decides to check you out from that comments thread and sees you have something relevant to say on the subject might link back to you from their own blogs or sites.
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