Growing Your Blog Through Social Media

By guest contributor Ciera Holzenthal. Photography by Alicia Eggert.

You started a blog and have great content, but no one knows that it exists! How are you making sure your content is found by potential readers? The answer: social media.

Why Social Media

Bloggers are discovering that investing time for online networking can be very beneficial for brand awareness and increasing traffic to their blog. As a blogger, it’s very important to stay connected, since readers want to feel like they know you. Social media is a great opportunity to let readers into your life in a more casual environment than on your blog. It's also great for engaging your readers in real-time conversations. Your blog will always be a home base, but building up social media channels helps drive people back to your blog.

Give Potential Readers Options

There are many social networks out there, but you don't need to join them all. You should, however, figure out which ones work best for you and have options available for your readers; not everyone follows blogs the same way. Facebook may not be your favorite social network, but it might be a favorite of a potential reader. Another reader may only follow blogs on Twitter. You want people to be able to follow you where they are comfortable.

Be Creative & Conversational

Being a little creative, when it comes to sharing your blog socially, can go a long way. Tailoring your introductions for each social network really makes a difference. While Twitter is used mostly for posting links, Pinterest is a very visual site, and Facebook works well for both text and images. It's important not to forget the "social" in social media! Social media is so powerful because it allows you to interact - take advantage of that! In addition to posting your own content, share other relevant issues and ideas as well.

These are just a few ideas that can benefit anyone trying to get their blog more exposure with social media. Online networking is time consuming, but can really pay off!