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ProBlogger: Reading Roundup: What’s New in Blogging Lately?

ProBlogger: Reading Roundup: What’s New in Blogging Lately?

Link to ProBlogger

Reading Roundup: What’s New in Blogging Lately?

Posted: 29 Jul 2016 07:00 AM PDT

Reading Roundup: What's new in blogging this week / ProBlogger.net

I almost squealed with glee this week reading this stuff – my notebook is packed with awesome tips. Enjoy!

New Feature Alert: Facebook’s Latest Live Video Upgrades | Edgar

Targeting! *applauds*

So You Think You Chose to Read This Article? | BBC

Holy cow. The technology keeping up with social media trends and spitting out such specific information about what will work at what time for your audience is amazing. You might think you choose to read an article, but it’s likely someone’s posted it because a bot told them you’re the right reader at the right time.

Ranking #0: SEO for Answers | Moz

We used to covet the #1 spot in search – now it’s all about that featured snippet. So how do you get it? Moz reveals all!

A Step-By-Step Guide to Writing a Compelling Article Introduction | QuickSprout

Because if you don’t catch a reader straight away (a bit like Pokemon, yeah?) they won’t stick around.

3 Secret Gmail Buttons to Guarantee Your Cold Emails Get Opened | Jeff Bullas

We’ve all been there – an email sent out of the blue and we never hear back. Well, no more!

coffee-cup-mug-desk

Take Back Your Time With These 10 Ready-Made Spreadsheet Templates (And Our Top Tips and Time-Savers) | Buffer

Buffer says “live smarter, not harder” and I love that – I also love their ready-made templates to help you keep on top of your working life.

How I Finished Writing My Book in 90 Days | Jeff Goins

Honestly, by the time we do work, life, perhaps study, the time we’ve got left over to write bigger projects like your next ebook, book, or ecourse, is ridiculously slim. I like seeing how other people manage it, and Sandy does so in 0nly 90 days! Amazing.

Notes on 6 Years of Blogging | Young Adventuress

A very human lookback on what blogging can bring – both good and bad.

The 18 Best Writing Tips You’ll Ever Read | Medium

It doesn’t matter how much you write, you’ll always want to know how to write better.

6 Tricks to Get More Traffic to Unpopular Blog Posts | Business2Community

We’ve all been there – we’ve written a post that fell flat. Love these ideas to revive it!

The post Reading Roundup: What’s New in Blogging Lately? appeared first on ProBlogger.

      

6 Great Ways to Boost Likes & Shares for Your Posts - DailyBlogTips

6 Great Ways to Boost Likes & Shares for Your Posts - DailyBlogTips


6 Great Ways to Boost Likes & Shares for Your Posts

Posted: 29 Jul 2016 07:11 AM PDT

Are your posts valuable and relevant for your readers? Do you want to get more likes and shares for your content? Generating leads is among the most important objectives of any blogger or online business. Social media is an effective tool to gain more visibility as well as a larger number of followers and traffic.

How should you use social networks to achieve a higher visibility and more fans? The bigger the number of followers is the higher your reach will be. You must apply some tactics to increase this important metric. We have gathered several great ways to help you obtain more likes and shares in the digital environment.

1. Choose The Right Social Media Networks to Promote Your Posts

Before actually starting a business or a blog, you should closely look at your target market. Who are your clients or followers? What are their needs, desires, and pain points? Use this information to create your buyer persona (the profile of your ideal customer). Your potential fans might not be on all social networks. This is why you have to create accounts on those that are truly relevant to what you have to offer.

For example, to reach the masses, Facebook is a good choice. When you have a lot of visuals and images, the best choice is to use Instagram. If you want to promote yourself as a professional, LinkedIn is the right pick for you. So on, and so forth. You don't have to be present on all the existing websites. As a matter of fact, this would only dilute your efforts.

Focus on a combination of two or four networks. Choose those that are best suited for your social media needs and also keep their relevance in mind for your subjects or activity domain. At first, you can try several platforms, and discover where your potential customers are spending most of their time. You can do this by using the Google Analytics suite.

Besides web metrics, how else can you find where your buyers spend their time? Well, you can also ask them directly, by running a small and concise survey. Another useful method is to take a glance at what your competitors are doing. If you are targeting a small niche, check if your domain is active on the networks you want to create accounts.

2. Optimization Is Crucial

After you have chosen the right social media mix to promote your posts, you should consider optimizing your content and your profiles. You can even connect all the accounts. For example, if you create a text post for your Facebook account, try to adjust it to be utilized for other profiles as well. You can transform it into a short video and upload it to YouTube.

Optimization should be taken into consideration for all the aspects of your content, starting with the title and ending with images. If you want to build a brand, try finding your voice. Be unique and original. While it is recommended to look for inspiration, you should never copy. The digital environment is full of useless and duplicate content. Maintain your focus. Think about your goals. What do you exactly want to obtain by promoting these specific posts?

Keywords should not be an afterthought, as they will dictate the general direction of your content. Spend as much time as needed to identify relevant long-tail keywords & optimize your content for them.

3. Create Engaging Content

Add images or videos to your posts. Make them look appealing. Also, you can use specific programs such as SumoMe to add sharing buttons directly on your visual. When a user hovers over your post's images, he/she will be able to share it on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media networks, thus increasing your number of likes and shares.

You can also add a visible "share" button under each image or video. As long as you make your content user-friendly, followers will be more likely to share it on social media. Engaging content shows realistic and natural things. Instead of using the picture of some models to represent your team, take some real pictures of them. This way, you will become more trustworthy in the eyes of the users.

4. Diversify and Re-Share Content

First and foremost, your content should always be very relevant and valuable to your target audience. When you post a variety of content, you make sure that your social media profiles are always updated and offer fresh reading materials for your followers. Keep your audience engaged at all times. Otherwise, they will become less interested in what you have to offer.

Attract your clients by posting all types of content, from informational to promotional. Make sure, however, to apply the golden rule- the 80/20 method. This means you should post only 20 percent promotional content. The rest should be helpful and valuable for your target market. Creating loyalty among your clients is more important that just to attract short-term website traffic.

You can make a schedule of your posts. By sharing it several times on your social media profiles, you will increase the number of people that sees your content. You can use several online platforms that help you make a proper publishing schedule. They offer features such as planning which content to be distributed, on which networks, and the exact time to do this.

5. Test Different Titles

Titles are imperative for both SEO and user experience. Take the time to craft engaging and intriguing titles. A way to do to this is by applying the A/B testing method. The title can determine whether the post will be opened or not. Also, it will play an important role in the number of likes and shares you will get. For example, "How to" titles have great audience exposure.

Compelling titles should encourage readers to click on the post. You can see how good is your titles by using some specific web tools. Most of them are free of charge. This element of your post is the first one that the users see so make it a great one.

You also have to think about where you will post the content. The titles should be optimized accordingly. For example, Twitter titles are shorter than those posted on other social media networks. So, what's in a title? Well, a big part of your effective writing and optimization.

6. Insert Valuable Links and Opinions

By using high-quality resources, you will raise your posts' overall value. For example, you can interview experts or influencers in your industry. This will increase your credibility. When you mention someone relevant for your users, they will be more willing to share the posts, and promote it on their social media accounts.

This is a great method to attract new followers as well as increasing your visibility and awareness. Cross promotion is another wise way to obtain the goals previously mentioned. You should post your content everywhere, as long as it is a place where your potential clients are. Link building is a powerful tool, so use it wisely.

Let's Recap

Great and relevant content will increase your visibility. Besides this, there are also other several factors you should consider when you want to attract more leads, likes and shares. Building a higher reach requires time, so be patient and unwavering.

Using these strategies will make your audience show more interest in reading and sharing your content on social media networks. If you keep applying them, the results will show up eventually. You can also experiment with different methods, to see which one works best for you.

Author Bio: Michelle Baker is freelance writer & mother of two. She worked as a customer care representative for several ISP companies in the past. Her personal experience in the industry & tech-savvy nature have helped her write unbiased ISP reviews for BroadBandSearch, as well as blogging & marketing guides for various online publications.

Original post: 6 Great Ways to Boost Likes & Shares for Your Posts