6 Steps to Promote your New Blog

By Lyndsey Frey | Posted Feb 3, 2010 | 3 Comment(s) | Filed in: Content Marketing, Social Media

(This is part 1 of a 2-part blog series on building readership for a new corporate blog)

You’ve built and designed your blog, assigned and trained your bloggers, developed an editorial calendar, optimized your blog with priority keywords, and finally got your blog launched. What a relief!

Now, you’re probably wondering, “How do I promote my blog and build subscribers?” Think content + community.

The content you’re publishing must be relevant, link-worthy and optimized to get found. Even then, if the content is extremely relevant and informative, and speaks directly to your audience, without a community to read it and share it, your blog will go nowhere fast.

Therefore, the combination of quality content and community will be key to building a strong readership and subscriber base.

So, before you do anything, make sure you post a few link-worthy blog articles to give first-time visitors a sense of your style, content focus and purpose. Remember, you only get one chance for a good first impression.

From there, take the steps outlined below to spread the word and build awareness for your blog. Then, stay tuned for our next post, “7 Steps to Build a Blog Subscriber Base.”

Step 1: Tell your professional network.

Use the power of your colleagues, industry contacts and professional network to spread the word about your blog. Give them the opportunity to connect with you through your blog, and then ask them to share it with their networks if they find the articles interesting. Encourage your colleagues to share it with prospects and customers if and/or when the content is relevant to them.

Step 2: Submit your blog to Technorati.

Submit your blog URL to relevant blog search engines, such as Technorati, a blog and social-media search engine that tracks and indexes what’s popular in the blogosphere, to begin building authority.

You must join Technorati (free membership) to submit, or claim, your blog, store favorites and use other features. Simply fill out the form and click “Join.” From there, you can add biographical information, upload a photo, include keywords into your watch list and, of course, claim your blog.

Below are steps to claim your blog on Technorati:

• From Technorati’s homepage, click edit next to your account name.
• Click the Blog tab.
• Enter the URL of your blog’s homepage, and then click “Begin Claim.”
• Follow the posting instructions and then click “Release the Spiders.” This will activate your claim.
• Once your claim is verified, you can customize the information about your blog.

Step 3: Submit your blog to relevant blog directories.

It’s important to submit your blog to several directories to provide additional avenues for people to find your blog, and also to build inbound links and drive traffic. Most blog directories will allow you to select a topic or product focus. Though there are hundreds available, here are a few links to the prominent free blog directories:

• Blogarama
• Bloggapedia
• BlogFlux
• SuperBlog
• MyBlogLog

In addition, many industries have specific blog directories, so be sure to do your research on what might be most appropriate for your company blog.

Step 4: Distribute an optimized press release.

Develop and distribute an optimized press release to announce your blog launch, and detail the content focus of it. Optimized press releases are keyword-rich marketing tools designed to generate inbound links to your Website, while reaching mainstream media, social media and consumers. That’s why it’s important to imbed links back to your blog and specific posts mentioned in the release.

Step 5: Promote through your social networks.

Announce the launch of your blog through your social networks, and provide links back to individual posts. Also, be sure social media icons are included with each post to make it easy for readers to share content.

In addition, take advantage of your social networks. Post Tweets of your posts, and incorporate blog feeds into your profiles where applicable. For example, with blog applications by Facebook and LinkedIn, posts can automatically feed into your company page every time a new blog post is published. Though some networks, such as Facebook, don’t link the reader back to your site with this feature, it does offer another venue to connect with your audience.

Step 6: Introduce your blog on company collateral.

Where appropriate, include your blog URL on all company collateral, especially your Website. Add a link or feed to your blog on your homepage, and consider also incorporating relevant posts on your products/services pages. This way, you can provide visitors with additional information about the specific product or service in which they are interested.

Also, be sure to include a link to your blog on your business cards, email signature, product/service sell sheets, order forms, etc. If you send out an email newsletter, add teasers for recent blog posts that are relevant to your readers and link to them. 

What Next?

Visit us on Thursday for the second post in this series, “7 Steps to Build a Blog Subscriber Base.” In the meantime, use our comment section to offer additional information and resources that you’ve found effective in promoting your blog.

Additional Resources:

Blog.grader.com
Hubspot’s Blogging for Business kit
Technorati’s 2009 State of the Blogosphere
SEO’s Magic Bullet
What Your Blog May Be Missing

Lyndsey Frey is a consultant at PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency and PR firm. Follow Lyndsey on Twitter @lyndseyfrey

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