Is Your Business Blog Ready for Social Media Promotion?

Promoting your new business blog through social media platforms is vital to your blog’s success. But, before you start Tweeting your posts to the world, be sure you’ve got it ‘web traffic ready’. Here is a list of essential factors to have in place before you begin your marketing efforts:

Does your blog header make it easy for new readers to understand what your blog is about? Your business name should be prominently placed in your header along with a possible tagline. Upon reading the name and tagline, there should be no question in your reader’s mind as to what your site is about or who the target market is.

Do the article titles and general layout of your homepage draw immediate interest? Blog visitors, and web users in general, skim and scan quickly over web pages and sites. You have to get the attention of your web visitor in the first 5 seconds of their visit. Before beginning your promotional efforts, be sure that your home page has a clear, inviting presence.

Post titles are just as important. If you are not familiar with writing article titles, think about the posts or web articles that cause YOU to click on them. AOL News is a good place to start. Take some time to look through the titles and use them as examples when you are writing your own.

Is your name and title prominently placed? Remember, when writing a business blog, you are not only branding your business; you are branding yourself. Your readers want to connect with you. Even if you use a ghost blogger, be sure to use your own name as the author.

Do you have your Contact Page set up? Your contact page should have a mailing address, a phone number and your staff email addresses.

Do you have your RSS feed and contact form set up? One of the best ways to keep in touch with your readers is through them signing up for your RSS feed. Your contact form can be used to offer a free eBook, white paper, or tutorial and you will be building your email list at the same time.

Are you using social media sharing buttons on your blog? Social media sharing plugins will allow your readers to repost your article right to their Facebook page or retweet the post to their Twitter followers. This is an important element to have on your blog. Most Facebook users and Tweeters love to share valuable information with other social media users.

Do you have links to your social networking profiles? Links to join you on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter should be right on your homepage.

Are your comments enabled? Allowing readers to comment and leave a link back will encourage them to positively engage with you on your posts. Be sure to answer all questions that are asked in the comments. A site with plenty of comments almost always builds trust in readers minds.

Do you have at least five posts? This is a biggie. You don’t want visitors to arrive on a blog with just a couple of posts. A new blog isn’t likely to gain subscribers. Be sure you have enough posts to draw a solid interest before promoting your site.

With these elements in place, your blog is ready for social media success. If there’s any element you feel we should have covered, leave us a comment. We want to hear your opinion.