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Having a blog is great. Creative freedom? Tick. A way to express yourself and talk about things you love? Tick. An opportunity to meet like-minded people? Triple tick. For a lot of bloggers, writing posts and taking / editing the photos is the easy part. Heck, even making sure you take the time to ensure that your post is SEO friendly can be straight forward once you get into the swing of it. But learning how to advertise your blog can be tricky.
Photo by Jelena Mirkovic on Unsplash
Putting your posts out there can be daunting. It’s all well and good hitting publish but after that, you need to promote yourself and learn how to advertise your blog. Whether you like it or not, you really do have to be your own biggest fan in the blogging industry, especially now it’s growing and growing. You can’t always rely on people finding you, you have to make yourself found sometimes too.
Recommendation: Keyword Research for Bloggers eBook
Promoting your blog doesn’t have to be complicated. It doesn’t have to cost money and it certainly doesn’t have to be stressful. I get that promoting yourself, on a daily basis doesn’t come naturally to most people and it can seem incredibly self-serving and weird at first but when you’ve been in these parts for 7+ years like I have, it’ll feel like second nature.
So if you’re just starting out or just finding it a bit difficult to share your blog, here is some advice on how to advertise your blog!
6 ways to advertise your blog
Comment swaps
I love a comment swap and I’ve found some of my favourite blogs through them. A comment swap takes place on Twitter and is a easy, fun way to share your link whilst also commenting on other blogger’s posts which take your fancy! Check out @TeacupClub and @BloggersTribe for some popular ones!
Joining a pod
A pod is a small group of bloggers who are in (usually) a joint direct message group on Twitter. Joining a blog comment pod is a great way to share your blog with others in a pretty chill way, again, whilst finding other amazing blogs to read at the same time.
Joining a bloggers Pinterest board
Pinterest has become an amazing way to share your posts and gain more traffic. As well as all your regular boards, some bloggers have created shared boards which you can join and freely share your posts in. Although group boards aren’t as useful as they used to be, if you find the right ones and use them correctly, they can work well.
Recommendation: Pinterest With Ell eCourse
Scheduling tweets
The good thing about scheduling tweets is that you can schedule a range of your posts as well as during different times of day. So if you’re worried about posting the same link over and over, you don’t have to. And if you’re worried about posting links too often, you don’t have to do that either. The average shelf life of a tweet is 18 minutes. If you’re worried about clogging up people’s feeds – you’re not.
Related: How To Grow Your Twitter Followers
Making your link visible and accessible on all platforms
Promoting your blog doesn’t have to be an active thing all the time. By just ensuring that your blog link is visible in your bio of all the platforms you’re on automatically promotes your blog without you doing anything. So check your Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and any other platforms you’re on and make sure your link is there!
Advertise your blog with other bloggers
A great way of how to advertise your blog is by actually advertising your blog with other bloggers! Lots of bloggers – including myself – offer advertising packages. So if you do have a bit of spare cash to spend on advertising, then advertising with other bloggers is a great options! You can find information about my own advertising packages here!
I’m on Instagram a fair bit, but I don’t use Twitter. Maybe I’ll have to sign up….
You definitely should, Twitter is where I get most of my views and engagement from!
I am a big fan of pods, i often save them up and sit down with a cuppa to read them all, plus ive found some really amazing bloggers through it!
Me too I love them too 🙂
I’m really trying to work on promoting my blog right now, so this is very helpful! I think I often forget how valuable Pinterest can be too. I’ve heard so many great things about it! Thank you for the tips 🙂
Glad you found them helpful! I haven’t mastered Pinterest by any means but it’s definitely fun to use!
Thank you for sharing these tips, Jenny!
This post was so helpful to read! I really need to start using Pinterest for my blog. It just feels so confusing to me, haha! 🙂
Great tips here! I do all of these things and often feel like I’m lacking still. It’s a constant work in progress
http://littlemissmelanie.com
It really is and keeping on top of it all can be really difficult and exhausting.
These tips are so helpful! I absolutely love comment swaps, I prefer them to chats most of the time 🙊It’s such a fab way of reading some brilliant posts and supporting one another too. I definitely need to use Pinterest more for my blog though! xxx
Tiffany x http://www.foodandotherloves.co.uk
I prefer them to chats too! Cos it’s so easy to just drop in and out when you can 🙂
[…] Jenny in NeverLand Free and Effective ways to promote your blog […]
Thank you for sharing these excellent tips Jenny! I would like to hope I’m getting a bit better with promotion but you can always learn more. I really need to use Pinterest more, I just get so confused on there haha!
Beth x
I notice your promotional tweets all the time! 🙂
These tips are all so useful, I really need to get back to scheduling my posts. I’ve found that really helps get traffic onto my blog. I just need to find the time.
It definitely helps, I just spend ten minutes each morning scheduling tweets for the day.
Very helpful Jenny! Thank you for this one.. have been stressing with this, so ill go work with your tips!
Tnx again
Xx
Hope you find them helpful!
Great post! Very insightful, I want to start joining in on twitter chats but I never know when any are on so I’ll be reading your post about it next 😂
It’s good to have a list so you don’t miss them 🙂
Thank you for these tips! I joined my first Twitter chat the other day and had so much fun doing it and interacting with other bloggers. I find scheduling very dull (lol) but vital to get my blog and my posts out there, I also rely on RT accounts.
Glad you found it fun!
[…] you have got to the point where your blog is more than just a blog, and actually a business, you need to start actually treating it like one. […]
Great tips as always! I need to join twitter chats! Xx
Thank you 🙂
Pods are so useful and I love the support x
http://www.ofbeautyandnothingness.co.uk
Same! Always nice to know you’ve got that support 🙂
Thank you for the great advice as usual Jenny. I can’t wait for your book of blogging as your advice has always helped me. I am now off to find myself a twitter pod group.
Kate x
Awh thank you! I’m working hard on it, hope to have it with everyone soon 🙂
I’ve checked out @TeacupClub, and they only have 11 posts, and a very small following. I’m confused. The other tag seems to be quite popular though it’s in the thousands for comments and followings. Is the @TeacupClub tag correct? Maybe I’m missing something – it is Friday 🙂
You’ve made some really neat points. i’m going to see if I can join some blogging boards on Pinterest – I have my own for my blog, but your suggestion would give my posts a larger audience. Thanks!
Teacup Club is wrong, thanks for letting me know!
Super helpful hun xx
Glad you thought so 🙂
Thanks for the tips Jenny! Hadn’t thought about Pinterest but it’ll probably be useful to me soon. This has been really helpful for me as a new blogger- I really appreciate it! ☺️
Glad you found it helpful! 🙂
Some really great tips! I was pleased to see that I actually already do most of them except for the Twitter chats, I always forget them! x
Thank you 🙂 I rarely take part in chats anymore tbh!
So helpful for myself as I’ve only joined twitter recently but have had my blog for close to two years now! Thank you for sharing x
twinkexthoughts.blogspot.com
Wow really?!
Thanks!
I am still learning how to promote my blog so this is very helpful!
Glad you found it helpful 🙂
Really helpful post, Thank you so much! X
You’re welcome! 🙂
Amazing post and extremely helpful. X
Glad you thought so 🙂
Thanks, some great tips there. Will try some of those out. And look out for some new blogs to follow!
Hope you find they help!
This is such a helpful post! I love Pinterest but hardly promote my blog on it so I’ll have to start doing that more. I love discovering new bloggers via chats and comment swaps as well. I think I just need to spend more time to be able to promote everything! Thank you so much for this post, Jenny!
Samantha | https://believeinamiracle.co.uk
Awh you’re welcome! 🙂
I’m awful at promotion. I schedule tweets for two days then forget for 3 weeks. It’s definitely an area I need to improve on. Pinterest is another thing I’m yet to fathom. I’ll get there eventually 😂
Sophie
http://www.glowsteady.co.uk
Haha! I just schedule a few in the morning for the day ahead as part of my routine and that’s seems to help!
I totally agree, these comment swap twitter chats are so helpful and also great for discovering new bloggers! I never use pintrest as a social media much but maybe I should x
Morgan // http://www.justmorgs.com
You should! If anything it’s just a really fun platform and full of inspiration 🙂
Incredibly informative as always, I love your blogger tip posts and can’t wait for your ebook! I use all of these and completely agree, as long as you dedicate some time to them, they can be incredibly effective!
Jas xx | https://thoughtsfromjasmine.co.uk
Yay thank you! I’m working hard on the eBook but I’m really enjoying it! 🙂
Ahh thank you for all the ideas lovely!! I feel like Ive tried and am doing so many of these, but I cant break through the current barrier I am stuck at! My blog hasn’t improved in a while so Im definitely going to take this on board and work harder!! Thank you lovely!! xx
http://zoe-ware.com
It’s definitely a lot of work and a lot of self promotion!
We just launched on the first of September and it is a pretty weird feeling promoting yourself on the daily. But it is amazing how well it works! And it is wonderful how supportive the blogging community is. There are some tips in this post that I will definitely need to try!! Thank you!
Awh congrats! 🙂
I hardly ever self-promote anymore and I really should. I keep meaning to get back in to the habit of scheduling tweets, joining comment threads and participating in chats (that aren’t my own) but I always let myself down on that front. These are some great tips, Jenny, definitely taking them on board!
Charlene McElhinney (@blogabtnothing1)
http://www.charlenemcelhinney.co.uk
Awh you should I’d love to see you around in the blogosphere more! 🙂
This post is so handy for new bloggers and I wish I’d have had it a year ago! I do most of these now too and they definitely all provide traffic well don’t they!
Soph – https://sophhearts.com x
I wish I had had this info when I first started too!
This was such a great post! I love twitter chats but I get so bored of scheduling out tweets because the app I use only lets you schedule ten and I get so fed up of having to do it daily! X
I use Buffer too and it can be annoying. Try Smartpost. Not as professional but let’s you schedule hundreds!
I love your posts like this! They always reveal a few hidden gems that I have never heard of, and leave me feeling all inspired and motivated! Thank you! Comment swaps are something I’ve only really got into the last few months or so and not only has it made a big difference, I’ve found some great new blogs to follow as well!
Yay that’s great! I’ve found loads of my now favourite bloggers through them!
hi jenny, already follow you on twitter and love all these tips about promoting- it’s so hard when you work so hard to write something, and then you have to work twice as hard and spend so much time getting it out into the world for people to even see… and then.. will they like it??!! Exhausting, sometimes even enough to deplete my love of all this. But these are some great tips, I think I engage in most of them already. Also gonna click on your twitter chats link to see what’s up with that. Thanks for sharing! xx Bee
It’s definitely hard work I agree but you have to do it if you want to put yourself out there 🙂
Thank you for these helpful tips! Can’t wait to give them a go 🙂
Hope you find them helpful!
This is such a useful post and I will be referring back to it 100%! I do most of these things anyway but some can so easily be forgotten yet they are useful ways of promoting your blog. I’m just getting back into promoting mine and fingers crossed it will all work out. I wish I had this post a year ago when I just started out!
Liz xx
It can definitely be easy to forgot! I try and schedule promoting my post into my daily routine 🙂
Great post and really helpful advice. I want to start using Pinterest more.
Thank you 🙂
So important to share your blog posts! How will anyone know about them if you don’t share them!
Love, Amie ❤
The Curvaceous Vegan
Exactly! I mean some people will stumble across it but there’s so many benefits from putting it out there yourself !
This post is so helpful! Thanks Jenny! I’ve been working on my Pinterest more and absolutely love it. I’m still not getting a lot of views from it but I imagine that will change over time. Especially when my boards have actual pins to look at 😂
Yeah I’m the same. I just find Pinterest really fun 🙂
I love comment swaps! My faves are TeaCup Club and Sophie (Glow Steady) I used to join a few Twitter chats but I don’t seem to have time anymore, sadly. Buffer is my best friend for scheduling (I do pay for it but I can offset the costs against my social media clients, haha) and I would LOVE to get more familiar with Pinterest. I know Tailwind has a cost but lots of people seem to think it’s a worthwhile investment. Fab tips here, Jenny, as always, thank you for sharing your blogging expertise, it’s so helpful 🙂 xx
Lisa | http://www.lisasnotebook.com
Oooh really? I use the free version of Buffer and it works okay because I schedule my tweets for the day at the beginning of the day so I never run out of tweets 🙂
Comment swaps work so well, I do them super often! I have no joined a pod yet, maybe I should try! Such a useful post for new bloggers!
I love pods! Definitely join one if you can!
This is such a useful list! I especially love the active blogger chat list because I took a bit of a break from blogging and I was feeling kind of stuck for where to go!
Carla x
You’re welcome! 🙂
Fantastic tips 🙂
I have found so many excellent blogs via TeacupClub, it’s probably my favourite comment swap because everyone is so lovely too.
Cora | http://www.teapartyprincess.co.uk
Same! I’ve found most of my now-favourites through comment swaps 🙂
I read this post went to schedule a tweet on twitter (after already previously tweeting) and instead posted said tweet. So I’m just going to lie in my bad and question my life choices for a while.
Haha! I’ve done that before, don’t worry! It’s incredibly annoying!
Great advice! I do most of these as well. I use Tailwind for Pinterest and still figuring it out.
Jennifer | Mrs Q Beauty
I’ve not worked that one out yet!
Some really great tips here hun, lots of people will benefit from this x
I do hope so! Thank you 🙂
Great Post! I’m always looking for ways to improve my blog and cost effective ways too! Pinterest is now on my list! Thanks for the post!
You’re welcome! You definitely don’t need to spend money to promote your blog 🙂
Very true! I’m trying to take advantage of that now!😊
You always know just what I need to read! Great tips and I’ll definitely have to try scheduling tweets xxx
Haha glad you found it helpful! Scheduling tweets is a great tool (but super boring!)
In a huge fan of comment pods 🙂 I need to check out some twitter chats for sure, thanks for such helpful information per usual 🙂
Same I love them!
Twitter chats and scheduling posts are my favourite free things to promote blogs!
Scheduling tweets is so useful (but so boring 😂)
I love this! I’ve bookmarked it to come back to, sometimes I find that reminding myself of the ‘basics’ of blog promotion gives me that boost to keep going or try something new or switch things up. Lovely post, lovely tips.
Cordelia || cordeliamoor.com
Absolutely! So glad you found it helpful 😌
This is so informative. I really appreciate that you never hold back and always share tips with novice bloggers -struggling with technicalities/promotion. Not everybody does that. 🙂 Kudos.
You’re very welcome! I love doing these type of posts and I love helping people because when I was new I had absolutely no help! I’m also currently working on an eBook for new bloggers which will be a handbook on basically everything you need to know 😌
I love taking part in twitter chats 🙂 Totally agree about comment swaps and chats for blog engagement xx
I don’t really do twitter chats myself anymore tbh but that’s only because they’re on of an evening and that’s the only time I get to spend with my partner because he works long hours! But I wanted to add it because it would be a good option for a lot of people 😌
I know what you mean, it’s duffs a good option for people starting out or want more engagement. I sometimes miss the chats these days.
Such a helpful post Jenny! 💖 Comment swaps at the main way I promote my blog, Bloggers Tribe & Tea Cup Club are my faves as well. Twitter chats are a great idea too, it’s been ages since I’ve joined in with one, I actually forget about them so thanks for sharing Jade’s list, will have to make a note of a few to remember. Great post! <3 xx
Bexa | http://www.hellobexa.com
I love comment swaps – Sophie from Glow Steady does one on Tuesday, do you join that one? 😌
I am new to blogging. Like your post!
Thanks 🙂
I’m definitely going to look into Pinterest more. I’ve never used it.
Even if you don’t use it for your blog, it’s so fun and full of inspiration.