One of the challenges with a business blog is getting exposure.
A blog will work for you over time to build authority for your brand and website.
It takes time and it’s good to have a long-term focus, but you can also do some other things to increase the exposure for your blog overall and for individual posts.
Here are some of the best tools for getting more exposure for your business blog so you can use it to help bring in more new business.
1. YouTube
That’s right. YouTube has a HUGE audience.
Creating a video series is a way to increase the exposure of individual posts and your entire blog. Pick your best content and turn it into a regular series of videos.
I would say that you should aim to keep the videos under two minutes or so. Then always end each video by letting viewers know that they can always get more great content at your blog.
2. Simplecast
Simplecast is an easy way to start your own podcast. You still have to record the podcast on your own, but Simplecast makes it easy to publish it to your own website and submit it to iTunes and other feeds.
A podcast can be a great way to build on the content you create for your blog. There are a number of people that listen to podcasts. 17% of Americans listened to a podcast last month. That’s pretty crazy. And that number is going up.
The other option here would be to record a podcast and upload it to your WordPress blog and then submit it to iTunes.
I would make the content a bit different than your posts, but you could simple talk through a post for each episode and it should raise the profile of your blog where listeners can get more of your great content.
3. Quora
I use Quora all the time to see what my questions my target audience is asking. Then I try to answer those questions here on the blog.
But I also answer questions right on Quora.
It’s a simple approach. The more people you help the better your reputation and that can lead to people seeking you out, finding your blog and over time you have more exposure.
4. Google Alerts
Here is how I would use Google Alerts.
When you write on a specific topic and you write a really great post (what else would you write?) create a Google Alert for that topic.
When you get an alert for someone that has created a post on that topic, check it out and see if there is a way they could incorporate your post into their post.
Obviously there might be a feeling that the posts are competing so you need to look for complementary posts.
An example would be if you create a list of 10 tools for a topic. Then someone else creates a list of 10 tools that are different. You could reach out and say that your post has 10 additional. You include a link to their list and (hopefully) they link to your list for their readers to see.
5. StumbleUpon
I was a little surprised the other day when StumbleUpon sent some traffic to this blog.
But I shouldn’t be surprised because I have other blogs where StumbleUpon sends traffic every day.
It’s a really big community and if you submit the right type of posts you can get some solid, long-term traffic.
6. Bitstrips
This one is fun. I’ve only used it a little bit. I’ve seen others use it well. It’s another way to add some fun to your blog and there is a pretty good community that follow the strips.
7. LinkedIn
I think LinkedIn can be used in a couple different ways to expose your blog to a larger audience.
First, I think it’s the best network for B2Bs and businesses. If you sell to professionals then LinkedIn is where you want to be. Simply sharing your posts (and the posts and content of others) builds engagement and a following.
You can also re-publish your content right on LinkedIn. Some like reading articles right on LinkedIn. I wouldn’t publish your content only on LinkedIn, though. I would publish on your own blog and re-publish on LinkedIn by using the line – Original published at…
8. Buffer
Buffer is my favorite tool for social media sharing. I sit down each week for about an hour and queue up five posts per day to share on Buffer the following week.
I fall into the habit of sharing my own posts often, but I try to mix in other content that I’ve found interesting throughout the week.
I try to mix up the titles and lead-ins to the links each week. I share old posts. I use hashtags.
Anything to reach new audiences on social media to build overall exposure for myself, my social profiles, my blog and my business.
9. Longreads
Longform seems to be making a comeback.
Something I do every week is checkout Longreads. I scroll through the stories and look for ones to add to Pocket (more on that next). Then I take time to read the articles each week or when I have some free time.
Longreads, the site, seems to be gaining in popularity. I think they’re owned by the same company that owns WordPress and a few related services.
Longreads has a submission page. So if you’ve written a really great story that is more than about 5,000 words I would go ahead and submit it to them.
I would pay attention to the types of articles they’ve included in their feed before submitting. It can’t hurt to also show that your story has been getting a little attention already.
The best way might to focus on an archived blog post that’s already had success for you and reviving its popularity with a submission to Longreads.
10. Pocket
Alright, Pocket is one of my favorite apps. I use it all the time on my phone.
Pocket now let’s you recommend content. Here is my feed that I’m still working on. I haven’t shared any of my own content on the feed yet, but I think that’s a place where you could use this as a way to increase the exposure for your blog.
I wouldn’t do only your own content on the recommended feed. It’s like social media in other places like Twitter. It’s good t have a mix of your own and content that others have produced.
Pocket is also another platform that will have influencers and if you can make connections and relationships with influencers on Pocket you can tap into their followings and get exposure for your blog and its posts.
Conclusion
Gaining exposure for a business blog is a great goal. But after going through the tools above I think it might just be part of an overall long-term strategy to raise the profile of yourself, your social profiles, your blog and your business. It’s about raining everything related to your business. Some tools make it easier to raise the profile of your blog while raising the other profiles and the opposite is true in other instances. But each tool above has the potential to help raise the exposure of your blog, which leads to new business.