Have you been thinking about using Twitter to Promote Your Blog? Using Twitter is easy and when used properly can really build your blog!
Why You Should Be Using Twitter to Promote Your Blog
I’m Angela, and I write a food blog over at www.patisseriemakesperfect.co.uk. I started my blog after a patisserie course I signed up for was cancelled. My blog features everything I create even if it’s a complete failure! I hope that others can learn from my mistakes and learn patisserie along with me.
Lots of people seem to be confused by Twitter. Countless people have said to me “I just don’t understand what the point of Twitter is.”
I find this strange, people don’t say the same thing about Facebook or Pinterest.
I like to think of Twitter as a group of friends (@twittername) having a chat (tweet) in the pub. There’ll be one person that generally likes to be the centre of attention (we’re probably all following them). Perhaps some friends will bring someone new along for you to meet and talk with (their followers).
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You repeat an anecdote that a friend told you, or tell a joke that you heard (retweet). You might see someone you don’t know very well, but recognise, they’re sitting with another bunch of people, but you have friends in common (who to follow).
Like Twitter, you can’t possibly talk to everyone in the group, and if you pop to the bar to order a drink, or visit the facilities, you’ll miss part of a conversation (your twitter timeline).
Twitter is a very valuable tool to generate traffic to your blog, Facebook page, Instagram account, etc.
But how do you do this?
CULTIVATE YOUR FOLLOWERS
Twitter doesn’t really work until you set-up your list of followers. This can take time, but start off adding your favourite TV shows, brands, other bloggers. Customise your followers to include people that are related to your blog i.e. food blogger – follow chefs, restaurants, brands that inspire you, fashion blogger – follow fashion brands, magazines, models, designers.
Some may follow you back, and once you start creating content you can share it directly with the people you’re following.
SHARE YOUR CONTENT WITH BRANDS & INFLUENTIAL USERS
If you have a Twitter account with a lot of followers, it’s probably enough to send a tweet out to all of your users.
However, if you’ve baked a cake using a particular brand of flour, sugar, decoration or chef’s recipe, why not tweet them a link to your blog. Chances are they’ll retweet you to their raft of followers. Sending more traffic your way.
LINK UP WITH OTHER BLOGGERS
I am a food blogger, so I follow a lot of fellow food bloggers. Often they will run ‘linkups’ on their websites where you can showcase your best recipes. This is an excellent way to share your work. Here are some of the hashtags you can try searching if you’re a fellow food blogger #cookblogshare #recipeoftheweek
Which leads me nicely on to…
HASHTAGS
Hashtags are a way of making your tweets easier to search for and adding your tweet to a certain conversation, or grouping them together. They’re also used for trending topics so that you can get a feel for what is currently big news on Twitter in your regions.
Some useful hashtags are #fdbloggers (specific for food bloggers) #recipe (include when the tweet has a recipe and other accounts will retweet you), you could hashtag a brand, the title of your recipe or product featured. This will all increase your exposure.
LINK YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS
Be sure to include ‘share’ buttons on your blog, so that readers can see if you’re on Twitter, Facebook, etc. I like the WordPress plugin Shareaholic. If you have Instagram, link your account to Twitter so that your pictures will appear in your timeline. The same can also be done with Pinterest and Facebook. Be sure to look at the ‘social’ options whenever creating accounts so that people can find you through some avenues.
TWITTER CHATS
Some groups on twitter hold chats at certain times of the week, so that you can meet fellow bloggers and have discussions about your blogs and similar topics. The main ones are #fdbloggers Thursdays (8 pm GMT, 3 pm EST, 12 pm PST). #pantrychat Tuesdays (9pm GMT, 4pm EST, 1pm PST), #BlogPhotoChat Thursdays (9pm GMT, 4pm EST, 1pm PST.)
Be sure and check out IBA’s Twitter Chat every Thursday at 8 pm!
Hope that introduction to Twitter helps get you started.