This post was most recently updated on August 6th, 2016
I will give you “10 Ways To Make Your Blog Social.”
Blogging is, first and foremost, a key part of social media.
It is a platform for meeting people, engaging with them and building relationships.
Your blog is where people come to meet you on your own terms, and to converse with you on theirs.
If you strive to make your blog the social center of all you do online, then you will have a rich and rewarding business model.
To the extent that you use it for anything less, you will diminish its power and potential.
10 Ways To Make Your Blog Social
1. Be Conversational
People love to talk.
If you engage them in conversation they’ll enjoy visiting your blog and will do so often.
They especially love to talk about their favorite subject… themselves.
So, as you get conversations moving forward, try to slant them in the direction of your readers.
In other words, don’t make the conversations too technical, detached and boring.
Make them about your readers, what they do, how they think, how they behave and what their problems.
Give folks a platform to tell the world all about their triumphs and perspective.
The best way to do this is in the comment section.
Encourage people to leave comments.
Try to direct the conversation by suggesting what sort of things they should talk about.
Instead of just saying “please leave a comment,” you can say “please share your thoughts on this topic,” or “what things have you tried” and so on.
Two keys to this conversation…
First, ask people to leave a comment and then share your blog post on their favorite social media sites.
People are much more likely to share your posts on social media sites if you ask them to.
This will greatly enhance the social and viral aspect of your blogging because it will draw a great many more people into the conversation, or at least into spectators of the conversation.
Second, make sure to reply to everybody’s comments.
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Make your replies an addition to the conversation, not an end to it.
For instance, if someone comments… “yes, I’ve tried that plugin but it didn’t work for me,” you can end the conversation by replying “that’s too bad, I hope others have better success.”
Alternatively, you can continue the conversation by replying like this: “I know some people have had that problem.
Maybe you could try using this other plugin instead, it works for a lot of folks.”
The more open ended your conversations are, the more deeply involved people get, and the more social and meaningful the interactions become.
2. Immediate Gratification
People come to your blog to get information, entertainment, perspective… or something else.
Actually, I don’t know why people come to your blog.
But you should.
Give them what they want and they’ll be like your best friend.
And don’t make them hunt all over for it.
If you promise a solution to a problem, like “5 Ways To Alleviate Headaches With Natural Remedies,” then give people those solutions without making them fight off pop-ups and sign up for your list and stand on your head.
The longer you delay giving people what you promised, the less rewarding will their visitor experience be, the less likely will they be to share your articles, and the less they will value their reader-blogger relationship with you.
3. Introducing Your Friends.
Being social means to introduce your friends to your readers.
What other bloggers are part of the conversations you have with your readers?
Bring them onto your blog in one way or another.
You could host a guest article, or review other blog posts.
Round-up posts and expert articles are a great way to let your readers know who else is in your circle.
4. Meeting On Social Media Sites
Carry the conversation from your blog to social media sites.
Don’t isolate your readers by trying to force them onto your blog.
If they like hanging our on Facebook or Instagram, then you should join them there.
Let them know you’re there for them, whether it’s on your blog or on the social media sites.
This will underscore the fact that you want to build a relationship with them, not just build a business on your blog site.
After all, which do you think they’re most interested in… your relationship with them, or your business?
5. Meet On Email
Email is part of social media.
You may think it’s your own private little world, but it’s not.
But because your readers feel like email is more private and intimate than a public blog, there may be no better place to be social than on your emails.
When you write to your followers, do it like you’re writing a private letter to a friend.
That helps you build a closer bond with them in a very natural way, and in a very comfortable, familiar setting.
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6. Help Your Friends Out
Your blog content should be helpful if nothing else.
Friends look out for each other, right?
When you’re writing about things that can help, inform, educate or entertain your readers, you are sharing content designed to help your readers.
When you do, they recognize that you know what they want.
You know what their challenges and pain points are, and you’re somebody who can help them get past them.
The more related content upgrades and services you offer them, the more they are part of the relationship, and the more they come to trust you.
7. Be User Friendly
Use things like images, video, podcasts and infographics to make your point and share your information.
People like these things more than just text.
Don’t overdo it, though, or it looks like you’re just working too hard to gain people’s trust and be relevant to the conversation.
Just do it enough that people can relate to you on various levels, and become familiar with you like they would if they talk to the same clerk at the local corner store a few times a week.
8. Share Your Expertise
Don’t hold back.
Let people know what you know.
Let them know you are sharing your best content on your blog.
Would you tell a friend, “I know what your problem is, but I’m only going to hint at the solution?”
Of course not.
You’d do everything you could to help solve the problem completely.
That’s what need to do on your blog, too.
I’m not saying to tell people everything you know.
But tell them everything you know about solving one tiny, immediate problem they are having.
They’ll love you for it, and want to build a strong relationship with you.
They will always regard you as an expert and authority in your niche… besides having become a valued and trusted friend forever.
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9. Tell Stories
Bloggers often think that “sharing your story” is all there is to creating a bond with their audience.
It’s a good start, but it’s only a start.
You should “share your story” about who you are, why you do what you do on your blog, and why you should be trusted.
You do that on your “About Me” page and on your social profiles.
Did you know that your “About Me” page will probably be the most viewed page on your entire blog?
It’s true.
And there’s a reason it’s true.
Most people want to know who they’re visiting when they come to your blog.
They want to know the real person behind the ideas being spun out on a regular basis.
They want to know you.
People are more fascinated with people than with ideas, facts and strategies.
Their fascination won’t end with your About Me page either, if you continually update them on your story.
Try to entwine your information with interesting stories about yourself or others.
Use the stories to illustrate points you’re making in your blog posts, and to give them life and interest.
This is an excellent way to bond with your readers.
The more they get to know you through your storytelling, the tighter your relationship with them becomes.
10. Sell Stuff
Now, bloggers are usually shy about selling stuff.
They think it turns them from being a “serious blogger” into a sales monger.
That could be true.
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I’ve seen blogs where bloggers just always try to sell things.
Now, that’s okay if you have a commercial site.
For affiliate bloggers and e-commerce bloggers… that’s fine to do.
But for most bloggers, you cannot keep a good audience and following if you’re always just trying to sell them products and services.
So, I generally tell my students and clients… “don’t be a selling machine… give value.”
On the other hand, you can actually become a more valued resource to people when you sell them products and services that actually help them solve their problems.
They key here, is that it’s not so much If you should sell stuff, but WHAT you are selling.
If you have a juice diet blog and are trying to sell dehumidifiers and hiking equipment on it, you look like a sales monger.
If, however, on the same blog, you are selling and affiliating high quality juicers, your audience will probably consider that a valuable part of your blog.
It will enhance their visitor experience.
It will actually help foster an even better relationship between you and your readers.
Are you social when you blog?
Do you make your blog an inviting place for people to engage with you?
What do you think are the most effective of these “10 Ways To Make Your Blog Social?”
I’d love to have you comment below, an d please share this article on your favorite social sites.
-Donna
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