Blog Promotion Tips for the Tight-fisted

Image by Neubie

Image by Neubie

The country’s broke. We can’t afford to pay policemen, teachers, dinnerladies or hedgehog sanctuary workers. Britain is so skint that everyone’s being asked to melt down their garden gates to make new coinage. In fact, instead of reading this, you should probably be joining a commune so that when financeageddon strikes again, you’ll at least have some food. Or be able to eat your fellow hippies.

Alright, maybe the situation isn’t quite as bad as the Daily Mail suggests, but everyone’s watching the pennies at the moment. That doesn’t mean that you have to stop promoting your blog though – after all, chances are that you’re hoping your blog will make money one way or another.

Luckily, as a notorious tightwad, I’ve developed a few techniques to promote my blog without spending a penny. And in an uncharacteristic display of charity, I’m going to share them with you. Gratis.

Blog Promotion Tips for the Tight-fisted

Don’t Spend Money

I’m guessing at least one of you could’ve figured this one out for yourself, especially given the title of this post. But this bears repeating. Don’t spend money. That means that you stop paying for AdWords, banner ads and whatnot. You’ll find cheaper alternatives.

The Key Word in Pay Per Click is PAY

DIY SEO is cheaper than paying for Adwords. The trick is to find a niche keyword that you can rank for without having to invest lots of time and effort. If you do your research, you’ll be able to find a magic phrase – one that combines respectable search volumes with a lack of competition. Once you’ve found that phrase, do what you can to get your blog listed for it.

Don’t Wipe Your Arse on the Blogroll

Ah, the much derided blogroll. Ooh, it leaks link juice all over the carpet. Oh, nobody pays attention to it. Eew, it’s so early noughties. Piffle. People still click on blogroll links. If you’re listed on a site’s blogroll, it shows that a blogger the reader respects values your work enough to share it with people. So if you’ve got good relationships with other bloggers, get your name on their rolls.

Good Manners Cost Nothing

By now, you’ll know the importance of Social Media. You’ll have a Twitter account, Facebook page and LinkedIn profie, each with a selection of friends and followers. So ask those friends and followers to promote your blog. “Please can you retweet this?” “If you like my work, please hit like!” “Please share this with your followers.” Ask people nicely, and they’ll be happy to help you out.

Don’t Fear the Forum

Despite what a cursory glance reveals, not all forums are populated with bitter, twisted “SEO Gurus” with so little work on that they can rack up astronomical numbers of posts. Sometimes genuine, functional human beings visit too. And some of them own businesses. And need the advice that your blog provides, or the services your blog advertises. So fight back the bile, sign up on the forums, and give the people what they want.

Time is Money

So make sure you use your time wisely. That means targeting the right sites. If you’re writing a technical post about search engine marketing, Digg and Reddit aren’t going to be interested. Sphinn and SERPd might. But if you’re not in the clique at Sphinn, you won’t get any exposure. So don’t waste valuable time on the sites that won’t give you a return. Head straight to the ones that will.

Piggybacks Save on Shoe Leather

Your blog averages seven visits a day. MegaBlogger averages seven visits a second. You have an idea for a great blog post. Megablogger accepts submissions. You need traffic. MegaBlogger posts generate traffic. I’m sure you can work out a way of using all of that information to your advantage, can’t you?

Having a Massive Pen is Good For Promotion

Admittedly, this tip only works for you rebellious young bloggers promoting your poetry on MySpace. But carry a pen. People on public transport and public toilets are bored, so scrawl your URL on anything in sight. Bored people will then read it. And they might visit it. And even better, by doing some well cool graffiti, you’ll be cementing your radical status as someone who doesn’t bow to authority, innit?

Chat, Comment, Converse (Not the Shoes)

Leave a comment on my blog and you’re guaranteed to get at least one hit. Me, deciding whether or not your site deserves a link or not. (Please note: If it’s selling sex aids, prescription drugs or Manchester U****d Merchandise, I hit SPAM so fast your head’ll spin.) And if I say yes to that comment and your link, well, I’m sure at least one of my lovely readers will take a look at your output.

Now do me a favour. If you like this post, please share it with everyone you know. Just don’t write the URL on the back of a bus seat.

7 Comments comments for "Blog Promotion Tips for the Tight-fisted"

  1. Daniel Snyder at 3:24 am

    I agree with you, and see no reason to be spending money promoting a blog. The steps your recommend are fantastic, the only ones I’ve not yet participated in are forums… don’t really know where to start. Any tips?
    .-= Daniel Snyder´s last blog ..How Does Spam Worm It’s Way Into The Social Media Web =-.

    • Andrew at 9:42 am

      Digital Point is a bit of a hole, but does allow signature links – that’s about the only international forum I’ve had any success on. Here in Blighty, the UK Business Forums are good.

  2. Beth at 10:04 pm

    Came looking for new ideas and found a couple but also lots of reassurance that I’m going the right things. 200 hits a day at the mo and fingers crossed for more.

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