Promote Your Blog With Social Networks

By Fred Farah

Just how much, or how little do you know about social networking sites. Do you know what the main purpose of these web sites is? If you're an in the know internet user, you surely do. But there are many who don't as yet fully understand them.

Social networking sites are online communities that provide a meeting place for internet users. If you're a Net user who enjoys meeting new people, you most likely belong to a social networking web site. But what about a blog? Do you have one? If you do, are you aware that you could use your social networking site to promote your blog?

Promote your blog? Why would you want to do that? Honestly, if you have to ask yourself that question you probably shouldn’t even have one. The whole purpose of a blog is to document your views and opinions on various topics.

Just what good will your blog do if no one reads it. In addition to sharing your thoughts with the rest of the world, did you know that you are also able to make money from your blog? You can signup for affiliate programs as well as programs like Google Adsense. If you're using your blog to make some money, albeit more difficult than a web site, then you will definitly need to promote it.

When it comes to promoting blogs, perhaps the majority of blog owners just decide to let the search engines do the work. Search engines, such as Google, Yahoo, and MSN read the content on your web sites and blogs. That content is then used to rank your web site.

This means that if your blog is about graduating from high school in New York, there is a good chance that your blog will appear in searches done on New York high schools. As good as the ranking system is, you're advised to use other methods besides just search engines, to successfully promote your blog.

Presumably, the social sites you may have joined represent your interests represented by those sites. So these communities are probably the ones you want to target when attempting to make money from your blog.

Since most social networking websites work to connect internet users who have the same goals and common interests, there is a good chance that your online friends will enjoy reading your blog. But, before they can read your blog, you have to let them know that it exists.

When it comes to promoting your blog using social sites, you have a number of different options. First option is to include a link to your blog in your community profile or profile page. This will allow other community members to checkout your blog, should they be so inclined.

Another way is to inform your online friends of your blog through articles posted on your social site. After joining a site, it shouldn't take you long to become familiar with your sites goals, and you should easily be able to communicate with these friends you make.

Although there is a good chance that you are already a member of a popular social site, you may not be. If you are not already a member, but would like to become one, you can easily find a list of social networking sites using a standard internet search. In your search, you will discover the popular ones, such as MySpace, Facebook, FriendFinder, Yahoo! 360, and Orkut. Twitter is possibly the most desirable to work with and join. Before becoming a community member at any of these sites, you should first examine the website to ensure that it is everything that it appears to be.

Of course there are more ways to advertise your blog, to let the world know "Here I am folks!" However, you should have your hands full for a while as you join 5 or 6 social sites, learn what to do on each, and discover the most practical way to use each one to promote your blog and make a few bucks.

Have fun at the same time. You might be surprised to find yourself enjoying your socializing.

Fred Farah