Okay, a warning: This is going to be one of those posts where you think, “Yeah, I know… DUH!” But when you’re done reading, go to your site and see if you’re making the biggest mistake that prevents readers from actually sharing your blog content. I bet 50% of you are, so bear with me…
One of the most common questions I get from my Blog Critique clients is, “How do I get people to tweet/share/email/like my blog posts?”
So I go to their blog and there is no way to share their posts. Meaning if I want to retweet said post I need to cut and paste the headline, copy the URL, open bit.ly, shorten the URL, copy it again, paste it into Twitter, search for the blogger’s handle and cut and paste that, too. Then I can share their content.
Do you know what this means? This means I’m not going to share their content.
Make it So Easy the Content Practically Shares Itself
One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever been given was from my mom. When I was looking for a job back in 2009 she said, “If you want to get hired you need to make it as easy as possible for people to hire you.” That meant not only writing a kick ass cover letter, but making my contact information incredibly obvious, calling to make sure my application went to the right person, calling a week later to confirm they got it, emailing to thank them for their time, calling again, etc etc etc.
This sounded like “being annoying,” not “making it easy.”
But Mommy put it this way, “A hiring manager wants to hire you, but with hundreds of applications, you easily get lost. Gently remind them you exist and if you’re the right fit and the easiest person to hire, well, then you get hired.
Getting your blog content shared is a lot like finding a job. You obviously need to have the qualifications. Your content obviously needs to be good. But if you’re the easiest person to hire – if your content is just asking to be shared – then you’ll be the person that gets the job.
Tips to Remember
Still though, it’s not like you can just slap a bunch of share buttons on your posts and be done with it. We’ve all seen those blogs with 53 trillion buttons and little else of quality. So here are a few tips to keep in mind:
Use a recognizable symbol. While you may want to get all fancy here you need to remember that people will either be actively looking for, say, a retweet button or will recognize the button and then choose to retweet your content. Both times, having a basic Facebook thumbs up sign or Topsy retweet will make all the different in your numbers.
Look at these images to the left. Which stands out more, the ubiquitous retweet symbol or the little “share this” button you so often seen hidden near the bottom?
For Twitter, remember to use a URL shortener (I like bit.ly) and link back to your profile. It blows my mind when a site will give you a perfectly nice retweet button that only links back to the site and doesn’t say “RT @verysillyblog” or “via @losingoutbigtime.” First of all, give yourself a little credit! Let people know who wrote the post and give them the very easy option of following you. You’re losing out on an increase of followers who are already interested in your content.
Don’t post too many bells and whistles. There are a million and one different social networks where you can tweet, like, stumble, digg, post, share, ping, email, reblog, buzz, tumble, tickle, tackle, whizz, wham, slam and dunk. If you give your readers too many options it looks not only desperate, but overwhelms them into not sharing at all. Pick the networks where you’re most active and stop stressing about the sites you’re not yet taking advantage of.
Location, location, location. The jury is out on exactly where to post your share buttons, but I like to have one at the beginning and one at the end, just to mix things up. Plus, if a retweet number is high it makes people more likely to read the whole thing. Many people post buttons at the end simply because readers are already there, so it’s just a simple reminder to click. Check out how Erika Napoletano has her buttons:
Don’t Argue With Me
Having your content shared is THE best way to generate blog traffic. You can have thousands of followers on Twitter and tons of Facebook friends and a rockin’ mailing list, but those are people who are already familiar with your content. They might need a little reminder now and then to check out your latest blog post, but you’ve essentially already hooked them. What you need is yes, content good enough to share, but also a mad easy way to share said content.
Are you already doing this? If the answer is “no”, why the hell not?
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