What To Do After You Hit Publish On Your Post

Writing regular blog posts for your site is a vital part of attracting traffic to your site.  That being said, many bloggers feel that the hard work is done when they publish their article on their site, but in reality, only half the work is done when you hit publish on your post!

Every Blogger Has To Learn This Lesson

Let’s imagine that you have just written THE BEST post of your life and are really excited to getting it published on your site.  You have got a cracking title, an intriguing introduction, amazing images/videos embedded, engaging content that has been optimized for the search engines, a great call to action at the end of your article… the whole sha-bang!  You just can’t wait for all the visitors to come and read your excellent post.

After you hit publish, you wait and wait, but nothing seems to be happening.  Hours, days and weeks pass, but your “best ever” post just isn’t making the impact that you had imagined it would.  Demoralized, you give up on the whole blogging business and focus on something else.

This little scenario is quite a common occurrence online amongst many new bloggers.  I myself have experienced the same thing when I first started out, as well as just about every other blogger out there.  I like to view it as a BIG lesson that you have to learn in order to stand any chance of making it in the long term.

Now, for a minute I want you to forget all about blogging and article writing and instead imaging that you have just invented the new “must have” gadget, like the iPod or iPhone (seemingly anything with an “i” in front of it).  Now this “must have” gadget has the potential to make billions and billions, but in order to do so, you need to let people know about it.  You can’t expect people to get excited about your new gadget if they don’t know anything about it.

I think you see where this is going…

You Need To Shout About Your Post

No matter how good your article writing is, you need to get out there and shout about it for people to notice it.  Only then will you be able to attract an audience to your site to help grow your business and the very best way to do that is with social media.

Social media is such a great tool that can help you to reach far more people that you could on your own.  If people like something that you share, they can then share it with their friends and so on, enabling you get your article in front of a lot of people.

What To Do After You Hit Publish On Your Post

So, as we have said, when you hit publish on your post, only half the work is done.  You need to get on social media and share your post so that you maximise the amount of people that can see your link.

Everyone will have their own opinion on this, but this is what I do after I hit publish on one of my posts.

1. Twitter – Make sure that you tweet out a link to your post which includes relevant #hashtags.  Also, don’t just rely on one Tweet, send out a few at different times of the day (don’t overdo it though) in order to reach as many of your followers as you can.
2. Google+ Page – Share your post on your G+ page that you should have set up for your website.  This will enable you to reach out and let your subscribers know that you have a new post out.  Remember to include relevant #hashtags.
3. Google+ Profile – If you have a personal G+ profile, you can also share your link there.  I like to share the link that I posted on my G+ page so that people can click on and like that as well if they want.
4. Facebook Page –  Just like you did with your G+ page, make sure to share your latest post on your dedicated Facebook page.  Again, remember to include #hashtags.
5. Facebook Groups – There are plenty of Facebook groups online that you can join that will allow you to share your links. Make sure that the groups you join are relevant to your site’s subject matter, otherwise it will just be seen as spam.
6. LinkedIn – Yes, you should be on LinkedIn as it is a great site for website owners to connect with likeminded individuals.  Make sure to share your latest link on your profile and any relevant LinkedIn groups that you can join.
7. Pinterest – If you have any images within your post (especially infographics) then you need to make sure that you share them on Pinterest.  You can gain a lot of traffic from Pinterest when people like your images, which is why it is always good to spend time finding great images for your posts.
8. Flickr – If you found an image to use in your post from Flickr (or any image site for that matter), it can be beneficial to go and leave your link in the comment section.  That way, you are letting the image owner know that you have used their image (which you should have credited).
9. YouTube – If you uploaded a video to YouTube and embedded it into your post, make sure that you go back and include a link in your video’s description.  That way, when people find your video on YouTube itself, they can click on and read more on your article.
10. StumbleUpon – Yes, StumbleUpon may be a bit old now but I still find that it sends me plenty of traffic.   Share your link, along with a short description and add it to as many “relevant” categories as you want.

Like I have said, always remember to include relevant #hashtags where you can as this can GREATLY help your shares reach more people.   Also, if you mention specific people in your post, then let them know as well on the relevant social media sites.  Tweet your link with their @name, add their +name to your Facebook & Google+ shares, etc.  It all helps to spread the word about your post.

At the end of the day, you can’t expect people to find your post(s) if you don’t let them know about it in the first place.  You can’t do it all on your own, which is why social media is a great place to help spread the word.

What do you do after you hit publish on your post?  Where else do you share your links in order to attract visitors/traffic?  Please let us know your opinions in the comments section below!