The Social Network You Keep Forgetting About: Your Blog

by Lily Bradic

Your blog is more than just a place to post things. It’s a social network — your own, personal social network.

Maybe you just use your blog for sharing news. Maybe you use it for posting content that you can then distribute through your social channels. Either way, it’s likely you’ve forgotten how blogs used to be. It’s time to bring that back.

Before social networks like Myspace and Facebook, blogs were the easiest way for everyday people to get their content seen and shared by others. People joined blog rings, followed similar bloggers, and spent time building relationships by commenting on each other’s stuff.

And, while that does still happen in some online communities, the blog as a social platform is now generally overlooked by brands. Pick a business blog at random, and check the comments. You probably won’t find any.

Of course, it’s easier to share something on Facebook, as you know people are likely to see it (or not. Thanks, New Feed algorithm!) But interaction and engagement on your blog itself can actually mean more. It means people care enough to say something — and not because they want Facebook Likes for their sarcastic comment or witty response. A blog comment is more of a commitment than clicking the Like button. A blog follow means “I’m interested in what you do,” not “I want to be told about free stuff and competitions.”

If you have a website, your blog is probably integrated, so by encouraging interaction on your blog, you’re effectively keeping people on your website. Half of your Facebook fans probably haven’t even visited your website. Why would they need to? You’re giving them all the information they need right there already — but you don’t have to.

You can transition slowly from Facebook- and Twitter-based social media marketing. Sure, you might have to rely less on secondary content, but that’s a good thing if you can spare the time to create stuff.

Posting blog extracts on Facebook is a great way to lead people to your blog. Once people are on your blog, you can direct them to other parts of your website by:

• Structuring your blog post around another part of your website (e.g. “How to buy your first DSLR” with internal links to your best beginner’s cameras). Posts like this are also brilliant for SEO, and are likely to direct search engine traffic to your blog.
• On-page banners promoting deals, competitions, and giveaways
• Encouraging account creation or newsletter signups (this might not provide immediate return, but long-term, it’s worth it)
• Directing visitors to other on-site content that tends to convert

Buying from an unfamiliar e-commerce site can be intimidating — but if people spend enough time on your website, you won’t be unfamiliar to them. While social networks can be good for reaching a broader audience, they’re not always best for conversion.

Readers: have you tried making your blog a more prominent part of your online presence? If so, what did you learn? Share your tips and stories in the comments!