Just One-Click to the World: Simple Ways to Extend Your Blog’s Reach

If you write a great blog post, and no one reads it, does it make a difference?

You can create the greatest, most relevant content in the world, but if your reach is limited, so are you.

Once you’ve written and published your content, is it simple for people to find? And additionally, are you able to get it out “there” with a minimal amount of time and effort?

Each morning I click the publish button on my blog post for the day and that one click automatically pushes my blog out to multiple locations and platforms, each of which helps me find people where they happen to be. With that one-click, my blog post is sent out to my communities on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, as well as to those who subscribe to my blog through various means. Here’s how:

RSS/E-mail Subscribers – Most blogs come with a built-in RSS subscription service or plug-in, but regardless, I think the best option is Google Feedburner. You’ll need to set up a Google account for this (which you really should already have.) As part of my account I have G-Mail, Google Reader, G-Chat, Google Buzz, Google Analytics, and more. Feedburner allows visitors to your blog to subscribe either via e-mail or through an RSS reader. And the beauty of this is that it is completely trackable. I can see how many subscribers I have, and I’m even able to capture the e-mail addresses of those who subscribe in that way. A very helpful tool in seeing at least a snapshot of how my blog posts are being read, and by whom.

Twitter – There are any number of ways to link your blog so that it automatically publishes to Twitter. My favorite, again, is Google Feedburner. Once you have your feed set up for the RSS/E-Mail subscriptions, just click on the “Publicize” tab up top, and then click on the “Socialize” option on the left side navigation bar. As of now, Feedburner only allows you to send your post to Twitter (though I wouldn’t be surprised if other social networks are eventually added). You can set up multiple Twitter accounts, but it will only automatically publish to one of them. I send my blog posts to my Inkling Media twitter account, and then I use another service, Twitterfeed, to send it to my personal account. One added bonus to this arrangement is that Feedburner posts the link to my blog using Google’s URL shortener, while I have Twitterfeed set to use the bit.ly URL shortener. These are trackable, and gives me a better idea as to which of my Twitter accounts is getting the click throughs.

Facebook – While you can use the previously mentioned Twitterfeed to send your blog posts to Facebook, I prefer a Facebook app called Networked Blogs. You can add your blog to any number of pages with this app, and I have mine set to publish to both my personal profile and my Inkling Media business page. The beauty of Networked blogs is that the content that it publishes is “shareable”. And your Facebook friends and others can also subscribe directly on Facebook.

LinkedIn – If you have a LinkedIn profile, there are multiple ways of sharing your blog with your connections. I use the WordPress application which shares each of my blog posts. The Tweets application will also show when you post your blog via Twitter.

Your Website – There are any number of plug-ins and widgets you can use, especially if you have a WordPress site, that gives you added traction on your website. If you look at the right column on this site, you’ll see a list of the 5 most “Recent Blog Posts.” This is done via a “Recent Posts” widget, but there are many more options. Embedding a Facebook Page widget on your site, or a Twitter widget, also helps get your blog posts out there more.

Personal E-mail – A while back I blogged about this one: Wisestamp. This free little application helps you create a custom signature for your email that includes not only links to your social sites, but the title and link to your most recent blog post.

It’s that simple. Just one click and I send my post out to multiple locations. And in many cases I get multiple touch-points with a number of my readers, if they happen to be my “friends” on various platforms. And if you are utilizing any other Social platforms, there is probably a way to include those in the process. One tool to help you out would be social publisher Ping.fm.

And then, there are a few added things I can do to get even more of a reach, beyond that first click:

After I publish the blog, I then post it on Social news sites like StumbleUpon and Digg, which gives me access to millions of more potential readers. I also send it to Google Buzz and use the “share” function on Google Reader, which goes out to those who follow me there.

And then, throughout the day, I will retweet my blog posts at various times, knowing that many use Twitter at certain times of the day, and might miss my initial tweet. And sometimes I’ll even “share” it a second time on my personal Facebook profile.

These are just a few ways you can extend the reach of your blog. By doing so, you increase your chances of getting new readers, new subscribers, more comments, and new inbound links. And, this could translate in an increase in new business leads and clients. Plus various analytics allow you to track the effectiveness of your efforts.

Which of these methods do you use, and do you have any others you could share with us?

Tagged as: blogs, facebook, Marketing, Social Media, Twitter