How to :: build links through social media

If you have a new website or blog or are just interested in utilising new distribution platforms to gain additional traffic this blog post is for you …

Like me, if you work on a blog you will need to do something with your posts in order to deliver some links and traffic to your website. Many people dont realise that a blog can be significantly leveraged through a variety of communities, not just to deliver traffic but also build a loyal following. If your content is good and your audience is accurate blog posts will act like a fishing rod to bring in traffic.

Here are some tips which I will be sharing at the Strategic Social Media for Healthcare Conference next week in NYC.

Blog Commenting ::

First advise is not to worry about follow and no follow links. I have seen no follow links show up in Google webmaster tools blog. A link doesn’t have to just be looked at as “link building” but it should be viewed at as a bridge to your business or blog. If a link is there you are giving people an opportunity to find you.

By commenting on other related blogs you are endorsing the receiver and also creating an opportunity to market your own blog. Bloggers welcome feedback and comments and will usually return the favour – in time increasing visibility to you and your blog.

Social Media ::

Blog posts are one of the most visible ways you can get social media traffic over to your website. Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are superb places to pull in highly targeted audience traffic from a strategic manner. Taking each blog post and distributing it through a variety of social channels you are connected with will bring a steady stream of interested inbound traffic. Someone sooner or later is going to also link to that blog post making it even more important to be in this space. I distribute my favourite posts on a series of marketing and health-related LinkedIn groups which I can track with my analytics package. It is worth the effort from a networking and data sharing perspective.

Share Buttons ::

You don’t need a share button for every social book marking website. Twitter, Facebook and Google Buzz are important to distribute your content into every single time you write. Consistency is key with internet marketing efforts. ShareThis is also a great tool for tracking and ease of use.

Social Bookmarking ::

Social bookmarking is not be as popular as it was but we should not avoid it. Sites like Digg and StumbleUpon can still bring sizable traffic to your website which is why it is still important to be visible on their platforms.

Social media marketing is a very powerful force that can really help a business become successful online. With that said it requires applying all the tools with a strategic approach aimed at delivering not just traffic but targeted traffic to your website. Good Luck!