5 Alternatives to Social Media Marketing
June 10, 2008 by
Steven
Filed under
Website Traffic
Social Media Optimization is one of the most common methods for getting significant exposure for bloggers. Sites like Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit, and Delicious are constantly sending large volumes of traffic to submissions that are the most popular with users.
An effective Social Media Marketing plan can help to take a blog from nowhere to being well-known in a short amount of time. However, social media isn’t a good fit for every blog, and not all bloggers choose to participate. For those who would rather draw traffic in other ways, there are some traffic sources that are capable of giving you the same type of exposure as a front page appearance on a major social media site.
In this post we’ll look at five ways that bloggers can quickly gain tremendous exposure without social media, and without paying for any advertising. Just like social media, these methods won’t be for everyone either, but you may find something that fits very well for your niche and for your audience.
1 - Get Mentioned by Google News
Google News obviously reaches an astronomical number of visitors each month. And as a result, the stories that are mentioned there and the sites that are linked receive a surge of traffic similar to what you might experience from social media. In fact, the audience that reads Google News is a much more diverse, well-rounded audience than that of most social media sites.
Getting mentioned in Google News is not easy, as you may have imagined, however, plenty of bloggers and website owners have been able to do so. Google News only indexes sites that are news-focused, so this will exclude a number of blogs. If you think your blog would be a good fit, they provide some advice and instructions for getting listed.
2 - Submit a Press Release
An effective press release with a significant story to share can also create a large number of visitors to your site and plenty of valuable exposure. In order for a press release to work for you there will need to be something truly newsworthy in the release. Modern online resources make submitting press releases so easy that most editors are flooded with them everyday. Those that have nothing exceptional to say will simply be ignored.
If your press release is able to catch the attention of some editors you could receive outstanding exposure from various types of media and you could get plenty of inbound links as a result. There are a number of services out there that will help you to create an optimized press release and submit it online for you. If you’re interested in writing your own press release, see How to Write a Great Press Release: A Sample Press Release Template.
3 - Get a Link from a Major Website
Websites and blogs that have huge audiences are capable of sending tons of traffic to any link that they mention. I had a situation a few months ago where one of my posts that was about 3 months old at the time got a mention and a link from Lifehacker. That post on Lifehacker sent thousands of visitors over a period of a few days, even though it was published on a weekend. That traffic from Lifehacker generated enough bookmarks that my post made it to the front page of Delicious that day, which wound up sending even more visitors.
Like the other methods of gaining exposure, this can take some work. If you have a post or a resource on your site that you think may be worthy of a mention, send an email to an editor to mention how it can be of use to their audience. Remember that these people get plenty of emails like this everyday, so respect their time and give them a reason to mention you.
4 - Write a Guest Post for a Major Blog
In my opinion, guest posts are the most under-appreciated method for growing a blog. Sure, there are a number of guest posts published everyday across the blogosphere, but if most bloggers realized how effective they can be, there would be 10 times as many being published.
Guest posts will typically include a very brief bio about you that includes a link to your website or blog. This link will not draw the same type of traffic as the other sources mentioned here. A guest post might only bring a fairly small number of visitors in comparison, but the effects in terms of subscribers can be very significant.
A guest post is an incredible opportunity to prove your worth to readers of a large blog that shares your target market. My blog Traffikd has seen its best days in terms of subscribing growth on the same days that guest posts were published at ProBlogger. While those posts may have only sent a few hundred visitors each, they accounted for a nice boost in new subscribers with each post.
5 - Get Listed in Web Design Galleries
Web design and CSS galleries can give your website or blog some amazing expsore and can send plenty of traffic. In order to get listed you’ll need a standout site (see Conor’s post 9 Design Styles to Get You Into CSS Galleries), but those who get listed in major galleries will see a big spike in traffic.
The visitors sent by CSS galleries may or may not be targeted, depending on your audience. Most of the visitors to these sites are designers and technically-savvy internet users or bloggers. If this is similar to your target market, this could be great exposure. If it’s not your target market the results will be limited, but you can at least get a bunch of quality inbound links. For a nice big list of galleries to submit you site to, see Inspiration Overload: 100 CSS Galleries You Need to Check Out.
This post was written by Steven Snell.
I did try to get 2 of my blogs on Google News but they rejected it because they are actually looking for blogs run by a company or a Multi-Author Blog. I think the rest of the points are valid and I think should give press release a shot at.
Great article. I’m still looking for those links from major websites. My site is still in its early stages though, so I am not too worried about it.
Cheers,
The Tech Juice
I agree - If you’re looking for a shortcut to social media marketing, this is definitely not it - but they’re great suggestions all the same.
Prem,
Yeah, Google News is not an option for every blog, including mine. But for those who are a good fit it can be a great source of traffic and exposure.
Stefanie,
I agree. These are not shortcuts.
woo hooo nice article, i must work hard to get the traffic when i read your post. but now stumbleupon really help me to get the traffic, the average traffic in my site its 150 visitor/day and 300 pageview/day. i think this result makes me happy for 2 weeks blog
Steven,
To me, your #5 is interesting - I’m going to try to submit my sites to galleries - one problem though, I need custom themes
Cheers!
Thanks for the tips, I’m looking and exploring social media, but it really takes a tremendous amount of time to keep up with multiple profiles. Good to know some alternatives.
Nice post. I’m still very small and starting out, but I’ve noticed that I’m getting hits around the country…and I think it’s because I comment on blogs like this. While it may not be as effective as writing a guest post, or getting on an official blogroll, I think it’s helping.
Thanks!
http://miketieden.com
Nice post, Steve/Adnan.
I’m new to blogtrepreneur but this concise list of useful tips grabbed my attention enough to subscribe.
Thanks.
This is an informative article and I’m trying to get traffic from other sources along with social sites.
From the above steps .. we can get actual and good visitors … guest posting on huge traffic blog can get very good traffic and exposure to ur blog .. as mentioned .. guest post on Problogger increased subscribers and traffic too.
I have dabbled with social media but I notice the population of users is a pretty young crowd which is not truly my target market. I recently wrote up a sweet press release and scored it with glyphius - I was surprised with the results as I generated quite a little buzz in one shot.
Getting link from major website works for me.
How would you go about approaching blog owners to talk about a guest post? Do they like random users asking to feature?
Press Releases are a great way to piggyback some of the authority of other websites!
All really great points. These are all great actionable items that I am taking with my current blog. Don’t forget about mindset though because our own thinking and intentions set us up for various effects in the future. This we must be aware of, especially when it comes to growing our own blogs and internet businesses
Web Design Galleries is one of the best ways.
I have wrote a post about it with tons of sites where users can get a backlink from.
http://www.balkhis.com/advertising/good-looking-website-can-earn-you-backlinks/
I submitted my blog and getting about 500+ visitors from all the galleries combined that I got accepted in.
You put up nice points.
It’s all about connecting with the right audience.
You have taught me so much about things that I don’t know but now I know and it’s great..This is the fun part about blogging, you get to learn more as you go along..
I still learn to write good article, I will try to send article to press release
great post, I use a company which submits my press release to numerous sources which usually drives a lot of traffic my way. Press releases are a great wat of getting the word out there.
Not sure if this post will show or not…
..but @Goldie, mind sharing the places you submit?
Agreed, id like to knows what place to submit my press release.
I wouldn’t know how to approach a blog owner for a guest post, being how small my websites are right now.
Good read, lots of info. Thanks
Hi Justin,
Very good article. Didn’t have much idea about the Google News and Press Release. It will help increase the traffic to my blog.
Sudipta
1. Get mentioned on Google News
How do you do that? Well, thanks for providing a link.
Stumbled up.
You have taught me so much about things that I have always wanted to know. Great stuff! This is the fun part about blogging, you get to learn more as you go along.Thanks for the article.