Effective FREE Blog Advertising
Whether you’re looking for good exposure to build your brand or for just some good SEO (search engine optimization), advertising is essential for a lot of us.
Frankly, I have a zero advertising budget. From time to time I can be found purchasing a no-follow link from a ScratchBack widget but otherwise, I don’t spend a dime on advertising.
Am I saying this is smart? No, not really. But I have a lot of things to spend my money on and putting my name out there right now isn’t one of them.
So, due to the lack of advertising budget, I thought I’d share with you some of the ways that I get free exposure for I’m Blogging That (and my other blog, Katy In Las Vegas).
Let’s skip what’s been talked about 1,000 times. You know about pillar posts, link bait and social networking. These are all practices that a lot of bloggers have. But there’s more that you can do, even if you have heard of it, maybe you haven’t tried yet.
Exchange Blog Reviews
Sometimes even the best bloggers need someone to scour their blog with fresh eyes. Exchange blog reviews with another blogger that you know. Cover their entire site. Link to posts that you really enjoyed, pump up some of their own advertising that is free (like Entrecard). Talk about their design and what you do and do not like about.
Exchanging blog reviews can be fun, help gain some new readers, and give you some of those all too important back links.
I have heard, although because I’m not an SEO expert am unsure, that exchanging reviews should be done at different times to give back links at different times. How affective this, I’m not sure. But exchanging reviews is certainly worth-while.
Find a blogger in your niche and approach them. The worst that can happen is they check out your blog and say no. No worries, don’t take it personal!
Technorati Favorites Exchange
One of Technorati’s great features is to have the ability to become a fan of another blog. By having favorite blogs you’re helping other bloggers to gain exposure when your Technorati profile is viewed.
This has become such the marketing tool that a small program was created that will automatically make you a fan of any blogger that has become your fan. You can check this out over at Internet Duct Tape.
Head over to Technorati and become a fan of every single blog you love! Even if the other blogger does not return the favor, it’s still great exposure for your Technorati profile.
Banner Exchanges
The popularity of the 125×125 banner has more than tripled in the last few years! It seems as though every blog has a 125×125 banner… to use for Entrecard or any other advertising purchases.
Talk to your blogger friends and ask if they’d be interested in exchanging banners with you. Be sure however that the exchange is fair. Obviously someone like John Chow who commands a great deal for a banner on his site wouldn’t find it fair to place a banner on my site.
The blog should be equal to yours and the specifics on how long the banner will run should be laid out ahead of time.
In addition to the popular 125×125 banner, there’s many blogs who have “Recommended Links.” Ask for an exchange in this position. Generally most bloggers will be much more interested in this exchange than a banner exchange but it’ll never hurt to ask!
And never overlook the ever popular top sites. Getting a great deal of exposure from these type of sites can be difficult as your blog has to be voted up close to the front page for maximum exposure. Votes come from people who click from your site to the topsite (in most cases… each topsite’s voting structure works differently).
While I’m not someone to fill my blog with topsite links to have this work for me, it may be something you’re interested in doing. Just today Jenny emailed me to tell me about her new topsite Mini Me and Mindy and I have run WAHM Topsite for over a year now.
Guest Posts
Probably the ultimate in exposure if you’re guest posting on the right site, guest posting however is not for everyone.
I have heard many different reactions to an expected outcome of guest posting. Including Lori’s post about her guest post on ProBlogger.
My suggestion with guest posting to maximize your exposure is to ensure you’re guest posting on a site within your niche. You want the audience from the blog you guest post for to join you at your blog. To do this, you should be on similar subjects you already know the visitors will be interested in.
Ensure that your guest post is original and on topic. Be specific with the blogger you’re guest posting for to know what you can and cannot include… like affiliate links, links to other blog posts, and how long your author information should be.
Conclusion
There are many more ways than this to get effective free advertising. The key is to find which is right for you and work it all that you can. Ensure that through networking you have the connections you need to make these suggestions work for you and keep at them. No one can expect the maximum results the first time out of the gates, keep at it!
How do you maximize your blog’s exposure for free? Do you have a tried and true technique that works for you?
April 3rd, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Katy,
Good info. On a side note, are you making $ from this blog? I am going through your archives, but, yet to found any post on it.
April 3rd, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Asia’h » Thank you.
As far as making money from the blog, yes. However it is only with my 6 125×125 banners. Of those, 2 of them are paid for a year. I haven’t made any posts on it simply because I don’t have anything to say about it. I leave the make money online posts to multitude of make money online bloggers. Somehow, that hasn’t been a niche I completely get. :\ Not that I’m thrilled with that result!
The good news… I can be seen for the moment as someone who blogs and shares information because they really want to. Not because they’re making a lot of money at it. That’s a thought I do enjoy!
April 4th, 2008 at 1:13 am
I am budget advertiser & blogger,i will try to use free ads as much as possible.Recently i use social marketing as my priority tools to market myself,it is absoutely an effective way because people will know you by viewing your profile,as long as visitors trust you,they will find out more what is this person doing?I created facebook group as well as join a lot of groups,i actively participate in topic discussion,ultimately we are promoting ourself by sharing and helping others.
April 4th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Do you find that Technorati is still effective? I stopped using it several months ago. I had also been told (or did I read it) that Google stopped passing link juice from Technorati?
I agree that social bookmarking is effective. I added a “Digg Badge” to one of my personal blog pages and saw the traffic take off. If you you use th ebadge be sure to put in the code to default the title and description to something YOU wrote.
Just noticed the time, have a great weekend!
Jon
April 4th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Hey Katy, thanks for the link love.
Even though I didn’t get the exposure I expected from doing my guest post at Problogger, I still gained subscribers, traffic, and a new found self confidence.
I think you pointed out some good ideas. I’ve never really thought about asking others to do an exchange for banners or reviews. I mean, I’ve heard of it before but have never sat down and told myself I should do it. It’s definitely a great idea and things like that save money get an A+ in my book;)
April 7th, 2008 at 6:50 am
Felex » I agree with you. There are many places to get great free exposure but not all of them hold the same level of results. I agree with your mention of promoting yourself by sharing and helping others. However, the key there is still finding who you can help and understanding how one might need help to get the results you’re looking for.
Jon » Technorati is still effective for blogger use but not necessarily for traffic. The traffic that comes is few and far between, at best, but the inspiration and use it limitless!
Digg is a good for some bloggers on specific niche articles but not good for everyone. Digg users are especially more picky at what stories rise to the top and sending traffic to a website. For me, the key has been to include icons for the most popular social networking sites but work to really promote myself on just one, StumbleUpon.
Lori » You’re quite welcome. Seems to me you had quite the mixed reaction from your article on ProBlogger but the exposure is what is really awesome for you. It’s nice to hear that you did get some results from your post there.
Hope some of my money-saving suggestions work out for you. And if they do, be sure to let me know!!
April 8th, 2008 at 11:43 am
I went and bought a WP plugin that automatically submits every post i make to 30 or so bookmarking and social sites. It works a treat. That was the only bit of investment i did. Do you get good results from the scratchback widget?
April 8th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
SEO » I’m not sure I would have spent money for a plugin to submit my posts for me. Most networking sites look down upon submitting your own posts and some have gone to the extent to ban those that abuse the system by submitting their own posts. Networking should be natural and organic, let your content speak for itself through your visitors.
In regards to ScratchBack, the best purchase I made was on BlogHerald for $5.00. My link is still there and to date has brought in 16 visitors. I must note however, that this is better than the actual post on BlogHerald that linked to me that sent only 2 visitors my way. Seems to me that their visitors are more apt to click on a link in the sidebar rather than in a post… strange if you ask me.
April 9th, 2008 at 8:30 am
Good information for me,as i am a new blogger. Thank you very much for you. I will try to follow you to increase my blog traffic. My blog is http://iorimoney.blogspot.com/
Feel free to come and give me some advice on that!!!
April 24th, 2008 at 7:46 am
Good info here, thanks.
Feel free to stop by the Free Advertising Blogger and place your
FREE classified ads today!
http://freeadblogger.blogspot.com
Enjoy your day!
June 16th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
the information that you share with us is very educational