Publishing on your website or blog is just the beginning of putting your content out there. With so much digital noise, millions of posts created by a digital marketing agency in the Philippines as well as other countries each day can easily trample your content.
Think of the Internet as a marketplace. Your content is your goods while your website is your store. When you only have your products in one store, only a limited number of people can discover their potential. When it is everywhere, you gain traction. You become known. People begin to recognize your brand. They start to appreciate your goods. Most of all, they think of the possibility of becoming a loyal subscriber.
The fierce competition in content marketing pushes a digital marketing agency to look beyond its website when publishing content. They try and look into other platforms to grow their website traffic and conversions. Nowadays, there are several platforms you can submit and republish your content. Before you can try different platforms, you must ask yourself these questions.
Which platform is worth the time and effort?
Which one generates the visits I want to see?
Most of all, which platform complements my marketing efforts?
Continue reading to find out the best places to share or republish your content.
Content sharing platforms
1. Medium
It is known as a place for writers but is also a useful platform to republish existing blog posts. You can import your files as it automatically adds a rel=canonical link. To boost your site’s traffic, you can publish snippets of long-form posts to direct users to the full article on the website. Once you have a solid reader base, you can publish exclusive content on Medium.
2. Reddit
It is a social platform that allows Redditors (users) to discuss and vote on content. The platform also enables users to view other Redditors’ activities. The Reddit community easily brings people together through topics or Subreddits you can find on the platform. These topics are also used to identify which interest is in your brand or website’s alley. It is best to provide value and stay relevant to the topic, so users don’t call you out.
The Reddit community is an active community. They can easily see through a user who uses the platform for self-promotion. Therefore, you must be careful in sharing your content. Choose only the best pieces when using Reddit.
3. Linkedin Articles
A great feature of the platform is the syndication of blog posts to your LinkedIn profile. Thus, your brand or business can generate a strong subscriber base. You can leverage the exposure of your brand or business using your existing network. Meanwhile, these user profiles can subscribe to your posts to receive notifications each time you publish new content.
The built-in alert system is a feature that is not present on other platforms. It is helpful for content marketers and writers since users do not have to open their email inbox to see if they have new content. Users do not have to waste their time checking another app for updates on your work. All they must do is check their notifications on LinkedIn to see if you posted something new.
Though LinkedIn articles do not automatically add the rel=canonical tag, the content doesn’t appear as duplicate content on Google.
4. Email
Email subscribers are loyal to your brand. According to Campaign Monitor, these users are 3x likely to share your content on social media than visitors from other platforms. Thus, email CTR is higher than social media posts. Campaign Monitor also discovered that users are 6x likely to click links on email than links on tweets.
To reap these benefits, you can use email marketing services such as iContact, IFTTT, MailChimp, or Zapier. These are tools that automatically send the email and other updates to users subscribed to your site. Sending an email is useful to drive traffic, but you must still experiment with the best time to send out emails to get the most clicks.
To share content thru email, you can:
- compile your posts until the end of the week to send an email digest.
- wait until the end of the month to hand out a newsletter of updates and the latest published content.
These tactics reduce the unsubscribe rate. They don’t annoy your users with constant messages that fill their inboxes.
5. Q&A sites
Q&A sites like Quora and Yahoo! Answers are a goldmine of opportunities to share content. People go to these websites to find solutions to their problems. At the same time, they are useful for content marketers who are looking for inspiration for their content. You can use these types of platforms to answer queries by sharing information from your published post.
When sharing content on Q&A sites, look for people asking similar questions. Be helpful by offering solutions thru your content. Focus on giving additional information and practical solutions instead of selling your brand. You can use your content as a reference to your concise yet helpful answer to a question.
6. Twitter
ICYMI, Twitter is a social networking site where users communicate in 280 (from 140) character messages called tweets. The social platform allows you to create a brand account and personal account to maximize your online presence and reach. You can share content using the brand account to promote the brand and its presence. Use your personal account to increase your brand’s reach. Your account is also useful in making both Twitter profiles appear reachable and relatable. You can follow other users, interact with them and help them with their problems.
Other than creating profiles, Twitter is also useful for keyword research to use for future posts. You can use the platform to search for exact words, phrases, or popular topics relevant to your content idea. Keyword research using Twitter shows you how people use phrases and target keywords in real-time conversations.
7. Facebook Groups
Facebook is the biggest social media platform in the world which makes it the best platform to share your content. Using Facebook is a sure-fire way to be in touch with a broad audience to build engagement. It is also the platform to build followers and loyal brand enthusiasts.
Billions of its users are active almost daily. They visit Groups and use other features of the platform. You can use the products of Facebook to your advantage to get maximum engagement. You can begin your sharing strategy by looking at relevant groups where you can start adding value. As you build your authority, users begin to notice your brand. You can also start your endeavor by building trust and relationships with people in the group.
Establishing relationships is the key to succeeding in Facebook Groups. If you are a blogger, you must connect with a social network of professional bloggers. It makes it easier to find people who are open to forming connections and other co-blogging opportunities. Once you identify and have a tight-knit relationship with a group, you can begin sharing your relevant content.
8. Niche sites, Forums, and other communities
Several community sites and forums allow you to submit content and accept them without screening. One example is Hacker News. Every niche has a similar website. Utilize niche websites to get your content out there.
Flipboard has a similar community. The platform allows you to create and organize magazines according to specific topics. To be effective in the platform, you must have a solid follower count, so people can view your latest posts.
9. StumbleUpon
StumbleUpon is a viable source of traffic for your content. According to Statcounter, it refers more than other social bookmarking and voting sites such as Digg and Reddit. The platform has a Stumble button that generates high-quality pages relevant to the user’s interest. As other users like or stumble into a particular page, the page becomes part of the StumbleUpon lineup.
The platform may not be as popular as before, but it has a vast network that can boost your traffic. To do this, you must publish engaging content to share it on the platform, and work on becoming a Power Stumbler. Be active on the platform by commenting and liking on stumbled pages.
10. ManageWP.org
ManageWP is what it says it is – it is a WordPress website management service. It allows users to discuss, share and vote for the best WordPress stories. The platform is perfect for finding inspiration for your next content or project. You can also use the platform to be an inspiration to others. Share your content on WordPress to become part of ManageWP’s growing community.
11. DesignFloat
DesignFloat is an online discussion platform and a social bookmarking site for designers. Users can submit and discuss the latest news in technology, social media, and programming. You can offer your design tips and web development news to help users stay up-to-date with current practices.
12. Pinterest
Pinterest is the online version of mood boards. The social platform helps you find and organize pictures and ideas using user-generated categories thru boards and a series of bookmarks called “pins.” The pins can be a video, animation, graphic, link, or photo.
There are several topics on Pinterest. To share your content on Pinterest, submit images relevant to Pinterest boards.
13. Slideshare
SlideShare is a slide hosting service that allows users to upload files privately or publicly. The files can be PDF, PowerPoint, Keynote, or OpenDocument presentations. Only a few marketers upload their content on SlideShare, so there is less competition on the platform. Use this opportunity to gain popularity on the platform and cast a wide net to attract users to your site.
To cast a wide net and attract more traffic to your site, consider changing the format of your content. If you have a video, you can make a presentation out of it. You can repurpose your best content into a PowerPoint presentation. You must transcribe your video content and convert the transcribed document into a PDF or PPT file. Upload the file to SlideShare.
14. Instagram
Instagram is an image-based social networking platform. It is an app made to share videos and photos on a smartphone. Users can create a profile and follow other users to curate content on their news feed. It also allows users to like photos and videos and comment using hashtags. Its latest feature is Instagram stories and adding links in bio or the profile’s description. The platform is known for its simplicity. Hence, people on the platform are more engaging than other social media users.
The site focuses on providing beautifully enhanced photos using filters and other effects for stunning imagery. Those who need to highlight their physical product can work well on the platform.
15. Tumblr
Tumblr is a microblogging platform. It has a dashboard that provides content from blogs a user follows. It has a Reblog function, like, and comment button. It is pretty easy to use and optimized for mobile users, too. Users tend to post short to medium posts, photos, links, chat conversations, audio, and short videos. The platform also allows users to ask questions or hold conversations on the Question’s page.
Tumblr is free, so anyone can get access to your posts as long as they have an account. If you plan to promote your content using Tumblr, you can post a picture and snippets of your content. Don’t forget to add a link to your site so users can view the whole content.
16. YouTube
Another format you can explore is videos. You can use the biggest video-sharing service, YouTube, not only to watch but also to react (comment or like), watch and upload videos. Users can create their channel and follow other users by subscribing to other channels. The platform also allows users to create playlists to organize videos and group similar ones together.
You can record a voice-over or a team member discussing the key points of your content. Pair it with photos or engaging motion graphics to make the video engaging to users who see it. Add some background music on points you wish to emphasize.
17. Quora Blogs
Besides the Q&A feature, Quora has a blog function that utilizes the active writers of the platform. Tap onto the 30,000+ views on the platform by writing your content. You can republish your content with links to your blog.
18. Digg
Digg is similar to Reddit. It allows users to upvote the content through the “Digg” button after submitting your content. Upvotes boost your blog’s exposure. Users can also save and share content.
Other than being part of the Internet marketplace, you must seek to engage with users and followers to further your content marketing strategy. If not, you endanger your brand and website to be known as a self-opportunist. If you want to garner the empathy and likes of users in the social sphere, you must build relationships and be part of supportive communities that like to share each other’s links.
