Advertising Your Blog: 4 Ways To Do It At Little Expense

During your initial foray into web logging, you'll

find that it will take some conscious effort on your

part to promote your blog. Of course, you could just

simply write feverishly and hope that your blog takes

on a life of its own.



But that's putting your hopes on randomness which

might not work in your favor. If the thought of

advertising your blog has never crossed your mind,

it's time that you gave it some consideration,

especially if you've only begun blogging.



Here are ways you can start advertising your blog at

little or no cost:



Share information for free. Don’t expect or demand to

be paid for information just yet. You're still trying

to build your reputation and nobody knows you. Focus

on putting out excellent quality entries or posts in

your blog. Good content, coupled with enough

promotional activity, will put you in the blog

universe's map.



The way to do it is to write articles about your

specific topic, articles that are related to your

chosen content. Include a short introduction about

yourself and your blog and place a link back to your

site. Writing articles helps establish your reputation

as a reliable source of information and makes you

recognizable.



Take article writing a bit further and send it out to

article databases or social bookmarking sites where it

can generate more buzz and get free promotion. Social

bookmarking sites allow visitors to vote for your

article, so the more it gains in popularity, the more

exposure your blog will receive.



Target online forums Online forums are today's

bulletin boards, the equivalent of the office water

cooler. These are sites or pages on the internet that

people frequent to ask or answer questions, share

their opinions, tell a story, rant, rave or just

simply say something.



Seek out online forums where topics related to your

blog are found. Forums offer free advertising

opportunities for your blog and let you network at the

same time.



Link up with other blogs Never underestimate the power

of a good connection. Many bloggers form associations

with other bloggers and reap the rewards of a

symbiotic relationship in the process. They do this by

swapping links, allowing themselves to share their

audience with other bloggers like you.



Bloggers can also actively promote your blog by

mentioning it in their posts while at the same time

providing links back to your site.



Frequently, blog owners will often allow you to guest

write an article or post for a day or a week. This

helps expose you and your blog to that blog's

visitors.



Give your two cents' worth Don't always treat other

blogs with content similar to yours as bitter

competitors. Sometimes, they could work as silent

partners to help you promote your blog. It may sound

sneaky or unacceptable to your idea of good ethics but

if you look closely, it's not only practical, it's

also legit.



Each time you visit another guy's blog, consider the

niche market it targets. Simply take a look at the

prevailing topics and sentiment and you'll have an

idea whether it's a match to your needs or not. Leave

a short but meaty comment on a relevant article that

you truly found interesting. Then leave your name and

a link to the blog page where a related topic can be

found.



What this does is simply promoting your blog to a

market that already exists. You're not exactly

stealing another blogger's audience - you're simply

providing them an alternative. And that's not so bad

for advertising your blog.