How To Utilise Twitter For Your Blog

Believe it or not, I blogged for a good four months before I even got a Twitter account for my blog, and literally no one read my posts! Almost a year later I am surgically attached to my phone, checking Twitter at every spare moment. Here's how I use Twitter to benefit my blog.

Promoting Blog Posts 

How does scheduling work? 

Since scheduling my tweets I've seen a huge increase in my page views. I use Buffer to plan my tweet schedule, promoting my latest posts eight times a day. This translates to once every three hours. I promote the most recent post four times a day on the first day, then twice on the next two days. This has proved so effective and since doing it, I have noticed my page views increase drastically. This is something I really regret not doing from the start!

How I compose the tweet...

As soon as a post gets published, I do a quick blast to let people know. That first tweet contains the words NEW POST and then a brief description. I always add a picture, to ensure my tweet is eye catching. For this I create a simple graphic on the Pic Collage app, using a similar style each time to maintain consistency. I then make sure I tag the brand featured, add the relevant blogger hashtag and finish with tagging a RT account (these I will go into later on in the post).

How to increase exposure...

The aim is to get your tweet to be seen by as many people as possible, but that can be difficult if you've just started out and are lacking in the follower department. However, you can utilise hashtags and RT accounts to your advantage.

What is a RT account? 

A RT (retweet account) is an account that retweets any tweets that mentions them. This means that everyone following the RT account will see your blog post tweet! For example, @FemaleBloggerRT has 24k followers, which is a good amount more than my humble 1400. However this account and the equally popular @UKBlog_RT don't seen to be as active as they used to be, so I've been looking to @BBlogRT and @TheBlogGuideRT as of late.

And hashtags? 

This isn't something I'd recommend to utilise as you do on Instagram, but putting in the relevant bloggers hashtag can be beneficial. It not only gives your followers a quick indication of the theme of the blog post, but often bloggers search their hashtag. For me it's usually #bbloggers, which refers to beauty bloggers. This works the same for fashion and lifestyle, which become #fbloggers and #lbloggers.

Twitter Chats

Isn't #bbloggers a chat too? 

One of my favourite ways to interact is via twitter chats. My favourites are #bbloggers, #lbloggers and #bdib. There are tons of new chats popping up, so for a comprehensive list, check out Dungarees & Donuts' post.

Sharing your links

I try not to spam posts during the chat although if someone asks a question, I sometimes give them a link to a relevant post. This can be useful if someone is asking for a specific review or a recommendation. My Primer and Mascara Edits have proved particularly useful in this situation. In terms of links, it is only really acceptable to send them in the last 10 mins, or if you have to leave earlier. I tend to tweet something like:

I like to include my Bloglovin link as it encourages people to give you the all important follow. Asking for links increases interaction and will also encourage people to click on yours. I then copy and paste something like: "Hi, You can find me at kimamelybeauty.com if you'd like to take a look" to people who are asking for links. I don't like include the chat tag as I don't want everyone to think I'm serial spamming my link! If people share their link with me, I'll have a read, make sure I leave a comment and then reply to their tweet thanking them for sharing their link, and letting them know I've left them a comment.

Just a note...

I also try to make an effort to only send my link to people that I haven't really spoken to much before, as it's likely that they won't be following my blog. I find it so awkward and annoying the same person sends me their blog link after EVERY chat. It actually led me to unfollow someone because I got the same copy and pasted message every week.

Following it through...

To end on a really important note... PUT YOUR BLOG URL IN YOUR BIO! A lot of people just have their Bloglovin link, but I much prefer to view a blog on the actual site. As most people are using Twitter on mobile devices these days, it is much easier to have a direct link. I cannot tell you how annoying and long winded it is having to scroll through a persons tweets to find a direct link. Just do it okay guys..

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That was a pretty long post so high five if you're still reading!