While creating a blog can be one of the simpler ways to share information over the Internet, promoting it can be a completely different story. It's not over and done with once you create the blog. You have to let your prospective audience know it's there. A quick way to do that is by adding it to as many blog directories as you can.
Sampling of Top Blog Directories
If you decide that you want to submit your blog to a directory, the first step is to find the right blog directory or directories to submit your blog to. The choices out there can seem a little overwhelming, but start by figuring out exactly what you're looking for a blog directory to do for you. Two good directories to start with are Bloggers Ideas and We Teach U. The following is a sampling of the directories these sites recommend.
One-Stop Shopping
Blog directories can present "one-stop shopping" situations for your prospective audience. They allow the audience to find blogs for the type of information they're looking for and allow you to advertise your blog to all of those visitors at once.
A blog author can submit their blog to a directory, and when the directory is organized by categories and sub-categories, it helps the audience know more of what each blog is all about. The audience can look up a category they're interested in and find a whole group of blogs that deal with their interests.
Blog authors can cater this experience to be exactly what they need and want. Not only can they help scope the very audience they're looking for, but they can also choose how much they want to pay, if anything, which will result in how much work the blog directory does for them. While there are free blog directories, there are also some that work with the use of link reciprocating, and others that require an upfront fee. Simply put, the more you do for them, whether it's cross-promote with a reciprocating link or pay a fee, the more they'll do for you.
Benefits of Using a Blog Directory
Getting your blog listed in a directory can be greatly beneficial and aid in the success of your blog. These benefits include:
- Introducing your blog to the search engines - The search engines, such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo, won't know you have a wonderful blog unless you let them know. Including it in a directory is just one of the ways to introduce them to it.
- Increasing visibility - The more your blog is linked on other sites, especially high profile sites such as blog directories, the more easily and quickly search engines will find you.
- Developing an audience - Blog directories don't just help you with search engines. They can also find you a regular audience. Some people go to several different sources for information, and by including your blog in a directory, it can be one of the many they decide to return to regularly.
The Major Disadvantage
There's really only one major disadvantage to adding your blog to a major directory, and it's the increased possibility of negative content connected to your blog. While blog directories can bring you notice of search engines and an audience, it can also attract negative attention. This can be in the form of people who just want to rant about your content via your contact options or in-blog content, or it can also be via spam. While spam is many times just a pure annoyance, it can also be disastrous and destructive to your blog. Spammers can replace your content with their own, can use it to advertise their services, etc.
Promote. Promote. Promote.
Whether you are writing a blog for business or for personal use, you still want people to read it. Simply telling your friends you are writing the blog won't be enough visitors for your site. Promoting it is a must, and after doing so on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, submitting to a blog directory can be the quickest way to increase your readership.
