Many social media experts believe a blog should be the core of a social media strategy, as the key vehicle for sharing thought leadership content which can then be promoted using Twitter, social networking and other tools. No question, there are many compelling reasons why blogs are important for business. But what if you simply don't have the time or resources to commit to maintaining a blog with regular posts, or at least you're not ready to make the commitment yet? Here are six other ways to share your thought leadership content without committing to the demands of regular blog posting.
Create an area for articles on your website. This allows you to write and post articles as time permits, rather than committing to a regular once, twice or more per week posting schedule. This also allows you to write fewer but more in-depth articles less suited to the blogging format. You can still promote this articles using social media and SEO just as you would with blog posts, and even add an RSS feed (yes, it's possible to add an RSS feed to any web page, though it is likely to attract fewer readers than regular blog posting).
Industry Publications
Many online trade publications will accept (and are actually hungry for) bylined articles, as long as they are true thought leadership pieces that address industry issues rather than blatant product or service promotion. Most will permit one or more links back to your site as part of the "about the author" section, which is helpful for both direct traffic and SEO.
Article Publication Sites
For a little more creative freedom (including the ability to add text links within the article to specific pages on your site), try publishing an article through article publication sites. Many of these articles appear well in search on their own (particularly EzineArticles) as well as being great sources of links for SEO.
Guest Blogging
If you have an article that's most suitable as a blog post, try contacting influential bloggers in your industry about providing a guest post for their blog. Again, as long as the post is suitable for their readers and focused on thought leadership rather than promotion, many bloggers will appreciate getting a "day off" from writing their own content, and will permit a link or two back to your site, at least in the "about the author" section and possibly within the content as well. Be sure to link to other authoritative sources within your copy as well to maximize value to the readers as well as appearing truly helpful, not just self serving.
Google Knol
Google Knol unfortunately uses the insidious no-follow tag, so you won't get any SEO benefit from posting there, but the articles themselves often show up well in search. So, you can still include links to your site from your article; while these won't supply any SEO link juice, they often provide relevant direct traffic.
Directory Sites
Many industry-focused and general web directory sites, such as Qondio, allow you to post articles as well as standard directory listings. Requirements tend to be similar to those for article publication sites. These are sort of the reverse of Google Knol; while articles on these sites may not show up highly in search listings themselves, they do pass link juice and so are helpful for the SEO on your own website.
A regularly updated and properly promoted blog is still the best way to socially share thought leadership content. But if you've got some content, but not enough for regular blog posting, these alternative avenues can still be helpful and supportive for content marketing, social media and SEO objectives.
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