Using Social Media to Increase Blog Traffic.

Social media is something everyone uses to make connections or to connect with people they already know. It's crazy how many people use social media to not only brag about their lives   tell their friends what they are up to, but rather as an open space to share things with different people.So many of the articles I read daily online are from other people's social media accounts. Therefore, social media is essential for bloggers to use. Here's some tips to make your blog rule the social media scene:

• Get a Facebook page, and invite as many of your friends as humanly possible. That way, when you post to your blog's Facebook page, it will appear on whoever you like's newsfeed. Also, don't just post a link to the post. Instead, focus on writing a little bit about what your post is about so people will be interested in clicking on it. Also when creating a Facebook page, make sure you post more than just a link to what you're posting. If possible, show a photo as a hint to stay tuned to a future post. That way, you'll actually engage with your audience. Always be sure to announce things on your blog's Facebook such as when you may have to change the post schedule or some upcoming things for readers to look foreword to. 
• Tweeting out links, regularly. It's one thing to tweet it once, but what I find most effective is to tweet it out a few times a day. That way, people who are on Twitter at all different times can see your blog. This works well for me, because then people who don't like my Facebook can get a sense of my blog. 
• Pinning Posts. Pinterest is extremely helpful because it can help link posts to a lot of people that you never even knew simply by them using the keywords. For example, if you search "Carrie Bradshaw" you'll find articles about Carrie as well as pictures. Therefore, if you're going to write something with a search engine, pin the article because then you'll get more traffic. 
• Finally, use hashtags. Hashtags are crucial with social media because it's can help readers easily find your article/posts. Therefore, if you're writing about something popular, use a hashtag when posting it on social media. More people can then find your articles, and this will then drive blog traffic up. 

For all of you bloggers out there: what are some effective ways you ultilize social media? Let me know in the comments below!