As any blogger or content creator can attest it’s not easy getting your content out there. Most bloggers end up burning out because they just keep writing content that hardly anyone reads.
Obviously, if you want to spend money you can pay a service like Taboola or Outbrain to push your content or boost your posts on Facebook.
What I want to focus on in this post is a bunch of places you can share your content for free and that will give you SEO benefits as a bonus!
The SEO benefits I’m speaking of specifically are backlinks. When you have content listed on these sites and shared it creates a backlink to your site that can result in some big traffic increases, especially if you make it on the front page.
Let me be clear, not all social sharing or social bookmarking sites are the same. You will find hundreds of them listed on Google but not all of them are worth your time. In fact, some can even hurt your SEO if they are full of spammy junk.
So without further ado, here are 10 social sharing sites you probably haven’t heard of that you should try out.
**Be sure to read my post on the 6 tools you should be using for social media marketing**
1. Pinterest
First of all, I’m aware you’ve likely heard of Pinterest and may even be using it (or your wife does for you men out there). The reason I’m including it on this list is because a lot of bloggers and content creators don’t realize how powerful a platform it is.
They have a user base 175 million people. Need I say more?
Add a great picture to your blog post and submit it to Pinterest. The key is to write a description for the picture that links back to your article and include hashtags. The hashtags are how people will find the picture. You would be amazed at how much traffic a lot of people (myself included) get from Pinterest.
You would not think a blog like Social Bawse would have an audience on Pinterest but in this case — you would be wrong.
2. Digg
Digg was once all the rage years ago and then it was overtaken in popularity by sites like Reddit and ultimately was sold off. Then just a few years ago it was revived with some investment money and new leadership. Today it’s once again a thriving social bookmarking site and aggregator.
You can freely submit your posts to Digg (assuming it’s great content) and potentially get massive traffic. If you get on the front page then prepare for your server to crash (unless you use an awesome hosting company like we do called WP Engine of course! 😉 )
3. BizSugar
This social bookmarking site caters to content about startups, marketing and the world of small business. If your content falls into those categories this site can help you build reputation and brand authority. I recently started submitted some content there.
4. Medium
You may or may not have heard about Medium. It’s a blogging platform typically used for sharing open letters, personal stories, and other stuff. You’ll often find celebrities and CEO’s writing posts on Medium.
One very effective way to use Medium and how I personally use it is for repurposing blog content. You can republish your blog posts on Medium for additional exposure not get penalized for duplicate content by Google.
Click here to see a post I republished on Medium about social media management apps.
I always add a line at the end of my Medium post that says “For more articles like this visit Social Bawse.“
5. Quora
Quora is a pretty unique site. It’s the largest Q&A site in the world. I recommend following topics in your niche and answering the questions people have submitted. You can include links to posts you’ve written on the subject in your answer. You can gain a lot of traffic from Quora over time and become a recognized authority.
6. Flipboard
Flipboard is another great social bookmarking site that continues to grow in popularity. It works very similar to Pinterest. You create boards around a topic and then flip articles on to them. Other users will see your articles as they flip through the site.
It’s possible to build a steady flow of traffic from Flipboard over time if you stick with it. Don’t just submit your own content though or you could get blocked. Submit content from a variety of sources as well as your own.
7. Google+
Google+ has fallen out of favor since its launch a few years ago. The search giant had hoped to give Facebook a run for its money in the social network space. That didn’t quite pan out, but Google+ is far from dead.
It’s actually a hidden treasure for those of us who use it. There is a thriving community of groups within your niche with tens of thousands of members. Most of the content is related to technology, marketing, web design, social media, SEO, etc.
If your content falls into those categories and you’re not using Google+ you’re seriously missing out on a huge traffic source.
Fun fact: Google+ is the #2 source of traffic to this site!
8. Fark
Fark is a social news site that has been around almost as long as the Internet itself (slight exaggeration but not much). They have a ton of traffic and thousands of submissions a day. What really sets them apart is their commitment to quality.
If you have great content that you feel provides value then it definitely doesn’t hurt to submit it to Fark. If they do happen to list your submission the amount of traffic you’ll get will be mind blowing.
9. BlogEngage
BlogEngage is a great platform for bloggers to share their latest posts. Your submission is either upvoted or downvoted by the community and the more upvotes you get the higher your post will climb.
If you can get 10 upvotes your article will end up on the first page. The community is very active and you can get a lot of traffic from this site.
I recommend really becoming a part of the community by commenting, voting and sharing other people’s submissions and not just submitting your links. The relationships you make could land you a guest blogging gig or other opportunities.
10. Growth Hackers
I actually joined this site not that long ago and so far it’s been great. Growth Hackers is a community of like-minded internet marketers. You can submit your latest articles and the community will either upvote or downvote it similar to the site above.
Do not spam this site our you’ll immediately lose your account. You can find some really great content on Growth Hackers and you’ll want to be an active member of the community.
Conclusion
Social media marketing and blogging is not something you will be successful at overnight. It’s a long term game that requires you to be constantly learning and adjusting your strategy. It’s always nice to find new legitimate ways to get your content to the masses that you’ve worked so hard on.
I’m always excited to share with you new tools, tips, and resources that I learn along my own journey.
I hope this list will be a useful resource to help you reach your goals.
As always, if you have any thoughts, comments or questions please leave them below.
