5 Ways to Leverage LinkedIn for Blog Traffic

This is a guest post by Mustafa Syed from 100WebHosting.com

Traffic is the lifeblood of any blog. We all know it’s hard to survive without it in the blogosphere.

But let’s face it – as a blogger you don’t just need traffic, you need laser targeted traffic. You need readers that are actually interested in reading your content. Visitors that you can turn into subscribers.

So how do you go about getting this traffic? What do you do get more interested readers?

There are many ways to get exposure to your blog, but one way that stands out from the rest is LinkedIn. As a blogger if you’re not tapping into this powerful social network, you’re leaving some serious traffic on the table.

LinkedIn is where the professional crowd hangs out. It’s THE place to network with other bloggers and reach out to your target audience.

Let’s look into 5 effective ways to leverage LinkedIn for blog traffic that converts:

#1: Funnel Your Profile Visitors to Your Blog

The moment you start networking on LinkedIn, people get curious about you. And given that you are adding real value to the community, they may want to check out your profile to find out who you are, and learn more about your business.

This is your opportunity to impress them and get them interested in what you do. So the more detailed and authentic your profile is, the better it is.

The idea here is to get your profile visitors to click through your blog URL. And that might not happen unless they have a crystal clear picture of your background. You have to appear legitimate and professional to them.

The next step is to customize your link description. You can try linking to specific blog posts or landing pages to get a better click through rate. Instead of having the default “My Blog” or “My Website”, test out different link descriptions and see what works for you the best.

#2: Build the Right Connections and Grow Your Network

The good thing about LinkedIn is that you can connect to just about anyone in your industry. It’s like an open ground for you to take your current network to the next level.

But it’s not just about connecting with others; it’s about connecting with the right people. It’s about being open to the idea of getting to know other professionals in your field, who you might not know personally.

Imagine you are at this big conference where you have the opportunity to connect to anybody. What would you do? Stand in a corner all by yourself? Or interact with as many people as possible?

If you’re smart, you’d do the latter. Similarly, LinkedIn is a place to meet interesting people. People who can help you grow your blog directly and indirectly.

When you connect with them, they join your network. They start seeing updates from you on their homepage. So having a higher number of connections obviously means that your updates get more exposure. Thus helping you drive more visitors to your blog.

#3: Actively Share Valuable Content

As your LinkedIn network grows, your responsibility towards it grows as well. In other words, getting the most out of your network depends on how you treat it.

When you actively contribute to the community, other members notice you. You’re seen as someone who knows how to share and give true value – which helps you develop a trusting relationship with your connections.

Try to go beyond posting status updates and joining group discussions when it comes to giving value. Engage with your connections. Help them out if needed. Answer their questions. Frequently make useful comments on their updates.

Being active on LinkedIn isn’t hard – you just need to take regular and consistent action with the sole aim of adding value.

#4: Create Your Own Niche Group

One of the most overlooked ways to get more attention on LinkedIn is: starting your own group.

That’s right. While others are busy participating in groups, you can become a group owner, which obviously gives you more control.

With a group of your own, you not only get traffic from new members who join in, but also from the current members who you engage with.

However, creating a group is only one half of the equation. Getting people to join your group is the other. And doing so is not rocket science as long as you’re taking the right steps.

Don’t make the mistake of creating a group that’s too broad or else you’ll get lost in the crowd. Choose a specific/narrow niche that will help you stand out and attract the right audience.

Once you’re done launching your group, notify all those connections who you think might be interested in joining in. LinkedIn allows you to send 50 invitations in a day, so make sure you’re sending them to only the relevant people in your network.

The good thing about LinkedIn groups is that once you get a couple of hundred members, your group most likely will start to grow on its own. But you still should do everything you can to actively promote it.

#5: Add the Blog Application to Your Profile

In order to get the maximum returns on your time spent on LinkedIn, you shouldn’t ignore any opportunity to gain more leverage. Adding the blog application allows you to post latest updates from your blog onto your profile.

Every time you publish a blog post, the application posts the title along with the first paragraph for others to see. It’s a simple yet effective way to convert more of your profile viewers into blog visitors.

If used right, LinkedIn can send consistent traffic to your blog with you investing nothing but your time. So go ahead and start building your presence on the largest professional social network in the world. Trust me, you won’t regret it.