Blogs Vs. Social Networking: How to Promote Your Internet Content

Let's qwell the debate; as far as self-promotion goes, a website makes the best place to promote your work. After all, traffic equals promotion.

How does internet traffic equal promotion?

In particular, I think that social networking sites at the best way to promote your writing. The best part of these websites is that you are delivering content to people who want to read your work.

For instance, if you log onto Digg.com, Reddit.com, Myspace.com, or Facebook.com, and post a link to one of your articles, you receive an instant influx of traffic - people will look for new articles, and if you are lucky enough to spark interest, they will read your material.

If you compare the Alexa rankings of the various Social Networking sites, you will see that Myspace and Facebook alone account for the vast majority of internet usage in the United States. People simply love interacting in those social spheres.

That means that any promotion you do on those websites is carried over when people view each other's pages, when they post comments, or when they simply browse for a search term.

Digg also allows for the 'digg effect' - websites can become instantaneously popular in the span of hours. If your work is ever 'dugg', it's like winning the internet traffic lottery.

Secondly, the best part of social networking sites is that they are open to millions of users. You have access to literally the entire world.

If you have valuable information (and not just internet spam drivel), it is worthwhile to allow the majority of the internet to have access to that information. And ultimately, that traffic means ad revenue, which means money in your pocket if you are a professional writer.

I won't disparage blogs too much. However, the downside is that your blog is specific to your interests; the target audience is your friends and family, and anyone who reads your blog. While it is nice to have an automatic audience, you are preaching to the choir.

Blogs are indexed by the pageranking sites, but on a smaller scale. I think that the most effective blogs are about a specific industry; take Gizmodo or Boing Boing for example. So, if you have a specific interest, such as 'Chicago Restaurants', or 'NYC Subway Graffiti', you should provide a good venue for that information in a blog.

In the local area, it might be more beneficial to have a better public face on your writing, especially for non-profit interests. Groups such as the ACLU, or local groups like the Lions Club or Catholic Social Services need to have a local presence; the best way to perform that intimate service is via a blog - it includes the people you want to see your writing.

On a Social Networking site, you may have access to a small network of people that connects you to the larger world. Traffic is shared horizontally, rather than vertically. The interaction is simply more anonymous than a blog - which is a good thing in many ways. People may not want to know who they are dealing with; that's the beauty of the anonymous internet.

SUMMARY

While blogs have their place, there are two essential components of websites to promote your work - the 'digg effect, and horizontal networking. People are looking for information that they can use, and any value that your work provides is only as good as its promotion.

But if you really want to double your effectivity, why not use both blogs and websites to promote your work? It probably wouldn't hurt.