Category: Social Media

Pinned Tweets: Why Every Blogger Should Have One To Help Drive Traffic To Their Blog

Published on by Hugh W. Roberts65 Comments

I see a lot of Twitter users who don’t have a pinned tweet set up on their Twitter account.

The main reason may be that they don’t know what a pinned tweet is, how it works or how to set one up.

Image for the blog post 'Pinned Tweets: Why Every Blogger Should Have One To Help Drive Traffic To Their Blog'
Pinned Tweets: What Are They and How Do They Work?

Pinned tweets help drive traffic to your blog or website and are a brilliant way of getting you, your books, your blog and your writing some free promotion.

What is a pinned tweet?

A pinned tweet is a tweet that users attach to the top of their Twitter timeline. It’s the first tweet people see when they visit your Twitter profile and is often the tweet that gets the most attention.

You can pin any of your tweets for which you want to get more attention. For example, upon publishing a new blog post, you may want to pin the tweet for the post to your Twitter account.

How do I create a pinned tweet?

  • Click on the meatball menu (the three horizontal dots in the top right of the tweet).
Image highlighting the meatball menu on a Tweet.
Click on the meatball menu
  • A new window menu will open.
  • Select ‘Pin to your profile‘ from the dropdown menu that appears.
Image highlighting 'Pin To Your profile' on Twitter
Pin To Your Profile
  • Press ‘Pin‘ on the window that opens that asks ‘Pin Tweet To Profile?).
  • You’ve now created a pinned tweet that will stick to the top of your Twitter timeline until you either replace it or remove it.
Image highlighting a pinned tweet on Twitter
Pinned Tweet

How often should I change my pinned tweet?

At least once a month.

Pinned tweets over a month old can look out of date and may contain out of date information.

Old pinned tweets can also make the user look lazy because they are not changing or updating their pinned tweet. Visitors who have visited before will see the same pinned tweet and may not want to retweet it again.

I always share fresh pinned tweets, whereas I don’t retweet pinned tweets I know I have shared before.

I update my pinned tweet at least once every couple of weeks. Doing so encourages visitors to my Twitter account to share and retweet my new tweet. This results in lots of new referrals to my blog or blogs where I’m being featured.

It acts as free promotion for my blog, books and my writing.

As a way of saying ‘thank you’ to those that share my blog posts via Twitter, I retweet their pinned tweet. However, if I’ve retweeted it before, I won’t retweet it.

Ensure you change your pinned tweet at least once a month.

Can I pin the tweets of other users to my Twitter profile?

No. You can only pin your own tweets to your own profile.

Do you have a pinned tweet on your Twitter account? How often do you change it?

Looking for more blogging tips from Hugh? Check out these posts.

7 Common Mistakes To Avoid When Deciding Whether To Follow A Blog

Are you following too many blogs?

7 common mistakes to look out for before following a blog.

by Hugh W. Roberts

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Copyright © 2021 hughsviewsandnews.com – All rights reserved.

How To Write The Perfect Titles For All Your Blog Posts #BloggingTips

Published on by Hugh W. Roberts109 Comments

What do you believe is the most important thing to get right to attract new visitors to your blog or website? 

I expect many of you will have given ‘content’ as your answer.

But guess what? Content isn’t always king.

There’s something that just about every visitor will read first before deciding whether to read a blog post. 

How To Write The Perfect Titles For All Your Blog Posts

Why top-notch blog post titles matter…

“On average, 5x as many people read the title as read the body copy. When you’ve written your headline, you’ve spent eighty cents out of your dollar.”

David Ogilvy

Yes, it’s all about your blog post titles. Give your blog posts amazing titles, and you will see lots more new visitors flocking to read your posts or visiting your website. 

Why Blog Posts Titles Are Like The Titles Of Books and Movies

I look at blog post titles like I do the title of a book or movie. If they entice me, I’ll start reading the book or watching the film.  

Blog posts titles are as important as the content of blog posts. Get both right, and you’re on to a winner.

If your blog post title isn’t enticing, how many visitors looking at it move on without stopping by to check out your post?

I do it all the time. I look at a blog post title and move on quickly if it does not entice me to click on the ‘read more’ link. 

Okay, I could be missing out on reading some great content, but ask yourself how many more visitors to your blog or website are like me and move on quickly?

Tip – When creating titles for your blog posts, ask yourself what title would make you want to click on the ‘read more’ link.

How To Make Your Blog Posts Titles More Enticing 

Certain words in blog post titles entice readers to want to find out more. Here are a few –

  • How
  • How to
  • When
  • Have
  • Have you
  • Don’t
  • Did
  • Do you
  • This
  • This is
  • Who
  • Why
  • What
  • Where 

Other things you can use in your blog post titles to entice readers

Numbers

Yes, numbers work just as well as certain words do. For example, which of these two blog post titles do you think have more of an impact?

Some ways to get people to read your blog posts.

7 blogging tips that will get your blog posts read.

According to blogging guru Janice Wald of MostlyBlogging.com, odd numbers do better than even numbers in blog post titles. And prime numbers do even better.

Odd numbers generally perform better than even numbers in blog post titles because they appear less conveniently packaged than even numbers.

It’s why you’ll find the majority of my blog posts titles (that contain a number) have an odd number in them.

Tip – When using numbers, make sure you use a numeral rather than spelling out the number. Digits stand out better in headlines and take up less space.

Hashtags

Do hashtags work in blog post titles? Yes, they do. Not only can they help boost your blog post on SEO sites such as Google and Bing, but they help catch the eye of visitors who may be looking for specific information.

It’s certainly worth checking out what hashtags are trending at the time of publishing a blog post. Twitter is an excellent source for checking out trending hashtags, but never add a hashtag that has nothing to do with the subject of the post.

Warning – using too many hashtags in a blog post title can result in SEOs considering your post as spam. As with adding hashtags to tweets, don’t add more than three hashtags in a blog post title. More than three will make your tweet or blog post look spammy. 

Twitter Usernames

If you’re adding the name of somebody who has a Twitter account to the title of a blog post, always include their Twitter Username. Why? Because every time somebody shares your post on Twitter, the person you’ve included gets a Twitter notification. In turn, they may retweet your tweet to their followers, giving you and your post more exposure.  

Here’s a great example from author and blogger Graeme Cumming.

Adding Twitter Usernames to the title of your blog post will give it a boost

See what Graeme’s done? He’s included three Twitter usernames of those mentioned in his blog post. 

Word Count

According to CoSchedule.Com, blog post titles around 55 characters long tend to earn the highest click-throughs. Blog post titles between six to ten words also tend to achieve the highest number of click-throughs.  

To get you started creating some great blog post titles, here’s some suggestions.  

  1. How To ______
  2. How To Find _____
  3. How To Completly Change _____
  4. How To Create _____
  5. How To Use _____
  6. How To Get Rid Of _____
  7. How I Made _____  
  8. How To Save _____
  9. How To Help _____
  10. How To Develop _____
  11. What To Do With _____
  12. Here’s How To _____
  13. Where To Find _____
  14. What No One Tells You About _____
  15. (#) Questions You Should Ask Before _____
  16. (#) Secrets To _____
  17. (#) Signs You Might _____
  18. (#) Rules For _____
  19. (#) Facts About _____
  20. (#) Ideas For/To _____
  21. (#) Essential Steps For/To _____
  22. (#) Foolproof Tips For _____
  23. (#) Handy Tips For _____
  24. (#) Tricks For _____
  25. (#) Key Benefits For _____
  26. (#) Reasons You _____
  27. (#) Wrong Ways To _____
  28. (#) Most Popular ______
  29. (#) Tips For _____
  30. (#) _____ Mistakes You Won’t Make Again
  31. (#) Things I’ve Learned While Writing My Book This Month
  32. Why My Weekend Was Amazing
  33. You’ll Never Believe What Happened To Me Last Week
  34. Why This Is The Only Chocolate Chip Recipe, You’ll Ever Need
  35. Meet _____ _____ Who Reveals Their Secrets About Writing 
  36. Why I’m Recommending These (#) Television Shows To Fans Of _____
  37. Book Review: (#) Reasons Why I’m Giving _____ by _____ _____ (insert Twitter username here) 5 Stars  

Insert a number where you see (#)

I’ve already used some of these titles and had great results from them. Many of my blog posts’ titles also include words that entice readers to want to find out more.

Warning – Don’t forget to add a title to your blog post. Any title is better than none. WordPress replaces blank blog post titles with a five-digit number. How many visitors would click the ‘read more’ link if seeing a random five-digit number in place of a post title? Not many!

Let’s wrap it up 

  • Blog posts titles are the first thing visitors read, so make them as enticing as you can.
  • Blog posts titles are as important as the contents of your blog posts. 
  • When creating a blog post title, ask yourself what would make you click on the ‘read more’ link.
  • Get the title of your blog post wrong, and you could be missing out on hundreds of new readers, likes and comments.
  • Make sure you’ve given the post you’re about to publish a title. Any title is better than no title at all.
  • Use specific words such as How, How To, Why, Where, in your blog posts’ titles to entice readers to click on the ‘read more’ link.
  • If using a number, odd numbers generally perform better than even numbers in blog post titles because they appear less conveniently packaged than even numbers.
  • When using numbers in blog post titles, use digits rather than spelling out the number.
  • Don’t add more than three hashtags in your titles. Doing so makes blog posts look spammy. 
  • Adding Twitter usernames to blog post titles help get your post noticed on Twitter.

How do you come up with titles for your blog posts? Do you have any tips for creating them that you’d like to add to my list? Do you have any questions about creating blog post titles? Share them in the comments section.

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Copyright © 2021 hughsviewsandnews.com – All rights reserved.

How To Connect Your Twitter Account To Your WordPress Blog via The New WordPress Dashboard

Published on by Hugh W. Roberts60 Comments

WordPress is moving more and more options that were only initially available via the WP Admin button to the new style dashboard on WordPress.Com blogs. 

It’s something I’ve noticed happening a lot and makes perfect sense while they improve security, and update and redesign their platform. 

You may ask “What are these options, Hugh?”

Well, I’ve decided to update some of my older posts where the WP Admin button was used so that I can show you how to make the same changes via the new style WordPress dashboard.

I’m kicking off with one of my pet hates – bloggers who haven’t connected their Twitter account to their WordPress blog. 

Blogging tips from Hugh

For me, Twitter is a great place to give my blog posts some free publicity. And who doesn’t like some free publicity?

Twitter is also an excellent place for promoting blog posts I’ve enjoyed reading, and is the third biggest referrer of traffic to my blog.  

Have you come across this problem?

You click the Twitter sharing button on a blog post you’ve enjoyed reading, and instead of the blogger’s Twitter username appearing at the end of the tweet, you see @WordPress.Com instead!

Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Why does it happen? 

Because the blogger has not connected their Twitter account to their blog.

Of course, they may not know they can connect it or just haven’t done it.

But it’s a problem that’s easy and quick to fix.

Let’s get started. 

  • On the dashboard of your blog, click on Tools and then on Marketing.
Click on Tools and Marketing
  • On the Marketing and Integrations page that opens, click on Sharing Buttons.
Click on sharing buttons
  • In the Options block, look for the Twitter Username box and add your Twitter username in the box.
Enter your Twitter username in the box
  • Click the Save Changes button.

There is one last job you need to do to connect your Twitter account to your blog.

  • On the Marketing and Integrations page, click on Connections and click the connect button next to Twitter.
Click on the Twitter connect button

A new window will open.

  • Click on the Authorize App button. 

WordPress will look for your Twitter account, and in an onscreen message will show you your Twitter user name.

  • If the username is correct, click on the Connect button.
Click on the connect button
  • Your Twitter account is now connected to your WordPress blog. 

Now, every time you publish a new blog post, it will be shared on your Twitter account. Your Twitter username will also appear at the end of the tweet.

Layout, content, settings and format might differ on self-hosted blogs.

Are you on Twitter? Leave your Twitter username in the comments section so we can follow you.

Click here to follow me on Twitter 

Any questions?

Don’t hesitate to leave them in the comments section.

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Copyright © 2020 hughsviewsandnews.com – All rights reserved.

How to Hashtag Blog Tweets

Published on by Ronovan68 Comments

Howdy folks, it’s me, it’s me, Ronovanee. Okay, so it’s Ronovan, but Ronovan didn’t rhyme. Hugh is letting me hijack his blog for a moment. Just don’t tell him I did it, cause he doesn’t know I snuck in. Remember, everything that follows is my opinions and not Hugh’s, so if you disagree, it’s all on me. OOOooooOOo I rhymed that one for real, oh what a thrill. o, O (All images created by me. My apologies in advance.)

I want to start off by saying blogging isn’t a game of numbers for me. I know for some it is and you can tell who those people are. They are the sad people that belittle others who do things because they believe in them instead of doing them for gaining followers and views. In the words of the masochistic dog to the flea, “Bite me”.

What is Hashtagging?

Many people like to look at using hashtags as part of the marketing game of blogging when using Twitter. It can be, depending on your purpose. For me, I do it because I want people to read what I write. I don’t go crazy with the Tweeting like I once did in the beginning, but I still Tweet my posts and those of others at times when I think about it. And for those who are new, hashtagging is using the # before a word on Twitter to get noticed.

hashtag twitter image custom

Take it or Leave it but you Better Believe It.

Hashtags—love ‘em or lump ‘em, but either way, if you are going to Tweet then learn to live with ‘em and how to use ‘em. And that’s not just for your own posts you share but for those of other peoples posts as well. And Tweeting does bring in extra views, and certain hashtags will bring in a lot more views.

For many people, the only reason they don’t use hashtags is that they just don’t know what to use. Honestly, there is no real wrong way to do it as long as you do it. Oh sure, there are some hashtags better than others but really just doing them does the trick in some way, as long as you do it with style. But we’ll get to style later.

It’s up to you and you alone.

Let’s get something straight from the beginning, don’t feel pressured to use hashtags on Twitter. Did you know I can search for the word poem without using the # and find tweets that include that word, with our without the #?

Yes, a hashtag does give a Tweet or movement a more singular thread but don’t feel tied to it. That poetry search will also give you #poetry.

Using #poetry only narrows a person’s search on Twitter and excludes the word without the # included in the Tweet.

But let’s get onto using hashtags.

book-hashtagging

The hashtags you use will be specific to the post or Tweet you wish to share. It all depends on the topic. You would not use #CDs if you are Tweeting about Books. You might use #books instead.
What else might you use?
#Reading
#Amazon
#Kindle
#Book
#Deal
#AmReading
#BYNR
#MustRead

You can also specify genres of the book. Now genres get a bit tricky. Why, because some genres are not as popular as others on Twitter.

A Hashtag Tool

There is a site I use to see what tends to be the most used hashtags. http://hashtagify.me/.

You will want to keep in mind every type of genre your book might incorporate, whether you have reviewed it or written it.

Hashtagify has several features to use, and you can play around to see what I mean. They have the free version and a paid version. Of course, I do the free one. Why? I pay attention enough, and I am not a blogging Nazi wanting to take over the world. Just look at my content. If I wanted to take over the world, I would be putting out different things. I am what I am, and that’s all that I am.

Keep it Fun with Style

hashtag-fun3(I don’t know how she ended up in Rio. But at least she’s clothed.)

 

I try to keep blogging fun for myself and no one else. If it’s not fun for me, then it won’t be fun for anyone. That’s one reason I stepped back from the addictive nature of the marketing aspect of blogging. Trust me, I was in marketing for 11 years, I know what it can be like. It’s a game. Remember—blogging isn’t a game for me.

One way to keep it fun and hashtag at the same time is to Hashtag with Style.

Using hashtags can be overdone. The style is using the hashtags within your Tweet message.

Check out #Poetry from #Blogs to #Follow on #WordPress.

That’s one possible way. Yes, not the greatest example, but an example.

Next, you can do something like #MondayBlogs as your real hashtag then followed by a throwaway hashtag like #MondayMorningBluesBoy or #WhyDoMondaysComeEveryWeek or really whatever you like, and it doesn’t have to include the word Monday. #IHateMyAlarmClock

That throwaway hashtag is more important than a lot of people realize, it’s personality and shows you are having fun with it all. And that Tweeting is not just your way of getting blog traffic but almost an afterthought.

The three Best Hashtags out there for bloggers right now, in my opinion, are:

#MondayBlogs

#MondayMotivation

#SundayBlogShare

But the main thing to remember is, don’t feel pressure, just Tweet and hashtag it with whatever you feel like for now. Even if you just use the simple words like #Poem and #Monday, you are doing better than you were.

Much Love, Success, and Respect

Ronovan

@RonovanWrites

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