Tag: Twitter

Twitter Auto-Share Comes To An End On WordPress. Don’t Panic! What Choices Do You Have?

Published on by Hugh W. Roberts63 Comments

WordPress recently announced that the auto-sharing of blog posts to Twitter ended on the 1st of May, 2023. You can read their announcement by clicking the following link – Why Twitter Auto-Sharing Is Coming to an End.

Banner for the blog post 'Twitter Auto-Share Comes To An End On WordPress. Don't Panic! What Choices Do You Have?'
Don’t panic! There are still ways to auto-share your blog content on social media.

Does This Mean That Twitter Is Dead?

No. Despite many users deleting their Twitter accounts when Elon Musk took over (and some continuing to do so), Twitter is very much alive.

Although I’ve lost over one-hundred followers on Twitter, I still see traffic to my blog coming from it. As you’ll see from the following image, Twitter outperforms any other social media platform in the number of shares my blog gets.

Screenshot showing the number of social media shares for Hugh's Views and Newson WordPress.
Social Media Shares for Hugh’s Views And News.

Only the WordPress Reader and search engines outperform Twitter in the number of shares they bring to my blog. I am curious why so many people have shared my blog posts via Skype, though.

Has Twitter Become Worse Since Elon Musk Took It Over?

Many users feared that Twitter would become more hate-related. I’ve not seen any increase in hate-related content. That may be because I always avoid it. And like on other social media sites and WordPress, I block users who publish hate-related content or who leave nasty comments.

I’ve had a Twitter account since 2010. Four more years than my WordPress blog, and I’ve had more trolls visit my blog than have visited me on Twitter.

What’s The Best Way To Deal With Trolls Or Nasty Comments, Tweets or Blog Posts?

Never engage with them. Trolls move on when they don’t get any kind of reaction. Ignoring, blocking and marking their comments as spam is the best form of action.

If I don’t like something on television or the radio, I switch off or switch channels. Likewise, if I see anything I do not like on any social media platform, I move on. Any spam or hateful comments directed at me get reported, and I block the user.

While I have not liked all the changes that have occurred on Twitter, nothing has made me delete my account yet.

Am I Sad That WordPress Is Ending Auto-Share To Twitter?

You may be surprised by my answer, but no. While WordPress did its best to get a good deal for users, I’m glad it decided to walk away from negotiations. WordPress put its users first. Had it agreed to the inflated rates Twitter wanted, users would have been hit with price increases.

Will The Twitter Sharing Buttons On Blog Posts Still Work?

Yes. WordPress has confirmed that the Twitter sharing button will still work. No need to delete it. Users can still tweet your posts even if you do not have a Twitter account.

And although auto-sharing to Twitter is ending, you can still copy links to your blog posts and paste them into new tweets.

Is Auto-Sharing On WordPress Now Dead?

No. Users can still auto-share their posts to the following social media platforms.

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr

In their announcement, WordPress also mentioned that auto-sharing was coming to Instagram and Mastodon (due mid-June 2023). However, I have heard that only those with an Instagram business account will have the ability to auto-share their blog posts. That may not be true, but more information will follow.

On May 3rd, I published a Wordless Wednesday post and was surprised to find that auto-sharing to Twitter was still working.

On May 5th, I published my Flash Fiction Friday post, and auto-sharing to Twitter was still working. By the time this post goes live, it may have stopped working, but I mentioned it to WordPress, and they came back with this response.

Screenshot of a message from WordPress about Auto-Share
Auto-share may still work, but who knows how long for?

I guess it’s a little like WordPress themes that are no longer supported. They may become unreliable with no support, start to cause problems, and eventually stop working.

And a further update from WordPress on Twitter dated 9th May 2023.

Screenshot of a tweet from WordPress regarding auto-sharing to Twitter.
As of 10th May 2023, auto-sharing to Twitter is still working.

Update 18th May 2023 – Auto-sharing to Twitter from WordPress has now been switched off.

Does Social Media Bring Traffic To Blogs?

Yes, but you must give it lots of time to work properly. Spreading yourself too thinly on social media by having too many social media accounts does not work. When I cut the number of social media accounts I had to two, I saw my blog stats take off.

Is It Worth Joining Instagram And Mastodon Now That WordPress Are Introducing Auto-Sharing To Them?

Only if you can give them the time to make them work for you and your blog.

You must engage with other users to gain followers. When I started engaging with other bloggers on WordPress, my stats boomed. When I started engaging with other users on Twitter, my stats boomed.

Don’t expect things to take off if you’re not prepared to give your time engaging with other users.

My recommendation is to stick with two or three social media platforms. Stay with those that work best for you.

What Is Mastodon?

I heard about Mastodon last year but only decided to create an account when I heard that auto-sharing to Twitter was ending.

It’s early days for me, but it has the look and feel of Twitter. I’ve added a Mastodon button to my social media widget. It’s the second button on the following bar.

Clicking on it will take you to my Mastodon account. If you already have a Mastodon account, please consider following me, and I will follow you back.

If you want to join Mastodon, start here on the Mastodon startup page.

If you want information about Mastodon, I found this unofficial guide to Mastodon very helpful.

However, it may take time for Mastoden to take off, so be prepared to wait. New social media platforms are being launched all the time. Remember to stick to just a few. Don’t spread your time too thin.

I will give Mastodon time, but I will delete my account if it does not work for me.

So far, it’s looking good because I am engaging with other users and, in turn, they are engaging with me. Some have been very helpful, although I’ve failed to find many WordPress users. So, if you’ve a Mastodon account, please consider connecting with me.

Instagram was one of the social media accounts I deleted a few years ago. I’ve no plans to rejoin Instagram.

Not Sure What Auto-Sharing Is Or How To Set It Up On WordPress?

This document, Post Automatically to Social Media, gives full details.

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

This is an updated version of a post originally published on Hugh’s Views And News in 2020.

Have you already cut ties with Twitter? Do you have a Mastodon account? Do you have any questions about auto-sharing on WordPress? Leave them in the comments section.

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

Published on by Hugh W. Roberts68 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.

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Copyright © 2021 hughsviewsandnews.com – All rights reserved.

How Do You Respond To The Comments Left On Your Blog?

Published on by Hugh W. Roberts156 Comments

I recently asked the following question on Twitter. 

Blogging question

And I got great answers back. 

Suzanne at Life At No. 22
Bree from 3 Sisters Abroad
Caroline from BellesMot200DotCom
Debbie at Deb’s World
Liesbet at Roaming About
James from Perfect Manifesto

I love James’ reply because he refers to something called a lazy response. We’ll look at those further on in this post.

Chris at BoomingOn
D at ShiftnShake
  • Gilda said

I’ve been involved in some great discussions on Twitter. This one inspired this post.

How did all this start?

It all started when I came across a tweet from an indie author advertising one of his books.

While checking out his Twitter profile, I noticed that one of the right things he’d done was to include a link to his blog. His books looked interesting, so I decided to check out his blog and engage with him.

However, several weeks later, he had not acknowledged or responded to any comments or questions left on his blog posts. Yet he remained active by publishing new blog posts a couple of times a week.

This got me thinking not only about bloggers who do not respond to comments, but some of the responses I often see – those lazy responses that James referred to.  

Now I know it’s up to each blogger how they handle comments left on their posts, but am I the only blogger who finds that not responding to comments is a strange occurrence?

After all, leaving good meaningful comments does seem to work. Take a look at Marsha’s response to some comments I’d left on one of her blog posts.

Marsha from Always Write

Short comments – do you like them?

What do you think about comments such as  Great Post, Nice Story, or Lovely photos? Have you left comments like those or asked yourself ‘why don’t they tell us what made it a great post, nice story, or what it was that made those photos lovely ?  

How to respond to short comments

Reader – “Great post.”

Me – “Thanks!”

Reader – “You’re welcome.” 

Are those comments beneficial or should they be deleted?

Why do readers’ leave ‘Great post’ comments?

  • Is it because they’re trying to read and leave comments on too many blog posts in too little time?
  • Do they feel guilty if not leaving any kind of comment on a post they read so short ones will do?
  • Is it because they haven’t really read the post? 
  • Is it because they don’t have the time to get into any discussion about the topic of the post?
  • Is it because what they were going to say has already been said by somebody else?

What are lazy responses?

For me, they’re the types of responses that let all the air out of your blogging balloon. You’ve left a great comment that opens up for a discussion about the post you’ve just read, but all you get back is a ‘Thank you for your comment.’

How deflated does that kind of response make you feel when you left a comment that asks questions and opens up a discussion?

I believe this is what James was referring to in his answer to my question on Twitter. But is a lazy response any better than no response at all?

  • Maybe you’re somebody who doesn’t mind getting and leaving short comments. Are there any reasons why you leave them?
  • What are the benefits of leaving short comments?
  • Maybe you’re somebody who doesn’t like getting into discussions on your blog posts?
  • Are there any benefits to leaving lazy responses?  
  • If I told you that I delete any comments that only include emojis or words such as ‘Great post‘, would you think I was being too harsh?

Finally, this reply to my question on Twitter really got my attention. 

What do you think about Lydia’s answer? Do people really care whether you respond to their comments or not?

How would you respond to the question I asked on Twitter? Do you like getting into discussions when replying to comments on your blog posts? Let’s cary on the discussion here. Join the conversation by leaving me a comment.

Copyright © 2021 hughsviewsandnews.com – All rights reserved.

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

Published on by Hugh W. Roberts104 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. Roberts95 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.

This is an updated version of a post originally published on Hugh’s Views And News in 2020.

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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