image courtesy of digitalart

We all know to share our photo contests using platforms like Facebook and Twitter, through your own blog and on the company website.  Here’s another simple way to get your photo contest moving – share it on photo blog sites.  There are so many photo blogs around the web that this won’t be that difficult or time consuming.  Simply do a search for a photo blog, even within a certain genre, and read through the most recent post.  If it’s 10 weeks old, that doesn’t do you much good.  Seek out fresh blogs any time you can.  The more frequently a blog is updated, the better chance that it actually has a readership.  Another thing to look for on a blog that can be beneficial to you is comments.  If there is at least one comment no the most recent post, then odds are that a number of people are reading the blog.  If there are none, you may want to seek out a blog that is more active to post your link.  Here’s a few simple rules to go by when commenting on a photo blog (or any blog for that matter).

Read the entire post. Respect the author.  If you’re going to comment, then I believe quality counts over quantity.  The odds of your comment being left up by the author relies largely on how you write it and what you say.  If you show that you actually read their article, that is much more flattering than simply trying out your own sales pitch for your promotion.

Comment with genuine interest. Find a way to relate to the post.  If you’ve done the right kind of search then hopefully half the battle is over because you’ve found content very much related to your photo contest promotion.  Don’t be afraid to talk about something in your own experience that genuinely shows you’re invested in the topic.

Share your link with class. Now that the baselines are covered, it shouldn’t be too much of a big deal to slip your link in there.  You’ve read, you’ve related, you’re a valuable reader.  Now you can initiate a small pitch on your promotion and why readers might be interested, politely and with class.  Many platforms let you use your name as a link, which can be effective but can also be seen as sneaky and you may not get the back-traffic from folks that don’t know that you are directly linking to useful or fun content.

So there is some information about link building for free using blogs that are directly related to a goal you’re trying to accomplish – promoting your photo contest.  There is also plenty of information on the web on how to blog effectively so make sure you’re reading up before you post your own business blogs as well.  Using search terms like “what is the best way to blog?”, “how to blog for seo“and “free blogging tips” will yield some good results.  Remember, the goal here is traffic, and you have to start somewhere.  Promotions and link building are a great start. Sign up today to get started on your free photo contest!

I hope this was helpful!

Drew Warner | Client Marketing Consultant