Everyone’s always complaining about how much time it takes to build an online community — to grow a following on Twitter, Facebook, your blog, etc. It’s true. It does take a lot of time.
So I like to give my clients tips to maximize every minute they spend online. And this particular tip will help you across the board, on every network and platform. Best of all? It’s easy.
Whenever you write the name of your blog, make it clickable. How do you do that? By including http:// at the beginning of the address.
I’m going to use my friend Melanie’s blog as an example, because I was teaching her this yesterday. I know she won’t mind because y’all are going to go check out her blog about life as a new mom, right?
Melanie should be writing her blog address like this: http://soveryvienna.blogspot.com
Not: www.soveryvienna.blogspot.com
Not: soveryvienna.blogspot.com
The http:// is crucial. It lets readers click on your link right there, rather than having to cut and paste it into their browser. The fewer steps it takes to get to your blog, the more readers will visit. The easier it is for readers to visit you, the faster your online community will grow.
Do this when you’re leaving comments on other people’s blogs. Do it in your e-mail signature. Do it in the blurb on the left-hand side of your Facebook fan page. (Profiles have a website option built in, so no need to worry there.)
This applies to all parts of your online life! To your Twitter handle! http://twitter.com/yourhandle. To your Facebook fan page! http://www.facebook.com/yourpage. To everything!
Ingrain it in your head. I will always use http://. It doesn’t matter whether or not you include www. That’s your choice.
Note: This trick will NOT work when you’re writing a blog post. You’ve got to use your link button to make a link live.
If you already knew this, don’t growl. Pat yourself on the back. That’s way more productive. And if you learned something new today, go forth in your online community and show off those skills!
Thanks, Alexis. Very helpful.
Karen
Does it drive anyone else crazy though when people put the www in though when it isn’t needed 🙂
Well I can’t ignore this sage advice, can I? I had actually thought I was using the http correctly but it seems not quite. Yet more proof that your blog know-how is killer, Lexi.
Such a good reminder!
Thanks so much! It’s quick and easy.
Oh, I forgot to click on Notify me of site updates. Doing it now.
Thank you so much for this tip. I’m going to practice right now:
http://BeckyAvella.com
You got it, Becky! Nice work.
Thanks for this tip… Great advise as usual….
Thank you Alexis. I only knew about putting a link inside of a blog post. I putting this advice to work starting now! I used it when I wrote this comment. Love all the useful advice.
🙂 Spot on! Confirms what I already knew. Thanks for sharing.