Use These Twitter Hashtags to Grow Blog Traffic
77November 16, 2014 by Paula Reed Nancarrow
Ad designed by Sao Paulo-based ad agency Moma Propaganda. Courtesy Laughing Squid
You have a blog. You have a Twitter account.
You automatically tweet a link to each new blog post every time you publish. Then you wait for the traffic to roll in.
Nothing.
Hulton Archive/Getty Images via Wall Street Journal
Here’s why.
Every second, on average, around 6,000 tweets go out on Twitter.
That’s over 350,000 tweets per minute and 500 million tweets per day.
Can we say needle in a haystack?
Courtesy Ancestry.com
This is where hashtag memes come into play.
A hashtag, if you are unfamiliar with the term, is a way of organizing content on social media. There’s a good beginner’s guide on Mashable. A meme is something that spreads rapidly from person to person via social media.
There are some great hashtags on Twitter for blog sharing.
I use three: #MondayBlogs, #wwwblogs, and #ArchiveDay. A fourth has recently emerged, #SundayBlogShare, which I’ll also touch on briefly. Both people who write blogs and people who want to read blogs follow these hashtags. Whether you’re a seasoned blogger or just starting out, consider using one or more of these opportunities to share your work and network with other bloggers.
#MondayBlogs
#MondayBlogs is the Mother of All Hashtag memes where blog sharing is concerned. It’s the brainchild of author and Huffington Post blogger Rachel Thomson (@RachelintheOC), who in 2012 began encouraging people to share blog posts on Mondays using this hashtag. (There is also an associated Twitter account, @MondayBlogs.) About 5000 tweets each week go out tagged #MondayBlogs – most of which are blog posts (though occasionally the hashtag is misused) from all over the world. The rules of engagement are here.
Given that the world is round and all, folks Down Under have their Mondays come at them more quickly than they do here in Minnesota; posts with the #MondayBlogs hashtag appear sporadically through the day on Sunday, and pick up in earnest at about 10:00 p.m. Central Standard Time (CST). Because of this, if I preschedule tweets and retweets throughout the night (I use Hootsuite for this purpose), I can usually wake up to a healthy number of page views in the morning. I also wake up owing a few retweets.
#wwwblogs
On Wednesdays, Women Writers, Women’s Books uses the Twitter handle @WWWBlogs to sponsor a meme called #wwwblogs. The #www stands for Women Writer Wednesdays. You need to identify as a woman to post using the hashtag, though anyone (obviously) can retweet a post he or she likes; you don’t need to identify as a Writer, per se, or be a published author.
Nor do you need to have published the post on Wednesdays. Since I only write one blog post a week, I usually promote the same post on both days. This meme is not as heavily trafficked as #MondayBlogs, but I sometimes find more people actually reading and staying longer on my blog on those days. It’s also a lifesaver when I just can’t be available on a Monday. More information is here.
#ArchiveDay
#ArchiveDay is dedicated to retweeting old posts on Saturdays. While there are bloggers who will declare it #ArchiveDay at whim (or because they need a social media vacation), the #ArchiveDay to which I refer was created by Vicki Charles (@SingleMAhoy), a UK writer and parent blogger. #ArchiveDay rules are here.
Vicki Charles says she hit on the idea of #ArchiveDay last year sometime, “while walking downstairs….”
When I first began participating, most of the bloggers sharing were also parent bloggers. Having no grandchildren in my foreseeable future, I rather enjoyed some of these posts. But this wasn’t really my target audience. Over the past few months the concept has spread, however, which has increased and diversified the content. My page views and visitors on #ArchiveDay now often rival #wwwblogs.
#SundayBlogShare
I have a rule myself of not engaging on Twitter on Sundays; I call it my social Sabbath – although I will do what I need to do to set up my post for #MondayBlogs. So I have not participated in #SundayBlogShare, the latest blog-sharing meme, started by a UK teacher and blogger who goes by Susie81. On Twitter she is @suzie81blog, and you can find out more about the hashtag here. #SundayBlogShare is only a few weeks old, but already seems to be popular. You might want to give it a try, particularly if your work schedule precludes participating in #MondayBlogs.
For me, three hashtag memes are enough.
After all, there actually has to be time to write the post.
Alice P. Sheldon, aka James Tiptree, Jr., working on her post for #MondayBlogs. bbhc.com via Buzzfeed
Of course if you are a performance artist and finding a needle in a haystack is your thing, announcing it on Twitter is de rigeur...
In that case, however, I recommend using #yourownhashtag.
Are there other ways you’ve increased your blog traffic using Twitter?
What works most efficiently for you? Share other hashtags, tips or tricks in the comments field. Enquiring bloggers want to know.
Via Roger Wilkerson
Paula Reed Nancarrow 
Fabulous post Paula, I wanted to reblog – but I haven’t yet worked out how to reblog from wordpress to blogger :(
The reblog function from blogger to blogger blogs is a simple click and publish, perhaps there is no reblog option on wordpress?
Anyway, that aside, I enjoyed reading you this morning :)
I hope all’s well with you,
Take care, Kimmie x
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Kimmie: Thank you! I don’t think there is a way to reblog from one platform to another – the best thing I can suggest is a very brief post of your own, acknowledging how helpful these communities have been to you, with a link to this post. Since you are the person who invited me to #ArchiveDay in the first place (and #SundayBlogShare as well), I would take that as a great compliment. ;-)
All is well, mostly. I think I am becoming bit of a screen zombie on Mondays, tho… Dinner with the son tonight. Hope I remember how to talk without hashtags. ;-)
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Hi Paula, Iv’e only just come upon your reply here..Good idea, when I get a mo I’ll do as you suggest :) x
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Excellent post, Paula, and I shall share on Twitter today (with the appropriate hashtag). :)
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Thank you, Emma!
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I really need to get on the Wednesday blog meme bandwagon. I can’t remember if it was you or @stuckinscared that invited me. I hope one day I will be a Twitter Queen! Unfortunately, I still seem to be that nerdy girl who sits by herself in the cafeteria. I’ll get it one day :)
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Melanie: Yes, Kimmie is the original Welcominator where blog hashtags are concerned! I think I got the idea of inviting people from her – and also because Monday was so busy I couldn’t figure out how to share all the blogs I wanted to share then. I think Wednesday is a hard day for a lot of people – right in midweek when a lot of people are in full tilt on the day jobs. At the moment I am only working part time and have Mondays and Wednesdays off, which gives me something of an unrealistic advantage. I have been thinking about the sort of downshifting I will need to do when that situation changes – as I have to hope it will soon, because the car needs a new Everything. Thanks for retweeting, Melanie – and for stopping by. You can always sit next to me in the cafeteria. Watch out, though – I’m usually in the middle of the food fights.
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Thank you so much for including me!
And thank you for taking part in #ArchiveDay so wholeheartedly – you’ve been instrumental in turning it from something that was mainly parent bloggers, to something for all bloggers – and I love it!
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You are so welcome! And I’m glad you like the increased traffic; I think Morgan Dragonwillow also got on that bandwagon. I have been a little worried that it might feel a bit like a hijacking… or that it has complicated your ability to moderate both that and the WeekendBlogHop. I do try to make sure I retweet as many of the core group as I can, during the hours they’ll be able to see and respond. What I’m struggling with now is how to retweet everyone that needs / deserves the exposure and reciprocate everyone who has retweeted me as well as read a fair sample of what’s in the stream.
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I agree! I try to tweet something for someone who has RTed me, rather than reply with “Thanks” as I think that is more beneficial to them. I acknowledge with a favourite if I can. I would prefer to read everything that I tweet or RT but there is not always time, and I know (from stats) that that is not what others do. Time is definitely a constraint, so hints are always appreciated. :)
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My latest strategy – which could be too complicated for some people – is to keep my retweets in a spreadsheet, and make sure to read at least five posts per hashtag day, usually the day afterwards; if work is busy, it may be a day or two afterwards. I try to rotate my visits so I don’t neglect anyone for too long. I know that means I will miss some good posts by people whose writing I like, but it’s the best solution I’ve come up with so far.
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Hi Paula, That is a great strategy and similar to one I have begun using to monitor blog comments. I’m not sure how I would go with RTs, #s and Twitter in general. That might take a bit more thought. But I have started to keep a weekly record of those who comment on my blog and how often, and how often I make comments on others’ blogs. I have been doing so only for a few weeks but I am hoping it will keep me up-to-date about who is engaging with me and how balanced the conversation is, and perhaps guide me a little in where to direct my attention. It is just an attempt at finding a solution for the moment. There is a group of writers who I enjoy following and this helps me ensure I have read their work at least (but usually more than) once a week. Daily posts are too much for me to read though. I find two is generally manageable, more is just too many for me to keep up with, so I generally just choose a couple that particularly appeal.
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Reblogged this on Annie Lyons and commented:
Invaluable advice from a writer you should add to your ‘follow’ list immediately!
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Golly gee wow, Annie. I am blushing from across the pond…
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Thanks! I must share with my Facebook blogger groups.
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Thank you, Adela! I have a hard time getting any traffic on Facebook, but frankly I have not tried very hard. I don’t have a page, just a personal profile, and I feel like Twitter is more forgiving of “pushing” posts. I tend to leave Facebook for communicating with friends and family, and I’m kindof worried about irritating them with multiple promotion. If there are groups and the like where that can be done privately, I’d love to know about it – either here in the comments field, or in a post of your own!
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I am on a few “groups” on Facebook. I recommend “Women of Midlife” all writer/bloggers. Posts on groups don’t go to everyone, just the group. I also have a group for family. A great place to post announcements a questions only meant for them. E.g. “Who wants to bring pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving.” Feel free to like “The Black Tortoise” my facebook page. We can chat.
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Thank you! I did!
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Great! “see” you there.
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Thanks for the tips, Paula! So helpful. :O)
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You’re welcome, Colleen. Always happy to be of service.
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Oh, my! Like you, I try to unplug on Sundays… Although, ironically, I often spam the heck out of Instagram that day while I’m out and about!
Helpful post. I’m gonna point a few Twitter newbie pals to this post, in fact! Oh, hey – I’ll share it this Thursday at #StoryDam. Thank you! :)
~Tui, dropping by from #Mondayblogs to say hi!
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Thanks so much, Tui, and sorry it is Friday before I got back. Rather a crazy week in the day job, which I expect to get crazier in future… more about that in the next post.
One of the things I was hoping is that people would add other hashtags like #StoryDam in the comments and a link to the post that explains them – please feel free to do so!
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A very informative post Paula, thanks for sharing. I tend to use #MondayBlogs and #wwwblogs and I always try to retweet as many tweets as I can each time I use them. :)
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It was fun to write, Diane. As I might have said earlier in this thread, I’ve been in an online blogging class for the last week taught by Patrick Ross of The Artist’s Road (https://artistsroad.wordpress.com/), and I wrote it as an exercise in the “how to” post. As of today it’s the most popular (at least in terms of page views and visits) of any I’ve written.
And good for you for retweeting others! Personally, I always find it annoying when the person I retweet retweets my retweet of their tweet, but nothing else. Mirror, mirror, on the wall…
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Thanks for the information. I will share with my blog groups!
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Thanks Holly! What sort of blog groups are you involved in?
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Thanks Paula, for putting this information together in one post. I do use #Mondayblogs and #wwwblogs. You have been reminding be about #ArchiveDay, so will have to try to remember it, and also check out #SundayBlogShare. Because I also connect with other educators I use #edublogs and #amteaching but I’m not so diligent in checking them out. I find that while traffic may increase, along with RTs, it is still a slow process finding a group. As you say, it would be slower without though! :)
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Norah: It is a slow process; despite the fact that Twitter itself moves so fast! Do the other hashtags work on specific days, or are they applied generally?
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I haven’t figured that out yet Paula. I think they apply generally and can be accessed at any time. :)
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In 2011 I studied the ‘greats’ (TheBloggess.com, wilwheat.net, and nerdist.com) and noticed they were cross posting like maniacs across a variety of media, and thought ah-HA, it’s like a game for intellects, you learn to ‘drive’ traffic and play with the numbers you see coming in. I added Easter egging to it, the idea that the reader is rewarded for clicking with more goodies. Not everyone reads a whole post, but sometimes they come back when you toss out candy like they do in parades. I actually have way too much fun with this, it feeds my own compulsive leaping off into distraction. However, it also keeps me from nervously hovering around my posts because I’m too busy distracting myself again on another post somewhere else. I’ve been delighted at the results both online and emotionally (my depression is easier to deal with when I spread out and focus on interacting more without pushing my agenda on others), and I’ve also come to realize that real time feedback, while crucial in some ways, is NOT a healthy way to gauge ‘success’. The best thing bloggers can do is learn the ropes for properly categorizing and tagging, wonderful tools that help search engines funnel readers to what we write even long after we’ve written it. Hashtagging on twitter is a great way to capitalize on this because hashtags, especially if you create a unique self tag to insert alongside, is a great way to find old tweets and links again. For example, I created #aspienado so I could keep track of some of my tweet links to posts on living with Asperger’s.
Apologies for this getting so long. I see sad bloggers everywhere because they think no one cares when they don’t get comments, and I remind them that I’ve written things that got 10,000 views and only one comment. Lurkers are our bread and butter, and we link to keep pulling lurkers in. They get to read for free on most of our blogs, and if they like the blog they’ll come back. Learn how to use stat trackers and remember that most blogs filter out bots now, so most of those hits are real people reading your stuff. Train them to come back! ;)
By the way, I rarely comment on blog posts myself, but this post in particular is like the bible of tweet linking blog posts and I hope everyone bookmarks it! You have an awesome blog. =)
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That’s terrific information, Janika, and I apologize myself for not getting back to the blog to approve the comment and reply until now. The day job took some interesting turns this week. I particularly like how you’ve talked about the mental health pros and cons of blogging. There are a lot of ways that interactivity is emotionally helpful, especially for introverts and depressives (check; check); it’s also true that compulsive stat monitoring is not helpful, though stats themselves are. I try to write a mix of things – some I know will be popular because they are useful, others that may be less popular but are more important to me personally – that allow page views and visitors to grow at a rate I can live with, on average. That keeps me from obsessing over the stats for each individual post.
And thank you for the compliment! Awesome is fun.
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Great photos in this post!! I hadn’t heard of the Sunday posts before but that’s good to know. I admit, I often forget about the blog days until I see someone tweet about it in my twitter feed. I do remember them well when I’ve written a new blog though :)
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You’re a mom with young kids, Ariel. I hope you DO forget about hashtags once in awhile. The benevolent dictators are depending on you.
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Thanks Paula for inviting me to #wwwblogs. I need to make it habit and maybe that will also encourage me to write more and be good at it. Thanks for the reminder a great post.
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You are most welcome! Glad it was useful!
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Reblogged this on Keeping Kadence and commented:
I may start using some of these hashtags. Thaanks to Paula Reed Nancarrow for sharing her insights on this.
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And thank you for sharing!
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Thank you so much.
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You’re most welcome, Una!
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Very helpful! Thank you!
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You are welcome!
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[…] about my posts and often they pass them on … hooray for social media. The bookish ones I use are described by blogger Paula Read Nancarrow. I also use #readwomen2014 because I like to promote women writers. I blogged about that […]
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Great stuff Paula. Thank you.
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You’re welcome, Annette. And congratulations on the divorce and the new baby. ;-)
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Thank you for posting this. I am a new blogger and this is useful to me.
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You are most welcome, Tammi! I am glad your cousin Brenda poked you into blogging, and look forward to your posts in 2015.
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Hello Paul … so glad I discovered your blog on #ArchiveDay. Thanks so much for this post, i’ve found it really helpful; an excellent post for newbies ;-)
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You are welcome! Apologies for the late reply; I have a new work schedule I am still adjusting to.
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Good lady for posting this, I can just direct people too it now, instead of explaining it to them!!! Bookmarked. One point I would also make is that in order to get retweets you need to DO retweets. Aside from Monday Blogs, I find the others slow with the retweets. Not on mine, because I have over 50K followers so I get RTd a lot (as people want me to RT them back), but two friends with under 5k followers have said that they can do loads, but get few back. The people who use the hashtags are beginning to catch on, but when I first used #www and #Archive I used to just get YOU RTing me, and a few people saying ‘thanks for the RT’…..!!!
I’ve been using Monday Blogs since the beginning and it’s great to see it grow and others spring up – of course this leads to problems too, and it’s worth remembering, people, that these memes are not for websites, newspaper articles, porn, quotes, etc etc!!!
I think another good thing about them is that you can grow outside your own Twitter community, by RTing blogs about, for instance, fashion, or cookery, or parenting, stuff that doesn’t interest me but may interest my followers. Then, similarly, their followers might be interested in my post about Mad Men, or New Year’s resolutions, or housework…. or my new book!
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My most popular post, and frankly on weeks when I am writing things that I do not expect to be that popular, I need to pepper a few of the more popular ones in to keep my page views up. I’m going to need to do an update to this post at some point; I’ve been wondering, for example, whether MondayBlogs counts as one of the “retweet cartels” described by Rayne Hall in her Twitter book (which you turned me on to BTW, thanks). My chief problem continues to be balancing the opportunity to gain new readers with the desire to actually have time to read the blog posts of people I’ve come to consider part of my own tribe. (I still have to read your karma post, for example!) This has become especially difficult now that I’m working full time in a very deadline-driven field. I do find that other blogs with interests different from my own enrich and refresh me, and remind me of aspects of myself that I may have lost through lack of time to develop.
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ps, you asked about other ways to grow blog traffic since using Twitter – write good posts, so people want to read more by you; edit and redraft as you would a novel. Take time to think of good headlines. Use pictures, in both the post and the tweet. Proactively follow on Twitter outside your writing/blogging community. Don’t only blog about blogging and writing. Read and comment on other peopl’s blogs.
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Yes to all of those things. Twitter has actually changed my blogging style to include more pictures. The downside to that, if there is a downside, is weeding through all the RTs by people who are only interested in the picture, do not blog, and have nothing of interest on their own Twitter page worth RT’ing. And again, I still find the post you did about different type of people on Twitter helpful there. As soon as i see someone without a link in their profile to a blog – with nothing, or just their Amazon or Goodreads page, I know I can cross them off as someone i don’t need to bother looking to for a good RT.
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Reblogged this on Dan Aldridge's WordPress Blog and commented:
This is awesome, Paula. Love the graphics, particularly the first one, and the useful tips!
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Thanks, Dan. I’m glad you’re spreading the tips around. Good karma for everyone.
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Just found this. I’m definitely looking to increase my blog traffic. I’m going to try this. Thanks!
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I found this post thanks to a mention on Book Word (review about a book on blogging for writers http://www.bookword.co.uk/the-craft-of-blogging-8-blogging-for-writers-by-robin-houghton/).
I’ve been tweeting for years and still have a lot to learn. Will try to the do the sunday # today because it’s Sunday…
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Thanks for sharing how you found the post, Bridget – I didn’t know about the mention! I’m glad you found it useful.
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Reblogged this on The Darkness in the Light.
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This is probably the simplest and most helpful post I have read about using Twitter hashtags to promote blogs – something I’ve been feeling my way with for 6 months. I am SO grateful for your advice and suggestions. Thank you!
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You are most welcome, Lisa! I wish you well in hashtag country; it’s been good to me.
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Thanks for the information, I shall contact @WWWblogs ( the info link isn’t working) to see if my subject matter is suitable. I review audiobooks and thought I could promote women writers by sharing my review of their work.
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Hmm; it worked when I clicked on it, Bec,but just in case, here it is again: http://booksbywomen.org/women-writers-wednesday-blogs-wwwblogs/. Subject matter certainly seems suitable to me!
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Hi Paula,
So glad I came across these hashtag for perusal. I will start implementation and see what develops.
I do want to share a hashtag that my publishing press is looking to publicize and gain some participation:
#mybbmoment
Translation, my burning bush moment.
We are asking Christians to describe a moment I. their lives in which they stepped out in faith and trusted God’s leading for their life. A victory, a confrontation, a new direction in life. See it here: http://www.burningbush.press
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Hi! I’ve only just found your blog. It came up on Pinterest. As you wrote it last year. I guess you have some way of getting to appear again at regular intervals? I’m quite new to blogging. I love writing, and travel, and wanted to combine the two as we live on a yacht in Greece and have some good stories. But I’m currently back in the UK and filling my blog with random stuff like cats, jokes, recipes and rants, until I get back to the boat next week!
I just wanted to say thank you for all this useful info about Twitter. I have a Twitter account but I don’t use it, it just automatically tweets when I’ve published a new blog post. I need to do more with it. So I’m learning from you and reading about hashtags! Thanks for your help. I look forward to reading more of your posts.
And Pinterest! I have a board with lots of pinned things on it, but I know nothing!
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You are very welcome Georgie. I really know very little about Pinterest, though I have things on there. I find I only have time to get to know one form of social media at a time. But I do repost things on different social media accounts, and Pinterest has been getting more activity lately. Thanks for stopping by!
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[…] Club UK. Join in and RT others on hashtags like #SundayBlogShare & #MondayBlogs and check out this list for inspiration for other hashtags you can join in […]
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