by Doreen Martel

Created on: January 16, 2013   Last Updated: January 25, 2013

For many writers, gaining traffic to their articles is imperative if they intend to earn any type of residual income. Unfortunately, writers often fail to understand which social networking sites are best for promotion. What is important is that writers evaluate their articles and try to target the audience that will get the most value from their writing. In large part, the type of article will dictate which social media site is more appropriate.

Promoting family-geared articles

When writers are primarily writing articles that are geared towards families, such as educational articles, saving money shopping and other similar types of articles, the best social media site for promotion is most likely Facebook. The reasoning behind this is simple: Facebook   captures a large audience that includes friends and families who may find the articles valuable. This should encourage readers to share the information with others in their network, potentially resulting in better traffic.

Promoting career-oriented articles

Writers who focus on career titles such as how to land a specific type of job, interview hints and articles that focus on work-related topics should consider using LinkedIn  . However, it is important to note that when using LinkedIn, writers should use caution and make sure the work they are sharing is appropriate to the group where they post. For example, an article about how to become a veterinarian would not be appropriate in a group focused on freelance writing opportunities. Search through the LinkedIn groups to find the ones that work best for your writing.

General articles

Writers who focus on generic topics such as cooking, cleaning or other household tips and tricks may want to consider putting an eye-catching graphic in their articles and sharing them at Pinterest. Pinterest is a graphics-based social media site that is appropriate for many types of work. However, it is imperative that writers understand how to use boards to sort their articles into reasonable categories to attract more readers. 

Local-interest articles

Writers who focus on local guides should consider sharing their work at FourSquare. In many cases, newcomers have accounts on this social media site and these types of articles may help them gain new information about their location. In addition, local users can have the opportunity to share these articles with other local neighbors and friends.

Books, movies and politics

Writers who focus on book reviews, movie reviews and even politics may have great success promoting their work on sites like Reddit and Digg often have specific forums where users can share information to start a discussion. These sites can result in large spikes in traffic. 

All types of work

Fortunately, writers who do not want to spend a lot of time sorting their articles into various categories do have options. Good examples of social media sites that can help writers gain more traffic include Twitter, RedGage and StumbleUpon. When posting articles on these sites, writers should use hash-tags when appropriate or make sure there is other meta-data to allow readers to find relevant articles. It is also a good idea to set up a blog to promote work although this may take more time to drive traffic.

Writers interested in promoting their work via social media sites have many tools available.  In many cases, some of these sites have simple plug-ins that may be used to easily share articles. In addition, many social media sites allow for automated posting from programs like HootSuite.  Make the most of social media to promote articles, it should increase readership and therefore can have a positive impact on earnings.

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