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When I first started blogging, I was worried about how I was going to increase traffic to my blog.

I had plenty of experience blogging and writing, though not consistently for a long time, so I wasn’t as worried about building up content. I had primarily used my blog as my portfolio, only having recruiters and supervisors look at my previous work. While I still blogged at the time, my posts tended to be few and far between.

Writing consistently was one of my initial concerns to be honest. I was worried that when I was able to create a consistent 2-3 pieces of content a week, no one would find or read it.

Part of my worries eased when I started finding help through Pinterest experts. Their help and suggestions allowed me to play on my strengths as a graphic designer and start my Pinterest marketing strategy. As I started employing my Pinterest marketing strategy, I started seeing an increase in my blog’s traffic.

Another resource I used to gain traffic for my blog was using share-for-share Facebook posts.

Share-for-share posts allowed me to network and increase my traffic when I started to learn how to blog. But while it increased my traffic, it wasn’t helping me gain the community I wanted from my blog.

Share-for-share Facebook posts helped me a lot when I first started out and needed guidance as I learned how to start my blog. I found a lot of use for share-for-share posts when I started. After a month or two and working through CREATE An Intensive Biz Playbook & Planner: Scale Your Online Business, Create Explosive Growth and Build a Brand You Crave, I was able to rely on my own marketing strategies to make my blog visible and marketable for my target audience.

Here are a few pros and cons of using share-for-share Facebook posts.

Pro: You increase traffic to your blog.

The biggest pro to participating in share-for-share posts on Facebook is gaining traffic to your blog.

As a new blogger or business owner, starting a social media marketing strategy is helpful when you want to have an audience and gain blog traffic fairly quickly. You might think that it is a failure if you aren’t getting a certain amount of views per day, week, or month, but it’s normal to not have much traffic in the beginning.

Increasing traffic to your blog is vital to its survival, and participating in these share-for-share posts on Facebook might seem and prove to be a good option for you. CREATE will help you start other social media marketing techniques other than Share-for-Share posts but CREATE will help you determine which other strategies you can employ on other platforms.

Not only does participating in share-for-share posts increase your blog traffic, it also increases your blog’s awareness to fellow bloggers, business owners, and entrepreneurs. It allows you to find like-minded niches that you’d like to participate in.

Con: You don’t gain members of your target audience.

When you participate in share-for-share Facebook posts you tend to start networking with fellow bloggers rather than focusing on your target audience. Bloggers might be your intended audience, but, more likely than not, they aren’t part of your niche audience.

When working through CREATE, you’ll be able to determine who and how to market towards your ideal client and your target audience. it’s vital to create a community and following from your target audience rather than fellow bloggers who just want to increase traffic.

It’s a good guess that these fellow bloggers mean well but they aren’t going to create that sense of community you’ll want that CREATE can help you with. These bloggers are more interested in their statistics rather than creating a loyal following within these share-for-share posts.

If you want to build your target audience, it’s better to identify them through CREATE first and then search for ideal customers and readers elsewhere. That way, you not only increase your blog traffic, but you also have the potential of loyal, interested, and repeat visitors.

Pro: Your Pinterest Analytics might increase.

As a beginner blogger, I was always hearing about how Pinterest was the best place to gain traffic for my blog. It came as no surprise when I started seeing Pin-for-Pin Facebook posts in many of my group boards. Some Facebook posts asked for Pins for content while others asked for you to follow boards or the account.

No matter what action you took through a Pin-for-Pin Facebook post, you most-likely increased your Pinterest Analytics. For me, a lot of my impression statistics and link clicks increased.

Increasing your Pinterest Analytics can be very beneficial for your visibility and brand awareness. With CREATE’s awareness strategy and having others spread the word about your content, it’s easier to focus on related topics rather than getting the word out about your content.

This spike in readership or views can increase blog traffic but, again, will it help you increase your target audience?

Con: You spend more time following other people’s content than creating your own.

One of the things that I found by participating in share-for-share Facebook posts was the amount of time I spent searching through groups and threads for content.

I would spend far longer on the share-for-share post, trying to reciprocate, finding content for my niche, and finding Share-for-Share posts, than I would creating and starting my own social media strategy. At the end of the day, I would ultimately fail at any of the work I had done on CREATE because I was distracted with other people’s content and ideas.

Once I started looking at someone else’s content or business, I would be drawn to another recommended account and spend most of my social media strategy time on other profile pages. It’s important to find like-minded businesses and personalities for your business aspirations but not when you spend the day away looking at their content.

By working through CREATE’s marketing process, I can devise a social media plan that doesn’t distract me as much as when I first started.

Pro: You build a network for your business.

As I’ve said, share-for-share Facebook posts can be a great way to network for your business. You continuously are in contact with fellow bloggers and business owners. Having this much contact is sure to associate you with many like-minded businesses and entrepreneurs.

Maybe you are learning from the group or just have similar interests, but, either way, it is important to remember where you can turn to for advice or guidance as you start your business.

Make sure when you participate in these threads that you are an active member of the group besides using share-for-share posts on Facebook. While you might interact the most through these threads, you also want to be supportive and helpful to others in the group when you are able. You’ll want the support when you have additional questions.

Con: You follow brands that don’t revolve around your niche.

I’m part of many Facebook groups, especially ones that revolve around blogging and entrepreneurship. So it’s easy to post something in a group that reflects what I do, but not the community I’m trying to reach.

When I respond to share-for-share posts, there are a lot of businesses and blogs competing for visibility. There isn’t a specific theme most of the time to share-for-share posts on Facebook, so you’re trying to make an impact on a group with many different interests.

Especially when it comes to Pinterest, it can be difficult when determining who to follow. You might start off just wanting followers and follow everyone, but I suggest against that. Once you determine your target audience through CREATE’s process, you can determine what type of businesses and individual profiles you would like to gain insight from.

Devise your following process to reflect content your target audience would enjoy and gain value from. You can identify who you would like to be in your target audience and how to market to your target audience through CREATE’s process of how to start your business.

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Should you participate in share-for-share posts in Facebook to gain traffic for your blog?