The 3 Most Effective Ways to Get Your Blog Posts Shared on Social Media

{Guess what? It has nothing to do with SEO or your content. Seriously!}

If you’ve been blogging very long at all, you know that optimizing posts is a lot of work. You may be a master SEO wordsmith and consistently write amazing content.

But you may not realize that you also need to prioritize the other half of the equation — getting people who are reading your material to SHARE it with others.

You need to know — and USE — the most effective ways to get your blog posts shared on social media.

*note: This post was written in 2016 and may contain outdated information.

Text what your blog post needs for more social shares on creamy white background.

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Bloggers write some fabulous posts that NEED to be shared. If you can get your posts in front of thousands of eyes on Pinterest and Twitter, think of how many more people will be able to benefit from your words.

You aren’t just writing for you — and you need to MAKE IT EASY for people to share your posts! After months of blogging and reading THOUSANDS of blog posts, I can tell you there are 3 things I REALLY notice when I’m reading and TRYING to share posts.

I follow a lot of blogs – about 130 on Bloglovin’. I ALWAYS click and read all of the interesting-looking posts in my feed.

Often, I want to share those posts on Pinterest and Twitter, but sometimes the post is formatted in a way that makes it very hard to share. I’m not going to share any post if it’s too much work, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels that way.

People who read blogs are busy! Sharing has to be EASY.

Not all bloggers are thinking about sharing on Pinterest and Twitter. That’s fine! You choose your own social media sharing focus.

BUT, putting just a little bit of thought into your posting habits can GREATLY increase how many people see your posts no matter what social media platform you are most interested in for yourself.

Since I happen to mainly use Pinterest and Twitter, I really notice when posts aren’t set up for sharing. (Seriously, I say out loud, “Don’t you WANT anyone new to see this?!”)

It always blows my mind when I read a fabulous post by a big-time blogger and there is no good way to share it. (I suppose that sort of thing isn’t really important when you already have hundreds of thousands of people visiting your blog every month.)

But you know what? Big bloggers get that way because they have fantastic information. Making it easier to share would help get that information out to even more people!

So, whether you are a big blogger or small, here are three things you need in every.single.post. to make it easier for your readers to share.

Short Version:

1. Use sharing buttons.

2. Have a featured image with words on it, a good title, an alt tag.

3. Use Click-to-Tweet.

If right now you don’t do ANY of those things, don’t feel overwhelmed. They are not at all difficult.

Trust me, tech stuff makes me want to pull my hair out, but these things are NOT technical. Just take it slow and do one thing at a time.

Why aren’t your blog posts being shared? Find out why & what to do!

Expanded Version:

Remember, you should include these three things on every.single.post. If you have no idea how to do that, here are some instructions and links to help you. 

Use Sharing Buttons

1.  Most WordPress.org users have Jetpack and/or SumoMe installed, and they each have sharing buttons that you can easily set up to use on your site. (There are also separate plug-ins available, but I prefer to not add more than absolutely necessary.)

You should place sharing buttons at the beginning and/or end of the post, or use floating buttons that follow the reader down the page.

But be careful with the floating buttons. I find them EXTREMELY annoying if they are only on the side and cover what I’m trying to read on my mobile device. I’ll usually click away rather than trying to get through the material, and I DEFINITELY won’t share if the reading experience is difficult.

If you want to take the sharing buttons a step further, you can make pretty buttons that are branded for your particular site.

HOW TO CUSTOMIZE JETPACK SHARING BUTTONS IN WORDPRESS – The Blog Market

2.  Make sure the buttons work on desktop and mobile. Seriously, do a quick check. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been reading posts on either my desktop or mobile and there were NO sharing buttons, even though I knew there were on the other device. This might be an issue with theme responsiveness and not the buttons themselves, but just check. 

3.  Include your Twitter handle when setting up your sharing buttons. If I click the Twitter button to share and your handle does not show, there’s about a 90% chance that I will click away instead of sharing.

If I’m sharing something on Twitter, I want the people who see it to know with whom the material originated. 

Here is my screenshot of the “Sharing” settings of the JetPack plug-in.

The 3 Most Effective Ways to Get Your Blog Posts Shared on Social Media | Guess what? It has nothing to do with SEO or your content. Seriously! Optimizing blog posts is a lot of work -- use these simple and effective ways to get your blog posts shared. | www.fillingthejars.com

4.  A sharing button ON your main image makes Pinning extra-easy. It is not completely necessary if you have sharing buttons before or after your post, but if you want to take a few minutes to set it up, here are some instructions:

HOW TO ADD A CUSTOM PIN IT HOVER BUTTON TO YOUR BLOG IMAGES – Blog Clarity

5.  If you have a sharing button for Pinterest on your site, you MUST have an image to go with it or your readers will get the dreaded “no image found” from Pinterest. And they will probably click away from your site. (See how this all works together?)

Have a Main Image (With Words)

1.  You should have at LEAST one all-purpose image for every post. You can get into creating the different optimum sizes for Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. (Social Media Image Sizes Cheat Sheet – Louise Myers Visual Social Media)

But if images overwhelm you, then you CAN make one rectangular (600px wide x800px tall) size work for most social media for sharing purposes. That’s where I would start if you aren’t used to making graphics.

2.  Your image needs words — across the middle if you only do one size and want them to be seen in most social media formats. Most shared image clips usually show the middle of the image if it’s not exactly the “right” size.

3.  Your image doesn’t have to be a photo, although experts say actual photo images get the most clicks. You have to balance that against the fact that you can spend much, MUCH too long searching for one perfect photo vs. just using a non-photo (but interesting) graphic as the backdrop for your overall image.

4.  Free image creation and editing programs available online include Canva and PicMonkey. Canva is my favorite. It saves all of the images you have made, so you can simply copy one as a template, change out the title & background, and you’re good to go.

HOW TO MAKE PINTEREST GRAPHICS USING PICMONKEY – Beautiful Dawn

5.  Use a title and alt tags — they are crazy important for Pinterest shares! You can make them exactly the same, and they can be the same for every image attached to your post. How easy is that?! I do this right when I upload the image to WordPress, then I don’t have to try to remember to do it later.

*note: This post was written in 2016 and contains outdated recommendations. Titles and alt tags should be specific to the image. Please see Google’s latest recommendations for accessibility.

Here is a screenshot of the meta description area of the Yoast SEO plug-in. My final title/alt tag are always in this format: POST TITLE | META DESCRIPTION (sometimes longer with extra keywords for Pinterest) | MY WEBSITE URL.

The 3 Most Effective Ways to Get Your Blog Posts Shared on Social Media | Guess what? It has nothing to do with SEO or your content. Seriously! Optimizing blog posts is a lot of work -- use these simple and effective ways to get your blog posts shared. | www.fillingthejars.com

Simple instructions:
THE ONE THING YOU MUST DO TO EVERY IMAGE UPLOADED TO YOUR BLOG – Gimme Some Oven

6.  Make your main image the “Featured Image” for your post in WordPress.org — this means it will automatically show up when shared to Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc. 

The 3 Most Effective Ways to Get Your Blog Posts Shared on Social Media | Guess what? It has nothing to do with SEO or your content. Seriously! Optimizing blog posts is a lot of work -- use these simple and effective ways to get your blog posts shared. | www.fillingthejars.com

7.  If you want to take it a step further, use “Rich Pins” on Pinterest: THE EASY WAY TO SET UP “RICH PINS” ON PINTEREST – Melyssa Griffin

8.  One final warning: Don’t use copyrighted photos! Never ever EVER copy/paste from a Google search!

Make sharing your blog posts EASY for your readers! Here’s how!

Include a “Click to Tweet”

1.  I will Tweet a post I’m reading ALMOST EVERY TIME if it has a CTT. If I have to click the Tweet sharing button and think of something to say, I MIGHT still Tweet it (IF the popup box includes your Twitter handle), but I’m not going to take the time to make it interesting.

2.  For a simple plug-in, use Better Click to Tweet for WordPress.org. This makes it super-easy to just click on that little bluebird in the toolbar while you’re writing a post and then type in what you want to have shared.

3.  Include relevant hashtags to improve the odds of your Tweet being seen by even more people.

4.  ALWAYS include your Twitter handle. Don’t assume that because you entered it when you set up your sharing button that it will also show in a Click to Tweet. It won’t.

5.  Make sure you keep the entire Tweet (including link & Twitter handle) under 140 characters. If I click on a CTT and try to schedule it in Hootesuite or Buffer but have to alter the text to make it fit — it’s NO LONGER EASY and I’m less likely to share.

6.  If you want to take it a step further, you can create your own graphics to use in place of the generic CTT box. This method eliminates the need for the plug-in on your website, but it does take longer to go through the steps of creating and adding to your post.

Video tutorial: HOW TO MAKE AND USE CLICK TO TWEET GRAPHICS – Solopreneur Diaries

Once you’ve practiced creating complete images and Click-to-Tweets, it becomes second nature to include them when you are putting a post together.

I’m not saying it won’t take you any extra time to add these features, because it does, but the payoff is worth it — great-looking posts that WILL be shared.

Implement these three effective ways to get your blog posts shared — images, sharing buttons, Click-to-Tweets — and you will DEFINITELY see an increase in shares for your posts.

Blog readers LOVE to share, so MAKE IT EASY for them! As a well-earned reward, your readers will thank you over and over again by sharing your posts.

Text 3 things your blog post must have for more social media shares on creamy white background.

24 thoughts on “The 3 Most Effective Ways to Get Your Blog Posts Shared on Social Media”

  1. I love your advice. I even have the Click To Tweet plug in – installed – just forget to add it to my blog posts. I really need to remember to do that.
    Thanks for sharing your blogging expertise with us at the #HomeMattersParty this week. I’m sure many people will find your tips extremely helpful.

  2. You are singing my song. I read a LOT of blogs, co-host a link party & LOVE to share! It is so annoying when bloggers make it difficult. I just automatically click to tweet. But if I am scheduling and the tweet is too long, I won’t take the time to fix it. Great post. I didn’t know that you didn’t have to change your wording in alt tags. Thanks for a great post. If you haven’t done so, I’d like to invite you to post it on the #overthemoon Link party that goes live at 5 p.m. CST on Sunday. You can link up through mysideof50.com

    1. Hi Cathy! Re: alt tags — If you copy/paste the meta description into the title and alt tag area, you don’t HAVE to change anything. But the meta description is limited in length. You can always add more words in the alt tag area to create a better description, especially for Pinterest. It just takes more time and I’m not great at SEO or keywords, so right now I copy/paste and call it good. I’ll see you at #overthemoon tomorrow!

  3. Awesome post about social shares. What I notice is most bloggers do the absolute minimum when they visitother people’s blogs. Read, Comment go or tweet and go. Its about time we realised that social shares are great not only for social proof, but for SEO and Indexing of our content!

    thanks for sharing at the Pit Stop!

  4. This is amazing advice, thank you! I love clicking on other blogger’s click to tweets, but I don’t use it on my own blog! 😉 – Erin at Stayathomeyogi.com

    1. Hi Erin! I know, I was also guilty of not using CTT even though I had the plug-in installed. But when I started consistently making it a part of my post formatting process, it became automatic. Give it a try!

  5. This is super helpful. I just started using click to tweet but I’m not a fan of how it looks (kind of boring). I really like how you created your CTT images so I’ll have to check out the tutorial. Pinning and tweeting!

    Nicole | The Professional Mom Project

    1. It looks like you might be on wordpress.com instead of .org — not sure if you will be able to install the same click to tweet plug-in. If not, you will have to check to see if there is a plug-in for the .com version. Thank you for visiting!

  6. What a great post with so many interesting points! I need to add a Click to Tweet to my blog, but i haven’t done yet. I’ll get to work on that right away! Thanks so much for sharing!

    1. Hi Lucie! I love the click to tweet plug-in and alternate between that and making my own graphics. The plug-in just makes adding that sharing option SO fast and easy!

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