Social media is currently king, queen and regent of the online world. It draws the most people and retains their constant viewing. The social aspects are hard to deny as being relatively unbeatable, especially if you’re trying to grow a platform for yourself to profit from. Blogs find it difficult to compete with social media. Even news sites are finding it hard to cope with the constant ‘twitter commentary’ and Facebook news posts shared every day. The breadth of this can be challenging, but it is important to keep certain things in mind before you give up on your ambitions.

After all, positivity will usually always win out. We’re not here to suggest that running a personal blog, website or other creative online endeavour is impossible in the least. If you have great ideas, you should feel confident about exploring them in an online space. However, if you’re worried in the slightest, you might consider reading our following guide which should help you arm yourself in the friendly fight against social media.

Some of the tips might not be what you were expecting.

#1 – Don’t Fight Social Media

Social media is here to stay, whether we like it or not. To completely disregard its existence and to try and raise a platform outside of it can be like trying to farm without any land. It’s important to use modern trends, especially when you stand to benefit so well from them. It’s always hard to imagine exactly how this looks in practice, so we’re here to educate you.

First and foremost, open profiles on all the social media platforms. You may not even want to use these and develop your presence there right now, but it’s important to register anyway. This way you can be certain that your social media handle will be the same as the one you use for your blog, allowing for ease of being found online by willing viewers.

Next, integrate modules into your website. Have a twitter feed you’re proud of? Implement a live module running at the side of your webpage at all times. This allows your audience to continually see what you have to offer, and potentially connect with your ideas in a much more wholesome and present way.

Also, to keep the twitter and Instagram example, hashtags can do all the work for you here. Have you recently published a lifestyle post regarding your dietary plans? Then why not hashtag to your heart’s content? There is no limit you can place on these, meaning that you could be the top post in a certain tag for some time. Social media is a wonderful opportunity to grow your page naturally and like a snowball, but only if you update it often and with a complete mindset.

#2 – Revise Your Website

Once we’ve found an aesthetic we like, we are often too tempted to continue to frame our content within that for some time. This can work both for us and against us. Of course, a uniform design will always be familiar to returning visitors, and many people don’t like change. However, if you haven’t updated your website since 2010 from a UI perspective, it might be time to change. Updating with the times is important if you’re to be seen as relevant. New fonts, new minimal design aesthetics as well as emulating the feel of a certain category can work wonders.

To illustrate this latter point, let us use an example. If your website is concerned with reviewing hip-hop albums, you might be inclined to use the minimalist and vintage aesthetic currently being popularized by the modern hip-hop album and EP covers. For example, think of Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN, one of the most popular albums of 2017. Stylistically this album is bold, and cutting edge. The bold, red unabashed text is a stamp, and it has attitude.

You might consider adding small stylistic flairs like this while using a website building service to grow your platform. Website builders can help you with this, so visit their site to collaborate in the best and most suitable UI design to help you achieve your ideas.

One thing that social media cannot offer, past the ‘cover photo’ and ‘profile image’ allowances, is a stylistic design from page to page. It will always be wrapped in the aesthetic of the UI of the site, leaving little room for creative flair. This is where your website comes in. You can truly offer a unique website visiting experience by simply viewing your presence as one of the end users, and tailoring to your tastes and how you hope it’s perceived.

#3 – Content Is King

Content is, of course, the one thing which differentiates your platform from social media. You are allowed any word limit, allowed to embed any video, and able to host your own product lines. You are able to give your opinion unfiltered, and work at developing your own hosted unique content. Social media pages are great for a quick idea, a quick message or a shallow thought, but people are still looking for depth in all they see.

Imbuing your website with real, significant content, the stuff that matters, will always naturally draw eyes. Give that opinion no one else will give but that has been ruminating in your mind for some time. Engage with your audience, and allow your interactions with them to shape your ideas and by extension your blog. This allows for a collaborative approach with you still in the author’s chair.

People are so used to giving their opinion on social media that working in shallow tandem with your audience can help them feel engaged, as if you’re discussing WITH them instead of talking to them. This is the most important change you can make in your content strategy, because it’s something we have been trained to expect from social media websites. If you keep this maintained and you’re subtle about it, this can do all the work on its own.

With these tips, you’ll find your blog and social media work hand in hand. We wish you the best of success in your efforts!