Which Social Media Platforms Should I Be on as a New Blogger?

It’s easy to get so overwhelmed by the sheer number of social media platforms you can be on nowadays. When I first started blogging many, many years ago (I’m not going to purposefully date myself here), the only sites that you really promoted your posts on were Facebook and Twitter. That was it. You would write your post, share it on a few Facebook groups, tweet it, and call it good.

Now with so many new ways to promote yourself and your work, it can be exhausting thinking about how you are going to approach each one. You might not even like the idea of video but you find yourself wondering if you should start a YouTube channel because everyone else is.

The truth is that it’s better to have one or two platforms you really commit to rather than a number of different ones that you only post on once every few months. If I’ve learned anything about social media within the past few years is that platforms reward those who stay on the platforms. That means creating new content and engaging with others.

As a newbie, I would recommend starting with one or two you feel would really benefit you and your niche. Once you have built an audience from there, you can move onto some of the others. However, knowing which ones to start out with is a whole other can of worms, which is why I put together a guide on how to help you decide which could be best for your blog.

Facebook

For: Everyone

No matter what type of blogger you are, Facebook is still the be-all when it comes to promoting your articles. While you don’t get the same results you might have years ago and Facebook groups have been deprioritized lately, you can still get some traffic from your page. You should also have a business page regardless since it allows you to boost your posts if you don’t mind spending some money on ads.

You also have access to a number of features when you choose to up your game down the line, like Live, video uploads, and an Instagram connection. Also, even though groups are not what they used to be, you can still gain some exposure for your site and encourage new readers to check it out even if the algorithm isn’t as favorable to those posting articles.

Finally, one last word on Facebook. You might not immediately rank your blog on Google search when you’re first starting out. It takes time, patience, and some backlinking in order to make that a reality. A Facebook page will still have you pop up in first results so you can be found—even if you aren’t ranking yet.

Instagram

For: Travel bloggers, outdoor bloggers, fashion bloggers, mommy bloggers, photography/videography bloggers, lifestyle bloggers, personality-driven business bloggers, etc.

Could be for: Small businesses, review bloggers.

If you would have told me that Instagram would be what it is today, I would have laughed in your face. Not only did it take over the world, but it is now also owned by Facebook, making it this giant monolith of crazy. It also is constantly updating its new features too and you can now include links in the Stories feature if you have over 10,000 followers.

Instagram is my jam, but I didn’t always like it. In fact, hate was more the right word. It can also seem super intimidating for new bloggers or those looking to grow their accounts in order to compete with the big boys.

Unfortunately (or fortunately if you like it), you do need Instagram for most blogging industries. Whether you are looking to gain sponsorships or promote products, it is kind of necessary. The first thing that potential partners will do is pull up your page because it does say a lot about you: whether you are a good photographer, how good and engaging your writing is, and how you interact with others.

That being said, don’t worry so much about the followers count. If you can build an engaged audience that loves you and you have 5,000 followers instead of 100,000, brands will notice.

YouTube

For: Travel bloggers, fashion bloggers, mommy bloggers, photography/videography bloggers, review bloggers, lifestyle bloggers, personality-driven business bloggers, outdoor bloggers, blogging bloggers, etc.

Could be for: Everyone else

YouTube is awesome, but it is an INSANE amount of work and if you’re not consistently posting, then it can be rough and slow to see growth. You might also hate video and that’s okay–you don’t immediately have to jump into a billion platforms. However, if video doesn’t scare you and you’re willing to put in the time and effort, YouTube has some awesome benefits and the fanship and income opportunities are nuts.

Whatever you do, make your videos educational, especially when you’re first starting out. As with all social media platforms, you want to make sure you’re providing value to your audience. This could mean posting how-tos or guides or tutorials–just make sure that whatever you do you’re helping someone.

YouTube is owned by Google and relies heavily on SEO in order to help viewers find their information. Also, once you reach enough subscribers (1,000) in order to monetize your videos, you get paid a higher percentage than you would if you’re just posting entertaining content.

If you have the time, YouTube is great. If you don’t, then consider building your Facebook and Instagram accounts first and save any video files you use for those platforms so you can post on your YouTube channel later.

Twitter

For: Review bloggers, personality-driven business bloggers, small businesses, blogging bloggers, people who prefer words.

Could be for: Other bloggers who hate visual marketing.

While Twitter has gotten a lot more visual within the past few years, it still seems like what goes viral is quippy tweets commenting about the current state of the world. I am going to be totally honest here, Twitter is not a great medium for those who are involved in more visual industries, and the shelf life of a post is usually not very long. That means if you share your blog posts, people are only going to see it on their feed and unless you have a super compelling, click baity title, you’re probably not going to get much from it.

Twitter also makes it harder to interact with fans, though it is perfect for sharing thoughts and observations that can build your authority on a topic. Small businesses might want to share their thoughts on their industry, while review bloggers can type something super quick about the new product they’re checking out.

For other niches, standing out in the noise of Twitter can be a challenge, and I only recommend it if you plan on tweeting a few times a day.

Pinterest

For: Everyone

I know what you’re thinking: that site with the pretty pictures? Why? Because when you’re a new blogger, it can be difficult to build your traffic on other social media platforms and to wait six months or longer for Google to crawl your site and start ranking you. Pinterest is a whole different story. You can start getting traffic from it in a few days rather than weeks or months.

It’s also one of the newer platforms, so it’s not super saturated with those trying to compete. If you’ve done your keyword research (since it is actually a search engine rather than a social media platform) then you have a greater chance of reaching super targeted readers looking for exactly what you’re posting about.

Just make sure you have a business account so you can claim your site and start to see that traffic roll in!

There are so many other social media platforms (TikTok, Snapchat, Reddit, Quora), but I would recommend these to start with and then you can move on when you feel comfortable with what you’ve chosen initially.

Which social media platforms have you found work best for you and your niche?

This post originally appeared on alexonthemap.com.