This Social Media Platform Can Help Bloggers Recover From Google’s Latest Update
Chantelle KincyGoogle’s recent algorithm updates have shaken the blogging world, leaving many bloggers grappling with plummeting rankings and traffic.
The changes have affected visibility and reduced the income that many bloggers rely on. As a result, some are considering giving up on their passion projects altogether.
Understanding the Impact of Google’s Updates
Google’s algorithm updates are notorious for being game-changers. While they allegedly “aim to improve search results,” they often leave many bloggers in the lurch.
The latest series of “helpful updates” have been the most dramatic and widespread, leaving the carnage of once-thriving websites in their wake.
Websites that once saw hundreds of thousands of views monthly are seeing views in the single digits. Sites that once ranked for thousands of keywords can’t be found anywhere in search results.
Lower traffic translates to fewer ad impressions, affiliate clicks, and, ultimately, reduced revenue.
The frustration is understandable, but adapting and finding new ways to drive traffic to your blog is crucial. In an ever-changing environment, as bloggers, we must adapt quickly rather than sulk and focus on what “used to be.”
Before you give up, there’s a blogger-friendly platform that could be your new best friend: Flipboard.
Enter Flipboard: The Blogger-Friendly Platform
Flipboard is a content discovery platform that allows users to create and share digital magazines on any topic. What makes Flipboard particularly appealing to bloggers is its potential to deliver significant traffic with relatively little effort.
Flipboard is blogger-friendly. This means that users expect to see articles and are eager to “flip” (save) them to their magazines and read them. Contrast that with Instagram and TikTok, where users only want to watch videos, and Facebook, where users only want to complain, Flipboard creates the perfect environment to share your blog posts with readers who actually want to read them.
Additionally, users can choose topics that interest them and curate their homepage with those topics. That means your ideal audience is right there, waiting for you to fill their feed with content. This makes building and growing your community of faithful followers that much easier.
Here’s why you should consider integrating Flipboard into your blogging strategy:
- Ease of Use
Flipboard is incredibly user-friendly. You can create a profile and curate magazines by flipping articles, blog posts, and other content into them. The interface is intuitive, making it easy to get started and navigate. - Growing Your Audience
Flipboard’s algorithm favors high-quality, relevant content, which means that your well-crafted blog posts have a good chance of being discovered by a wider audience. As more people engage with your content, your magazines gain followers, further expanding your reach. - Boosting Traffic
Bloggers who use Flipboard report significant increases in their site traffic. You can attract genuinely interested readers in your niche by curating content that appeals to your target audience and adding compelling descriptions and keywords. - Engaging Community
Flipboard’s community is active and engaged. Users often spend considerable time on the platform, exploring and sharing content. This engagement can translate to longer visits to your blog and more interaction with your posts. - Cross-Promotion Opportunities
Flipboard allows for easy cross-promotion. You can share your Flipboard magazines on other social media platforms, embed them on your blog, or collaborate with other bloggers to curate shared magazines. This multi-channel approach helps in maximizing visibility and traffic.
Getting Started with Flipboard
Here’s a quick guide to help you get started with Flipboard:
Create an Account
Sign up on Flipboard and set up your profile. Include a clear, engaging bio and a link to your blog. Don’t be afraid to show your personality here. No need for keyword stuffing or SEO. Just tell people who you are and why they should follow you.
Create Magazines
Start by creating a few magazines around your blog’s main topics. Name them thoughtfully so readers can understand what to expect from that magazine.
There is no need to go crazy here. You don’t want more magazines than you can handle. It is better to have fewer magazines that you can actively engage with and add relevant content than hundreds of magazines that just sit there collecting dust.
However, you want to create a good user experience and give your followers a well-rounded experience. To do this, you may need to add magazines outside of your niche, which will be filled with content from other creators.
For example, If your niche is solo female travel, you will have travel magazines representing your blog’s pillars.
You then need to consider what other things solo female travelers may be interested in and add magazines that represent those interests. These could be yoga, safety, easy meal prep for 1 person, outfits for travel, packing advice, or budgeting.
Curate Content
Add your blog posts regularly to these magazines and other high-quality articles that complement your content. This mix will keep your magazines interesting and engaging.
As soon as you publish a new article, your first step should be flipping that article into one of your magazines. Flipboard favors new content, so get that post in there right away.
Spend time on your for-you page engaging with other content. Share posts that would interest your audience in your magazines. Share posts that are doing well, as they interest others and will be good for your readers to see.
The more you actively flip content, the more your content will be seen.
Engage with the Community
Follow other users, like and comment on their flips, and participate in discussions. This interaction will help increase your visibility on the platform and will help you develop connections with other bloggers and your readers.
Here are some of my favorite people on Flipboard to Follow:
Flannels or FlipFlops
Dope AF Food
Wealth of Geeks
Women Blazing Trails
Promote Your Magazines
Share your Flipboard magazines on your social media channels and embed them in your blog posts. Encourage your readers to follow your Flipboard profile for more curated content.
Add Flipboard links to your weekly emails.
Be sure you have Flipboard share buttons on your blog.
Take Flipboard To The Next Level
I get it. There is so much to do all the time, and I’m telling you that Flipboard works best if you publish new content frequently. I hear you screaming, ” I can’t publish multiple new posts EVERY DAY!” I hear you, and I see you.
Thankfully, I was introduced to a platform that works with Flipboard to help fill in the content gaps and make your life one million times easier.
Post Polish is a new platform I have quickly become obsessed with. A handful of bloggers, myself included, beta-tested this, and every single one of us saw increased traffic from Flipboard within days of signing up.
Here’s what Post Polish does:
- Allows you to change the title to make it more engaging for Flipboard, while leaving the SEO version on your site untouched.
- Allows you to change the description that is shown on Flipboard. Sometimes, bloggers experience frustration when their affiliate disclaimer is pulled or clunky portions of sentences are shown. With Post Polish, you can choose what is shown in your description without changing your post.
- Allows you to change the featured image without adding the photo to your media library and bogging down your site.
- Flips can be scheduled and posted at optimal times for maximum reach (must be a publisher on Flipboard for this feature)
- Makes it easy to work in batches and get posts ready for the week in one sitting.
- It is separate from your site, meaning a VA can do this without giving them access to your WordPress site.
If you are a blogger who doesn’t publish regular content but wants to succeed with Flipboard, you need Post Polish. Let’s say you have 40 posts on your site. With Post Polish, you can create an alternate title and new image for those posts and republish them on Flipboard. Now, you have 80 posts that can be scheduled and potentially bring traffic. You can do this repeatedly, creating endless potential for each blog post.
If you are a blogger with hundreds of old posts, you need Post Polish. You don’t have time to revise every post or add enough new content to warrant changing the publish date. Instead, you can grab the post as it is, run it through Post Polish, and in less than 2 minutes, have a “new” Flipboard-ready post with a catchy title and attention-grabbing image.
Imagine having 100 posts added to Flipboard without writing a single piece of content!
I’m not lazy, but I would rather work smarter than harder and spend my time on things that yield a good return on my time. Duplicating hundreds of posts over and over is not a sustainable plan, and I don’t care to spend hours fussing over old content to make it appear new and fresh.
I like website traffic, though; this allows me to use all of my content without spending time on it.
Final Thoughts
While Google’s updates may have disrupted your traffic and revenue, platforms like Flipboard offer a promising alternative. By leveraging Flipboard’s user-friendly interface and engaged community, you can regain lost traffic and perhaps even grow beyond your previous levels. Don’t give up on your blogging journey—adapt, explore new platforms, and keep creating amazing content.
Are you ready to flip the script on your traffic woes? Give Flipboard a try and watch your blog’s traffic soar.
