Blog Content Distribution: Top Auto-Posting Services

Managing Multiple Blogs and Social Media Promotion

Many individuals maintain a single blog, but an increasing number are managing several, often focusing on diverse topics. These niches can range from technology and culinary arts to health and fitness, and more.

Even overseeing just two blogs demands significant time and effort. Bloggers must consistently create content, engage with their audience, and conduct thorough research for upcoming posts.

Furthermore, the promotion of blog posts through social media channels is often considered essential. While not strictly required, leveraging social platforms can significantly contribute to blog growth.

Strategies for Social Media Sharing

Once the decision to share blog content on social networks is made, the next step is determining the best approach. Manual sharing offers a high degree of customization, allowing tailored messaging for each platform’s audience.

However, for those managing multiple blogs and a presence on numerous social networks – such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter – the task can quickly become overwhelming.

Automated Social Sharing Services

Fortunately, several services are available to streamline this process. These tools assist in automating the sharing of blog posts across various social media platforms.

We will explore both the interface of these services and the appearance of shared blog posts on different networks. This will provide a comprehensive understanding of how to effectively manage and promote your blogs.

Automation can save considerable time and effort, allowing bloggers to focus on content creation and audience engagement.

Consider the benefits of automated sharing for increased reach.
Evaluate different services to find the best fit for your needs.

Dlvr.it

Dlvr.it, often pronounced “Deliver It,” is a service previously highlighted on MakeUseOf and remains a favored tool for distributing blog content. Its interface is user-friendly, and the process of sharing posts is straightforward. It offers connectivity with a diverse range of social media platforms.

Supported Platforms

Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
Tumblr
StatusNet
Delicious
RSS feeds

The true strength of Dlvr.it lies in its capacity to manage multiple routes and accommodate numerous RSS feeds per route. Routes are constructed from two core components: sources, representing your RSS feeds, and destinations, which are your chosen social networks.

Organizing routes by blog platform, such as Blogger and Tumblr, is a practical approach. You might operate multiple blogs of the same type, all intended for the same social media channels.

If specific sources shouldn't be shared to all destinations – for example, posting to Twitter but excluding Facebook – creating a separate route for those sources is necessary.

Dlvr.it also provides an alternative view focused on destinations, clearly illustrating which RSS feeds are being delivered to each platform. Furthermore, the service offers statistics to track the performance of your shared links.

Users have the option to utilize Dlvr.it’s built-in link shortening service or integrate with Bit.ly. The platform also supports the creation of custom link shortening solutions or the use of goo.gl.

Key Features: Direct Post and Flipstream

The Direct Post function enables the creation of posts, selection of destinations, and scheduling of publication times. This provides granular control over your content distribution.

Flipstream shares similarities with Bit.ly Bundles, allowing you to group multiple links, add descriptive context, and share them across various social networks. Dlvr.it’s advantage in this area is its wider selection of supported destinations compared to Bit.ly.

Regarding Google+ integration, access is currently limited due to the unavailability of its API for services like Dlvr.it. However, the developers have indicated their intention to incorporate Google+ support as soon as the API becomes accessible.

Understanding how a link will appear upon posting is crucial. Consider the following example to visualize the final output.

Here is a video demonstrating the service: http://youtu.be/eq_gYO45RpU

Twitterfeed: A Comprehensive Overview

Twitterfeed stands as a widely utilized service for automating the publication of RSS feeds to various social media platforms. It facilitates posting to Facebook, LinkedIn, and, of course, Twitter. While it doesn't offer the same breadth of publishing destinations as Dlvr.it, Twitterfeed operates with a distinct methodology.

Each blog you connect is assigned its own dedicated feed, referred to as a 'route' in Dlvr.it terminology. Consequently, initial setup may require more time, particularly if managing multiple blogs, regardless of whether they share the same social networks for posting.

User Experience and Interface

The navigation within Twitterfeed can sometimes feel less streamlined than ideal. Opportunities exist to simplify the user journey and reduce the number of clicks required for common tasks.

However, the platform boasts a visually appealing and user-friendly Dashboard, serving as a central hub for managing your feeds.

Post Timing and Facebook Settings

A noticeable delay was observed between the initial publication of a blog post and its appearance on Facebook. Attempts to expedite the process by manually refreshing Twitterfeed yielded minimal improvement.

Ensuring the correct publishing settings are selected for Facebook is crucial. The content displayed varies significantly depending on the chosen option, as illustrated by the difference between selecting “Title only” versus “Title & description.”

To include a visual element in your posts, remember to enable the “Include automatic thumbnails in Facebook wall posts” checkbox.

Overall Assessment

Despite some identified areas for improvement, Twitterfeed remains a robust and valuable service. It provides support for the three most prevalent social networks.

Furthermore, it offers a comprehensive suite of advanced settings, including the often-overlooked capability to publish directly to Facebook Pages.

Key features include its wide range of customization options and reliable performance.

IFTTT and Buffer: Automating Content Distribution

If This Then That, commonly known as IFTTT, extends far beyond simple social media autoposting. It’s a versatile platform capable of automating a wide range of internet-based tasks. Its core philosophy, encapsulated in the motto “Put the Internet to work for you,” has been frequently highlighted on platforms like MakeUseOf.

MakeUseOf has previously explored IFTTT’s capabilities, showcasing recipes for streamlining daily web activities and automating various services. Another IFTTT recipe involving Buffer is also available on MakeUseOf, but its functionality differs from directly publishing an RSS feed to Buffer.

Why Integrate Buffer with IFTTT?

Utilizing Buffer offers a streamlined approach to social media management. Instead of configuring individual IFTTT recipes for each platform – LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and others – a single integration can simplify the process.

Consider the convenience: would you prefer managing one IFTTT recipe or multiple ones, potentially three, four, or five, depending on your social media presence? This benefit is amplified if you manage more than one blog requiring automated posting.

To begin, you must first create an account with Buffer. Subsequently, return to IFTTT (an account is also required) and initiate the recipe setup.

Connecting IFTTT to Buffer is the first step. Then, you’ll add your RSS feed as the Trigger and customize the “Update” field according to your preferences.

The “Ingredients” dropdown menu to the right of the update box allows for further personalization. Experiment with these options to create a posting format that suits your needs, then activate the recipe by clicking the “Use Recipe” button. Repeat this process for each blog you wish to automate.

Once the recipe is active and a new blog post is detected by IFTTT, it will be automatically sent to Buffer for scheduling and subsequent sharing.

Visualizing the Automated Post

The resulting post within Buffer will appear as follows:

While discussing Buffer, it’s worth noting the availability of a dedicated WordPress plugin for automatic post publishing. However, the setup process for this plugin is somewhat complex, requiring the creation of an application within Buffer itself.

For those comfortable with technical configurations, exploring the WordPress plugin is a viable option.

RSS Graffiti 2.0 (Facebook Only)

RSS Graffiti is specifically designed for Facebook integration. It’s included here due to its remarkably intuitive and user-friendly interface. This makes it an excellent choice for users focused solely on Facebook posting, excluding platforms like Twitter or LinkedIn.

Being a dedicated Facebook application, RSS Graffiti is directly accessible within Facebook itself. This allows for convenient adjustments to any settings as needed. It was notably featured on a list of genuinely helpful Facebook applications.

Key Features and Benefits

RSS Graffiti shares similar functionalities with other autoposting tools. Its primary advantages lie in its direct Facebook integration and a streamlined, easy-to-navigate interface. However, many competing services also offer comparable usability.

The application’s integration extends beyond simple posting to Profiles and Pages. A unique capability is the ability to publish content directly to Facebook Groups. This functionality, to the best of our knowledge, isn’t offered by other similar services.

Adding Content Sources

Sources can be added from both RSS feeds and Twitter accounts.

The process of adding these sources is straightforward and visually guided.

Targeting and Configuration

Adjusting the target settings allows users to specify the destination of the feed. This includes selecting whether the post is published to a Facebook Page or a user’s personal profile.

Post Preview

The application provides a preview of how the post will appear on Facebook.

Blog Platform Integrated Services

Utilizing services specifically designed for your blog platform can be advantageous, particularly if your online presence is centered around that platform. However, it’s important to acknowledge that these services may impose limitations on available features.

NextScripts: Social Networks Auto-Poster (SNAP) (WordPress Exclusive)

SNAP is a plugin exclusively for WordPress, offering automated posting capabilities to a diverse range of social networks including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogger, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Google+. It facilitates sharing to both user profiles and pages. However, be aware that functionality for Google+ and Pinterest requires a separate, specialized library module.

While seemingly straightforward, this module comes with a cost of $49. This expense may not be justified for all users, and manual posting to Google+ could be a preferable alternative until the API is fully released. Despite this, SNAP remains a valuable tool for effortless posting to other supported platforms.

The plugin’s setup involves additional steps distinct from other services, and a comprehensive guide is available to assist with configuring each platform. The initial step after installation involves creating a Facebook App to enable interaction between the plugin and Facebook.

The Facebook App creation process should result in a configuration similar to the following:

The final outcome of the setup is as follows:

The setup process is manageable with careful adherence to the instructions. It is confirmed that the plugin can post to Google+, albeit at an additional cost.

Tumblr

For those utilizing Tumblr, the built-in functionality to post directly to Twitter and/or Facebook from the text editor offers a streamlined approach. A unique feature is the ability to customize the tweet before scheduling, a capability not commonly found in other platforms.

However, sharing is limited to Twitter and Facebook. To extend reach to LinkedIn, simply include the hashtag “#in” at the end of your tweet, which will automatically publish it to your LinkedIn profile.

Tumblr’s Facebook integration has been significantly improved. Posts are now published seamlessly to your feed and can also appear in the Tumblr ticker, extending their visibility on your Timeline beyond the typical lifespan of quickly-scrolling content.

Posterous

Posterous, acquired by Twitter, has long been recognized for its extensive support of various social networks.

Once connected to your Facebook profile or page, or any other desired service, automated posting can be initiated. Like Tumblr, you can select the specific services to post to directly from the text editor, a feature that enhances customization and is desirable across more platforms.

Unfortunately, Posterous lacks the ability to directly edit the tweet’s appearance within the text editor. However, tweet customization options are available in the Autopost Settings Page.

The Facebook posting functionality of Posterous is also noteworthy.

Enabling the setting to post images to a Facebook album, particularly useful for photo blogs, provides a valuable feature.

Blogger (Google+ Integration)

Currently, Blogger primarily integrates with Google+, and this is likely to remain its primary social media connection. For those considering or currently using Blogger, the convenient Google+ posting capability may be a significant factor.

Blogger doesn’t technically auto-post to Google+, but instead prompts you to share your post immediately after publishing. This streamlines the process and offers a close approximation of automated posting. The setup is straightforward: navigate to the dropdown arrow next to your blog and select “Google+.”

Enable the prompt by checking the box next to “Prompt to share after posting.”

Important Considerations for Content Distribution

Having explored numerous avenues for sharing your blog content, it’s crucial to heed a couple of recommendations before implementation.

Avoid Duplicate Posting

Refrain from repeatedly sharing the same post with your network. Excessive, multiple postings can be perceived negatively by your audience.

Finding the appropriate frequency for sharing can be challenging, as was my own experience in the past. I recently realized I had inadvertently fallen into this pattern again.

It’s easy to unintentionally duplicate posts when testing various services. Remember to deactivate one service before activating another to prevent this issue.

Don't Rely Solely on Automation

As Nancy pointed out in her article regarding tweet scheduling with Buffer and similar applications – referenced when discussing IFTTT and Buffer – maintaining a balance is key. A successful online presence requires both content sharing and genuine interaction.

Avoid rapidly disseminating a large volume of links. While tools like Buffer can help regulate posting frequency, it’s still important to accompany links with your own insights. This principle extends to blog post distribution.

Certain autoposting platforms, such as the integration between Tumblr and Twitter, offer customization options for adding personal commentary. Buffer also provides a window for editing posts before they are published, allowing you to rephrase content in your own voice. These are valuable considerations as you experiment with different autoposting tools and techniques.

Final Thoughts

Having reviewed a comprehensive selection of leading autoposting services, a question arises: what is your perspective on automated posting? Do you view it favorably, or are there concerns? Are you currently utilizing any of the platforms discussed?

Perhaps you possess supplementary advice or are familiar with additional services that have proven advantageous for you. Your insights are welcome.

Autoposting can be a powerful tool for content distribution, but careful consideration of its implications is essential.

Image Attribution

Image source: RSS with Social Media Background, sourced from Shutterstock.

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