Why I'm using Pub Exchange... and how it can help you [Become A Better Blogger]

Published: Tue, 06/23/15

Don’t you hate it when you should have started something waaaaay earlier?

Over a year ago, Jill Smokler, founder of Scary Mommy, asked me why we weren’t using Pub Exchange on 5 Minutes for Mom. I said I’d noticed it on her site, but figured it was an ad network.

Since then it had been on my to-do list to check out Pub Exchange.

And finally a couple weeks ago, I signed up and I LOVE it.

(By the way, I don't think Scary Mommy currently uses Pub Exchange. They are still listed as a publisher, but I don't see the links on the site anymore. Jill sold the site recently and it has been redesigned.)

What Is Pub Exchange

PubExchange is a free service that bloggers can use to establish partnerships with other similar sites so they can send one another an equal amount of traffic. 

They provide widgets that automatically link to partners' articles as well as tools to track clicks on links in social shares and article content.

Basically, it brings you traffic, sends you weekly reports that show which of your posts brought you the most traffic, and much more…

Pub Exchange
Why it’s a Win-Win-Win 

I love setting up win-win scenarios where I can help someone else while also reaching a goal of my own. And if I can add third party gains to the equation, I’m extra happy.

By using Pub Exchange links embedded on your blog - and by sharing them on your social channels - everyone wins.
  • You - When you send traffic to one of your partners, they’ll reciprocate automatically and send you traffic.
  • Your Partners - They get traffic. And isn’t that what we all want?

  • Your Readers - They see quality post links on your site and in your social channels from partners you hand select to match your audience.

The Widget

Activating the links on your blog is the easiest way to participate in Pub Exchange.

Here's what the widget looks like at the bottom of our posts... 

Taking It Further

The widget is great, but you can go deeper and share your links on your social channels and within blog posts.

(Note that pinning these links doesn’t work.)

Sharing on Facebook and Google+ is super easy...
 
But my favorite way to share these links is on Twitter. I combine one of my Buffer tricks that I have shared with you before to turn these into… 
 
POWER TWEETS!!!
 
It takes an extra step, but it’s worth it. For everyone: you, your partners and your Twitter followers.

 
The reasons I take the extra step to send these tweets through Buffer instead of just tweeting directly from within the Pub Exchange dashboard are...

  1. I can add an image. To do so, I click through to the blogger's post (a nice extra for them as I give them a pageview) and I download the image to my desktop. Then I go into Buffer and upload the image to the tweet.

  2. I prefer that the shortened url for the link doesn't show pubx

  3. I add a bunch of tweets at once to my buffer to publish throughout the day.
 
An Extra Benefit

One of the things I really love about using the PubExchange dashboard for finding content to tweet is that it’s so easy to scroll through and find the recent posts from my friends’ sites.

It’s a lot like using an RSS reader, but I haven’t crowded it with so many feeds that I can’t find anything. Also, you can easily browse by partner or search term.

Let’s Partner Up

Are you using Pub Exchange? If you are, send us a request to be partners. You’ll find us by searching for “5 Minutes for Mom”.

If you’re not yet a member, don’t wait a year like I did.


Apparently if you put my name in the referral box, it is supposed to expedite your sign-up process. (I don’t know if it really will speed it up… and I don’t think they have an affiliate program, but you can try putting “5 Minutes for Mom” in the referral field.)

I'd love to share lots of your content and start trading traffic.


Did You Miss Anything?

If you’re new here, you’ll definitely want to catch up…



What Do You Want To Know?

What would you like me to cover next week? Shoot me back a quick reply and let me know.

Talk soon,

Susan (and Janice)
5 Minutes For Mom

ps. To tell your friends about this "Become a Better Blogger" email series, you can send them here.