How to Be a Powerful Blogging Influencer with Klout

By: | September 18, 2016 | Tags: , , , , |

#Bloggers Can Increase Their Klout Score with #DrumUp

Update: Klout has announced the website will be shutting down.

 

Do you want more blog subscribers?

I wanted my readers to have the secret sauce needed to get new blog subscribers, but I didn’t know the recipe.

In my interview How to Get New Blog Followers: Experts Reveal Their Secrets, I asked blogging experts what criteria they used when deciding which blogs to follow.

Consider this comment from blogging expert Jeff Domansky. This was his response when asked what factors relating to social proof he considers when subscribing to blogs:

I sometimes check a few social signals such as the number of Twitter followers, list suggestions (40 top content marketers to follow, etc.), Buzzsumo, and occasionally Klout Score.

This post will explain the value of a Klout Score and offer a case study showing how to increase this measure of your influence in the blogging community.

What is Klout?

If it is so important that it could determine whether people follow your blog or not, you should know what it is.

Klout is the name of a score that measures your influence in the blogosphere. It is also the name of a website that helps you increase your blogging influence and reveals your score and other people’s scores.

The site also helps you curate content. Like other content curation sites, you can find new blogs to read and new bloggers in your blogging niche.

Benefits of Using Klout

  • According to Quora, having a high Klout score can lead to new clients and business opportunities. Jobs for bloggers exist. Your potential employer might want to see your Klout Score which should be in your media kit, which is like a resume for bloggers.
  • According to Mashable, “Some have even gotten job offers, free products and gift certificates from companies that want to keep the Klout influencers on their radar. Obtaining a high Klout score is becoming more of something to strive for, with some even highlighting their number on resumes.”
  • Klout emails you tips that will result in increasing your Klout score. For this reason, increasing your score is not difficult.
  • When you find articles that your social media followers will like, Klout schedules your shares for optimal times. Therefore, the site helps you increase your visibility on Twitter and other social media sites. Choose your social media stream. Klout will reshare your articles and other people’s articles. Just schedule your retweets and other social shares in your Klout queue.
  • The score also functions as a metric you could use to compare yourself to other bloggers in the blogosphere and in your niche. You can also check on your score periodically to see if your blogging influence is increasing.
  • When Klout labels you an influencer in various subjects, your self-esteem will get a boost. Klout may feel you are an expert in that area even if you don’t know you are.
  • Klout’s analytics enable you to track when your Klout Score rises, falls, or plateaus.
  • By using the site, you have great potential for website traffic. Klout recommends to you which experts to follow in your areas of interest. If they follow back and retweet you, your exposure increases which could increase your blog traffic.
  • Many bloggers spend a great deal of time and energy looking for influencers and other like-minded bloggers in their blogging niche. They are easy to find at Klout.
  • Since blogging influencers post their articles at Klout, the best articles on the internet are found there. Using Sniply, you can get traffic using influencers’ articles. You will find their articles at Klout.

Testimonials

  • According to Consumer Technology, most social media experts and digital marketers agree that your Klout score matters.
  • Sarah Titus recommends increasing your Klout score in her book, How to Turn Your Blog Into a Six-Figure Money Making Machine, about how to make money blogging and increase your follower count.
  • ViralContentBuzz thinks using Klout is a good idea. ViralContentBuzz encourages people to retweet others with the words, “increase your Klout score.”

ViralBuzzContent believes Klout is an important score

How to Increase Your Klout Score

According to Klout.com, “The best way to increase your score is to create content that people want to share and respond to. For the most accurate score, be sure to connect all of your social networks. The more that others engage with your content such as through retweet, mention, like, comment, etc, the higher your score will be.”

Case Study

Using myself as the case study, I attempted to see if I could raise my Klout Score and how long it would take me.

klout #blogging #marketing

I signed in, and the site told me I was an expert.

I made an account at Klout. Upon arrival, I had a Klout Score of 45.

I retweeted and followed many people.

I checked the next day, but my Klout Score was the same.

Since Klout measures your influence across the Internet, I added more social media sites.

Initially, I only included Twitter. Then I added my Facebook page and Google+.

Guess what? My Klout Score went up to 46! I realize it’s only a little, but at least it rose.

Encouraged, I added my Flickr account.

Upon research, I discovered that if you upload your content to an RSS feed, your content gets added to Klout where it can be shared by others. This interaction will increase your Klout score.

I used DrumUp to add my blog to an RSS feed. Your RSS feed is your blog name/feed. This is my RSS feed: https://www.mostlyblogging.com/feed/.

DrumUp will ask if you want all your posts to be sent to an RSS feed. I said no. I want Klout users to see my best posts. Two posts a week at my site are linky parties, so I chose to send my posts manually.

Klout helps #bloggers

As you can see, my Klout score rose from 45 to 46. Yay!

I continued to connect more social media sites. I went to DrumUp and retweeted like-minded bloggers and put my own links in the DrumUp queue. (Note: I can not put my links in my Klout queue, just other writers’ links.)

Klout helps #bloggers get visibility

Look, my Klout score rose to  48!

I connected even more of my social media accounts. Compare this screenshot with the screenshot just above. Can you see how many more social media links I connected?

This time, I set DrumUp to automatically send my posts to my RSS feed. Klout recommends articles drawn from RSS feeds. Now check out my Klout score.

Klout shows #bloggers' influence

In the course of a week, I raised my Klout score from 45 to 61.

So, when will I stop? Just how high a score is high enough?

I’ve read varying answers to this question. One article said the average social media user has a Klout score of 20. Another article explained the average social media follower has a Klout score of 40.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the point of this article was to explain what a Klout Score is in case you hear it in your travels around the Internet.

Is it a good return on your time invested? The site actually has value for you. It’s true.

Klout helps me find like-minded bloggers to retweet, which I would want to do anyway. Successful bloggers let influencers in their blogging niche become aware of them. The best in blogging can be found at Klout. Since Topsy, which used to be an influencer site, is defunct, I am able to go to Klout to find influencers to retweet. In this way, influencers in my niche, like-minded bloggers, learn about me.

DrumUp functions in the same way. By emailing me my “Daily Digest of Fresh Content Suggestions” based on my interests, DrumUp acts as a content curation site. Like Klout, DrumUp has a queue that enables you to share other bloggers’ writing.

Successful bloggers let influencers in their blogging niche become aware of them. The best in blogging can be found at Klout. Since Topsy, which used to be an influencer site, is defunct, I am able to go to Klout to find influencers to retweet. In this way, influencers in my niche, like-minded bloggers, learn about me.

You can find bloggers in your niche, new blogs to read, and influencers in your niche at Klout. You can then go to Twitter and contact them about guest posting on their sites if you are so inclined. I have never seen communication between users go on at Klout.

If my Klout Score rises, and I end up getting opportunities or perks as a result, great– icing on the proverbial cake.

Often, busy bloggers feel these sites only present yet another blogging task they don’t have time to do. However, without even trying, I was able to raise my score to where it is today– at 62. This rise came from retweeting at Twitter, an activity I would do anyway.

Many posts at blogging tips sites explain how to get people to notice your blog. This post explained how to get people to notice you and your brand.

Readers, please share so other bloggers become familiar with Klout.com, what the Klout score means, and how to increase their influence.

Were you familiar with Klout before you read this article? Have you checked your score? Are you pleased? Do you think you might use the site?

In my post Are High Page Views the Greatest Thing in the World?, readers almost unanimously commented that looking at metrics which quantify your blogging is wrong. How do you feel knowing there is a score that measures your blogging influence?

I look forward to your views in the comment section.

Klout and DrumUp are free tools.

Click here to get your own downloadable PDF of more free blogging tools.

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  1. Donna DeGuglielmo

    HI ya Janice, I have never heard of klout… i may need that for my mission and utilize social media to my advantage. I know you have other great posts here to explain very well about other social media and how to utilized them to our advantage. I need to take use of those and study one at a time. I think my twitter is good but can always improve I feel… not being hard myself we can only do what we can do and understand. withthat said.. Your blog is great and and helps tremendously. blessings keep blogging greatly appreciated. cheers to you and associates and yours 🙂

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Donna,
      Thank you for nominating me for the blogging award. I linked to you on my About page and shared your post on my social media. Thanks for the kind words in your comments. I don’t have any associates– just me.
      Did you check your Klout score?
      Janice

  2. Carol Cameleon

    Hi, ive heard of klout but its one of those jobs, like you say, that got put on the back burner. Ive got good kred and am now going to sort out klout! Thanks.

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Carol,
      Thanks for your comments. Did you have a chance to check your Klout score since you wrote me?
      Janice

  3. John Doe

    This post can be described in one word FANTASTIC. You really out did yourself this time

  4. precious kc George

    woah! hey Janice you’re at it again!!

    Dropping out-of-the-world mouth-watering content.

    Well, didn’t know about Klout before. Woah. You sure did improve. Hope my progress will be good. #fingerscrossed.

    Thanks for sharing.

    Much love,
    Precious

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Precious,
      Thank you for writing me! How have you been doing? It’s been awhile!
      When I read your comments on Sunday, I was so very moved!
      “Dropping out-of-the-world mouth-watering content” is perhaps the nicest comment I’ve ever received!
      Thank you!
      Yes, I did improve. I started at 45 and now I’m at 62. Did you check your Klout score? I thought your #fingerscrossed hashtag was funny.
      Thanks again for the comments and the kind words.
      Janice

  5. Carol Graham

    I have been watching my klout score for some time and working at raising it. Your explanation and helps were a blessing – as always. THANK YOU.

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Carol,
      I am glad my post clarified Klout. I am happy you found the post helpful. Thanks for writing to tell me.
      Janice

  6. Melinda Mitchell

    Dear BBFFJ, good thing Klout recognized you as the expert you are!
    Congrats on raising your score so much so fast!!

    • Janice Wald

      Hi BBFFM,
      Thanks for calling me an “expert”. It was exciting to see my score rise. Are you going to check your Klout score?
      BBFFJ

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Kim,
      You said you were going to give Klout a try. Did you have a chance to check your score since you wrote me on Sunday?
      Janice

  7. Bill Kasman

    I hadn’t heard of Klout but for professional bloggers and writers it sounds like one of the many essential tools which should be used.

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Bill,
      Thanks for reaching out and connecting with me on Facebook. I never thought of Klout for writers, but after reading your comment, I started to use the “writers” hashtag when promoting my post on Twitter. Thanks for the idea!
      Janice

  8. JayDJ

    From 60 onwards, it’s a slow hike, so you gotta be active and consistent on social media or it goes down. Congrats and goodluck on klout!

    • Janice Wald

      Hi JayDJ,
      Thanks for the hearty congratulations. You seem to have familiarity with Klout Score. What do you find it’s good for? Has it opened opportunities for you?
      I visited your blog and commented. Thanks for writing.
      Janice

  9. Lidy

    Funny enough I have a Klout account for almost a year now I believe. But I’d completely forgotten about it until your post. So curious, I signed in and find to my shock that my Klout score was 52. Don’t remember the previous score but it was much, much lower.

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Lidy,
      Great to hear from you. Thanks for writing to tell me you had a nice surprise over the weekend. Exciting to see your score rise! Congratulations!
      Janice

  10. Priscilla King

    Good to know. I try not to think too much about numbers alone, because even though I’ve caught sponsors looking at my traffic statistics before deciding not to sponsor me (and I need the money) I want my blog to be real and not commercialized. Also, some traffic boosts increase traffic from bots and spammers rather than from real people who either like a site or at least are willing to debate and tell me what they would prefer. Hence the post, a few years back, about “It’s All Right to Be Little-Bitty.” But of course I love it when the numbers rise!

    (What, if anything, is my blog even selling? I paste in photo ads for commission sales at Amazon and Zazzle, but I think primarily it’s about writing, writers, copyright, freedom of the press, and cybersecurity/privacy more than it’s even about books…though I do sell books!)

    • Priscilla King

      Or maybe, to put it in fewer words…ultimately I’d like the blog to grow into something like The Blaze or Huffington Post, while staying as honest, low-key, and low-memory-friendly as Ozarque.livejournal.

      • Janice Wald

        Hi Priscilla,
        I responded to your other comment.
        I would like my blog to become the Huffington Post, too! =)
        Janice

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Priscilla,
      How would I know if sponsors are looking at my Klout score or traffic statistics? Your comment got me excited that my Klout score could open opportunities.
      Janice

  11. Julie Syl Kalungi

    I did know about Klout and I last checked when my blog was new and little know and i had about 200 FB friends and no twitter account…Seriously. My score at the time was 10 lol I like a recalcitrant child lost interest in Klout!

    Now I am gonna check if thngs have changed since all this time has passed and I have learnt more!

    An awesome post Janice as always. Loved it anf thanks for sharing at the Pit stop!

  12. Kathleen - Bloggers Lifestyle

    I did have a Klout account, I have not checked it or heard from them in about a year. I will have to check it out again. I love your tips on how to improve it. I have never heard of DrumUp. I will check that out.

    Thanks Janice you deserve your high score.

    Kathleen
    Bloggers Pit Stop

  13. Aliyah

    This is terrific post. You’ve shared so much great info and helpful tips and suggestions.

    While I know about Klout and have read a few articles about improving our site’s score (through my hubby, Reuven, the official blog owner), I’d never heard of DrumUp and how it can help boost your score. Even before sharing this comment, I immediately went to check it out and create a free account. Over the weekend, I’m going to learn more about how to use it and then get cracking.

    Your insightful posts are always amazing. We’re both so glad to have found your site. All the best!

    • Aliyah

      Oops! I entered our blog’s email by mistake and as such, your seeing my hubby’s pic next to my name. While we have certain resemblances, I don’t have a beard or mustache, LOL! Sorry ’bout that.

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Aliyah,
      What kind words! Thank you! I am glad you enjoyed my Klout/DrumUp article and you and your husband are finding my blog posts valuable. I would be delighted to have your readership. Thank you! Let me know how your Klout score improves. Thanks for reaching out and writing me.
      Janice

  14. Sarah Fuller

    Fascinating how much your Klout Score went up within a week. Did not know that was possible. Thanks so much for sharing.

    • Janice Wald

      Thanks Sarah,
      My pleasure. You try it and let me know how you do.
      Janice

  15. Reyna

    Thank you for sharing this article! This is definitely something I had not heard of before! I will look into doing this:)

  16. Suzie

    O my gosh your step by step journey with Klout was awesome. Thank you for sharing it. I am so happy I found this at the pit stop linky. I am loving your blog so much.

  17. Bill Joyce

    Does using Drumup put your blog posts into the Klout search feed? Do you know how to get your blog articles into the Klout feed?

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Bill,
      Thanks for writing me. How coincidental. I was just in Klout this morning.
      My posts are there. Based on my understanding and recollection, I put them into DrumUp and they went into an RSS Feed. From there, they went to Klout. Here is the link, so you can see that my articles are there.
      https://klout.com/#/user/MrsPaznanski
      I have not paid for a premium version of DrumUp although that would do it too. My free trial ended but Klout has an upload of posts in Beta. These seem to be the ones I put in my DrumUp queue. I hope that helps.
      Janice

      • Bill Joyce

        Thanks Janice, I signed up for DrumUp. It didn’t mention trial, but I also don’t see any free account either. I put in my blog rss feed. I’ll let you know if Klout finds my content this way.

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