Are you a writer, blog enthusiast, marketer or business owner? You can write creative, intuitive and informative articles and have it viewed by thousands of daily visitors on different social and local platforms.Visitors to these platforms come from many local communities making them an ideal place to get traction for your business.

Basic and general rules still apply if you want to promote your offers.

1. Keep your articles simple and straight to the point.

2. Instead of listing items you sell or your services, pick one or two items that your sell. Write what each does and how useful it will be to a new owner and post a “Buy it Now” link. This is a proven marketing strategy not only because it details what a potential customer may want, but also because it gets naturally filled with content rich keywords for anyone even without SEO expertise.

3. Make your articles creative so readers stay engaged until they find the “Get it now” link.

4. Write an authority article that establishes you as the defacto go to place for the services or goods you offer.

5. One of the most effective ways to promote a blog or business is to write articles for posterity and nothing does it better than a well crafted response to a “How to” question. These articles are instantly SEO friendly because many users search for these phrases daily making it more likely for your article to be clicked on.

Ideally, your article should aim to solve a problem for potential customers or provide fresh insights to your industry.

Many social platform offer simple and easy to use features for businesses looking for an engaged online community platform dedicated to local communities and businesses. Some offer article options ranging from tech gadgets to personal growth and nutrition.

Local visitors go to these platforms to find local jobs, deals, businesses, buy and sell items and to connect locally with others. There are an ideal place to stay locally engaged while getting more exposure from distant places.

Here is a list of 5 favourite platforms.

1.Angielist.

Pros. Astoundingly hyper local reviews from reliables sources, mainly your neighbours.

Cons. Not a free platform and is more local than social. There's a yearly membership fee. Article option limited to business profile.

2.Fourquare

Pros: Foursquare has recently transformed its platform from its checkin format that got it popular, but somewhat lost traction with a wider and more mature audience to an exclusively business review based platform like Yelp, with a social twist. The application is now laser focused on local businesses making it one of the go to platforms for business owners looking for exposure.

Cons: Not as large a user base as Facebook, but its developers are still trying to out innovate themselves. Has a limited article option for businesses.

3. Fonolive.com, http://fonolive.com

Pros: This is a multi-platform that offers a mix of search and social classifieds. Users flock here to search for local jobs, businesses, deals, buy and sell and to connect/meet with other locals. The application is locally and socially focused and is ideal for article, blog or business promotion. It offers a variety of free tools that beam your articles infront of thousands of locals daily. This is the ultimate city application that will offer you a run for its money.

Cons: Growing albeit quickly and doesn't have the large user base of the likes of Facebook, twitter etc. Currently in beta and still in active development.

4. Facebook

Pros: It is the 500lb gorilla in the room. With its huge user base and wide array of free social tools, it all but obliterates other competing platforms.

Cons: While ideal for promoting online busnesses as your customer could be from anywhere around the world, it lacks the ultra focus on local communities offered by platforms like Foursquare, Fonolive and Yelp which can make the difference between online knowledge of your business and actual footsteps at your local business.

5. Yelp.

Pros: When it comes to business reviews, Yelp is the platform to beat. Yelp has amassed a 'war chest' of business reviews making it the household name for online reviews.

Cons: Fast growing, but relatively smaller user base compared to Facebook. Yelp also faces tough competition from dozens of review sites springing up daily. Business promotion is mainly limited to user reviews.