Part 3 of our 5 part series – How to get found online!
So what is a blog actually? We all know or should know that a blog, or weblog, is a website that allows for regularly posted content or articles.
But we also need to know that Blogging is Inbound Marketing
- Blogging helps with SEO
- Blogging helps with social news and networking sites
- Blogging is permission centric
- The conversation has already started… it’s time that you’re aware of it and develop a strategy for engaging in it and using it for marketing
How do we use blogging?
STEP 1: Read
- Search for other blogs in your industry using Technorati.com or BlogSearch.Google.com.
- Read and subscribe to blogs via RSS (Really Simple Syndication) or email – RSS allows users to subscribe anonymously and consume content however they want.
STEP 2: Comment
- Contribute to the conversation via a comment.
- Increase the value of the article – share an example, add a point, add a useful link, disagree, ask a question.
- Why?
- Engage in the community
- Get noticed by other bloggers and blog readers
- Get links back to your blog
STEP 3: Write
- Find the right blog software for you.
- Blog functionality: Make sure to use your own business URL (blog.mycompany.com), not a sub-domain of someone else’s URL (myblog.typepad.com) – most blog software allows you to do this. Also your blog software should allow for email and RSS subscrip¬tions as well as integration with social media sites.
- Analytics functionality: To truly measure the success of your blog, your software should allow you to report on email and RSS subscribers over time, measure visitors and leads generated, and track search engine keyword rank over time and compared to competitors.
- Support and expertise: If you are new to blogging, you may want your software provider to provide technical support, education and marketing expertise on how to succeed with your blog.
- Draw in readers with your blog article titles.
- Funny: “GoDaddy’s 16-Step Checkout: Brainless Marketing At Its Finest?”
- Enticing: “12 Quick Tips To Search Google Like An Expert”
- SEO: “Free Advertising on Google”
- On frequency: General rule of thumb is to blog at least weekly to maintain steady readership and continue your SEO efforts.
- Blog topic ideas:
- List of 5 ideas, trends, or thoughts
- Publish a list of links
- Take a recent experience and share it
- Answer questions you received recently
- Comment on other blog articles
- Turn a press release into a blog article
- Promote your blog
- Email friends and family
- Replace email newsletter with blog
- Trade guest articles with similar bloggers
- Promote on social media sites: digg, reddit, StumbleUpon, Facebook, LinkedIn
STEP 4: Measure & Analyze
- Track number of blog visitors and subscribers, SEO rankings, Technorati blog rank.
- Measure real business results: number of visitors, leads, and customers generated by your blog.
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