strategic blogging for business
DESCRIPTION
Authoring content that’s added to your website’s integrated blog can help further your marketing goals, support your organic search engine optimization results and set your business apart as an expert in your niche.TRANSCRIPT
introducing
Strategic Blogging for Business
Presented at The South Carolina Womens’ Business Center
Why Blog?
• Develop your firm’s reputation• Establish your firm’s “difference”• Enhance your firms’ placement in organic search engine results pages (SERPS)
• Increase traffic to your website
• Take Away Tip: You are a self‐publisher!
Requirements
• Self‐hosted blog on your domain• Blogging goals
– Reason for blogging• Drives topics
– Frequency for blogging• At least once per week
• Blogging Calendar
Research
Blog Posts
Business Goals
What your customers care about
What you care about
What you blog about
What do you write about?
Research
• “Act like a customer”– What results do you gain when you research most often used phrases?
Research
• Competitors– Keywords
• Google Keyword External Tool
– SEO position• Alexa
– Analyze for their Point of Difference
• Take Away Tip: Know your competition.
To find this, search for “Google Keyword External Tool”
Keyword suggestions
Searching for keyword “dessert”.
Add Alexa Extension to Toolbar or go to http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo
Research
• Consumer Trends– Search the web for news articles, reports, analysis, surveys about topics or services your customer needs
– Note what is important to consumers using your products and services
• Take Away Tip: It’s all about the customer!
Plan Blog Categories
Desserts
Pies Cakes Ice Cream
Parent Category Child or
Secondary Categories
Plan ‘Tags’‐Micro Categories
Apple Custard
Blueberry
ChildCategory
Pies
Tags
Editorial Calendar
Elegant Desserts
Desserts for Cookouts
Family Style Desserts
Desserts
Chocolate Layer
PoundCakes
SunSatFriThursWedTuesMonTopic
Blog Post Basics
• 300 words• Use subheads to lead reader forward• Use keywords in posts, subheads• Link keywords to your website’s anchor content (your primary content on your major topics)
• Illustrate with photos, graphics, or images with correct alt and title tags
• Use videos if you have them
When you get ‘stuck’
• Run dry of ideas? – Try this list of great ideas for business blogging.– http://smallbiztrends.com/2010/01/100‐smb‐blogging‐ideas.html
Publicize Your Posts
Questions?
Photo Credits
• Flickr Creative Commons User– Magnified computer screen Clearly Ambiguous– Questions image UvaFragola
• Brands of the World– Digg logo– Twitter logo
• Facebook– F logo
• Stumble Upon• Delicious