blogging 101 - zemanta nyc meetup

Blogging 101April 25, 2012

Tin Dizdarevictin@zemanta.com

@tdizdarevic | @zemanta

Will talk about:• Why blogging?• Platform choices• Blogging basics• SEO• Social Media Integration

Why Blogging?• Show the world why you’re good at what you do.• Get search engine attention.• Set yourself up as thought leader in your space• It’s easy and cheap!

What to do?• Create a simple spreadsheet to track ideas for posts• Dedicate a time each week when you’ll write• Start simple, find audience, go from there..• Try to post at least once a week to start

Platforms• WordPress.com (free basic service)• WordPress.org on Hosted Service• WordPress.com (paid service) and TypePad (paid service)• Blogger/Tumblr/SquareSpace/Posterous (specialized)

Perfect PostOne page of text

Simple language (SEO)

At least one image

Links to explanations

Further reading (internal & external)

Easy to share

Call to Action!

Examples of Posts

Influencer Interviews

- Create a set list of questions that you can reuse- Allow for flexibility- Best is in person > skype > phone > email- Record the interview for use as video as well- Take into account resources to transcribe and edit the interview

Examples of Posts

Examples of Posts

Industry Trends

- Quotes from relevant recent media coverage- Links to blogs by influencers in your space- Your organization’s stand on these trends

Examples of Posts

Examples of Posts

Customer Profile

- Highlight your best customers- Show how they are using your organization’s services or products (ideally with a video)- Use direct quotes from the customer- Allow them to write their own post in their own words- Can be reused as case studies or can reuse existing material

Examples of Posts

Examples of Posts

Lists

- Quick links to 10-15 stories of note

Examples of Posts

SEO• Domain Name• Hosting• CMS (content management system)• Plugins• Content• Link Out• Don’t give up!!

Also see post by John Doherty for more details:http://www.zemanta.com/blog/seo-for-new-bloggers/

Social Media• Use Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to promote new blog posts and help bring traffic to older posts.

• Engage with like-minded bloggers to get them to comment about your blog post.

Plugin/Tools Directory• Writing:

- InboundWriter- Zemanta- Enhanced Linking

• SEO:• WordPress SEO by Yoast• Scribe SEO by Copy Blogger

• Social Media:• Buffer• Twitter Tools• Share Plugins (many options)

• Other:• Urtak

Other Resources

• Zemanta Business Blogging Series

• HubSpot - Tremendous resource for online marketing

• Content Marketing Institute

• SEO Myths & WP Magic - Casie Gillette

• 15 Must Have Tools for Better Blogging - Contently

• Ultimate Guide to Corporate Blogging- OpenView Partners

Thank you!