Cliff Tillery– Digital Marketing Consultant

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Blogging

TODAY WE WILL DISCUSS:

Why: Are blogs important?

Who: Is your target customer and what do they want to know?

What: Kind of stuff do I write about?

When: Do I blog & how often?

Short cuts, tips & tricks

What Is A Blog?

Blog /bläg/ noun. A personal website or web page on which an individual records opinions, links to other sites, etc. on a regular basis.

Verb. To add new material to regularly update a blog. “Forgive me Father, but it's about a month since I last blogged"

Why Should You Blog?

•It establishes your business as an authority•Helps drive traffic to your site•It helps convert browsers to customers•More browsers are skipping from homepage to blog•It adds new content to your site (helps SEO)•Blogging gives your business a voice•It helps you brand your business•Blogging gives you content to share on social media sites•Your homepage is the lobby, blogs are the bar

Your Blog

Write about industry related topics that can help your target market understand more about what you do and how they need you.

Cover the customer’s “pain points”

It’s another way to attract and engage your customers

It creates new content for your website (Google loves this!)

Who Are You Writing To?

Whenever you blog, you have 2 target markets (at least!)

A) Your actual paying customersB) Google (and, oh yeah, Bing

too)

Based on that, it would be good to understand what your keywords need to be and use them accordingly.

Keyword Research

Keyword research is the basis of search engine optimization (SEO)

Finding the right keyword strategy is the difference between:

being seen in search results and advertising by tossing a

message in a bottle in the ocean(Or worse, ranking for terms that are searched the least!)

Keyword Research Tools

Google Keyword Planner ToolType in a general keyword for

what you doType in your domainType in your product/service

categoryClick “Get Ideas”Download onto an Excel

Spreadsheet

Look for keywords & phrases that are highly relevant to what you do and have good search traffic

Keyword Research Tools

Google Trends (www.google.com/trends)

Is good for overall popularity of search terms/phrases

Gives you regional popularity & where things are hot presently

Doesn’t give you actual traffic numbers

Brainstorming For IdeasUse Your Customers For IdeasWhat are the top 5 questions they ask?

What are the top 5 questions they need to ask

(but don’t)

Keep a running list of questions customers ask

Use Evernote to record ideas

Check out competitor’s social media or industry sites

Brainstorming For IdeasDon’t be afraid to steal…um, “BORROW” ideas, but when you do, write with your own voice (yes, just like in high school, plagiarism is still bad juju)

Use Google- begin to type in one of your keywords or phrases and see how Google tries to complete it

Try Newsjacking- using what’s happening in the media to underscore or emphasize trends or issues in your industry (What Facebooks’s IPO Stumble Taught Me About Lawncare)

Brainstorming For IdeasTry http://www.factbrowser.com/ and look for industry related ideas

Go to www.articlebase.com and type in a topic you want to research. These articles are free

Look at your competitors blogs. It’s a great place to steal ideas (Again, just don’t steal their words!)

Pay attention to the calendar. Much of what we do has a seasonal aspect. Connect your business with the season.

Best Design Tips

•Use snippets to grab the ADD (everyone)•Allow comments- it adds content which helps SEO•Make sure and add social media share buttons (scrolling social media buttons work best)•Make sure your font is big enough for your target audience (or just use 11 pt or larger)•Have content on the left, sidebar on the right•Include a bio & call to action in sidebar•Keep your design consistent with the rest of your site•Image first, then content

What Types Of Images Do BestHand Drawn Images

One study: 318 tweets and 489 Facebook likes.Infographics

received 276 tweets and 262 Facebook likes.Graphics & Charts

received 165 tweets and 93 Facebook likes.Stock photos (bigstock, iphoto, etc.)

152 tweets and 83 Facebook likes.Screenshots

averaged 119 tweets and 46 Facebook likes.Royalty Free Images (wiki commons, flickr, etc.)

generated 59 tweets and 13 Facebook likes.

Tips For Better Blogs

•Set at least one goal for your blogGet more email subscribersHave browsers visit a particular

webpage, etc•No ads for other people…put ads for yourself (other pages on your site)•Have a call to action on your blog•You can also add a testimonial about what you do•Here’s an example: http://goo.gl/ql6qP1

Blog Questions

•The most frequent question we get about blogging is “How often?”•Depends on your industry, but 1-6 times/month

•To do that, sit down for 1-2 hours/month and gather content. Write/create enough for that many blog posts for the entire month.•How long should blogs be? 350-550 words•When to post? Some say 11am, but I have no idea why.

How To Get This Done

•Take 10-20 minutes and generate a list of possible topics•Create an outline for each topic- 5-10 minutes each outline•Write• Keep it conversational (you/I)•Use data whenever you can (even if it’s your own)• Keep it simple• Establish/maintain a consistent tone•Proofread, add a relevant image & schedule

Keyword Placement

•Pick your top 20 keywords•For each blog post, pick a primary keyword•Use it in:• The title• The first sentence• A few times in the body• The last sentence•Don’t forget to add your geo-tag (fancy way of saying include the geographic locations you want to rank for)

Biggest Blogging Mistakes

•You’re not doing it at all•You’re not doing it consistently•You have no call to action•You don’t collect emails•You don’t have social media buttons so people can share your stuff•You don’t allow comments•What you wrote reads like a lawnmower owner’s manual

When To Outsource Blogging

Let’s face it, your digital marketing is like eating vegetables and exercising. We all know we should do it, but it just keep getting ignored (like brussel sprouts)

Outsource it when:•You have no passion for it•You genuinely stink at it•You say you have no time for it but secretly do•Writing a blog feels like algebra homework

* Perfect Blog Post

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