How to blog in 2013
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The document outlines five keys to successful blogging in 2013, emphasizing the importance of identifying target personas, creating diverse content, writing quality posts, maintaining consistency, and promoting the blog. It also discusses metrics for measuring blog success, such as subscriptions, pageviews, comments, inbound links, and conversions. The content serves as a guide for marketers to enhance their blogging strategies in a crowded digital landscape.
How to blog in 2013
- 1. How to Blog in 2013 Does it have to be this complicated?
- 2. @SigmaWebMktg How to Blog in 2013 Larry Levenson Chief Inbound Officer Co-founder
- 4. Bring Order to the Noise Print Press advertising releases, PR Pay per Social click media Other community Email marketing Company Website & Blog Local Search/ Local Marketing Testimonials & reviews SEO is tied into every marketing effort!
- 5. Agenda I. Five Keys to a Successful Blog 1. Identify Target Personas 2. Create a Mix of Posts 3. Write Great Posts 4. Sustain It 5. Spread It II. How to Measure Your Blog
- 6. Exponential Effects Social SEO Media • More Traffic • Even More Traffic Blog • More Links • Even More Links • More Content
- 7. Key #1: Identify Target Personas Kadient photo by: David Meerman Scott
- 8. Your Content Pulls in Your Personas “Create the kind of online content that your buyers naturally gravitate to.” - David Meerman Scott Author of The New Rules of Marketing & PR www.webinknow.com
- 9. What Keywords Will Attract Your Personas? • Fill posts with them • Build an archive of content full of them
- 10. How We Pick Keywords: Keyword Grader
- 11. A Word of Caution • Writing for your personas DOES NOT mean writing about the products and services you sell them • Write about the things they want to learn about
- 12. Key #2: Create a Mix of Posts Flickr Photo: jek-a-go-go
- 13. Plan a Mix of Posts News Opinion Feature Photos Video Different people are interested in different things!
- 14. Raisin Bran – Basic, Everyday Posts • How to posts • Rich in keywords • Get good at whipping them out • Make sure they’re useful or entertaining Flickr Photo: greeneyesmilw
- 15. Spinach – Healthy, Thoughtful Posts • Should establish your site as a thought leader in the industry • Put time into them • Don’t do too many Flickr Photo: ulteriorepicture
- 16. Roasts – Big Blog Projects • Lots of work • Lots of links, discussion and attention • Pick them well
- 17. Tabasco – Posts That Start Fires • Make a bold statement • Be prepared to defend yourself • Lots of comments and links • Too many of these posts could lose trust Flickr Photo: ANOXLOU
- 18. Chocolate Cake – The Sweet Stuff • These posts make your blog fun • A chance to poke fun at yourself • Lots of traffic/links • Often video, images Flickr Photo: scubadive67
- 19. Key #3: Write Great Posts Flickr Photo: Olivander
- 20. No Need to Be Hemingway Just follow a few simple rules. Photo: Wikipedia
- 21. Tips for Post Structure • Use Headings • 400-600 words • Lists are OK (just not too many) • 1 idea per post
- 22. 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 • Check your email outbox
- 23. Always Add a Photo • Flickr • iStockphoto • Shoot your own
- 24. How to Search for a Flickr Photo Go to Advanced Search Then search for CC licensed photos
- 25. Where Do You Get Ideas? • Everywhere • Keep a list • When you learn something, flesh it out • Ask your readers Keep a list of blog ideas – you’ll find them everywhere.
- 27. How to Write Great Headlines • Write the headline before the article • Imagine the reader won’t see the article • Surprise people • No spelling errors! • Use your keywords
- 28. Blog Article Titles • Funny: “GoDaddy's 16-Step Checkout: Brainless Marketing At Its Finest?” 2-3 • Enticing: “107 Ideas for Content downloads every day Marketing” Still on • SEO: “Creating Your Long Tail Keyword page 1 after 13 Strategy” months!
- 29. Key #4: Sustain It Flickr Photo: michalo
- 30. Pick a Publishing Schedule • Once a week? Every Monday and Wednesday? • Stick to it • The goal is to build up a body of keyword-rich content (create an asset)
- 31. Different Ways of Doing Posts • Email interviews • Video interviews (conferences, office visitors, clients) • Guest posts from people with similar blogs • “Best of” lists • “How we do it” posts
- 32. Should I Hire People to Blog for Me? It depends. Pros: – You don’t have to do the work – You hire a “professional writer” Cons: – Nobody knows your business like you do – You don’t build your personal reputation – You don’t participate in the conversation
- 33. Key #5: Spread It Flickr Photo: felipearte
- 34. Think of Blogging Like a Job Search Would you sit at home and wait for a call?
- 35. Take Comments Seriously • Make sure you comment back • Find out who the people are – Follow their links – Subscribe to their blog, follow them on Twitter Use these links
- 36. Why Leave Comments? • Karma • Get noticed by other bloggers • Get noticed by other blog readers • Get links back to your blog • Thought leadership
- 37. Tips on Comments Increase the value of the article: • Share an example • Add a point • Add a useful link • Disagree • Ask a question • Use your real name (not company)
- 38. Publish on Social Media • Post directly • Post via twitterfeed.com automatically • Post to your status • Post automatically via a feed to your fan or profile page Also consider LinkedIn, other sites.
- 39. Where Do You Link to Your Blog? • Your homepage • Press releases • Business cards • Email signatures
- 40. Agenda I. Five Keys to a Successful Blog 1. Identify Target Personas 2. Create a Mix of Posts 3. Write Great Posts 4. Sustain It 5. Spread It II. How to Measure Your Blog Success
- 41. Metric #1: Subscriptions • A measure of you blog’s total reach • A “sticky” number
- 42. Metric #2: Pageviews • Great for media sites selling display advertising • Potential problems for your business: – Doesn’t measure RSS – Weak measure of engagement – What’s the business value of a “view”?
- 43. Metric #3: Comments • Quantitatively, a good indicator of engagement • Qualitatively, a great way to listen to market
- 44. Metric #4: Inbound Links • Measure the SEO impact of your blog • An indicator of your blog’s role in outside conversations
- 46. Thank You! Any Questions? Free tools: http://marketing.grader.com http://sigmawebmarketing.com/blog http://www.googlekeywordtool.com Larry Levenson Chief Inbound Officer Sigma Web Marketing larry@sigmawebmarketing.com 480 359.5501