The Ultimate Blog Experience

Slide 1: Angela Conyers-Benton Markus Robinson BlackWeb20.com

Slide 2: Platforms •Wordpress, MoveableType, Typepad, Blogger, ect. •Blog Engine for Microsoft •Blog CFM for Cold Fusion •Plugins:

Slide 3: Widgets, Applications, & Plugins  SpringWidgets  Build our own: Clearspring  Grab external widgets that will complement your content  Consider outsourcing development of Facebook apps or iPhone apps; this will help add value to your content and result in WOMM, going viral  Wordpress has plugins for just about anything, use caution so that your site is still usable and loads fast.

Slide 4: Design and Layout  Usability is important and shouldn’t be over looked  Aesthetically Pleasing (Yahoo! Design Stencil Kit)  Build a brand not a just a website:  Who you associate with effects your brand, including advertisers.  Content is King, don’t over do the graphics  Stay a breast of design trends, but remember trends fade  Design should work WITH the content not fight it

Slide 5: Gaining Traffic  Search Engine Optimization  Partnerships  Syndication  Showing Value  Building a Community  Social Media Marketing:  Facebook Targeted Ads  StumbleUpon

Slide 6: Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Slide 7: SEO Tips  Submit your site to Search Engines  Have relevant and quality sites link to yours  Use Short Clean URL’s  Avoid iFrame’s and Flash  Use Google Webmaster Central  Submit and XML sitemap to Google  Analyze Traffic:  Keyword Exploration  Top Content

Slide 8: Syndication  Content Partnerships  RSS Syndication to distribute your content on social networks like:  Facebook  Twitter  MySpace

Slide 9: Building a Community  Building Evangelists from your readers  Social Bookmarking:  Yahoo! Buzz  GlobalGrind  EVIPlist  Community Platforms:  Meebo  Ning  CollectiveX  Find the best platform for your specific content:  Audio use Odeo, iTunes, Zune, iMeem, ect.

Slide 10: Content  Scheduling content  Frequency  SEO friendly URL's  Headlines (SEO)  Keyword Audit, Research, Exploration  Guest Writers  Other Content  Podcasts, video blogging (vlogging)

Slide 11: Content con’t  Use Google Trends to looks for hot topics to write about, this will help drive organic referral traffic to your site.  Mobile integration for various devices

Slide 12: Last but not least! Be original Find your voice Be engaging Post often HAVE FUN!