Anatomy of a Blog Post
{How to Make Readers & Search Engines ♥ U}
@BillieHillier

@BillieHillier
Marketing side of blogging - consult others with
• Finding their voice
• Brand
• Marketing
• Blogging as a business

@BillieHillier
• Internet Marketing geek ~ almost 20 years in corporate, non-profit
world, small business & individual consulting
• Evil blog owner who constantly abuses my personal sites for
testing, research, and… it helps people still talk to me.
• Believes 100% that personal relationships with peers & readership are key
to success

Financial Disclosure
• Reference income generating websites
• Conference planner
• Paid speaker and consultant

Content Over Numbers
• Quality content is key for any niche of site
• Viewers stay on site longer & return
• More opportunities, which may mean more income {if you are into that}

Blog Post
1. IMO - most important part of your blog
2. Most posts are missing key components
3. Easy to fix to make your blog more powerful

Keyword Research
• Google Keyword Tool is your best friend
• Research your terms before you start your article
• Try to use 1 keyword phrase and several similar throughout your post
• Mix them up if you write about apple pies a lot

Know Your Character Lengths
Title Tag Length Meta Description URL
BING 67 – 72 176 – 184 91 – 94
GOOGLE 66 – 69 156 – 158 75 - 92
YAHOO 64 - 65 <156 65 – 80

Being #1 Means Nothing
• You are #1… so what!
• If you can’t convert the impression to a click… what’s the point!
• ENGAGE PEOPLE! Make them want to read what you have written

Be Captivating

Title
• Watch the # Characters
• Use Your Keywords
• Use your SEO plugin for guidance {I prefer Wordpress SEO by Yoast}

Captivating Titles
1. This is it!: The Ultimate Guide to Captivating Titles
2. Need + Outcome: How to Use Amazon to Make Millions
3. How interesting is that!: Why You Can’t Resist This Article
4. The Ultimate List: 5 Ways to Improve Your Titles

Permalink
• Use your keyword phrase
• Make sure it’s not a tag or category
• # characters

The King… Your Content
• Use your keyword phrase in the first sentence of your paragraph
• The first few paragraphs {~100 words} are the most important – make sure
your keyword density is found there
• Content should be AT LEAST 300 words

The King… Your Content
• Use bold and italics with your keywords / keyword phrases
• Use Header 2 and Header 3 with keywords / keyword phrases
• Keyword density of 3% – 5%
Have you heard of Wordpress SEO by Yoast? {Did I mention I love this yet?}

Your Hook
• Did you know that 90% of your readers never read past the 2nd sentence?
• Ways to open your blog paragraph:
• Start with a question
• Toss a statistic at them {I just did both!}
• What is the need or a problem {use yours or a readers}
• Make a claim
• Start with a quote

Picture This…
• Helps identify what post is about
• Best photo should be your featured image and at the top of your article
• Fill the width of your posting area
• Always rename your pictures before uploading to your server
• Always resize your pictures before uploading to your server

Picture This…
• Upload photos to your server {no Flickrr, etc.}
• Try to use a 3:1 ratio of paragraphs to images
• Use ALT TEXT to match your keywords
• Change your media settings to fit the posting area width {SETTINGS → MEDIA}

Photo Traffic & Tool Tips
• Branding
• Pinterest & Image Search
• Helps with lazy thieves
• PicMonkey
• FREE
• Simple to Use
• Cheap Upgrade

Links
• Include at least 1 internal link to another related article {use your keywords
for the link}
• Include 1 external link to another related article {people link to GOOD
content --- YOU WANT THIS!}
• I love Zemanta

Lists
• Break up content with lists
• Easily browsed
• Easy to remember
• Just as powerful as a post
• Keep symmetrical
• Begin with the same part of speech

Call to Action
• Sign up for this
• Buy this
• Go read my other article
• Email me
• Read my feed every morning

Categories & Tags
• Category
• Recipes
• Tags {use your keywords}
• Best Apple Pie Recipe
• Fast Apple Pie Recipe
• Apple Pies

Money Money Money
• Use links within the paragraph instead of a banner or a “store” {it’s a about trust – people
scan}
• Watch your ads if using an ad insertion plugin {I use the 2nd paragraph for mine so content
wraps}
* TIP: Know the FTC rules {they are constantly changing}

Social Sharing
• Using plugins to social share
• Flares
• Pin it buttons floating over image
• Stumble
• Tweet
• Facebook
• Email

Recap of Key Components
• Keyword research
• Captivating Title
• Optimized permalink
• Identify your goal / topic of post
• Killer content of at least 300 words
• Images
• Lists
• Links
• Wordpress SEO
• Call to actions(s)
• Categories & Tags
• Money {optional}
• White Space
• Social Sharing

Miscellaneous Tidbits
• Templates to save time {plugins for this}
• KISS: 6th – 9th grade reading level {unless you are technical, medical, etc.}
• Google authorship