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Business blogging dec 2011
The document provides a comprehensive guide on blogging, covering topics such as the definition and importance of blogs, content generation strategies, optimization techniques, promotion methods, and metrics for measuring success. It emphasizes the benefits of blogging for businesses, including increased website traffic, lead generation, and enhanced brand authority. The document also includes best practices and case studies to illustrate effective blogging strategies.
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Business blogging dec 2011
- 2. Topics — Introduc)ons — What is a blog? — Why should you have one? • How to generate blog content • How to Op)mize Your Blog • How to Promote Your Blog • How to Measure Your Blog • Best Prac)ces • 4 Case Studies 2
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- 4. What is a blog? — Blog = ‘web log’ — A website or part of a website updated with new content periodic basis. — Usually maintained by an individual or individuals with regular entries of commentary, descrip)ons of events, or other material such as graphics or video. — Long-‐term marke)ng asset that will bring traffic to your business — Can be setup within minutes online using Wordpress or other blogging soQware. 4
- 5. Wordpress — Wordpress.org — Install soQware onto your server — Select theme (template), or create custom design 5
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- 11. Why Should You Have a Blog? — Nearly 40% of US companies use blogs for marke)ng purposes. — Companies that blog have 55% more website visitors — B2C companies that blog get 88% more leads per month than those that don’t — B2B companies that blog get 67% more leads per month than those that don’t Source: Hubspot eBook on Blogging, 2011 11
- 12. Why Should You Have a Blog? — Over 57 million Americans read blogs — Technora) is currently tracking over 70 million blogs — Over 120 thousand blogs are created every day — There are over 1.4 million new blog posts every day — 22 of the 100 most popular websites in the world are blogs — 51% of blog readers shop online — Blog readers average 23 hours online each week Source: BlogWorldExpo.com 12 12
- 13. Why Should You Have a Blog? — 83% of corporate bloggers saw a traffic increase to their site — 51% took less than 1-‐2 months from ini)al concept to launch of blog — 88% saw a boost in search engine ranking within 3 months of launch — 62% saw an increase in sales within 3 months of launch Source: Backbone Media Business Blogging Survey 13
- 14. Why Should You Have a Blog? 14
- 15. Why Should You Have a Blog? — Blogging boosts your ranking on Google searches – the more blog posts you publish the be`er — Establishes you as a thought leader – helps earn people’s trust and stay top-‐of-‐mind for your community — Gives you a plaborm to place calls-‐to-‐ac)on – you can ask people to a`end a fundraiser or community event, donate, etc. 15
- 16. Genera)ng Blog Content — Brainstorming — Editorial Calendar — Repackaging — Guest Blogging — Cura)on — Events and Calendar — Original Content 16
- 17. Brainstorming — What will my blog be about? — What are the goals of my organiza)on? — What is my area of exper)se? — What are my professional interests? — Who else will contribute on a regular basis? 17
- 18. How OQen Will I Blog? 18
- 19. How Will I Organize My Blog? — Decide on content categories — Look at the calendar — Commit to pos)ng 2-‐3 )mes per week and build from there 19
- 20. Editorial Calendar — An editorial calendar helps plan both the subject ma`er and frequency for blog posts for 3-‐6 months — Maintains balance among different kind of posts — Keeps bloggers on schedule and pos)ng regularly — Provides structure and flexibility 20
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- 23. Repackage Exis)ng Content — Look to your employees and staff — Repurpose internal and external communica)ons materials — Provide resources for the communi)es you serve 23
- 24. Guest Blogging — Generate a list of poten)al guest bloggers — Invite collaborators to write — Keep the focus on their projects and organiza)ons — Maintain the rela)onship by referencing the organiza)on in future blog posts 24
- 25. Cura)on — Research bloggers who are a part of your space — Katya Andresen, Network for Good — Beth Kanter, Beth’s Blog — Allison Fine, A Fine Blog — Seth Godin, Seth’s Blog — Sasha Dichter — Many, many others 25
- 26. Cura)on — Research bloggers outside your space — Personal interests — Subjects that might interest the clients with whom you work — Hobbies — Local informa)on — Anything par)cularly well-‐done or inspira)onal 26
- 27. Cura)on — Set up a blog reader to keep current on posts from favorite blogs (e.g. Google Reader, etc.) — Check your reader every morning when you check your e-‐mail — Flag relevant posts 27
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- 32. Cura)on — Share content in a )mely manner — Add insight and value — Make the content relevant for your readers — Start a conversa)on — Always, always, always a`ribute the material and ideas to the original author 32
- 33. Events and Calendar — Focus blog posts on key events in your organiza)on’s calendar year — Incorporate major holidays — Don’t forget seasonal issues that affect your work and your clients e.g. the start of the school year 33
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- 35. Original Content — Start with the basics – introduc)on, mission statement for the blog — Keep it short – 200-‐300 words — Maintain a running list of ideas — Don’t expect perfec)on 35
- 36. Original Content — Voice — Personality — Less formal expression — Opinions — Fun! 36
- 37. Exercise – Part 1 — Brainstorm 4 ideas for blog posts — Brainstorm 4 sources for blog posts for your organiza)on — Read them out loud and we’ll discuss ‹#› 37
- 38. How to Op)mize Your Blog — Need to op)mize to grab people’s a`en)on and rank well with search engines — Search engines scan each page of your website looking for clues about what topics you cover, and at the back-‐ end code for important tags and descrip)ons — Your ranking on the search engine results page is determined by how relevant and authorita)ve your website is determined to be 38
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- 40. How to Op)mize you Blog — Keywords -‐ a cri)cal component to SEO is selec)ng the right keywords. — Select 7 to 10 words or phrases that best describe your business and services. Ensure each page of your website is op)mized around those keywords. — Be specific – child care, not general – nonprofit — For example: — Store sells shoes and wants website to rank for “shoe store” — Be`er bet to op)mize for “red tennis shoes with velcro” 40
- 41. How to Op)mize you Blog — Each blog post should focus on a specific topic, and should include the appropriate keywords. Be sure to engage readers but also op)mize each ar)cle. — Images – make sure image file names describe the picture and that each image has a descrip)ve blurb (alt tag) — Headline tags – Use keywords in your blog post headlines — Internal linking – Within your blog post, link to other pages on your website 41
- 42. How to Op)mize Your Blog — Include social media sharing bu`ons on every post 42
- 43. Blog Op)miza)on Con)nued — Include compelling images that convey the blog post – photograph, graphic, infographic — Eye-‐catching and op)mized )tles capture the readers’ a`en)on and en)ce them to view your post — Be clear and direct – 12 quick )ps … — Create Urgency – Last chance to … — How-‐To’s – How to get started with Facebook ads … — How Not To – Avoid these piballs … 43
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- 45. Blog Op)miza)on Con)nued — Be controversial (but not too controversial) – these posts spark discussion and debate — Be simple, keep )tles brief and concise -‐ A look at Google+ — Be newsworthy – relevant breaking news-‐type post perform well 45
- 46. Blog Op)miza)on Con)nued — Formatng is important – break up blocks of text into chunks, readers scan subheaders, bold text and bullet points. 46
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- 48. Blog Op)miza)on Con)nued — Calls-‐to-‐ac)on — Well constructed blog post should always include in-‐text links to other resources – point these links to events and opportuni)es (ability to donate, a`end an event) — The top and sidebar of your blog homepage can contain call-‐to-‐ac)on banners or bu`ons 48
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- 50. Blog Op)miza)on Con)nued — Solve a problem – people share a post with others because of the insight it provides to solve a problem — Use metaphors as a valuable way to generate more interest in a subject — Be entertaining – have fun — Take a stand – be clear, direct and defini)ve – be the expert on your topic 50
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- 52. Exercise – Part 2 — Think about 7 to 10 keywords that are most relevant to your organiza)on and the services you provide. — Read them out loud and we’ll discuss ‹#› 52
- 53. How to Promote Your Blog “A blog is much easier to promote if it has been op)mized for success.” Hubspot eBook on Blogging, 2011 53
- 54. How to Promote Your Blog — As discussed before – compelling )tles, images, make it easy to share — Leverage your exis)ng connec)ons to create new rela)onships – reach out to influen)al bloggers in your field to a`racted their a`en)on through men)ons on your blog and social media — Create an opportunity for them to share your blog posts across their networks — Create link-‐building opportuni)es 54
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- 60. Promo)ng Your Blog Con)nued — Social sharing – we discussed the sharing bu`ons, but you also need to publish your post to Facebook, Twi`er, LinkedIn and Google+ — Events and Presenta)on – if you are presen)ng refer your audience to your blog for further info 60
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- 66. Promo)ng Your Blog Con)nued — Update all your business materials (business card, email signature, etc.) to include your blog url — Run a contest to a`ract a`en)on – have readers like you on Facebook in order to be eligible, use your email list — Blog directories –submit your blog to the top directories (bestoQheweb.com, bloggeries.com, blogged.com, etc.) — Social Bookmarking – submit your posts to social bookmarking sites (Digg, Reddit, Tumblr) — Create a video and post to YouTube (link to the blog) to reach a different audience 66
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- 71. How to Measure Your Blog — Visitors – the count of people who actually read your blog content, but be`er to look at data by individual blog ar)cles — Leads – analyze at what rate these “leads” convert to customers/donors/volunteers (compared to other marke)ng channels) 71
- 72. Measuring Your Blog Con)nued — Subscriber Count – Look at how many people subscribe to your blog 72
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- 75. Measuring Your Blog Con)nued — Tracking Inbound Links – when another website links to a page on your website that’s an inbound link. — Blog posts normally are great at genera)ng inbound links — Look at how many inbound links your blog posts a`ract – different topics will vary the number of inbound links they drive 75
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- 78. Measuring Your Blog Con)nued — Monitor social media shares – look at the historical social media shares for your blog posts to determine what types of posts get the most short-‐term traffic from social media 78
- 79. Exercise — Write sample blog post 79
- 80. Best Prac)ces — Create relevant, valuable content and determine the best methods to publicize it — Write about your industry, best prac)ces, answer ques)ons — Ask readers what they to read about, and the format (e.g., text vs. video) — Connect your blog to your website 80
- 81. Examples — Katya Andresen — Capstone Connect — Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilita)on Hospital — Adopt-‐a-‐Pet.com 81
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- 83. Why It Works — Individual vs. Organiza)onal Blog — Strong Images — Broad topics — Useful How-‐to 83
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- 85. Why It Works — Strong Organiza)on — Clear content categories — Different voices from around the organiza)on — Eclec)c, oveat posts show personality — Varied and interes)ng content 85
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- 87. Why It Works — Targeted Audience – Parents of Children with disabili)es — Excellent Cura)on — Go-‐to Resource in its community 87
- 88. Adopt A Pet 88
- 89. Why It Works — Highlights the work of others — Many guest bloggers — Informa)on rich posts — High frequency 89
- 90. Thank You! Bridget Gibbons bridget@gibbonsdigital.com Gibbonsdigital.com 90