The document provides tips for using blogging to promote a business through search engine optimization and marketing. It discusses identifying business objectives for the blog, learning about competitors, defining a unique selling proposition, brainstorming topics related to the business or customers, exploring keyword opportunities, and including features that make it easy for readers to share the content. The overall goal is to educate, engage, and entertain customers through relevant and interesting blog content.

1. "Promoting the Blog with Search
Engine Optimization and
Marketing"!
Piedmont Bloggers July Meetup
July 12, 2011
Bill Slawski
SEO by the Sea

2. Before you know what to write
about, you need to know:
Why you’re writing
Who you’re writing to
what your competition is saying
What makes you different

3. Identify Your Objectives
• Bring locals to your shop or office
• Attract customers from outside your local area
• Interact with potential clients
• Increase sales or leads for services you offer
• Help your audience understand what you do
• Keep your customers informed about what your
business is up to
• Build a brand – a mindset people enter when
they think about your business
• Build links to your site

4. How can you educate, engage, and
entertain your customers?
Answer frequently asked questions
Write about things that are interesting to your
customers, or the people whom you want as
customers
Make them want to continue the conversation
Avoid the hard sell!!!

5. Learn About Your Competitors
• Who else blogs about something similar? Subscribe to
their RSS or bookmark them
• Explore who else offers what you do online and off and
study them
• Look for industry groups, trade journals, online
industry directories and forums, user groups, consumer
review sites, or industry educational sources that can
be used to build a better understanding of competitors
and customers
• Where can you turn to when you want to keep track of
news and information within your specific industry or
market?

6. Define Your Unique Selling Proposition
• What makes you different from those offering similar goods
or services?
• What would your say or offer to potential customers that
would persuade them to want to do business with you?
• What do you offer to get people to become repeat visitors?
• What do you have on your site for people who have already
purchased your products, or used your services?
• What is it about what you offer to have other people
recommend your site to friends, family, or business
associates?

7. What to Blog About
• Be smart, interesting, entertaining,
informative, funny, irrelevant, expertise filled.
• Give your blog a personality
• Make sure the design matches the personality
• Write about things that may help fulfill your
business objectives and that your customers
will look for, in words that they will use to
search for what you offer.

8. If you sell real estate…
• Help people learn about the communities they
might be considering moving into.
• Audience of younger couples with children: show
and tell them (photos, videos, text) about local
schools, and events and attractions that may
interest parents.
• DC Commuters: road conditions, public
transportation, shortcuts, etc.
• All audiences - local social events, recreation
facilities, museums, attractions, and local history.

9. If you run a lumberyard/hardware
store…
• At least 2 different audiences – contractors and
people interested in home DIY projects.
• Tips & blueprints for building birdhouses and
gazebos and sheds
• Zoning laws and architectural review boards info
• Difference between architectural styles
• Why certain woods tend to be used for certain
projects, and more about those woods.

10. If you’re a travel agent…
• You could write about travel, what to pack, what
to expect at the airport, etc.
• Instead, create interest and excitement
• For example, blog about maps, about the London
Underground, the route of the Tour de France, a
concert tour route for the band Wilco through
the deep south, a street level map of Mardi Gras
attractions in New Orleans.

11. If you run a bakery…
• Bring the smells and tastes of the kitchen to your
audience
• Let us know that it’s the start of the peach
season, and that you have some fresh peach
pies just cooling off.
• Show pictures of some local peach orchards, and
a little history of the peach industry in the area.
• Educate, entertain, and make your audience’s
stomachs growl.

12. Once you know who, what, where,
why, and how you’re going to
write…
• Brainstorm a list of possible topics, which you
can continuously update.
• Use keyword suggestion tools to help come up
with language to use in your posts
• Build Relationships: Other bloggers,
commenters, customers…

13. Explore Keywords
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

14. Unique Titles and Meta Descriptions

15. Make it Easy for People to Share
Plugins like Addtoany make it easy and are customizable:
http://www.addtoany.com/