68% of Marketers plan to increase their use of BloggingBlogging is the top area marketers invested in in 2014. More than half of marketers (58%) selected original written content as their most important content, followed by original visual assets (19%) and then original videos (12%)
Benefits of a Business Blog
- RAISE AWARENESS
- INCREASE WEB TRAFFIC
- START CONVERSATIONS
- ESTABLISH TRUST
- DEVELOP AUTHORITY
Blog features
- An easy way to update your site regularly
- Owned media — feature your company branding
- Ideal for developing a company voice
- Real-time
- The best way to support a variety of media types
- Easily distributed via multiple channels
- A destination for prospects and customers
- Easy to measure and refine
Is blogging a fit for your company?
BAD FOR BLOGGING
- Lacking the time, talent or commitment
- Not willing to be open with information/complex approval processes
- Unwilling to experiment
GOOD FOR BLOGGING
- Eager to build community around relevant topics
- Integral to your social media strategy
- Aiming to improve search rankings
Useful & Inspirational
Your blog should be so useful, and inspirational that your readers want to hear from you again and againYour articles should be so helpful that your readers want to share them with their colleagues and friends
That’s how you raise your company’s online profile - Henneke Duistermaat
Determine your blog’s business objectives
- Build the brand
- Expand reach
- Support sales
- Position senior executives
Content mission
- Articulate your approach to the content and industry
- Clearly define who the content is for
- State how the content will satisfy the needs of the readership
American Express OPEN Forum: Help entrepreneurs share ideas, get and give advice, and discuss experiences leading to small business success
TOPICS & FEATURES
- Key content categories to be included regularly—describe the focus
- Ensure your content aligns with business goals and readers’ needs
VOICE
You need to define a voice and strive for consistency- Have a personality
- Tell a story
- Be contextually relevant
- Sound like a real person
- Have a point of view
- Avoid corporate-speak
AN AUDIENCE OF ONE
Imagine having a conversion with one ideal reader.- What does she think?
- How does he feel?
- What questions will they have?
Ditch the pitch
The idea is to teach, not preachStart a conversation
IDEAS FOR GENERATING IDEAS
- What are you ideal readers’ business or personal objectives?
- What prevents readers from achieving their goals?
- What questions do readers have about your industry, products and services?
- What decisions does a reader have to make?
- What mistakes are readers making?
- How can you help readers turn weaknesses into strengths?
- What tips would make life easier?
- What are influencers creating content about?
- What’s trending?
Headlines Essentials
- grab attention
- arouse curiosity
- and promise a benefit
- Helpful
- Emotion
- Ask
- Do’s and don’ts
- List
- Inspire
- Nightmare
- Empathy
- Succes
Headlines Templates
HOW TO [ACHIEVE SOMETHING]
How to Become a Successful Blogger in 180 minutes## WAYS TO [ACHIEVE SOMETHING]
10 Ways to Write a Headline that Captures Your ReadersSIGNS YOUR [YOUR SOMETHING] IS BAD
Obvious Signs Your Website Fails to Attract and Convert ProspectsMISTAKES THAT [CAUSE A NEGATIVE RESULT]
7 Common Blogging Mistakes that Repel ReadersTHE SECRET FOR GETTING [RESULT]
The Secret to Building Authority Through Your BlogTHE TRUTH ABOUT [SOMETHING]
The Truth About Online Marketing (Your Agency Won’t Tell You)IMPROVE [SOMETHING] IN A [SPECIFIC TIME PERIOD]
Go From Clueless to Killer With Your Blogging in 5 DaysWITH THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY [TO DO SOMETHING]
Double Your Social Shares With the Most Effective Headline TemplatesDO YOU SUFFER FROM [PROBLEM] WHEN [SPECIFIC SITUATION]?
Are You Sweating Bullets When Your Article Is Due?THIS, THAT, AND THE POINT OF THE STORY
Daydreams, Smelling Salts, and the Blog Posts that Inspire ReadersHeadlines Tips
- Use a template
- Start with “how to _______”
- Use them loosely, experiment
- Write 10 or more
- Swap words in and out
- Create a swipe file
- Try colons
- Try parenthetical statements
- Practice
- Incubate
- Get opinions
- Would I read that?
- Check the emotional value
Writing Tips
WRITE CONVERSATIONALLY
- Talk to, not at, your reader
- “You” and “I”
- Ask questions
- Use contractions
- 86 the jargon
- Anecdotes
- I “feel” you
- Honest
- Self-deprecation
TURN ON THEWORD POWER
- Replace predictable with precise words
- Activate with verbs
- Use adjectives sparingly
- Choose sensory words
- Delete dead weight: actually, really, etc
- Nix bland or soft words: nice, bad
GET SOME RHYTHM
- Read your writing aloud
- Vary sentence length
- Bam
- One word and staccato sentences
- Shorter paragraphs
Strong opening. Strong close
WRITE A STRONG INTRODUCTION
- Empathize with the reader
- “You’re in the right place”
- Introduce the gap: now and soon
- Foreshadow the journey
- Or tell a story
- Transfer some confidence
- Deliver an irresistible “why”
WRITE A STRONG FIRST SENTENCE
The job of each sentence is to move the reader to the next one. Make it short. Make it fun!WRITE A STRONG CONCLUSION
The objective is to inspire action- Overcome objections
- Make the request small
- Aim for some zing
- 1/2/3
- Alliteration
- Repetition
- Clear direction
- Call to action: do business
Editing Tips
YOUR PROCESS
- Working title
- Reader’s challenge
- Outline main body
- First draft
- Incubation period
- Reread
- Write opening
- Revisit headline
- Read aloud
REFINING THE FIRST DRAFT
- Cut “that” out (and “there” and “this”)
- Nix “ing”
- Reduce redundancies
- Remove jargon, increase clarity
- Purge the passive voice
- Kill nothing phrases
- Break up long sentences
- Cut self-indulgence
- Avoid the “today” stamp (these days, currently)
- Add quotes and links
- Add questions
- Upgrade verbs
- Strengthen point of view
- Use examples (and images)
- Mix it up
Optimize for search
KEYWORD RESEARCH
- Long-tail keywords
- Google AdWords
- Reasonable search volume
- Low competition
ON-PAGE SEO ESSENTIALS
- Permalink
- Title
- Body copy includes keywords
- Derivatives of keywords
- Image alt tags
- Snippet/meta description (for search engine listings)
SEARCH TIPS
- Lengthier posts tend to rank higher
- Internal links
- Install (and use) Google Analytics
- Find places on your site to link to posts
- Cite other sources
- Share across social networks often
Blog post Template
Article ConceptAuthor: [author name]
Target SEO Keyphrase: as of [date] (check Keyword Planner and Trends)
- “[keyphrase]” [x] searches / month
- “[secondary keyphrase]” [x] searches / month
Meta Description: [single sentence summary with keyphrase, 155 max characters]
PermaLink / Shortcut URL: [use the keyphrase, keep it short]
Headline <h1> Includes the target keyphrase and 3 of these 4 attributes...
- Be USEFUL to the reader
- Provide him with a sense of URGENCY,
- Convey the idea that the main benefit is somehow UNIQUE
- Do the above in an ULTRA-SPECIFIC way
Image at least one, should be interesting on its own, creative commons
Keyphrase usage four to six times in the body of the article
Length 1500+ words for search optimized posts
Mention quote or refer to someone with a social following
Link from the post to a web page
Call to action for comments
Author box short bio, links to Twitter, Google+, etc
- Bio page: <a href="BIO PAGE ADDRESS">
- Twitter: <a href='http://www.twitter.com/TWITTER ACCOUNT'>
- Google+: <a ref='author' href='https://plus.google.com/GOOGLE_ID?rel-author'>
Does your blog SCORE?
Blog REPORT CARD- Writing quality is high
- Content is useful
- The pages look good
- Imgaes are featured
- Posts are easy to share
- Posts are being shared
- Keywords are used
- Includes internal links
- Includes external links
- Posts include a call-to-action
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