'Net Features : blog

Is Your Blog an Information Powerhouse?

Administrator — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 18:45:00 GMT

By Amie Marse, Content Equals Money

If there’s one thing your customers want to see in your blog, I can almost guarantee you it’s this: valuable information. We’re not talking about Wikipedia-style information. We’re talking exclusive, you won’t find this in Google’s 1.2 million search results kind of information.

I’ve been writing for the Web since 2005, and over the last 8 years I’ve learned a few things about creating content that matters. If you want to give your blog an edge over your competition, grab these five strategies by the horns, and put them to work for you.

Showcase Your Personal Knowledge

Here’s the thing about valuable content: In order to have something valuable to say, you don’t have to be the very best at what you do. You don’t have to have the most experience, the biggest clientele or the most expensive website design. Simply by being a part of your industry, you have a unique perspective that outsiders don’t have. Share your unique perspective, your personal experiences and your hard-earned knowledge on your company’s blog.

One of my favorite blogging tips of all time comes from The Sales Lion, Marcus Sheridan who recommends that bloggers, who are at a complete loss with what to write about next, should take out a sheet of paper and write down every question they’ve ever been asked about their business. Then, take those questions, and turn them into blog posts.

You might think you have nothing new to share, but I guarantee you that when you sit down to write out these questions, you’ll find that you have several topics that nobody could cover but you.

Stop Regurgitating Content

When you showcase your personal knowledge, you shouldn’t have this problem (the regurgitation issue). Unfortunately, most blogs read like old TV re-runs, sharing the same old things we’ve all seen before. On the surface, this is a creativity issue, but at base, I believe it really has to do with laziness and organization.

If you set aside time at the beginning of each month to create an editorial calendar, I can almost guarantee you that you’ll largely sidestep the regurgitation issue. Most bloggers slip into the trap of regurgitation when they feel pressured to throw a post up on their site. If you know in advance when you’re posting and what you’re posting about, you can take the time to create a post that uniquely showcases your personal knowledge.

For help with developing your own editorial calendar, I highly recommend this post from Copyblogger.

Use a Bounty of Resources & Links

As smart as you are, it’s still important to incorporate a variety of resources into your blog posts. On the one hand, resources give your readers easy access to extra information. On the other hand, they make you look more credible. Resources are a way of demonstrating that you do, in fact, keep up on your industry and market trends.

Types of resources you should include? That’s a long list, but a few of my favorites include peer bloggers, news articles pertaining to your industry, other writers’ how-to guides, and your earlier blog posts and resource pages. Find out why Ellie Mirman of HubSpot believes you should link to your competitors (a smart strategy for building thought leadership).

Create a Mission Statement (For Yourself)

The point of this post is to make your blog an information powerhouse. However, that doesn’t mean that all information – even good information – should appear on your blog. You might know a lot about SEO and a lot about banana plantations, but you wouldn’t make a blog that highlights both subjects. Your readers like to know what they can expect from your blog.

In order to avoid topical derailing, create a mission statement for your blog. This doesn’t have to be on the header of every page; just write it down for yourself. Keep it simple. For example, “The purpose of my blog is to help small businesses with no SEO knowledge or skills rank their websites on the first page of Google.” If a blog post doesn’t line up with that mission statement, toss it! (If you use an editorial calendar and a mission statement, you won’t even have to write a misfit blog post in the first place.)

Segmented Leads & Clear CTAs

While your blog needs an overarching mission statement, each post should have its own “mini-mission statement.” Of course, I’m talking about your call-to-action. Your reader should never get to the end of a blog post, and ask, What now? Each one of your posts should have a clear CTA that directs the reader to do something specific. Not only is this reassuring to the reader, but it also builds your blog’s reputation as a source of valuable information.

Think about all of your different leads (and what stage of your sales cycle they’re in), and create blog posts with CTAs that target each one. It could take a week or a month of blogging to create posts that target each lead, but when you use an editorial calendar, the process becomes much less intimidating!

So, remember…showcase your knowledge (without regurgitating) and use an editorial calendar and plenty of resources. Write according to a mission statement, and create content for all of your different leads with clear CTAs. Easy? Hardly. Doable? Absolutely! My challenge to you is to dedicate yourself to this style of blogging for one month, and then note the differences in traffic and engagement. I’d love to hear how it works out for you!

About the Author

Amie Marse, is the founder and managing partner of Content Equals Money, a content writing service for agencies and Web-based clients.

Casse-Y Study in Digital Best Practices

Amberly Dressler — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 18:00:00 GMT

From email marketing and social media to e-commerce and video, self-made fitness sensation and online personality Cassey Ho knows a few things about building an online business.

In fact, using her own handheld cameras and editing skills, Ho uploads her daily workout videos to her growing YouTube fan base of 340,000 subscribers. Her use of digital best practices has increased her online following to more than 35 million total video views and growing 4 million-plus each month. The 26-year-old is considered to be one of the Top Online Fitness Influencers, second only to Biggest Loser’s Jillian Michaels.

With her credentials out of the way, we caught up with the blogilates.com owner and operator to see what other Web workers can learn from her success.

How do you leverage social media to acquire new visitors and keep current ones engaged?

CH: I make sure to post new content as often as possible, and I am always looking to try new types of workouts and exercises.

How do you use email marketing to engage users?

CH: Never try to sell anything! A newsletter should be personal, as if you’re writing a note to a friend. Just keep it genuine and full of good information that people need.

What were some challenges launching the e-commerce side of Blogilates.com and how did you overcome them?

CH: Creating a product line takes lots of development time and testing along with tons of trust. You can’t rely on yourself anymore – there are just too many pieces of the project to go at it alone, so you have to bring people in for help. I had to learn how to manage people and delegate tasks in order to focus on the overall picture. This was definitely a challenge because I am used to doing everything myself.

Editor's Note: Blogilates' checkout is powered by highwire.

In terms of content marketing, do you follow an editorial calendar? How do you strategically place content on the site?

CH: I try hard to stay organized, and I definitely plan the content ahead of time. I have a calendar for YouTube video uploads so that fans can expect to see a video on a certain day. For the blog, I just try to write as often as I can which is about every other day.

How has the use of video grown your business and what advice do you have for other digital companies to leverage its power?

CH: I actually started with video, so I totally recommend to other businesses to try it out and use it. To me, video is the most personal way to connect with users, so I always try to have a new video posted every few days.

How has the use of contests/giveaways grown your business? How do you conceive these and execute them?

CH: People love free stuff! It’s a great way to get fans excited and talking. If there’s a product I love or maybe even something new I design, I’ll announce a fun task for the fans to do and at random, I will pick a winner. People get really into it, and this actually helps build the community as well!

What can we expect from you and the site in the future?

CH: Get ready for a very special fitness community site that will connect hundreds of thousands of workout buddies from all over the world.

Bring Content Marketing Functionality to Your Blog

Michael Garrity — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 20:40:00 GMT

When blogging first became a thing, it was primarily utilized by online content publishers and bored teenagers. It wasn’t really until years later that their usefulness as a content marketing tool really became evident.

Unfortunately for marketers, blogs were not traditionally built with them in mind, and modern online content marketing often requires greater flexibility in blog creation and management.

Because of this, the all-in-one marketing platform Genoo has released a new blog management tool for marketers and business owners that provides them with a suite of tools for content management, search engine optimization, lead nurturing and social integration.

This blog management tool lets users post and connects relevant content to their blogs, other posts within the blog and relevant landing pages on their websites. Moreover, Genoo’s blogging tool makes it possible for marketers to feature new sidebar content on every blog post, rather than simply putting up static sidebar content on each page, which can include links to other posts, contact forms or other various calls-to-action. Users can even turn all of the content of a single post into different sections with a table of contents that links all of the sections together.

Each blog post can be directly connected with Google Authorship qualifications, which adds information about the author’s Google+ presence, bio and a photo to their blog posts when they appear in Google’s SERPs.

In updating its blog content management tools, Genoo has also integrated lead management capabilities, which allow bloggers to track their visitors, subscribers and commenters and place them into a lead nurturing process.

Blogging for E-Commerce – Part Two

Allison Howen — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 20:00:00 GMT

An effective blogging strategy can help merchants increase their site traffic significantly, and as we inch closer to the busiest shopping season of the year, most merchants live by the mantra, “the more traffic the better.”

In fact, a recent HubSpot study reveals that on average, companies that publish 15 or more blog articles per month generate five times more Web traffic than companies that don’t blog at all. But aside from bringing in more traffic, blogging can also help merchants foster better relationships with customers and increase their brand’s visibility on the Web.

While Part One of Website Magazine’s Blogging for E-commerce series focused on helping merchants develop their content ideas and blogging calendars, Part Two offers tips for the publishing and promotion process. Once the first blog post has been assembled, merchants have many different options for spreading the word about their content, including on their websites, through social channels and within emails – to name a few. So after your copy editor is finished proofreading your first post, review the strategies below for assistance with the promotion process:

Website

If this is your first go-around with blogging, you need to let your current customers know about your new content. The best way to do this is by promoting your blog on your website’s landing page, so that the content can be easily discovered by site visitors.

Although you may not want to dedicate a portion of your landing page’s valuable space to promoting your blog (especially during the holidays), this problem can be counteracted with two different approaches:

1) Simply add a “Blog” tab to your site’s navigational menu bar so that you’re not taking up valuable landing page space.

2) Feature a product-centered blog post on the landing page so that you are promoting both products and content.

For example, an apparel retailer could feature a women’s gift guide article (which features many of the retailer’s products) on the landing page instead of an informative article about fabric types. This solution promotes both the retailer’s most popular products and the company’s new blog.

Social Media

Word of mouth advertising is easier than ever before thanks to social networks like Facebook and Twitter, which is why merchants should always promote their blog’s content within these channels. Not only are your status updates viewable to your brand’s social audience, but also any interaction a fan takes with the status update (comments, likes, replies and retweets) will also be visible to all of that fan’s friends, which gives content items a better chance of going viral.

Seventh Generation is an example of a retailer that uses a variety of social networks, including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, to promote its blog. Furthermore, this company’s blog posts feature a combination of videos and time-sensitive topics, which helps engage customers and also provides Seventh Generation with a reputation of being an authority on health and the environment.

Email

Although typically a channel for promoting new products and upcoming sales, merchants can also leverage email to share blog content. In fact, customers may find it as a relief to discover a different type of message in their inbox from their favorite retailer, which can help build the brand-customer relationship dynamic. However, with a little innovation, merchants can also take a two-step approach to promoting both their products and their articles.

For instance, a pet supply merchant who wants to promote a new dog collar collection could assemble an email campaign that endorses the new collar line, but also includes a blog post on the topic of collars vs. harnesses. This message has the ability to capture the attention of a variety of consumers, including customers who are actively looking to purchase a new collar, as well as new dog owners who need more information about collars and harnesses before they make a purchasing decision.

Guest Posts

One of the best ways to gain visibility for your blog outside of your immediate customer base is by featuring a guest blogger. Merchants simply need to ask an authoritative figure within their niche to write an article on a popular topic. Once the article is published the merchant can execute the aforementioned strategies to promote the article, as well as have the author promote the article via a link on his or her website and social profiles.

However, merchants can also feature guest content from their community members. For example, shoe and eyewear retailer Toms recently published an impactful blog post about Movember and cancer, which centered around one of the company’s customers. While this blog post may not have received as many links as an article written by an industry professional, the message is forceful enough to resonate beyond the Toms community.

Distribution Engines

Last, but certainly not least, merchants can gain visibility for their articles by submitting them to news distribution websites, such as PRWeb, PRNewswire and Businesswire. Numerous journalists and publicists scour these sites every day looking for intriguing topics. By submitting appropriately tagged content to these sites, merchants increase the chances that someone will publish their content or link to their blog. However, it is important to note that merchants will typically garner the best results from these distribution engines by submitting product-specific or metric-driven articles rather than opinion-based topics, because these distribution sites are news driven.

Build Links With New Blog Network

Amberly Dressler — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 15:15:00 GMT

When website owners begin to think about their link building strategy, guest blogging is certainly an essential part of the plan – at least it should be.

Key Reads, LLC, a recently developed publishing network, delivers original content daily across the tech, entertainment, lifestyle, business and local news landscapes. Its digital publishing model is powered by proprietary technology to channel multiple blogs into a single comprehensive platform. Readers are then able to easily gain access to new blog stories without having to scour the 'Net. For Web workers, this new network provides an opportunity to contribute blogs.

“This is a great link building opportunity for any business owner that is looking to enhance Web operations and drive more traffic to their site," said Robertson Price, CEO of Key Reads.

Key Reads' guest blogging program cuts out the extra time required to complete a link building campaign in order to increase a website's ranking.

“The aggregation platform allows professionals to not have to direct their browser to each individual website in order to see all the latest stories from multiple sites at once,” said Price.

Additionally, business owners who have a similar model to Key Reads, with multiple domains under one umbrella, can also benefit from the Key Reads platform.

“Channeling RSS feeds from all your different websites into the Key Reads platform allows owners to display content from all their sites on one comprehensive page,” said Price. “We have had a lot of interest in licensing out our platform for other blog networks to create their own wholly owned and operated aggregation hubs.”

Ads Come to WordPress Blogs

Allison Howen — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 17:00:00 GMT

Attention, WordPress bloggers: Your ship may have just come in.

According to Automattic, the company that owns WordPress, there are more than 63 million WordPress sites in the world, and about half of those are actually hosted by WordPress itself. But for such a large number of bloggers (15 percent of all websites on the Internet, says Automattic), the actual returns have amounted to little more than compliments and publicity.

However, WordPress has just taken a big step toward changing that by partnering with Federated Media Publishing to offer ads to millions of WordPress blog users. The deal was announced at the Web 2.0 Summit and will allow all WordPress blog users – no matter the size of their audience – to participate in Federated Media’s advertising network.

Although bloggers will not have the ability to choose which individual ads will be displayed on their site, they will have the choice of ad themes.

"FM is the perfect partner for us to offer opt-in, premium advertising to WordPress users for the first time ever," says Toni Schneider, CEO of Automattic. "FM has years of experience in bringing together leading brands and top bloggers and will now bring that experience to our network of tens of millions of bloggers and hundreds of millions of readers."

The ad options will be available to WordPress bloggers in the first quarter of 2012.

ShareThis Widget Update Rolling Out

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:47:00 GMT

Website publishers using the ShareThis widget will see some improvements to the tool rolling out over the coming weeks.

Improvements include shorter widget load time for better page load performance, sign-in support (for Facebook, Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft) for increased engagement, some personalization features and analytics.

The updated widget will also provide users with recommendations for sites that will share other top content from your site.

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Google Backs Pixazza: Earn Revenue Through Your Website's Photos

Mike Phillips — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 14:26:00 GMT

Google has committed $5.75 million in a series of funding to Pixazza, a service that looks to turn the photos on your website or blog into a new revenue stream. Publishers can visit the website and insert a line of Javascript into their site and Pixazza "product experts" will go to work. The product experts match products with images so that when a user mouses over a price tag icon on the image, a window appears with links to those, or similar products (see image below). When a user buys the product, the publisher earns a commission. Once the code is inserted into the publisher's Web page, the product links will take effect on all existing images on the website, as well as new ones.

Becuase humans are at work, the products are not limited to exact matches to the images, but similar or supporting products can be displayed. The product experts also earn commission on sales - a nice control method so that the best possible matches are featured on the images. You can apply to be a product expert on the Pixazza website.

Advertisers can apply to have their products included in Pixazza and can pay through either CPA, CPC or CPM models. For an advertiser this could be a valuable way to expand the reach of their products to thousands of outlets across the Web. Advertisers already in the mix include some big names such as Amazon, Zappos and BlueFly. But links are not limited to products. Just about anything has potential. For example, a photo of a beach might display a boat icon in the water. With a mouse-over a link to a travel package could be offered.

With Google backing, expect this technology to make in impact, both immediate and far-reaching.

Wordpress in the PeoplePond

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 21:15:00 GMT

PeoplePond, a service which specializes in providing search engine optimized (SEO) profiles and online identity verification services for individuals, announced a PeoplePond WordPress plugin is now available. If you think it a pain to manage the personal or team profile information you feature on your Wordpress blog - this one's for you.

The plugin delivers an 'About Me' biography, image and links to the individual's social media websites directly from their PeoplePond account and uses the information to build an continually updated 'About' page. Post-install, the plugin will reflect the latest information from the assigned PeoplePond profile, allowing users to keep several websites current, while only making the change on one PeoplePond profile. Sounds simple enough.

The PeoplePond WordPress Plugin can be downloaded for free. Test it out and let us know what you think by commenting below!

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