How to Blog in 2013

Does it haveto be this complicated?

How to Blog in 2013

Larry LevensonChief Inbound Officer

Co-founder

@SigmaWebMktg

Pay per click

Print advertising

Press releases, PR

Social media

Other community marketing

EmailCompany Website

& BlogLocal Search/

Local Marketing Testimonials & reviews

SEO is tied into everymarketing effort!

Bring Order to the Noise

AgendaI. Five Keys to a Successful Blog

1. Identify Target Personas2. Create a Mix of Posts3. Write Great Posts4. Sustain It5. Spread It

II. How to Measure Your Blog

Exponential Effects

Blog

SEO• More Traffic• More Links

Social Media• Even More

Traffic• Even More Links• More Content

Key #1: Identify Target Personas

Kadient photo by: David Meerman Scott

Your Content Pulls in Your Personas

“Create the kind of online content that your buyers naturally gravitate to.”

- David Meerman ScottAuthor of The New Rules

of Marketing & PRwww.webinknow.com

What Keywords Will Attract Your Personas?

• Fill posts with them• Build an archive of content full of them

How We Pick Keywords: Keyword Grader

A Word of Caution

• Writing for your personas DOES NOT mean writing about the products and services you sell them

• Write about the things they want to learn about

Key #2: Create a Mix of Posts

Flickr Photo: jek-a-go-go

Plan a Mix of Posts

News

Feature

Video

Photos

Opinion

Different people are interested in different things!

Raisin Bran – Basic, Everyday Posts

• How to posts• Rich in

keywords• Get good at

whipping them out

• Make sure they’re useful or entertaining

Flickr Photo: greeneyesmilw

Spinach – Healthy, Thoughtful Posts

• Should establish your site as a thought leader in the industry

• Put time into them

• Don’t do too many

Flickr Photo: ulteriorepicture

Roasts – Big Blog Projects

• Lots of work• Lots of links,

discussion and attention

• Pick them well

Tabasco – Posts That Start Fires• Make a bold

statement• Be prepared to

defend yourself• Lots of comments

and links• Too many of

these posts could lose trust

Flickr Photo: ANOXLOU

Chocolate Cake – The Sweet Stuff• These posts make

your blog fun• A chance to poke

fun at yourself• Lots of

traffic/links • Often video,

images

Flickr Photo: scubadive67

Key #3: Write Great Posts

Flickr Photo: Olivander

No Need to Be Hemingway

Just follow a few simple rules.

Photo: Wikipedia

Tips for Post Structure

• Use Headings• 400-600 words• Lists are OK (just

not too many)• 1 idea per post

Blog Topic Ideas

• List of 5 ideas, trends or thoughts• Publish a list of links• Take a recent experience and share it• Answer questions you received recently• Comment on other blog articles• Turn a press release into a blog article• Check your email outbox

Always Add a Photo

• Flickr• iStockphoto• Shoot your own

How to Search for a Flickr Photo

Go to Advanced Search

Then search for CC licensed photos

Where Do You Get Ideas?

• Everywhere• Keep a list• When you learn something,

flesh it out• Ask your readers

Keep a list of blog ideas – you’ll find them everywhere.

Write Great Headlines

How to Write Great Headlines

• Write the headline before the article• Imagine the reader won’t see the article• Surprise people• No spelling errors!• Use your keywords

Blog Article Titles

• Funny: “GoDaddy's 16-Step Checkout: Brainless Marketing At Its Finest?”

• Enticing: “107 Ideas for Content Marketing”

• SEO: “Creating Your Long Tail Keyword Strategy”

Still on page 1 after 13

months!

2-3 downloads every day

Key #4: Sustain It

Flickr Photo: michalo

Pick a Publishing Schedule

• Once a week? Every Monday and Wednesday?

• Stick to it• The goal is to build up a

body of keyword-rich content (create an asset)

Different Ways of Doing Posts

• Email interviews• Video interviews (conferences, office

visitors, clients)• Guest posts from people with similar

blogs• “Best of” lists• “How we do it” posts

Should I Hire People to Blog for Me?It depends.

Pros:– You don’t have to do the work– You hire a “professional writer”

Cons:– Nobody knows your business like you do– You don’t build your personal reputation– You don’t participate in the conversation

Key #5: Spread It

Flickr Photo: felipearte

Think of Blogging Like a Job Search

Would you sit at home and wait for a call?

Take Comments Seriously

• Make sure you comment back• Find out who the people are

– Follow their links– Subscribe to their blog, follow them on Twitter

Use these links

Why Leave Comments?

• Karma

• Get noticed by other bloggers

• Get noticed by other blog readers

• Get links back to your blog

• Thought leadership

Tips on Comments

Increase the value of the article:

• Share an example• Add a point• Add a useful link• Disagree• Ask a question• Use your real name (not company)

Publish on Social Media

• Post directly• Post via twitterfeed.com automatically

• Post to your status• Post automatically via a feed to your fan or

profile page

Also consider LinkedIn, other sites.

Where Do You Link to Your Blog?

• Your homepage• Press releases• Business cards• Email signatures

AgendaI. Five Keys to a Successful Blog

1. Identify Target Personas

2. Create a Mix of Posts

3. Write Great Posts

4. Sustain It

5. Spread It

II. How to Measure Your Blog Success

Metric #1: Subscriptions

• A measure of you blog’s total reach• A “sticky” number

Metric #2: Pageviews

• Great for media sites selling display advertising• Potential problems for your business:

– Doesn’t measure RSS– Weak measure of engagement– What’s the business value of a “view”?

Metric #3: Comments

• Quantitatively, a good indicator of engagement• Qualitatively, a great way to listen to market

Metric #4: Inbound Links

• Measure the SEO impact of your blog• An indicator of your blog’s role in outside

conversations

Metric #5: Conversions

$

Thank You! Any Questions?

Larry LevensonChief Inbound OfficerSigma Web Marketinglarry@sigmawebmarketing.com480 359.5501

Free tools:http://marketing.grader.com

http://sigmawebmarketing.com/blog http://www.googlekeywordtool.com