Ways to Make Your Blog Shine

Sherif S. MorganFriday, September 14, 2012

Why Blog?

• Builds Traffic– search engine traffic– social media traffic– email marketing

• Increases credibility– pre-sell– establishes you as an expert– Voice and Authority

The two famous questions…

For each blog post, ask these 2 questions:

Who?

Why?

Who is THE WHO

Who is the WHO

Identify niches (needs) within your market

What are their... interests?goals?problems?pain points?hot buttons?

• Who (age, location, gender, education, job title)

• Environment (when and where are they using your site? What device are they using?)

• Tasks (what are they trying to complete/learn)

• Motivation (what is their broader desired outcome?)

– Goals, Problems, Pain Points?

• Name or nickname & Representative photo

Source: http://blog.kissmetrics.com/user-personas-for-seo/

Drilling Down

The two famous questions…

For each blog post, ask these 2 questions:

Who?

Why?

What are some of the WHYSwhat would you like to accomplish [short term]

You?

What are some of the WHYS

what would you like to accomplish [long term]

– Establish credibility or thought leadership– Increase traffic to your business website– Humanize your company– Generate Leads or Pre-Sell Prospects– Brand Building/Awareness

The Topics

Before you pick a topic… Listen!

Social Media

Conversations

Surveys

Questions

Clients’ FAQs

Clients’ Emails

Common Problems

Problem?

eye-catching title/headline

KEYWORD OR in social media

Why is a headline important?

“The anatomy of post”

• People judge a [post] by it’s [headline]

• Catchy… [ if not, they may not click! ]

• High SEO value– Include your keyword

PerfectTimeless

Shareable

Write Headlines that SHINESpecificity / Helpfulness / Immediacy / Newsworthiness / Entertainment Value

http://blog.kissmetrics.com/how-to-write-headlines

A Scientific Approach to Writing Page Titlehttp://www.problogger.net/archives/2012/03/06/a-scientific-approach-to-writing-page-titles

52 Headline Hacks!http://headlinehacks.com (by Jon Morrow)

3 Must-Have Guides to Write Amazing Headlines

The Content

design

Designing Your Content

• Start with an engaging story?

• Scannable Text– Short Paragraphs– Headlines– Sub-Headlines– Bullet Points

• Use Photos

Where to get the photos?

http://www.flickr.com/search/advanced/

Quality of Picture Matters

• Unique

• Engage people more

• Increases perceived value

• Shareabiliy?

The Content

the content itself

How to sound authoritative?

• Authoritative Headlines– The content must deliver

• Knowledge + Personal Experience (the story)

• Concise!– Simple yet profound (e.g. Seth Godin’s blog)

• Comprehensive– Dig Deep. Use details and examples– Go Wide. info can be applicable/universal

• Relevance: solve problems & ease pain points

• Present original research?

Create Shareable Content

• Create authoritative content• Publish original research, info, graphs• Compile resources & links on a subject• Solve a problem• Make a list• Paint a picture

• Great referencehttp://www.chrisbrogan.com/23-essential-elements-of-sharable-blog-posts/

The Call-to-Action

How to Achieve the WHY?

• Conclude with a call to action:– ask an engaging question– ask them to comment, share, connect

• Include email subscription box after the post

• Make it easy for them to participate

make it easy to share

make it easy to subscribe

The SEO

Insert in the Title (Headlines)- 60 characters

Insert in the meta Description- 160 characters.- appeal to both people and search engines- make it emotional / intriguing (for people

not SE)- Tip: “the cliff hanger”…

Use in the content naturally- don’t over-use.- use related words

What to do with a “keyword”

The Perfectly Optimized Page (SEO)

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/perfecting-keyword-targeting-on-page-

optimization

too many rules / always changing / etc.

SEO techniques are important, but…write for people not for search engines

write great post titles (include your keyword)

provide quality content with related keywords

include relevant and helpful links

when you do that… people will link back, share on social media, etc.

The No BS Guide to SEO

http://socialtriggers.com/perfect-blog-post/

<a href=“http://twitter.com/home/?status=Did you go to OnlineBizSMARTS Group today. Awesome Presentation by Sherif via @MsDaleDillon”>Tweet this!</a>

“Click to Tweet”

Recap

• Intro– why blog & questions you must ask before you

post

• How to attract and bring people in– via keyword research– the headline

• How to keep people there– engage with story, photo, easy-to-read content

• Deliver!– authoritative / shareable content

• Call to Action

Dale Dillon and Michael Gray

www.OnlineBizSMARTs.com

SMART Team Master Mind MembersSherif Morgan Deborah Munoz-ChaconAaron Eden Chris Hazen Molina

Steve FrantzisStaff Pam FurlongDanielle Lips