Presented by Karen Porter UM School of Business Administration & ImpactOnlineMarketing.com Blogging 101

Online: Content is King Make that REMARKABLE content! Content that adds value for your site visitors Content that warrants links from other sites Content that is worth sharing in social media Content that has variety: articles, videos, photos, podcasts, infographics As a website owner, you are one half marketer and one half publisher Blogging is a great way to add quality content to site

Benefits of Blogging Each post counts as a new page in Google Google LOVES continually added fresh content More pages means more credibility = increase SERPs Can establish you/company as a thought leader Gives visitors a way to converse through comments Build trust and rapport with your readers Draw more links from other sites that static pages

Do Not Use a Free Bloggng Platform Do NOT use a free platform blog with subdomain _______.wordpress.com _______.blogger.com _______.typepad.com You do not have true “ownership” of your blog You build authority for the main domain, not your own blog If you want to move your blog later, can be very difficult to do so

Why WordPress.org Gives you TOTAL control over your blog Ideally, incorporate your blog into your website _____.yourdomain.com – or – yourdomain.com/______ Does require self-hosting Your own domain (roughly $8 - $15 per year) Your own hosting (less than $10 per month) WordPress.org very popular (25% all new sites) Exceptional flexibility (plugins, widgets, etc) Content management system is easy for clients Easy to find support

Blog Post Best Practices Blogs 250+ words – words ideal Select a keyword and write around it – then use SEO Select a great title (and include your keyword) Incorporate other media: photos, videos, audio, etc Stick to your topic Blog at least once per week (more is better) Blog once per day and get twice the results Always be thinking of new topics (keep notes!) Find more in the two assigned extra readings

Blogging – Ideas for Content Follow others you respect (blogs, social, etc) Search Google or Bing (“most popular xyz”…..) Tie to current events (what’s trending on Twitter) Use Google alerts Respond to common reader questions Use an idea generator topic ideas:

Promoting Your Blog SEO – organic search can bring you lots of traffic List your blog in the major blog directories Do a Google search to find this list Promote new posts on your social media accounts Use social bookmarking (& get others to do so too) Encourage commenting (and then comment back) More commenting encourages a viral effect Include social buttons on posts to encourage social sharing of your content

Assignment #2 – Blog Review Brainstorm three ideas for your course website/blog Hobbies, interests, things you do well, etc. List those three ideas and explain why you think they are good topics to consider Additional Readings Hubspot ebook: An Introduction to Business BloggingAn Introduction to Business Blogging Hubspot ebook: 15 Common Business Blogging Mistakes15 Common Business Blogging Mistakes Find on OSMM.net eBooks tab Part 1 Part 2

Assignment #2 – Blog Review Select your favorite topic from those you've listed in Part 1 and seek out a blog online that covers that same topic. Write a "review" of that blog by discussing the following: List those three ideas and explain why you think they are good topics to consider Additional Readings Hubspot ebook: An Introduction to Business BloggingAn Introduction to Business Blogging Hubspot ebook: 15 Common Business Blogging Mistakes15 Common Business Blogging Mistakes Find on OSMM.net eBooks tab Part 2

Assignment #2 (cont) Select your favorite topic from those you've listed in Part 1 and seek out a blog online that covers that same topic. Write a "review" of that blog by discussing the following: Your thoughts on the look/feel/user-friendliness How well are the blogs written (are articles credible?) How well does the blog follow "best practices" as covered in class and in the two assigned Hubspot reports? Are there things "wrong" with the blog as identified in the two assigned Hubspot reports? Note: Professional presentation is important!