Get Business Blogging

Get Your Business Blogging

Who We Are

Amanda O’BrienInbound Marketing [email protected]

Hall Web Serviceswww.hallme.comwww.hallme.com/blog

• 10+ Years in Business• Online Suite of Tools

Got Questions?

• Use GoToWebinar “Chat” or “Ask a Question”• Twitter with @hall_web

What is a Blog?• Reverse-chronological order

• Easy to update

• Personality

• A journal of activity

• A series of thoughts

• Comments

• Archived

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bunny/61386068/

How are Blogs Used?

• Personal Blogs• Professional Bloggers• Business Blogs

How Businesses Use Blogs:

• Launch New Products

• PR

• Demonstrate Expertise

• Disseminate Information

• Answer Common Questions

• Transparency

• Form relationships

Benefits of Blogging

• Don’t have to be tech savvy

• Easy to update

• Establish authority in an industry

• Network with others in your field

• Expand Brand Awareness

• Communicate with sales leads

• Create personality for your business

Other Benefits of Blogs:

• More content for your site

• SEO optimized

• Great source of links

• Indexed quickly by Google

• Google will revisit your sitemore frequently

• Social Media hub

Getting Started

• Which Software?

– Wordpress, Blogger

– Movable Type, Typepad

• Create (or choose a theme)

• Integrate Plugins

– SEO plugins

– Multimedia Sharing

– Social Media Sharing

Technical Considerations

Finding our Niche

• What makes you different?

• Focus on a certain subject

• Narrow your interests

• The more focused, the less competition

• Long tail search terms

• Potential for monetization

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paullikespics/2466050750/

Start Blogging!

• Title – Short, catchy, clickable

• Content – Concise, clear, lots of formatting

• Media – Photos, Videos

• Categories/Tags – Aid in organization

• Publish – Just do it!

Essential Aspects to a Post:

What to Write About?• Appeal to a Need

– “Ten Secrets to Saving Money with Accounting Software”

• Resource

– “100 Best Sites for Researching Accounting Software”

• Respond to News

– “What Washington's New Family Leave Act Means to You”

• React to Another Blog Post

Writer's Block?

• Shed Mental Barriers

• Take a Walk

• Don't Take it Too Seriously

• Just Start Writing

• Write During an Assigned Time

• Browse the Web a Bit

Sometimes it'll be tough,but you just need to write!

Comment on other blogs• Less commitment than writing a blog

• Establish yourself as an expert

• Link love

• Start relationships

• Build subscribers

• Show support of good work

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/missmiah/4191979465/

The Magic of RSS

• A blog, unlike a website can announce itself

• RSS to email

• Feed Readers

• Google reader

Measuring Success

• Increased Traffic

• Comments left on Blog

• RSS Subscribers

• Inbound links

• More conversation about your brand/company through the blogosphere

Know What You Want,So You Can Know When You Get It

• Keep up to date

• Make an editorial calendar

• Keep on-subject

• Keep it short

• Provide value

• Show personality

REMINDERS!

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/seandreilinger/439462046/

• TMI

• Lambast the Competition

• Get (too) Political

• Forget to Update

DON'T

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenr/2275553683/

Learn More!

• SEO Vision Blog - http://www.hallme.com/blog

• Webinars – Every Tuesday at 2PM EST http://www.hallme.com/webinars

• Email Me: [email protected]

• Follow us! http://twitter.com/hall_web

• Probblogger 29 Tips, Tutorials and Resources for New Bloggers