Tag: blogging
Fame at last! Front page billing on the new discountcoder blog
At last, my fifteen minutes of fame. I’m delighted to present the re-designed discountcoder.com blog, where I’m happy to be playing a starring role in creating a money saving resource to be proud of. Here’s a link:
Money Saving Superstars – with Katie and Jenny.
I’ve been writing for Daisy and Jenny for more than two years and they’re amongst my favourite clients. Thank you both so much for the opportunity. Let’s take the world by storm!
25 ways to attract more visitors to your blog
Setting up a blog is one thing. Making it work as hard as possible for your business is another. Here’s twenty five ways to attract more people to your blog and keep search engines happy:
- use key words and phrases within your posts and post titles to make your blog search engine friendly. When search engines ‘know’ what your blog is about they can classify it accurately and make sure it pops up in front of people who search on your key terms. Need advice? WordPress and the other major blog platforms all provide blog SEO tutorials and guides. And Google’s keyword research tool is as good as any
- take advantage of SEO-related plug-ins that do a lot of the hard work for you. I use an all-in-one SEO pack plug-in for WordPress
- include images. They make such a difference to the way blog posts look, and people are more likely to read illustrated posts
- vary the length of your posts to keep human visitors interested. Some short, some medium, some long
- Tweet your posts on Twitter and promote them on Facebook, LinkedIn etcetera for an integrated approach and extra traffic
- make sure your blog post urls are simple and readable, not great long strings of letters, symbols and numbers. You can get information about how to create user friendly URLs via most popular blog platforms, and with some you can get it sorted in one click
- put your blog on the same url as your business so all that lovely SEO juice benefits your site
- check Google Analytics regularly to spot trends, peaks or troughs. You might find some subjects attract more interest than others, acting as valuable link bait
- download a good spam filter so your blog doesn’t fill up with crappy spam comments
- make sure your blog ‘pings’ out to the world every time you create a new post. Check out your back-end blog CMS to find out how to make it happen
- include links to useful, entertaining, interesting, relevant and exciting places
- make your blog look as good as possible, while keeping it simple. Eye candy helps pull in readers!
- be consistent. If you’re the only contributor, make sure you use the same tone of voice throughout your posts
- add your blog address to your email communications, as part of your contact details
- invite comments by actually asking people to interact, posing questions like, “What do you think?”and “What are your experiences?”
- create blog titles that knock people’s socks off, make them want to read on and give you back-links
- vary the subject matter to keep things interesting: Q&As, special offers, useful links, surveys, news and views, thought pieces, funny stuff, controversial stuff, product launches…
- keep it soft sell. There’s nothing more boring than reading a hard sell blog full of excessive trumpet blowing
- keep your eye on trending topics and react to breaking news as it breaks
- allow guest blog posts from reliable sources
- ask for contributions from people in your field you admire and respect
- write about customers or business partners, encouraging them to link from their site to your blog for extra link oomph
- blog regularly to keep search engine bots and spiders on their toes and get your blog re-indexed frequently
- write in plain language and don’t be scared to express your personality. The theory of Likeonomics is huge these days and marketers everywhere are discovering the value of being human in a business context!
- allow comments, but learn what’s spam and what isn’t. Once you get the hang of it it’s easy to distinguish genuine feedback from comment spam, which can devalue your blog in savvy readers’ eyes. Your blog’s spam filter plug-in will catch some of it, but not necessarily all of it
(Thanks to http://www.sxc.hu/profile/jaylopezs for the royalty-free image)
Blogging: Avoid hard selling, enjoy better blog performance
Overtly sales-focused blog content doesn’t put search engines off. But it can alienate human visitors. So you might as well please both parties and get the maximum marketing value out of blogging.
Human visitors come back time and time again if they like what you’re saying, and some will convert to customers.
But most people don’t respond well to a full-on 100% hard sell. We prefer to be informed, entertained, stimulated, inspired, amused… even angered! The occasional post selling your services - or reaffirming their value - is fine. But keep it low key.
If you’re not sure if your blog’s focus is right, ask yourself how you’d feel if you’d just come across it for the first time. Or ask a friend for an objective opinion.
The stellar rise of blogging – Hire a freelance copywriter!
As a freelance copywriter, now and again I spot patterns in the market. The latest? It looks like blogging is taking off… with a vengeance.
Why? There are probably several good reasons. Here’s my top six, just the tip of the iceberg.
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Google likes lively sites and a blog is a relatively simple way to update your website regularly
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focusing on key words and phrases in your blog helps ensure Google and co rank and rate your website accurately
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people like blogs too. A blog is a great way to drive traffic to your site. In other words, blogs work well for lead generation
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blog with authority and you’ll win the trust of new prospects as well as reinforcing your brand to existing customers – which boosts sales conversion
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a great blog can differentiate you from your competitors in a crowded sector
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a freelance blogger is excellent value for money!
No time to blog? Hire a freelance copywriter to develop your blog for you. I write regular posts for several clients who trust me enough to give me direct access to the innards of their blog without a qualm. The cost? £15 per 300-350 word post.
Want samples? Just head over to my website’s freelance copywriting portfolio page. Or request a free sample, absolutely no obligation.
Blog power changes the food industry
As a freelance copywriter working from home, my only company during the day is BBC Radio 4. A recent edition of The Food Programme illustrated just how powerful the blogosphere has become.
Food bloggers are taking the world by storm. They’re starting and ending trends. They’re creating new celebrities. And they’re making people fortunes.
A week or so later another R4 programme covered food photographers, again venturing into the blogosphere to marvel at the online manifestation of peoples’ fascination with the subject.
I know for a fact that this blog helps keeps my website visible on Google. I also know it nets me a fair amount of business. How’s your blog performing?
Bloggers are already hugely influential across all sorts of sectors. Blogging is still a relatively new marketing medium and we don’t fully understand the long term benefits yet. And I don’t think blogging’s influence influence has peaked. Nowhere near. It’s powerful stuff.
If your blog is sad and neglected now’s a good time to give it a boost. As well as working a treat for SEO and delivering fresh regular content to your visitors, you might even end up a big cheese in the blogosphere.
Jump on the bandwagon! Just ask me for a quote for writing regular blog posts.
