In Part 1 of this series, we looked at some of the reasons you should be blogging – and why a blog is an essential component of a website.Here in Part 2, we look at some of the tools you need to implement in your blog to attract, retain and keep an audience returning to your blog.
There are a lot of issues to consider for your blog, starting with some of the most fundamental questions about your blog’s ranking, posts and readability to more complex questions about metrics, strategy and technical tools to enhance your blog for maximum effectiveness.
Here are the top 6 considerations for a business blog:
- Your Blog – Do you have a blog? How does it ranks on Technorati? Do you post regularly? Do you have a blogging strategy? Do you read/comment on other blogs?
- On-page SEO – Check metadata, keywords, images, readability
- Off-page SEO – Look at domain info, page rank, indexed pages, traffic rank, inbound links, directory listings
- Social Mediasphere – Connect with social networking sites including Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook, del.icio.us bookmarks and Digg submissions
- Converting Qualified Visitors – Do you have an RSS feed, email signup and conversion forms on your Blog/Website?
- Competitive Intelligence – How do you track your rank and compare your score over time and against your competitors?
And here’s a summary of the top 3 Keys to a successful Blog:
- Reading – make sure you stay up-to-date with other blogs and information in your industry
- Use RSS Reader (www.google.com/reader)
- Research blogs
- Subscribe to other blogs
- Read, read, read…
- Writing
- Use your own URL (e.g. www.yourblog.com, NOT http://yourblog.wordpress.com )
- Allow RSS subscriptions
- Allow RSS emails
- Integrate automatically with Social Media tools
- Allow email subscribers to your blog
- Create an editorial calendar – pick a schedule that works for you – daily, weekly, monthly
- Consider your content and your target audience and make sure that each fits the other
- Commenting
- Increase the value of the conversation
- Share examples
- Add a point
- Disagree
- Add a resource or useful link
- Ask a question
- Use your real name
Remember, blogging is about your expertise, your knowledge, your industry, your side of the conversation – and what you bring to the table that’s interesting and of value to your audience.
