This document provides tips for turning a blog into a traffic magnet. It discusses the advantages of blogging, principles for attracting traffic such as search engine optimization and social media, keeping visitors engaged through subscriptions and newsletters, and call to actions. Search engine optimization tips include optimizing titles, images, and links. Social media advice includes monitoring engagement and integrating profiles. The document also provides contact information for the author.

1. Secrets to Turning Your Blog
Into a Traffic Magnet
Presented by Lorie Huston
Social Media Savvy Pets
Pet Health Care Gazette

2. Why Blog?

3. Advantages of Blogging
Blogging gives you a space which you
own. No one can take it away from you.
Blogging can give you a search engine
optimization advantage that a static
website cannot.
Social media sites change over time.
Remember MySpace? What if Facebook
disappears? Or Twitter?

4. Updating a business blog just once a week
increases leads by 77%.

5. Is Blogging Dying?
158 million blogs in existence according to
Technorati.
70 million Wordpress blogs (Source:
http://royal.pingdom.com/2012/01/17/internet-2011-in-numbers/
)
Decide for yourself!

7. Principles of Attracting Traffic
Find new traffic, new visitors
Keep people on site once there
Encourage return traffic

8. Finding New Traffic
 SEO (search engine optimization)
 Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest,
LinkedIn, YouTube, Google+, etc.)
 SEO and Social Media Work Together!
 Understand Google Snippets and How to Control
Them
 Guest posting/providing content for other outlets
 Use Google Author Markup
 Offer a Mobile Platform

10. Image Credit: DonkeyHotey/Flickr.com

11. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Organic search listings versus paid listings
Organic listings determined by Google
based on relevance to search inquiry, free
listings
Paid listings – Google adwords, choose
keywords, place bid, higher bids placed
near top, pay per click.

13. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Add new content regularly. Ideally, every
day. Minimum, once weekly. Must work
within your schedule. Sites with fresh
content get crawled more frequently.
Site loading time is part of algorithm.
Use Google Adwords Keyword Tool to
locate keyword phrases. Choose phrases
that are not too competitive but have
moderate to large search numbers.

16. SEO (cont.)
 Choose keyword phrases that readers will search
for.
 Don’t use keywords that are too broad – stay
focused.
 Use keyword phrases that fit naturally into text of
post. Write for reader, not search engines!
 Don’t overdo the use of keywords and keyword
phrases. Can be interpreted as stuffing by search
engines.

17. SEO (cont.)
Use keyword phrases in strategic locations
throughout blog post:
 Title
 In URL
 Subheadings (use h2, h3 tags)
 Near beginning of post
 Scattered throughout text of post
 In alt text for photos
 In captions for photos
 In hyperlink anchor text

18. SEO (cont.)
Take the time to create a killer title. (Short,
descriptive, use keywords, evoke emotions)
Create evergreen content. Write “pillar
posts” that are well-optimized.
Find out what your readers want and
provide it! Can you solve a problem?
Answer a commonly asked question?
Entertain?

19. SEO (cont.)
Take advantage of metatags:
 Meta Title - 70 characters or less, appears at top
of browser and as headline in search results
 Meta Description – 150 characters (roughly) or
less, make description interesting and/or action
oriented and give readers a reason to click
through to post, may appear in search engine
results
 Use keywords/keyword phrases in both meta title
and meta description

20. SEO (cont.)
 Meta Keyword field no longer used by
search engines, can help to focus post
though
 Meta title and meta description should be
different for each page. Each page should
have a different focus.
 SEO All in One Pack – Wordpress plugin

21. SEO (cont.)
Types of Links:
 Inbound links – links coming into your site
from other sites
 Outbounds links – links from your blog to
other sites
 Internal links - links from one page or post
to another within your blog or website

22. SEO (cont.)
Create inbound links to your blog by:
 Guest posting (add link to blog in bio)
 Commenting on other blogs
 Answering questions on forums
 Adding links to your profiles on social media sites
 Adding valuable content to blog that others will
want to share by linking
 Claim your site on Technorati and submit to ODP
(Open Directory Project) (dmoz.org)

23. SEO (cont.)
Avoid:
Paid links, even to high Page Rank (PR)
sites
Three way links
Irrelevant links

24. SEO (cont.)
Site Map:
Allows search engine bots to crawl your site
easily
Use Google site maps
Instructions available through Google
Webmaster Tools
Easiest is to submit RSS feed as sitemap

25. SEO – White Hat Vs Black Hat
SEO is not spam. However, there are best practices
that should be followed when utilizing SEO. These
are “white hat” tactics. “Black hat” SEO are
methods of cheating; ways to game Google (and
other search engines.) Beware! “Black hat” SEO will
get your site barred from Google. “Black hat”
techniques include keyword stuffing, invisible text,
doorway pages (pages that visitors never see that are
created solely for search engines.)

27. Most Popular Social Media
 107 trillion emails sent last year (Source:
http://royal.pingdom.com/2012/01/17/internet-2011-in-numbers/ )
 Facebook has more than 900 million users (Source:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/254386/facebook_nears_a_billion_members_fun_facts.html)
 Pinterest is closing in on 15 million users (Source:
http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/11/pinterest-stats/ )
 Three billion videos streamed on YouTube every day.
More video uploaded to YouTube in one month than the
three major US networks created in 60 years. (Source:
http://www.youtube.com/t/press)
 225 million Twitter accounts, 100 million active Twitter
users last year (Source:
http://royal.pingdom.com/2012/01/17/internet-2011-in-numbers/ )

28. Social Media Experiment Conducted by

34. Social Media Tips and Tricks
 Don’t hard sell. Start conversations. Answer
questions. Provide information. Make friends.
 Monitor stats. Determine best times to post, try
different types of posts. Use Facebook insights.
Tweriod.com for Twitter.
 Add keywords to social media profiles. Social
media profiles are searchable.
 Keep up-to-date with changes in social media.
 Use WooBox to add Facebook Tab/App with link
to blog.

36. Social Media Tips and Tricks (cont.)
 Don’t be overwhelmed by social media. Don’t feel
obligated to maintain a presence on all outlets.
 Most likely to be useful = Facebook, Twitter,
Pinterest, YouTube
 LinkedIn works well for networking with
colleagues and peers. Good for B2B.
 Recommend Google Plus profile even if not
actively promoting on Google Plus to take
advantage of Google Author Markup
 Find out where your audience is – take poll of
customers/clients if business

37. Social Media Tips and Tricks (cont.)
Don’t be afraid to ask readers to RT or
share your post.
Be sure you’re not only promoting yourself.
RT or share other content. Join in
conversations.
Integrate social media into your blog by
adding share buttons and follow icons.
Consider adding a Facebook like box
and/or Twitter stream to your sidebar.

40. Google Snippets
Title – What you set for the title of your site
or post. (Good reason to optimize!)
Snippet is directly below title.

41. Google Snippets (cont.)
 Webmaster has fair amount but not total control over
what shows up in a snippet.
 Can come from ODP (Open Directory Project), from meta
description, a place within the page.
 Google often (not always) uses meta description tag as
snippet. Can experiment with different meta descriptions
to compare click thru rates.
 Plus box can show stock rates, maps (address), other
interesting data on site.
 Site Links – no money involved. Lists individual pages like
Store Locator, About, Contact, etc. Not done for all sites.
 Sometimes shows More Results from query also.

43. Guest Posting on Other Blogs
Add link to your blog in bio.
Add links to relevant posts on your blog in
text of guest post. Ask webmaster first if
allowed.
Introduces you to a new group of people,
some of which will follow you to your blog.
Makes your name more recognizable.
Become the “go-to”authority in your field.
Also has SEO benefits.

44. Guest Posting on Your Site
Increases the authority of your site,
depending on the reputation of the guest
blogger.
Introduces new audience to your site as
people follow the guest blogger to see what
he/she has to say on your blog.
Build relationships
Understand the difference between guest
posting and article marketing

45. Writing for Other Outlets
 Other outlets may be online magazines or
publications, offline magazines or publications,
newsletters, content sites
 Include link to your blog in bio
 Article marketing: Use cautiously – may create
irrelevant links, lots of duplicate content. Be
especially careful of sites that spin articles.
 Content sites: Many were affected by Google’s
Panda algorithm change

46. Google Author Markup
Connects your Google Plus profile to your
website/blog content thru an author page
Makes search engine content stand out
Instructions available thru Google
Webmaster Tools

47. Offer a Mobile Platform
350 million Facebook users log in using their mobile
phone.
For WP: Wordpress Mobile Pack

48. Keep Visitors on Your Site
Easy to understand navigation
Attractive website
Easy to read blog posts
Include links to related posts when possible
Site loading time
Write a series of related posts

49. Website Navigation
 Navigation menu in sidebar or above/below
header.
 Menu items should have short, clear, easy to
understand descriptions.
 Limit the number of categories in menu.
 Each category in menu should have at least 8-10
published posts (or more.)
 Consider adding a “Most popular post” and/or
“Most commented post” feature in sidebar.
 Don’t forget “About”, “Contact” pages. Also
“Services”, “Hours”, “Directions” if applicable.

51. Attractive Website
Use attractive colors.
Professional look.
Shouldn’t be too crowded or busy. Not too
many widgets in sidebars. No busy
backgrounds that interfere with reading
text.
Consider adding a footer.

52. Make Blog Posts Easy to Read
Make blog posts easy to scan.
 Write short posts (400-800 words.)
 Use short paragraphs.
 Use subheadings.
 Use bullet points.
 Use an easy to read font.
 Don’t use a background that makes reading
difficult.
 Use photos and other forms of media (graphs,
charts, videos) to add visual appeal.

53. Internal Navigation
Including links to related content keeps web
visitors on your site. Use appropriate
anchor text! Don’t use “click here”
Make links visible. Don’t underline text
that is not a hyperlink.
Use appropriate tags and categories. Tags
act as a index for your site. Categories
resemble a table of contents. Both are useful
for helping visitors find relevant content.

54. Write a Series of Related Posts
Choose a broad topic and write a series of posts each
focused on one aspect of the topic.
For instance: Pet Nutrition as topic
 Reading a pet food label
 Ingredients
 Types of pet foods
 Where to buy
 How to make at home
 The role of treats
 Etc.

55. Site Loading Time
Most visitors won’t wait longer than 3-5
seconds for a page to load.
Use clean code. (Not all WP themes are
created equal.)
Keep photo file sizes small.
Use page caching. (For WP, Supercache or
Total Cache plugins)
Minimize the number of plugins.

56. Encouraging Repeat Visits
Encourage engagement (comments,
discussion via social media outlets)
RSS Feeds
Email subscriptions
Newsletters

57. Encourage Engagement
 Don’t make visitors login to leave a comment on
your blog.
 Consider allowing comments to be posted without
moderation. (Use spam filter like Akismet. Can
program to moderate only comments with links.)
 Captcha codes can be annoying and difficult to
use. May set up an obstacle for commenting.
 Allow visitors to subscribe to your comment feed
for email notification when new comments are
posted.

58. Encourage Engagement (cont.)
 Contests and giveaways are good ways to
encourage engagement and repeat visits.
Administration of contests and giveaways can be
time-consuming.
 Starting a discussion about a controversial topic
can also be a good way to encourage engagement
and repeat visits. Can require a lot of time to
moderate.
 Use social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
to facilitate discussion with different groups of
people.
 Respond to comments on blogs and through SM.

59. Blog Subscriptions
Provide an email subscription option in
addition to subscribing through an RSS
feed. Many people prefer to have email
notification but some like RSS better.
Place RSS and Email subscription options
in easy to see locations.
Consider using a service like Feedburner.
Allows you to track stats.

60. Newsletters
Different than email subscriptions for your
blog feed.
Need to provide fresh content. Offer
something of value.
Can allow you to build a list of subscribers
to market to if you have a product to offer.
MailChimp, Aweber – services that let you
set up and deliver a newsletter

61. Call To Action
Call to action can be inviting visitors to
subscribe to RSS, Email subscription or
eNewsletter.
Could also be an invitation to leave a
comment.
An invitation to follow you on social media
can work as a call to action.
A request to share a blog post also makes a
good call to action.

63. Contact Info:
Website: http://lorie-huston.com
Blog: Pet Health Care Gazette
http://www.pet-health-care-gazette.com
Blog: Social Media Savvy Pets
http://social-savvy-pets.com
 Email: loriehuston@pet-health-care-gazette.com
 Phone: (401)921-6369
 Address: 306 Bellman Ave, Warwick, RI 02889