As people become more and more engaged online your business blog is vital to the success of a professional practice or a small-mid sized business.
Learn from a seasoned pro on what it is and what to do.
• Basics of blogging for small business
• How to create blog posts
• Using blog content in social media
• How blogging helps SEO (search engine optimization)
Watch here: https://youtu.be/1AOamkFcLLk?t=17s
2. DOUG HAY
• President of KIAI Agency Inc
• 30 year marketing veteran
• Early adopter of Internet marketing &
social media
• Sought after speaker - presented at local,
regional and national conferences
• Lectured at two universities for the Sales
& Marketing Executives program
Blogging 101 for Small-Medium Business Success
ABOUT US
7. BLOG LINGO
A blog is a website in the form of a
‘journal’ that is available on the
web
• Blog. Slang for (weB LOG) on the
Web.
• Blogging. The action of updating a
blog.
• Blog post. The content of the blog
entry – an article.
• Blogger. Someone who maintains
a blog.
• Blogosphere. The information
available in blogs on the Internet
Blogging 101 for Small-Medium Business Success
11. Blogging 101 for Small-Medium Business Success
THINK LIKE A PUBLISHER
WEBSITE
VIDEO
WHITE PAPERS AUDIO
EMAILED
NEWSLETTERS
BLOGS
PRESS
RELEASES
CASE
STUDIES
ARTICLES
14. Blogging 101 for Small-Medium Business Success
CONTENT MARKETING
“Content marketing is a marketing
technique of creating and distributing
relevant and valuable content to
attract, acquire, and engage a clearly
defined and understood target audience –
with the objective of driving
profitable customer action.” Source:
Content Marketing Institute
17. Blogging 101 for Small-Medium Business Success
NOT ABOUT SELLING
“More than eight out of ten companies surveyed
said they were using some type of content marketing
to better engage with potential and existing clients.
“The future of marketing is not about selling so
much as it is about engaging. This is what
resonates with customers and why marketers have
embraced content marketing in such large numbers."
Source: Survey, conducted by HiveFire
18. Blogging 101 for Small-Medium Business Success
INFLUENCE A PURCHASE
Source: Digital Media
Report
20. Blogging 101 for Small-Medium Business Success
BENEFITS OF BLOGGING
• Get connected with prospects
• Helps make your website show up in Google
• Generates leads
• Key part of content marketing
• Use in Social Media
• Helps your reputation management
• Allows you to connect with influencers
• Tool to grow a following
• Low cost marketing
26. Source: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-alaskan-mom-brings-millions-to-her-carpentry-blog/ (2012)
Social Media Stats:
• Website: Ana White Homemaker
• Facebook: (Under “Knock-off Wood”): 50,000 (2012) fans
• Twitter: 2,550 followers
• YouTube: 30 videos
Highlights:
• Ana White’s blog draws nearly three million unique page
views every month.
• 90-95% of her Facebook content comes from fans, and
she leaves it all public.
• Pinterest is the #1 referring site to her blog, bringing 6,000
unique visitors a day.
• In year two, the blog began bringing in enough advertising
revenue to support her family.
27.
28. “Do you have advice for other women who might aspire to a blog-to-book
career like yours?
“I put 90% of my time into creating content and 10% into other stuff like
answering emails, social media, and promoting posts. If I had started with
the opposite, just 10% on content and 90% on promotion, I don’t think I would be
here today.
“Try to create content that’s so valuable it shares itself,
and then you can focus on doing what you love.”
Read more: http://www.thegrindstone.com/2012/10/17/mentors/homemaker-ana-
white-i-would-love-to-be-the-rachael-ray-of-diy-719/#ixzz2YT6TWQVQ
34. 1. Find URL e.g. www.yourname.com
2. Arrange hosting e.g. Media Temple,
GoDaddy, etc
3. Purchase theme (design)
4. Upload theme to your hosting (needs a
programmer)
5. Add content – text, images, video
YOUR BLOGYOUR BLOG
35. • System for building a
website/blog
• Automatically resizes for
monitors, tablets and
smart phones
Image credit: GraphicStock: monitor-tablets-n-phone-vectors_zyOFz1Fu_L.jpg
RESPONSIVE DESIGN
46. Does the keyword show the intent
that could lead the searcher to
searcher to become a customer?
e.g. used cars for sale Miami (good)
e.g. colors of the rainbow (bad)
COMMERCIAL INTENT
47.
48. Semantics are now at the core of every search
query on Google.
Semantics describes the differences or similarities
in perceived meanings of words, phrases, or sentences,
relative to context.
MEMO
55. • Your peers respect opinion leaders
• Position yourself as a thought leader by
writing blog posts that are
factual, timely and interesting
• Be realistic and write to be understood
• Be persistent—fame in your niche is not an
overnight activity
OPINION LEADER
57. 1. Get What You Want (In Health, Wealth, Relationships, Time and
Lifestyle) Example: “The Secret To Getting More Money For Your
Property!”
2. Crystal Ball and History Example: “10 Predictions on the Future of
Social Media”
3. Problems and Fears Example “Get Rid of Your Debt Once and For
All”
4. Fact, Fiction, Truth and Lies Example: “Little Known Ways To
Make Money On The Stock Exchange”
5. How To, Tricks Of The Trade Example: “How To Plan The Ultimate
Holiday”
6. Best and Worst Example: “The 10 Worst Mistakes Made by
Bloggers”
- From Authority Blogger
HEADLINES
60. • Write clearly: would
someone who knows
nothing about this
subject understand the
post?
• One idea per sentence
• No jargon that they
won’t understand
• Define acronyms with
the first use
UNDERSTANDING?
62. • Provide usable
information
others will want
• E.g. 10 secrets to
grow a small
business
DATA HOOK
https://www.graphicstock.com/stock-image/business-people-and-engineers-on-meeting-28
64. • “How to”
information is a
top selling
product on the
web
• E.g. Write a
unique tutorial
“HOW TO” INFORMATION
www.graphicstock.com/stock-image/listen-to-me-sign-shows-notice-or-message
65. Find a news
item or
statistics that
can be used in
the blog post
QUOTE NEWS
SOURCES
68. Search engines will
crawl your
website more
often if you have a
blog which is
updated regularly
SEARCH ENGINES
69. • A blog is not objective—
they have informed and
biased opinions
• People write blogs—not
the corporate
communications
department using
‘Corporate Speak’
A BLOG IS NOT….
Photo credit: graphicstock-sfk8rathiiskiczm6
70. • Use blogs to help
tell your story
• Brings a face to
your organization
• Search engines
love them
• Cross link to your
site & social media
• Use in newsletters
TELL YOUR
STORY
Image credit: https://www.graphicstock.com/stock-image/elderly-person
71. • Is it new to your
target audience?
• Skip the “same
old thing”
UNIQUE CONTENTUNIQUE CONTENT
72. “What counts as a high-
quality site?
Our site quality algorithms are aimed at
people find "high-quality" sites by
rankings of low-quality content.”
FROM GOOGLE
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.ca/2011/05/more-guidance-on-building-high-quality.html
73. • Use short
sentences and
short paragraphs
• Lots of sub-
headlines
• Bullet points
Image credit: Mike Licht
FORMAT
74. A blog is best
updated
regularly—daily if
possible but at least
weekly.
UPDATE FREQUENCY
75. • Typically not less than
500 words
• Eliminate any
unnecessary words—
keep it simple and easy
to understand
• Keep sentences short
• Keep paragraphs short
• Short = easy to read
BLOG LENGTH
www.graphicstock.com/stock-image/portrait-of-brunette-woman-with-tablet-
looking-at-her-colleague
76. ASK QUESTIONS
End your blog with something like
this:
“Did you find some ideas to improve
marketing, etc? Let us know in the
below.”
77. • Include pix(s) with
your blog posts
• Video can be
embedded or
included by linking
to it
PIX & VIDEO
78. SEO STEPSYOUR READERS
• Respect your readers
• Check for typos
• Informal writing style is fine but use good
grammar to make it a professional and
understandable communication
• Find your style and stick to it
84. “Keyword Density [is] not really a
factor. Yes keyword should be
present but density is not
important.
Include the keyword but make
writing sound natural.”
- Senior engineer at Google
KEYWORD DENSITY
85. • Title tag
• Description tag
• Headline (H1 Tag)
• Sub-headlines (H2 Tags)
• Body of the text page – write with
keywords
BLOG OPTIMIZATION
86. Information (code) in a
web page/blog not
intended for users to
see but provides
information to search
engine crawlers.
WHAT ARE TAGS?
87.
88. • Tag used to define the text in the top
line of a Web browser
• Utilized by search engines as the title
of search listings
• Make them short - maximum 55
characters with spaces
• Include at least one targeted keyword
(phrase)
• Never duplicate a title tag
TITLE TAG
89. TITLE TAGS SHOW UP IN SEARCH RESULTS
GOOGLE SEARCH: Custom Home Builders Chicago
90. • An tag to provide a description for
search engine listings.
• Descriptions should include very
specific, keyword-rich writing.
• 130 to 150 characters
DESCRIPTION TAG
91. DESCRIPTION TAGS SHOW UP IN SEARCH RESULTS
GOOGLE SEARCH: Custom Home Builders Chicago
92. • Use the keywords as
close to the
beginning of the
headline as
possible.
• The headline
should not be
longer than 65
characters
65
HEADLINES COUNT
93. • Use main keyword in the first
paragraph.
• Put a link to your website at the
end of the first paragraph, using a
keyword as anchor text for the link.
FIRST PARAGRAPH
94. • Use your main
keyword a few more
times in the blog and
once in the last
paragraph.
• Use lots of synonyms
BODY TEXT
95. Don’t use “click here”. Rather than click
here for more information, use descriptive
key words:
• E.g. Top stock picks for savvy investors
(key word: stock picks)
• E.g. Compare widget prices with 5 other
suppliers (key word: widget prices)
ADD LINKS FOR
READERS
100. • You
commenting on
other blog
posts
• Others
commenting on
your blog posts
COMMENTS COUNT
Photo credit: https://www.graphicstock.com/stock-image/feedback-sign-shows-
opinion-evaluation-and-surveys
106. • Search ranking for
blog
• # of bloggers allied
• # of positive blog
posts written about
your business
• Inbound links to your
site and blog
TRACK RESULTS
115. Takeaways
Write for your end user
Do your homework & have a plan
Write great content
Optimize for search
Write on a regular basis
Promote on social sites, email, etc
118. All materials contained in these presentations are
protected by Canadian and United States copyright
law and may not be reproduced, distributed,
transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast
without the prior written permission of KIAI Agency
Inc.
The names of actual companies, products or images
mentioned herein may be the copyright or
trademarks of their respective owners.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE