Blogging is one of the fastest and easiest way to increase the amount of traffic from the search engines. Each blog post helps to grow the size of your site and gives your visitors a unique piece of content to link to and share. For many small business owners however, blogging is an entirely new realm, and just getting started can feel like a daunting task. You might be eager to get started, but there are many things to consider before you do. Which blogging platform are you going to use? Will you let platform host it or do you want it on your site? What are you going to write about? How often are you going to be posting new articles? It’s easy to get overwhelmed in a hurry. In this presentation, you will learn: - Benefits of blogging for your business - How to get started blogging if you’ve never done it before - Optimizing your blogs for more search engine traffic - Free resources to help make your blog shine - And more! ThriveHive is a small business marketing software and solutions company. We have marketing experts with years of experience helping local businesses with increasing their visibility through blogging. This presentation will help any local business owners start blogging to promote their business, grow their website and their business.

1. Blogging to Build Your
Business
A ThriveHive Presentation

2. Introduction
Blogging for the first time can be intimidating
What if I don’t do it right?
What’s the point of it anyway?
What do I write about?

3. Agenda
Benefits
Getting Started
Search Engine Optimization
Blogging Resources

4. The Benefits of Blogging
Publishing fresh, unique content gives
visitors a reason to keep coming back
Every blog post is its own, new page on
your site that you can optimize
Blog posts are great for sharing through
social media to build buzz

5. The Benefits of Blogging
Blog posts give people a reason to link to
your site, improving your traffic from the
search engines
Blog posts are an easy way to add an
entire page of content focused on a
keyword you want to target

6. The Benefits of Blogging
Blogging regularly can establish you as an
authority and thought leader in your field
Blogging is one of the easiest ways to
grow your website traffic and leads without
spending a single penny

7. Getting Started
Choosing a blog platform
Cost- free vs. paid
Ease of website integration
Support system
Ease of use
SEO

8. Getting Started
Topics
Setup a Google alert for your industry
Host a brainstorming session with employees
or friends
Create a repository of blog ideas to pull from
in the future
Use the AdWords keyword tool
Use ubersuggest.org

9. Getting Started
Editorial Calendar
Decide how often to post- pace yourself!
Find reusable topics you can write about each
week on the same day
Plan which topics you’ll be writing and when
you plan to post them- commit to a date!
Download our free Marketing Calendar for
2014

10. Search Engine Optimization
Choosing keywords
The Common Sense Approach
Start with a few high level keywords
Create more using modifiers
Location, quality, price, etc.

11. Search Engine Optimization
Choosing keywords
The Advanced Approach
Use tools to find ideas and suggestions
Find relevant terms with a good number of
searches
Google each term to determine level of competition
KEI
KEI = (searches)2 / (competition)
Higher is better

12. Search Engine Optimization
Helpful habits
Blog often
Use images
Write engaging content
Share!
Things to optimize
Titles
Headings
Image alt tags
URLs

13. Search Engine Optimization
Titles
Determines the headline of your post as well
as the title tag for the page
Possibly the most important element on the
page
Be sure to use a keyword you want to rank for
in your titles

14. Search Engine Optimization
Headings
Special bolded text for organizing and naming
sections of a post
Use “Heading 2” or higher, or <h2>
Help reinforce the theme of the post
Try to include some phrases that are closely
related to your main keyword

15. Search Engine Optimization
Image alt tags
Search engines can’t see what’s in a
picture, alt tags allow you to tell them
Look for the words “alt” or “description” when
uploading your images
Try to incorporate your main keyword or
closely related phrase

16. Search Engine Optimization
URLs
Search engines look at the URLs of your post
for keyword cues
Make sure your posts have URLs that you
can read
If the URLs are a bunch of letters and
numbers, the main settings of your blog
should let you to change it

17. Blogging Resources
Keyword Tools
Google AdWords keyword tool
Ubersuggest.org
Ideas
Google Alerts www.google.com/alerts
Google Trends www.google.com/trends

18. Blogging Resources
Images
Stock images www.freedigitalphotos.net
Stock Photography Free Getty Image Embed
Free blogging platforms
Wordpress- our #1 pick
Drupal
Blogger
Tumblr

19. Marketing Resources
Call us now to schedule a FREE consult:
(888) 997-4183
Be sure to check out our Marketing
Resources page for free eBooks, templates,
webinars, and more.