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Get More Return
by Blogging Better
Amanda O’Brien
Who We Are
Amanda O’Brien
VP of Marketing
amanda@hallme.com
@amanda_pants
Hall Web Services
www.hallme.com
www.hallme.com/blog
@hall_web
• 10+ Years in Business
• Online Suite of Tools
Got Questions?
• Use GoToWebinar “Chat” or “Ask a Question”
• Twitter with @hall_web
Get More Return by Blogging Better
Document or note
your current
blogging efforts.
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/62648476@N00/4545576365/sizes/l/in/photostream/
What are you doing?
What are you not doing?
How are people reacting?
What do you want to be doing?
What are your competitors doing?
What are your heroes doing?
• Who is going to read your blog?
• What other blogs do they read?
• What's their preferred way to get content?
• How hungry are they for new stuff?
• How did they find you?
• What do they want to hear from you?
• Conversation – Talk WITH not AT
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterjlambert/97671748/
Know Your Audience
• Pay attention to comments
• Engage every commenter
• See what content is popular on other blogs
• What questions are people asking you offline?
• What are their pain points?
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/seandreilinger/439462046/
It's About Them, Not You
• Who is your company - one person or many?
• What is the tone of the message -
professional, personal, sassy?
• Who is responsible for creating content and
who oversees it?
• How will blog content be promoted or
references in other marketing materials?
Corporate Voice
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sookie/149498941/
• What is the expected time commitment?
• What is the expected responsibility?
• Who is engaging commenters?
• Who gets involved if things get negative?
Make them BEFORE you have a problem!
Policies
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/katerha/4882721794/
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/scarto/537123452/
• You can't write if you don't read
• Find people on blogsearch.google.com,
Technorati, regular Google search, links
people send, etc.
• Learn how to use an RSS reader (google
reader)
• Start to participate with your favorite blogs
• Blog rolls
Input/Output
• How often you post?
• Who posts, when?
• The nature of the posts - do people
have a regular "beat“?
• Can change based on real-time data
and audience reaction
Creating Your Editorial Calendar
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/donutp/357753891/
• Content updated regularly
• SEO friendly
• Bonus terms
• Inbound Links
Blogs and SEO On Page SEO items
• Title
• Content
• Keywords, categories
• Links
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/manfrys/2226178289/sizes/l/in/photostream/
Speaking of Analytics… Better Content
More info:
http://www.hallme.com/blog/looking-for-good-blog-topics-try-keyword-questions/
http://www.hallme.com/blog/category/blogging/
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomsaint/2987926396/sizes/l/in/photostream/
Survey blog subscribers what
do they want more of?
Blog about industries you want to get into
What do you want people to do with your content?
Share or save to come back later?
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rutlo/4588105867/sizes/l/in/photostream/
Bookmarking
• Delicious
• Digg
• Stumbleupon
• Whitepapers
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/arriabelli/2517217324/sizes/l/in/photostream/
Share
• Simple Sharing
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Bit.ly
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinksherbet/3332289906/sizes/l/in/photostream/
• Funny - gotta pass it along
• Inspiring - reading this makes me want to DO something
• Valuable - wow, that helped me with this problem (resource,
how-to, video, etc.)
• Important - you need to know this (news, events)
Why Content Gets Shared
Make it easy for people to find,
receive and share your posts
• RSS/Email
• Social Add-ons
• Post on social networks
• Cross pollinate
• Be seen
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/woneffe/4048991276/sizes/l/in/photostream/
In Blogging, the Turtle Beats the Hare
Blogging is a marathon not a sprint.
In It For the Long Haul
• You will get better and faster
• Become part of your online
community
• Don't burn out OR fade away
(marathon not a sprint)
• Pay attention to trends
• Narrow your niche
Measure: Feedburner
• Trends - Are things growing?
• Sources - How are people subscribing?
• Reach - Who clicks on links in your RSS?
Measure: Google Analytics
• "Content" view
• Traffic sources
• Get familiar with advanced segments ...Or set up custom filters
What do you want people to do?
Conversions – Make them very clear
• Join email list
• Subscribe to blog
• Download whitepaper
• Buy something
• Contact you
3 Ways to reach out to other
bloggers to help market your content
1. Create valuable content and make sure
they can see it
2. Guest blogging opportunties
3. Comments
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/amit-agarwal/856769331/
Re-cap
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/iamthebestartist/128004712/
• Define who does what and when
• Know your audience
• Be consistent
• Listen, read, listen, read, write
• Measure
• Strategy
• Do something memorable, valuable and original
Learn More!
• Web Vision Blog - http://www.hallme.com/blog
• Webinars – http://www.hallme.com/webinars
• Follow Hall on Twitter - @Hall_Web
• Call us! 1-877-425-5932 (HALL-WEB)
• amanda@hallme.com
• Problogger: http://www.problogger.net/
• #blogchat 9pm EST Sundays
• Webinars – next week ‘What is a CMS and Do I Need One?’ with Alayna
Questions?
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/foxtongue/24720422/sizes/m/in/photostream/
• Use GoToWebinar “Chat” or “Ask a Question”
• Twitter with @hall_web

More Related Content

Get More Return by Blogging Better

  • 1. Get More Return by Blogging Better Amanda O’Brien
  • 2. Who We Are Amanda O’Brien VP of Marketing amanda@hallme.com @amanda_pants Hall Web Services www.hallme.com www.hallme.com/blog @hall_web • 10+ Years in Business • Online Suite of Tools
  • 3. Got Questions? • Use GoToWebinar “Chat” or “Ask a Question” • Twitter with @hall_web
  • 5. Document or note your current blogging efforts. Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/62648476@N00/4545576365/sizes/l/in/photostream/
  • 6. What are you doing? What are you not doing? How are people reacting? What do you want to be doing? What are your competitors doing? What are your heroes doing?
  • 7. • Who is going to read your blog? • What other blogs do they read? • What's their preferred way to get content? • How hungry are they for new stuff? • How did they find you? • What do they want to hear from you? • Conversation – Talk WITH not AT Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterjlambert/97671748/ Know Your Audience
  • 8. • Pay attention to comments • Engage every commenter • See what content is popular on other blogs • What questions are people asking you offline? • What are their pain points? Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/seandreilinger/439462046/ It's About Them, Not You
  • 9. • Who is your company - one person or many? • What is the tone of the message - professional, personal, sassy? • Who is responsible for creating content and who oversees it? • How will blog content be promoted or references in other marketing materials? Corporate Voice Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sookie/149498941/
  • 10. • What is the expected time commitment? • What is the expected responsibility? • Who is engaging commenters? • Who gets involved if things get negative? Make them BEFORE you have a problem! Policies Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/katerha/4882721794/
  • 11. Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/scarto/537123452/ • You can't write if you don't read • Find people on blogsearch.google.com, Technorati, regular Google search, links people send, etc. • Learn how to use an RSS reader (google reader) • Start to participate with your favorite blogs • Blog rolls Input/Output
  • 12. • How often you post? • Who posts, when? • The nature of the posts - do people have a regular "beat“? • Can change based on real-time data and audience reaction Creating Your Editorial Calendar Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/donutp/357753891/
  • 13. • Content updated regularly • SEO friendly • Bonus terms • Inbound Links Blogs and SEO On Page SEO items • Title • Content • Keywords, categories • Links Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/manfrys/2226178289/sizes/l/in/photostream/
  • 14. Speaking of Analytics… Better Content More info: http://www.hallme.com/blog/looking-for-good-blog-topics-try-keyword-questions/ http://www.hallme.com/blog/category/blogging/ Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomsaint/2987926396/sizes/l/in/photostream/
  • 15. Survey blog subscribers what do they want more of?
  • 16. Blog about industries you want to get into
  • 17. What do you want people to do with your content? Share or save to come back later? Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rutlo/4588105867/sizes/l/in/photostream/
  • 18. Bookmarking • Delicious • Digg • Stumbleupon • Whitepapers Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/arriabelli/2517217324/sizes/l/in/photostream/
  • 19. Share • Simple Sharing • Twitter • Facebook • Bit.ly Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinksherbet/3332289906/sizes/l/in/photostream/
  • 20. • Funny - gotta pass it along • Inspiring - reading this makes me want to DO something • Valuable - wow, that helped me with this problem (resource, how-to, video, etc.) • Important - you need to know this (news, events) Why Content Gets Shared
  • 21. Make it easy for people to find, receive and share your posts • RSS/Email • Social Add-ons • Post on social networks • Cross pollinate • Be seen Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/woneffe/4048991276/sizes/l/in/photostream/
  • 22. In Blogging, the Turtle Beats the Hare Blogging is a marathon not a sprint.
  • 23. In It For the Long Haul • You will get better and faster • Become part of your online community • Don't burn out OR fade away (marathon not a sprint) • Pay attention to trends • Narrow your niche
  • 24. Measure: Feedburner • Trends - Are things growing? • Sources - How are people subscribing? • Reach - Who clicks on links in your RSS?
  • 25. Measure: Google Analytics • "Content" view • Traffic sources • Get familiar with advanced segments ...Or set up custom filters
  • 26. What do you want people to do? Conversions – Make them very clear • Join email list • Subscribe to blog • Download whitepaper • Buy something • Contact you
  • 27. 3 Ways to reach out to other bloggers to help market your content 1. Create valuable content and make sure they can see it 2. Guest blogging opportunties 3. Comments Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/amit-agarwal/856769331/
  • 28. Re-cap Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/iamthebestartist/128004712/ • Define who does what and when • Know your audience • Be consistent • Listen, read, listen, read, write • Measure • Strategy • Do something memorable, valuable and original
  • 29. Learn More! • Web Vision Blog - http://www.hallme.com/blog • Webinars – http://www.hallme.com/webinars • Follow Hall on Twitter - @Hall_Web • Call us! 1-877-425-5932 (HALL-WEB) • amanda@hallme.com • Problogger: http://www.problogger.net/ • #blogchat 9pm EST Sundays • Webinars – next week ‘What is a CMS and Do I Need One?’ with Alayna Questions? Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/foxtongue/24720422/sizes/m/in/photostream/ • Use GoToWebinar “Chat” or “Ask a Question” • Twitter with @hall_web