Writing by Brick Marketing on Thursday, 15 of May , 2008 at 5:38 am
Blog content is becoming more important as time goes by. Internet users are now either looking for answers or looking for entertainment. If you can provide either one or both then you will gain a strong following of loyal readers. Of course, you need to attract those readers in the first place and the best way to do this is with a great title. In fact, see if can turn your title into a great headline.
Titles need to be written so in such a way that they catch a prospective readers attention and then brings them onto your website to read your blog content. Titles can be witty, or in the traditional ‘how to’ or numbered as in 7 Great Ways to…..Look at some of these titles and tell me if you would follow them up:
Facebook Gets A New Face Lift
Google Gets The Giggles
Microsoft Gets Harder
Yahoo! Says BooHoo
What about our parent site, Brick Marketing.
Brick Marketing Turns To Stone
These are more headline type titles but they can be very effective in drawing in new readers. If you follow the headlines with some great blog content then your readers are going to want to come back for more.
What about keywords, I hear you say. It is still possible to include keywords in your headlines, it just takes some clever word use. Often, the company or business name is included in your list of keywords anyway. The headlines from above could have keywords placed either side of them. For example if search engines is one of your keywords:
Search Engines: Google Gets The Giggles
The headline still works - perhaps better as it now has a category in the title. Blog content is important. Your title sells the content. If you think back to newspapers, headlines, particularly sensational, sold newspapers. Your headline needs to sell your blog. Your blog content seals the sale.
Category: Blog Content
Writing by Brick Marketing on Saturday, 10 of May , 2008 at 5:51 am
Podcasts are very popular and can easily be added to your blog content with five simple steps. Since a podcast can be downloaded and listened to at any time, it makes sense to offer it as a subscription option as well.
Five Steps To Podcast Success
Plan your podcast: is it going to be a recording of your blog post or are you going to do special one of posts like problem solving or how to’s. Part of your planning is to script what you are going to record.
Record your podcast: recording is fairly simple and straightforward. There are many free and paid software packages available - it is simply a matter of following their instructions.
Upload to a server: upload to either your website server or to a podcast hosting service. If you plan on doing regular podcasts then using a podcasting host will be money well spent. Podcasts can put a drain on your bandwidth and storage space.
Create a podcast feed: create a podcast feed using either a dedicated service or Feedburner. If you use Feedburner for your RSS feeds then using them for your podcasts is quite sensible. They also provide reasonable tracking statistics as well.
Promote: that is it. Promote your podcast, on your site, through social media and in emails.
Podcasting is not difficult and can become a valuable addition to your blog content. The next step is to learn how to promote your own products within a podcast - thats for another post I think.
Category: Blog Content
Writing by Brick Marketing on Saturday, 3 of May , 2008 at 7:58 am
Outsourcing your blog content has become popular particularly with web site owners who are also running a bricks and mortar business. Having the time to write interesting and informative content that is also search engine optimized can take time, and business owners often don’t have that time.
When trying to find a blog content provider there are several things you should look for. These include:
- Look for a blog content provider that has been around for awhile
- Ask to see examples of their work
- Determine whether or not they offer extra services such as social bookmarking
- Look for value - can they provide daily posts
- Can they provide writers skilled in your niche
There are many good blog content providers around these days. Find one that is willing to actually talk to you and not just communicate online. Discuss your needs and get a thorough understanding of what you are receiving for your money.
Blog content providers can prove to be good value for money if you employ the right people for the job.
Category: Blog Content
Writing by Brick Marketing on Friday, 25 of April , 2008 at 7:43 am
In today’s mult-media world your blog content needs to include more than just the written word. First it was pictures and images followed by podcasts that took the blogging world by storm, at least in certain circles. Now people looking for videos to satisfy their online needs.
Along the way there was a brief flirt with live feeds which are still popular with some online sales sites however as a general blogging experience, it has not taken off. Gone are days of pages full of rich content, at least, written content. It seems that visitors to blogs have moved beyond the information gathering stage and are now looking to be entertained at the same time. If your blog content does not entertain, the visitor will move on.
Inserting graphics and videos has never been easier particularly if you use WordPress and you have upgraded to the latest 2.5 version. You can easily insert a video or graphic into your blog content with a few simple clicks of the mouse.
Add to this the wealth of videos and images available through sites such as YouTube and there should be no reason why your site should remain bland. Your blog content is no longer about what you say - it is all about how you say it. Perhaps I should be throwing in a few videos of my own here.
Category: Blog Content
Writing by Brick Marketing on Monday, 14 of April , 2008 at 1:22 am
Most blogs have a couple of static pages, pages that don’t change, yet serve to fulfill a need. When considering your blog content, these pages should be used to advantage. Two pages in particular are often either ignored, or padded with some basic info and little else.
Blog content on these pages, if optimized properly, can even rate highly in search engines so think carefully before hitting them with a ‘no follow’ or ‘no index’. Two pages that can be optimized are the ‘About Us’ page and the ‘Contact Us’ page.
About us pages often display a brief history and that is it. Your about us page should provide basic information, however they are also a perfect place to sell your brand and your product range. If you have a product range that is constantly changing, then don’t include specifics. You can still produce keyword rich blog content related to your organization and your brand.
Contact us pages are so under utilized. You will often see a contact us page that just has an email address - nothing else. This is a total waste of a page. You can produce very effective blog content on this page that includes branding and product information. Even if you are a personal blogger, set up several email accounts (and then redirect them to all to one).
On your contact page you can then produce blog content related to various aspects of your blogging with a different email address attached to each aspect. Make sure each area is rich in appropriate keywords and let the spiders index it.
With careful use of keywords and links back to the appropriate areas on your blog, you can get plenty of mileage from what where once very unflattering static pages. Your visitors that read these pages will find them more professional. Blog content does not just relate to how, when and what you post. It relates to the blog as whole including effective use of all pages.
Category: Blog Content
Writing by Brick Marketing on Saturday, 12 of April , 2008 at 2:32 am
If you are running a business, whether it is online or the more traditional bricks and mortar business, running a web site and a blog may be too time consuming. Blog content services are growing and it can sometimes be difficult to find the best one suited to your business.
Blog content providers do just that, they provide articles or content that can be published on your site. Some providers offer extra services such as managing your blog, submitting your blog to directories and submitting your articles to social networking sites.
There are cheaper ways of obtaining blog content including including using PLR articles (private label rights), these however are sold to hundreds of others so the content is not unique. The amount of time you spend reworking them into unique content is not too different to just sitting down and writing the content yourself. PLR generally is to generic to be used to sell products.
When looking for a blog content provider, look at what services they are actually offering; how frequently they will provide the content; what costs are involved (in total) and what experience they have in a providing blog content in general and more specifically to your niche.
Another option that is available is to share the blog content creation. This can be done using your own skills to create content together with professional content providers. This can be done to suit your needs such as every other day, or just set days each week.
One of the major benefits to employing a professional blog content provider is that the content itself is always going to be relevant to your keywords (and rich in those keywords), fresh, and carefully edited when it comes to spelling and grammar. If you can justify the cost, consider a blog content provider to turn your blog into a professional face for your business.
Category: Blog Content
Writing by Brick Marketing on Saturday, 29 of March , 2008 at 7:13 am
Trying to get that killer article? Looking for a post that’s going to get to the front page of Digg? I am probably not going to be a lot of help today. However there is one major point when it comes your blog content that really does need addressing - is there a major point to your post?
I am sure you have seen a great title on a post and decided to check it out. Whilst reading you get that feeling of disappointment slowly creep through you as you wonder - where is this post going?
When determining your blog content a great starting place is to find a main point. From there you can derive a clever title, an opening paragraph that introduces the main point, and an article that addresses that point. It can be fairly obvious when reading a post when the author has not had a clear point to make and has started writing in a random fashion.
If you are trying to gain a reputation for providing reliable content then the last thing you want is to send a message that you are a rambler. I am sure there are some blogs where rambling random thoughts are not only appropriate but valid. These sites are often read for pleasure and humor and are generally not taken seriously.
In brief - what’s the point of having a great title if the blog content doesn’t have a point to make.
Category: Blog Content
Writing by Brick Marketing on Monday, 17 of March , 2008 at 6:21 am
Preparing blog content can be difficult, particularly if you are trying to write a post everyday or even harder, trying to write a couple of posts each day. There are a couple of key points that make the preparation of your blog content just a little easier.
Format
Write in an easy-to-read light style. Blog readers have developed a reading style of their own. Don’t bother with long sentences or large paragraphs. Keep everything short and to the point. Your finished copy should be easily scanned. Articles should be between 300 and 700 words max. The ideal size is around 500 words.
Style
It seems the preferred font for reading blogs is Sans-Serif and the size at 10 or 12 points. Any smaller and it is too much of a strain. Any larger and you are shouting. White space is another key preference. Small paragraphs create their own natural white space.
Delivery
Writing blog content that can be scanned quickly means delivering the content in nice neat little chunks. Bullet or numbered points are easily scanned. Small paragraphs with headings (as I have done with this post) also make for quick reading.
Keywords
Placing keywords in the article title are almost a must now. The keyword you use is also the ‘keyword’ for attracting your readers. For a 500 word article, you need only use the keyword six or seven times for SEO effect. Don’t fill the article with your keywords - keep the content interesting.
When preparing your content the most important thing to remember is why you are writing and who you are writing for. Don’t fall into the trap of saying I write for myself. If that is the case., why publish on a blog? You are writing for the general population.
Keep the articles user friendly, don’t fill them with keywords or long technical words. Keep the article as simple and straight forward as possible - but don’t dumb it down. You need to provide good blog content, not dumb blog content.
Category: Blog Content
Writing by Brick Marketing on Friday, 7 of March , 2008 at 1:26 am
Sometimes it can be difficult to come up with good quality fresh blog content each and every day. One solution is to use the occasional guest writers. The difficulty is knowing where to find them.
I know several blogs that advertise for guest writers however this option is fraught with several difficulties. The major difficulty is telling someone that you do not require their services (because you don’t consider their quality, experience or knowledge good enough). If you don’t handle this correctly you risk alienating them and any of their followers. The best way to handle this situation is use the ‘little white lie’ philosophy and advise them that you have already found sufficient writers.
Rather than advertising, there are two options that are far better. The first is to look at those that are advertising themselves as guest writers. You can visit their blog, look at the quality of their articles and get an understanding of their knowledge and skills.
The second method is to visit blogs that you enjoy reading and ask them if they would be willing to write a guest blog. If you use any of the social widgets that show your visitors then check out those that visit regularly. They obviously have an interest in your blog content and if they write in a similar genre then they may be quite happy to write a guest post for you.
There are several benefits to using guest writers. First the guest writer provides some degree of importance to your blog. Other think your blog is important enough to write a guest post on. For the author, they have their name and blog URL placed onto another site providing free links and exposure.
One of the biggest benefits is freshness that a guest writer can bring to your blog. I like guest writers that are a little controversial, who don’t mind speaking out. It creates an online conversation and of course they can be as controversial as they like, it is not you making the statements. You can often ‘feed’ of this type of post for several days with comments and follow up posts of your own.
A guest writer can be a great asset to your blog content providing a different perspective, a change in direction and a little controversy. All good for the continued life of your blog.
Category: Blog Content
Writing by Brick Marketing on Tuesday, 26 of February , 2008 at 10:14 am
Does your blog content planning include pillar posts? Do you have a clear idea of what a pillar post is? Pillar post are, as the name suggests, posts that support the whole structure of a blog. They are the kind of posts that people will reference time and again and are generally written to the following format.
- They are articles with a definite structure in that they include an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.
- They are usually longer than your average articles running to 700 or more words.
- Readers find the articles valuable and feel they benefit from the articles contents.
- The article is not only original it is fresh and demonstrates the authors expertise on the topic.
- The article remains valuable for a longer period of time.
- These articles are well researched and include referencing and other relevant links.
Pillar posts are important to your blog content as it increases your standing as a writer within the blogging community. You will know if your readers consider it a pillar post as it generally receives more attention in the social community through Diggs, Stumbles and other recommendations. Your pillar post will generally have the more inbound links than other articles within your blog content.
When it comes to your blog content you need a pillar post and it is handy to be able to write one on a regular basis. Just don’t over do it.
Category: Blog Content
Writing by Brick Marketing on Saturday, 23 of February , 2008 at 8:12 am
There are many blog and website services provider in the market place now. What features do you look for before buying their services.
The first and most important feature to look for is the level of expertise in the services they offer. Some services providers claim a high level expertise but unless they can back these claims up with evidence, generally in the form of a portfolio of successful clients, then tread warily.
The second feature, whilst not truly a feature, is price. Cheap is not always best, in fact it rarely is. The lower the price the lower the level of service - it is a simple matter of economics. If your are offering a service that requires a high level of expertise from a team then low fees indicate either a small team or a lack of dedicated resources.
The major features to consider are of course the services themselves. Do they offer web hosting? Price again is important here - cheap hosting invariably leads to cheap service - frequent down times and little support. When it comes to web hosting, you get what you pay for.
Other features include web design, content writing, directory and search engine submission, SEO, blog and/or website marketing and an ongoing help program.
Providers such as Brick Marketing not only offer a comprehensive range of blog and website services, they have the expertise to see your project through from start to finish. Brick Marketing also have a wide range of blog and website services to assist you in the ongoing development of your blog or website.
Category: Blog Content, Blog Design, Blog Marketing, Blog SEO, Blog and Website Services
Writing by Brick Marketing on Friday, 15 of February , 2008 at 6:41 am
When planning your blog content, do you write naturally, or do you plan for a particular audience? There is nothing wrong with either style, however, if you write to a particular audience, how effective are you.
If your blog content is aimed towards a particular social media audience, do you write for one particular outlet, or do you write in the hope of targeting them all? Each outlet has a particular leaning. Skellie wrote a post on Problogger today that pretty much summed up the target areas for blog content on Digg Del.icio.us and StumbleUpon.
……Each service likes certain types of content and dislikes others. Digg likes mass appeal. Del.icio.us likes anything its users like, but an item won’t go popular unless the source page gets thousands of hits.
If you’re in a niche without mass appeal, SU can help you where the other services won’t. Digg’s categories are deliberately broad to avoid diluting its power to send waves of traffic……
If you are writing to target these social bookmarking sites then you need to have a thorough understanding of what is required.
Where I do take issue with this philosophy is that it can be difficult to write to this market every day. Often it is more fruitful to write naturally on topics you understand and are completely comfortable with. Along the way you are going to have some good articles; some articles may be so so; and every now and then, an A++ article. When you strike that A++, you need to examine it carefully to see which social bookmarking site you can target, then fully optimize the article for that site. Hopefully you can then reap the benefit.
While waiting for that A++ article in your blog content, be active in each of your target social bookmarking sites. Promote the articles of other. They will come to appreciate your daily articles and when one of those articles shine, they will help promote it for. Try to get them to promote your post every day and they will become jaded and turn off.
Your blog content is very important. Your target audience is very important. It stands to reason that your blog content is written to satisfy you target audience.
Category: Blog Content, Social Bookmarking
Writing by Brick Marketing on Sunday, 20 of January , 2008 at 1:04 am
Blog content is everything! At least that is what they tell me. Make sure you get a good quality post onto your site at least once a day. Some bloggers go into withdrawal if they cannot get at least one article posted everyday - sometimes two or three articles on the one day.
Content is “king”. If you do not provide the quality - you will not get the traffic. The question is - how often and how long? There are no hard and fast ‘rules’. You do not have to post ‘everyday’. You certainly do not have to post several time per day.
Obviously if you build a group of loyal readers then you do need to provide articles on a regular basis. We have started a new year and typical to the season many people have written about their ambitions for the year and what worked and what did not work during 2007.
There has been one common thread through out what did work. It seems that less and more are having positive effects. Confused. Let me clarify. Less posts per week. Longer more in-depth posts on a regular basis. It is making more sense now to post in moderation but ensure those posts are top quality. There are so many blogs in the blogosphere it it becoming impossible to visit each one every day. RSS and email subscriptions are growing. A good quality post four or five times per week is just as likely to maintain or grow your traffic and as a daily post.
Blog content IS king. Provide quality articles on a regular basis and your readership is assured.
Category: Blog Content, Blog SEO
Writing by Brick Marketing on Monday, 14 of January , 2008 at 6:16 am
These WordPress tips can be used to present your blogs content using some attributes that are not present on the WordPress toolbar. To use these tips you will need to enter them through the code screen when creating your content.
You are probably familiar with the bold and italics attributes. You can also use strong or emphasized to highlight your text. Other attributes include big and small and superscript and subscript.
To get this effect use the following codes either side of the text you want to enhance.
<b> </b> for bold
<i> </i> for italics
<strong> </strong> for strong
<em> </em> for emphasized
<big> </big> for big
<small> </small> for small
<sup> </sup> for superscript
<sub> </sub> for subscript
One attribute that is a little more complicated is the horizontal rule that I have just used. It is good for breaking up topics within the one post. This code includes parameters such as ALIGNMENT - left, right and center. WIDTH - the length in pixels of the line and SIZE - the thickness in pixels. The noshade command determines whether or not the line is filled or hollow as sown below.The code for the above line is:
<hr align=”center” noshade=”0″ size=”4″ width=”400″ /> and for the line below:
<hr align=”center” size=”4″ width=”400″ /> (note the omission of the noshade)
Several points to note with this code. All the attribute parameters are inside double quotes. The tag, HR, is between the < and > - note the trailing / - this closes the tag.
A short word of warning. If you pride yourself on having 100% strict xhtml then do not use the HR tag as it is not supported. You should also check your formatting in both Internet Explorer and FireFox - there are times when what works in one will not work in the other.
For headings, use a heading tag. Note the closing tags at the end of the line - these must be used. The tags for these are <h1> </h1> through to <h6> </h6>. You will also need to take into account your themes CSS which is file of code that changes some of the attributes. The CSS for this theme has been altered to display the <h1> </h1> code in white (which does not work on a white background> so I have omitted the code from this list. Your template may well support the use of it.
heading 2
heading 3
heading 4
heading 5
heading 6
Category: Blog Content, Blogging Tips, WordPress tips
Writing by Brick Marketing on Tuesday, 8 of January , 2008 at 8:45 am
Many organizations, both online and off line, are using blogs as a way to market their business. Your blogs content can be one of the most cost effective forms of marketing available. The following tips will help you create a blog that boosts your business and encourages your clients to come back, frequently.
- Provide reviews of your products or services. One of the benefits of using blog software such as WordPress is that you can create static pages. Write short reviews of products or services with links pointing to more in depth articles placed on static pages.
- Create staff profiles on static pages with links either from short articles or from within other articles. Customers often like to know who they are dealing with. Remember, when potential clients visit your website they do not get the same face-to-face contact that is available in an off line enterprises.
- Create ‘How To’ articles. How to articles help your clients get the best out of your product or services. Potential clients see the support that is available which may just make the difference between closing the sale or seeing them moving on to a rival.
- Develop a FAQ section based on client feedback. This can often save you time answering the same questions all the time.
- If you have off line store fronts or agents, write informative pages introducing each of those store fronts or agents including contact details.
- Use the blog as a record of news releases, company announcements or any other marketing activities. If you are running a competition, highlight it on the blog. Likewise if you are opening a new store or releasing a new product, use your blog to promote it.
The most important aspect is to place yourself in your clients shoes. If you were looking to buy, what information would like to have at hand? Keep your blogs content simple and straightforward. Ensure each article or page provides sufficient information without going overboard. Used effectively, your blogs content can boost your business and boost your client satisfaction levels.
Category: Blog Content, Blog Marketing
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