Marketing used to be about getting your name out there, getting known and talked about. Guess What? Blog marketing is no different. What has changed is how you go about it.

Traditional marketing consultants often have difficulties when it comes to online marketing, particularly when it comes to blog marketing. In the past, marketing consultants would look around the local environment to determine how and where they could advertise their clients business.

Is the online world really that different? To be honest, no it probably isn’t. We still look around, find appropriate sites and try to get some form of advertising going. Those scenarios are advertising more than marketing. The old methods of marketing often involved seeking out publishers and trying to convince them to talk about your products or your brands. Radio was a very popular means of delivering these messages.

This is where the online world takes a major detour. Whilst the online world is quickly gathering its own version of ‘traditional media’, it is no longer a marketing experts job to talk people into discussing products or brands. Blog marketing now is about first, producing content that everyone finds useful.

From that point on, a blog marketing expert will ‘introduce’ the blog to the various social sites. The hope is that over a period of time of form of organic discussion takes place where the blog in question is referenced, hopefully as an authority on a particular subject.

If your blog is being talked about or if you are receiving visitors based on recommendations, you will know that your blog marketing strategies have been successful.

Blog marketing can be interesting particularly as we humans are a strange race. If there is a road accident, we cannot help but slow down and take a look. When it comes to many of the social sites, the same can be true. When a topic becomes popular, people will have a look, even if the subject matter doesn’t particularly interest them.

The best place to undertake any blog marketing campaign is when you have a crowd gathered. Sometimes you need to be a little like a hot dog vendor who always seems to know where a crowd is going to develop.

Perhaps your blog marketing hasn’t reached that stage, however you certainly don’t want to be marketing to an empty room. Being able to get into any of the social sites and read where the trends are going, what topics are heating up and which ones are cooling off can be a worthwhile art to learn. Being able to place yourself so that you capitalize on any opportunities is an even harder art to master.

Master these two areas of social bookmarking and you will find that blog marketing through social sites is much easier and the results more than worth the effort.

Spring is in the air and everywhere I look I come across spring cleaning blogging tips. I wonder, why wait for spring? I guess since that is when we do our spring cleaning.

All puns aside, you should regularly check your blog - call it spring cleaning if you like. I would prefer to clean it more often. The question is, what do you clean?

I have spoken in the past about blog plugins so I wont go down that track again. However one post I read recently suggested you go through your blog and delete any old post that are no longer relevant or no longer receive any traffic.

Sometimes it can be a good idea, however I think this can be fraught with danger. I can readiliy identify the following problems if you decide to delete old posts:

• Links 1: how many other posts have linked to that post. You will need to go back through those posts and edit all the links.
• Links 2: how many post has this post linked to and passed link juice
• Link Juice 1: what is the page you are about to delete worth when it comes to link juice
• Link Juice 2: have you capitalized on the pages link ability

The last point is important. Rather than deleting the post, can you use it to link into other posts that you want to promote? Can you revive the post by grabbing an excerpt and commenting or updating the information.

Perhaps I am being precious. However I don’t like the idea of throwing out something that is a part of me - particularly if I can still get some mileage out of it.

Spring cleaning is fine and a good idea - throwing out posts - I don’t think so - at least, not until I determine if there is more mileage to be had. Not all blogging tips are gems, at least, not until you have thought through them.

A thought provoking question. When it comes to blog marketing, how far would you go? Would you use Google Adsense? Would you use some other form of paid advertising?

There is no simple answer to a question like that as each individual blog is not only different, it has different aims and expectations. If your writing a blog in order to make money from the blog, do you spend money to make money? I don’t know that I would. Organic SEO can often deliver a decent amount of traffic for free.

On the other hand, if your blog is a window to your main commercial website, then spending money on some form of advertising may prove financially beneficial.

The important factor in any campaign, even a blog marketing campaign, is the expected (and actual) return on investment (ROI). It is pointless spending money on an advertising campaign if you are not going to get that return. But then, what sort of return are you looking for?

I said I would not spend money to make money. That is not quite true. I would certainly not spend money on an Adsense campaign to bring traffic in if my only source of income was as an Adsense publisher. However if I was promoting a range of profitable affiliate links then the story may be different.

Likewise, if my intention is simply to gain new readers and new subscribers, I may decide that a paid blog campaign was worth the investment. If your blog is a window to your primary business, then is makes sense to promote it at every opportunity.

In that situation, your blog is one of your marketing tools. As such its primary focus is to draw as much traffic as possible and then funneling the buyers to your commercial site. Done effectively, you can really measure the ROI by measuring the number that arrive on your site, the number that get funnelled to your web site, and of course, the number of conversions.

Ultimately, whether you use paid blog marketing techniques or free organic strategies, marketing your blog is a necessity and a good blog marketing plan should have clear ROI expectations.

Blog marketing, web site marketing; it is all marketing. I am often amused to see ’specialist’ proclaim that internet marketing requires special skills that only those from within the online marketing industry can do. What a load of ####.

Marketing is marketing. Some of the tools used may require some specialized training, however the general principles of marketing still apply. It doesn’t matter whether you are using old fashioned (but still popular) print media, radio, television or any other form of marketing, it is still marketing - in this case, using the internet.

I am prepared to accept that once you have decided on your marketing strategy and the message you are trying to deliver, you may then use specialist to create some parts of the campaign - television crew, radio sound recordist or print layout artist. Likewise with the internet, you may employ a graphic artist to design a banner, or a programmer to write the software or pages, the actual campaign itself will have been designed by a marketing specialist.

When deciding on a blog marketing campaign, think first of marketing. Design a good marketing strategy then look at how you can deliver that campaign - online is not always the only way. You product, service or blog should drive the marketing campaign.

If you start to think online first and what methods could be used to deliver your campaign, you run the risk of letting the marketing vehicle drive your campaign and not the product. This could limit the effect of any blog marketing campaign and result in a waste of marketing funds.

When it comes to blog marketing, let the blog drive the campaign, don’t let other factors unduly influence your campaign.

If you write frequently or if you write for more than one blog then this lazy little blogging tip may not only save some time, it may help boost your reader numbers. The terms ‘content is king‘ and ‘avoid duplicate content’ are probably going to ring loudly after reading this blogging tip, just give it some thought before being too critical.

One of the joys of blogging is when you write that post that not spikes your traffic a little, it also gets a  decent response in the comments area as well.  One option you have is to try and follow up the post with a new one that builds on the previous. If you are a good writer and have plenty of material, this is fine. If you don’t, then just like in the movies, the sequel is often a disappointment.

You can however use the success of the article further down the track. This can be done on either the posts blog or on one of your other blogs. Using a second blog has several benefits. It not only increases the traffic on the second blog, it can also drive traffic back to the original article.

I am of course talking about republishing but republishing with a twist. Rather than republishing in full, you need to be able to republish a really good teaser together with an introduction and of course deep link to the original article.

This tactic introduces new readers to the article and refreshes the memory of those who have been before. If you do get that good article that can be used in this way, wait for the right moment to republish. Some of the best bloggers have the knack of grouping some of their old posts and writing a post that simply links them together.

This blogging tip can serve several purposes. It does of course provide a suggestion for a quick and easier blog when your stuck for time or inspiration. If you use this tactic then you are also going to provide your article with either deep links or good internal links - all of which are good SEO practices. What a lazy way to get more traffic.

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.

Social bookmarking has to be the most cost effective way to promote your blog. The cost in dollar terms can be nil. The cost in time can be minimal once you are established. The rewards can be huge compared to other forms of blog promotion.

One of the biggest mistakes that new bloggers make is to try and get on the Digg or Stumbleupon hit parade. If you can get on the front page of Digg or get a good surge from Stmbleupon then sure, you are in for a fun ride. However  your bounce rate is likely to be huge, your click through rate low; and the
long term affects on traffic can be negligible.

If you are prepared to take your time, research several of the social bookmarking sites to get the feel for them and then spend some time getting to know the players, your long term traffic can be boosted; it will be quality targeted traffic as well.

By fostering relationships within these sites you will slowly build subscriber numbers and just as importantly slowly develop backlinks. With the increase in backlinks comes the increase in recognition by search engines and with that development comes the increase in quality targeted traffic.

The key to successful social bookmarking is to get to know the important people on these sites, promote yourself to them by visiting their blogs and leaving thoughtful and appropriate messages. Don’t jump in and add them to your contacts. Become known first. Don’t throw every article you write into the mix; promote your best articles. Finally, respect the other  players; promote their articles only when they deserve promoting; don’t promote articles to become popular. You will gain a reputation for being selective in what you promote, what you submit and who you befriend. Your opinion will start will be valued.

Compared to other forms of blog marketing, social bookmarking can be very productive and very cost effective.

A bouncing blog - sounds interesting. When it comes it blog SEO, you do not want a bouncing blog. What is bouncing. The bounce rate is a measurement of how many visitors land on your home page and then leave without visiting any other pages. Together with the time measurement, you can get a fairly good overall picture of your blog.

If you have a bounce rate of 70% with an average stay of 1.20 minutes; you know you are getting visitors, but they are not staying and certainly not staying long enough to read the landing page. There can be many reasons for this. Perhaps you have engaged in a pay per click campaign. People are clicking to visit but not staying. Perhaps your blog marketing is wrong with visitors arriving only to find you don’t have what they are looking for. This is a problem. It means your blog marketing campaign is not delivering.

If you do have a high bounce rate, you need to adjust your landing page to see what works; to see which modifications keep the visitors on your page and then deliver them to other pages.

Good solid blog SEO strategies along with constant analysis of your traffic should keep your blog from bouncing.

Blog marketing can be a difficult task with varied results at the best of times. One marketing tactic is to use an email survey. Email surveys, when designed intelligently, can return positive results in several areas.

The obvious result from a survey is to gain feedback from your readers or clients. However, with some cleverly designed questions, an email survey can result in an increase in traffic. Using survey questions that ask the respondent to undertake comparisons on products, services, changes to your blog or post styles are just a few areas. These questions really require the respondent to visit your blog before they can properly answer the question.

A blog marketing email survey like this could also include free gifts, downloads or entries into a prize draw as a further enticement. One blog marketing tactic that I have seen used to effect is to use a standard survey but making the final question a ‘must visit to answer’ type question. Get the answer right and you are entered into a prize draw or receive the free gift.

With some thoughtful design, an email survey could also provide you with some valuable insight as to how others view your products or blog; what changes you may need to make; and what areas are currently working and not working.

Blog marketing can be difficult, however if you can think outside the square and use concepts like email surveys you may be surprised at the results.

Blog SEO, is it really that important? After all, its just a blog. With that mindset perhaps blog SEO is not that important. Blog marketing and blog design are probably not that important either. On the other hand, if you are serious about your blog; serious about getting visitors; delivering a message or making money; then blog SEO is extremely important.

Around 85% of online consumers use a search engine of some type. If you don’t use good search engine optimization practices then your competitors are receiving the traffic and your left behind. Given the billions of searches that are made each day it is important to get onto that first page for your given keyword.  The majority of consumers only go as far as that first page. Some look at the second page. Very few get to page three.

Employing a professional blog SEO  consultant is often money well spent. If they can get you onto the first page then the flow of visitors will more than adequately cover that initial expense. If they incorporate blog design and blog marketing in the package then your visitor numbers will rise dramatically. If you have a good product to sell, affiliate program or other income generating program that is attractive to your visitor then you may well be able to employ the consultant on an ongoing basis. Blog SEO - here at Blog Marketing Journal, we consider it very important.

There are many blog and website services that sell traffic. In fact, they offer traffic that is dedicated to your niche. The question is, is it worth the money? Let’s dispel a few myths first.

1 - Buying traffic is a useful blog SEO tactic that can increase your Alexa Rank. This may be so, but only if the traffic coming in has the Alexa toolbar installed. I also question why you need your Alexa Rank low. Generally speaking it is your PR that matters, not your Alexa and your Alexa rank will not affect your PR.

2 - Buying traffic is a useful blog marketing tactic that increases your income. Generally speaking, most traffic programs are either paid per visit or free traffic in return programs. The surfer often ’surfs in the background’. In other words they go about their normal internet business with the traffic program running in the background. They hardly see the page they are visiting let alone the contents. Those that do look at the contents are generally waiting for the timer to count down before moving on to the next page. They certainly don’t stop to buy or click an ad that takes them away from their click program.

3 - Buying traffic can increase your backlinks. I refer to my previous observation. The surfer is only interested in getting to the next page - not linking to your page.

Buying traffic can often be money down the drain. With few exceptions it doesn’t lead to any increase in revenue, links or Page Rank improvement. I can only think of one situation where I would consider buying traffic. That is if I needed to boost my daily visitor numbers sufficiently that I could obtain a higher price for my ad space. That really needs a campaign over several months - not several weeks.

If you are considering buying traffic, think carefully about the outcomes you are trying to achieve. Often there are far more economical ways of increasing traffic and with it revenue. There are many blog and website services that can help develop backlinks and effective marketing programs. Your dollars may be better spent with them.

This is an unusual blog marketing tip, but one that is probably not utilized by most bloggers. For the initiated, this may serve as a reminder, for every one else, you are probably asking - what is a 404?

You have probably come across 404’s before - it is simply a page not found error - and a very frustrating error. Think about it. You click on a link and get an error message. The page cannot be found. What have you done in this situation? Clicked refresh just in case; hit the back button; or just moved on? The majority of people just move on. If that was your page, you have just lost a visitor and every visitor is a potential customer.

How do you resolve the problem. For the big time bloggers, their 404 Page Not Found is a blessing - they use it to promote their main pages, their affiliate pages or their products. The easiest solution is to make sure that every link is unbroken and does not result in a 404. It is always good to have a backup for those times when you cannot repair the link, for example, a link that is normally unbroken is temporarily broken due to server errors.

It is very easy to redirect your Page Not Found to any page that suits. I will concentrate on WordPress, however the concepts are the same for any blogging package. Before moving on, a blogging tip for everyone - make a backup of the file you intend making any changes to.

WordPress normally has a file aptly named, 404.php. To redirect the browser to a page of your choice, open the 404.php for editing and add the following:

<?
header ("Location: http://your page url/");
?>

Replace the ‘your page url’ with the url of the page you want to have displayed. The best choice is either to redirect to your very best post or back to your home page. Even better, if you have the skills, is to have a dedicated page that advises the visitor that the page requested is not currently available, has a search option to find similar pages, at the same time promotes who you are, you current posts, products or services. This WordPress tip is very straightforward. For those using other platforms it is just a matter of finding your 404 file in your blog design and making the adjustments.

As a marketing tool, the 404 Page Not Found error should never be wasted - it is an opportunity to promote your business.

Blog marketing is a difficult task however it often a task that we make more difficult than it should be. A real trap with a blog site, or any web site for that matter, is to become blinkered in our view of marketing. We think internet therefore our marketing is through the internet.

There are so many blog marketing opportunities off line that are either not considered or are used ineffectively. Every document you produce, from letter head to envelope to business card should have your web addres and your blog address prominently displayed. I often see companies that have web and/or blog sites but the URL and details are in the finest print on their documents. It almost gives the feeling that they are ashamed or embarrassed to admit they have these sites.   Even with online communication, how well do you promote your web or blog sites in the footer of your emails.

You can become quite inventive when it comes to off line  promotion. I recently read an article regarding one blog owner who parked a vehicle with his URL plastered down the side near a busy highway. Considering there are probably over a hundred thousand vehicles using that highway, luring just 1% would be a significant increase in traffic.

If you can use every opportunity that comes your way, the off line opportunities are always going to be there. It is just a matter of seeing the opportunity, seizing it and capitalizing on it. Blog marketing off line can be just as successful as any on line campaign - often you are reaching a brand new audience. As the saying goes - don’t put all your eggs into the one (online)  basket.

Blog Marketing is a tricky business that most bloggers handle through social networking, blog directories or through social bookmarking sites. There are a lot of bloggers that buy ad space through various agencies such as Google. You can however market your site by simply changing one line in your header.

I read with interest how some sites have great blog SEO strategies. So great that they often appear in the top four or five for search results. Yet they don’t actually receive a lot of traffic from that position. The answer lies in what the person doing the search actually sees in front of them. Do they see an interesting description of the site, or just a list of keywords?

The TITLE meta tag holds the information that will be seen in the search results. If your title tag has been written to gain good search engine positioning, then it is probably key word rich and information poor. This can be changed without dramatically affecting your search engine position. When crafting your title meta tag you need to do it in such a way that it delivers a message whilst also maintaining keyword integrity.

Write a short marketing blurb. Go through it and see where your keywords could be placed. Think of the searcher as a potential client or customer that you are trying to lure through your door. The end result should be a short blurb that will attract the searcher to click whilst still maintaining some of your keywords. This is one simple blog marketing tip that could make a lot of difference to your traffic.