More tips for better blogging
Business Memo
Penny Schneck -- Home Accents Today, 3/1/2010 12:00:00 AM
In the February issue of Home Accents Today, Penny Schneck outlined five tips for better blogging.
This month, we pick up that column's highlights along with five more tips. For the complete article, visitHomeAccentsToday.com.
Everyone wants to get in on social networking and a blog is one of the best ways to get started. Blogging is a great way to develop an understanding of social media and begin to engage your customers and prospects. A blog is not just about providing information to your readers. It is about engaging them in a dialog and growing a community of individuals with a common interest.
When you first start a blog, it is exciting. But be forewarned. Even the most prolific writer can soon find it difficult to keep up a regular schedule of fresh content. Following are some tips to help get your blog off to a great start, keep it going, and drive its success.
Establish a strategy.Grab their attention.Keep it fresh.Create a team.Make it personal.Optimize your content: To boost search results, make sure you use titles and keywords that your customers and prospects search on. Include photographs and be sure to label images with the “alt” attribute whenever possible. Track other relevant blogs and when you post comments, link back to your own blog to build community. Be sure to use the RSS feed capability available on most blog software as a way to “syndicate” your content.Engage your readers: Make it a goal to get readers to comment on your posts. Then be sure to respond to every comment. Find ways to include your readers with contests, quotes and questions. Don't just ask “what do you think.” Give them something to react to that engages their passion.Set policies: Be clear on what types of information will be posted on a blog – especially if it is team effort. Detail what types of company information can be posted versus what is confidential. Set policies on what types of personal information and comments are permitted.Set goals and measure results: Close the loop on your blog strategy by benchmarking statistics such as page views, comments, time spent and visits. Then brainstorm with your blog team new approaches and marketing tactics to beat these numbers. Meet quarterly to review what is working and what isn't.Just show up: The biggest hurdle is to consistently post quality content. Keep talking with your team and your customers to get feedback. Remember, if you talk about what matters most to you, then it will be less like work and more like talking with friends.
Once you understand how to make your blog successful, leverage your knowledge into other social networks such as Facebook, Linked-in and Twitter. Before you know it, you will be a social networking pro!
| Author Information |
| Penny Schneck is online sales manager for Home Accents Today. She can be reached atpenny.schneck@reedbusiness.com. |
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Tips for better blogging
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