With so many blogs being created every day, it's a mystery to many bloggers how to make their blogs stand out. It's simple. People want to read good content, and with good content comes ad revenue. Well, maybe it's not that easy We've finally unleashed the secrets of successful blog marketing. Do note that these are not guaranteed to increase your click-through ratios and they will not bring good karma to you or your ads. If only. Nonetheless, these tips should benefit your blog and make it more user-friendly, more easily accessible, and more content-enabled.
There are many
types of blogs or purposes for blogs and a certain number of tactics apply
to just about all of them, so here is a -short- list of tips for marketing and
optimizing a blog:
1. Decide on a
stand-alone domain name www.myblog.com or a directory of the existing site
www.mysite.com/blog. A subdomain is also an option for blog.mysite.com. Avoid hosted
services that do not allow you to use your own domain name!
2. Obtain and
install customizable blog software – WordPress and Moveable Type are my
favourites.
3. Customize blog
look and feel templates – aka design.
4. Research
keywords and develop a glossary – Keyword Discovery, WordTracker, SitePoint,
SEOBook Keyword Research.
5. Optimize the
blog:
* Template
optimization – RSS subscription options, social bookmark links, HTML code,
Unique title tags, URLs, Sitemap
* Add helper
plugins specific to WordPress or MT
* Create keyword-rich categories (reference your keyword glossary)
6. Enable
automatic trackback and ping functionality.
7. Create a Feedburner Pro account and enable feed tracking.
8. Set up a Google
account for Sitemap, validate and prep for future submission.
9. Identify
authoritative blogs, websites and hubs for outbound resource links and blogroll.
10. Format
archived posts, and related posts.
11. Enable
statistics for tracking – Performancing, Google Analytics, ClickTracks.
12. Submit RSS
feed and Blog URL to prominent RSS and Blog directories/search engines.
13. Engage in an
ongoing link-building campaign.
14. If podcast or
video content is available, submit it to Podcast and Vlog directories.
15. Submit blog
URL to paid directories with categories for blogs – Yahoo, BOTW, bCentral, WOW,
JoeAnt.
16. Optimize and
distribute a press release announcing the blog.
17. Request
feedback or reviews of your blog in relevant forums and discussion threads. If you
have a resourceful post that will help others, point to it.
18. Research and
comment on relevant industry-related blogs and blogs with significant centres
of influence.
19. Post
regularly. If it's a news-oriented blog, 3-5 times per day. If it's an
authoritative blog, 3-5 times per week, each post must be unique and high
value.
20. Monitor
inbound links, traffic, comments and mentions of your blog – Google Alerts,
Technorati, Blogpulse, Yahoo News, Ask Blogs and Feeds.
21. Always respond
to comments on your blog and when you detect a mention of your blog on another
blog, thank that blogger in the comments of the post.
22. Make contact
with related bloggers on AND offline if possible.
23. When making
blog posts always cite the source with a link and don't be afraid to mention
popular bloggers by name. Use keywords in the blog post title, and in the body of
the post and use anchor text when you link to previous posts you've made.
24. Use social
networking services, forums and discussion threads to connect with other
bloggers. If they like your stuff, they will link to you.
25. Remember when
websites were a new concept and the sage advice to print your web address
everywhere you print your phone number? The same advice applies to your blog.
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