There are many elements that affect the reputation of your website. Most of the topics listed below (in no particular order) are intermingled and depend greatly on one another. Just like in life, it takes time and support to build a good reputation online. Be aware of all the ways people are gauging your website and implement a strategy to build up a good reputation for it.
Blog Often – Blogging allows you to demonstrate your knowledge on a specific subject. By providing your expertise, you will be considered a resource that many people will look to for advice.
Easy to Understand – The content on your site needs to be easy to understand. Use language that a majority of internet users can comprehend and steer away from using industry jargon.
Provide useful information – Your website depends on the usefulness of its content. Be a resource to people, direct them to industry specific white papers; have an events calendar; or offer training workshops or webinars. People that find your site useful are more likely to share it with others, thus enforcing your good reputation.
Be Consistent – When updating elements on your site, like news, events, and blog posts, try to be more consistent rather than sporadic. Your users will appreciate knowing that they can go to your site and find what they are looking for.
Search Engines & SEO Are Your Pals – If someone is doing a search online and your site comes up on the first page or even in the top five, chances are that search engines consider it to be relevant. Most users trust their search engine to show them the best options for what they typed in the search bar. You need to execute a strategy to keep your website optimized for search engines.
Get “Real” – Yes, your website’s reputation also depends on your personal online reputation. Connect with people online using social networks like Twitter and LinkedIn and build a community around you and your business. Discuss topics and share ideas that lead them back to your website for additional resources.
Usability and Navigation – Your site needs to be easy to use and to navigate through. Users should understand how to get to the information they are seeking without difficulty.
Privacy Policy – Reputation and trust go hand-in-hand and you must include an easy-to-read privacy policy on your website. Your users should know what information you collect on your site and how you intend to use it.
Clean design – A clean design is beneficial for your site’s usability, navigation, and readability. Your website’s design must clearly display its calls to action so users can immediately understand what is required of them through the process.
Easily Accessible – No one has time for a site that takes a long time to download and please don’t make anyone download anything just to view your site. Make sure you make your site accessible to a wide range of internet users.
These topics work together as a team, not independently, so it is important to think of all the pieces of your website as a whole. For example, if you have a blog on your site that is not consistently updated, your website will be regarded as unreliable. Additionally, if you are not offering useful information to communities on social networks, they will be less likely to use your website as a resource. Building a good reputation for your website takes time, but once it has a solid foundation, it becomes invaluable.
We have discussed a lot how helpful blogs can be for your business in SEO, establishing yourself as an expert, generating sales leads et al. Some people are doing some great work out there! With technology being more user friendly, the flood gates have also opened and some people are creating some really terrible content. Where in that landscape is your business blog?
Many times when I speak with people, they are doing some really decent work and they have the best intentions but nothing is happening. Their frustration comes across as desperation and they just want to know why their blog isn’t generating hundreds of dollars in AdSense, creating sales leads, getting their phone to ring off the hook or filling their inbox with inquiries. While I wish I could go through every blog and attempt to give a proper diagnosis, I really can’t but what I can do is discuss some of the biggest problems I see day to day.
5 Reasons a Blog May Not Be Working
Overselling – The blogging culture is different than the traditional content producing marketing scheme. People subscribe and read blogs for lots of reasons but the biggest are that they like you or your business or that your content provides them with value. Few people subscribe to a blog because they want to buy something. Overselling yourself and your products may be hurting you. Talk about your topic and less about your business
No call to action – How do you know if people are reading your content? Website traffic alone may not be the best measurement metric. After someone finds your blog what do you want them to do? Figure that out and make it obvious on the page that this is what people should do. The first is to make a way for readers to easily subscribe to more content from you. Perhaps you want people to contact you, download an eBook/whitepaper or view a demo. Make it obvious with direct calls to action on the page (without overselling yourself).
No value – You have to give to get. Really think about what value you are providing to your community. Take a step outside of your position and view it with fresh eyes. Who is the buyer persona you see subscribing to your blog… what information do they really want to hear and assess if you are fulfilling that. Create content that people will want to share with their network, save to reference later and more.
You don’t actually care about it – You have intelligent readers and people in your network. Is your blogging a job or something you are actually passionate about? People can tell when they read your content if this is something you genuinely care about. If you can, blog about something you are passionate about. It will make a world of difference in your tone and message.
Too many other people are writing about the same thing – It can happen. There are lots of people out there. Is your blogging market too saturated? Then figure out how you can do it differently than the rest. Geo-target your content better and become the expert in your geographic location, take a different spin from everyone else, narrow down your blogging topic so it is really specific, make a video blog or a podcast. Whatever it takes to make you stand out from everyone else.
Marketing has changed. We can’t just go through our marketing options like a grocery shopping list (“I’ll take 3 print ads, 2 web banners and 1 local TV spot. How much do I owe you? Thanks”). New marketing methods like blogging and social media take time, resources and a strategy.
Think of your blogging strategy as a marathon and not a sprint. Take time and create valuable content. If that means posting less, then post less. Maybe you should consider a multi-contributor blog to freshen up your voice and lighten your workload. The remedies are up to you. The most successful blogs are the most valuable and that help you form lasting relationships with your online network. Don’t take your blogging too lightly and find yourself in one of the above mentioned pitfalls.
I had such a great time at my first #blogchat on Sunday evening. Created by Mack Collier, #blogchat is a hashtag you use on Twitter to turn a series of tweets into a chatroom like atmosphere to talk about blogging. Held at 9pm EST it is a great way to meet some new people who are also interested in blogging and to learn a few things from your peers.
This week the topic was how bloggers deal with burnout. We have all been there. Stuck. Frustrated. What better way to brainstorm ideas then with other people just like you? I came away with some great ideas that I think could help all of us out!
10 Things to do when you feel like you have nothing to blog about:
Make sure you are writing about what you are passionate about (if possible) – Writing regularly about anything you don’t care about will just seem like work. If you can, write about a topic you genuinely care about. If you are writing about something broad, narrow your topics down to something more specific that you really care about.
Freshen up an old post – Things change, your opinions change, the internet changes, subscribers change. Pull an old blog post deep from the archives and give it new life. Expand on it, disagree with it, add new case studies to it.
React to someone else’s blog – **Listen carefully on this one** Take someone else’s blog and REACT to it. Explain what they said and add your thoughts. Feel free to disagree, add a real life example, agree and add to it. Find a way to make your post original. Do NOT repost someone else’s blog and do NOT repeat someone else’s blog without adding original thought by you! People posting mindless blogs just talking about what someone else has said drive me bonkers!
Read other blogs – perhaps one of the best things you can do for your blogging career is read (and I mean actually read, not skim or read the title and ReTweet). I have my Google Reader jam packed of smart blogs that help keep me inspired. I also try to keep my Google Reader very tidy. If I subscribe to a blog and don’t find they are giving me much value I have no problem unsubscribing.
Read outside of your industry – Don’t fall into the trap of only following the most popular bloggers or just people in your industry. You will be surprised at where inspiration to write comes from. Check out books, biographies or some good old magazines or newspapers. Sometimes remembering to connect with the “real world” opens some neurons for some great blogs.
Themes and Events – One of the most interesting things I learned at #blogchat is that next month is Pet Dental Month. Who knew? Themed months, holidays or events are a great spark for some creativity. At the end of last year we had the final quarter blues so Kasi and I created the Internet Marketing Advent Calendar. We made a commitment to write one blog post a day. It was fun, we got rave reviews and a bunch of new subscribers from it.
Answer Questions – Take some of your most frequently asked questions and make blog posts out of them. Browse LinkedIn’s Question and Answer sections and find some inspiration. If one person is asking about a topic I bet hundreds, if not thousands, have the same question too.
Interview Someone – Take the day/week/month off; instead of cranking out another post, interview an expert, colleague, business partner or someone who can offer new perspectives to your topic.
Don’t write! Make a Video – Web video is increasingly becoming an important part of your marketing mix. Take your thoughts and make a quick video instead of writing a post!
Lighten up – Many of us take ourselves way to seriously. Remember why you started this blog in the first place. Lighten up and just provide something that people will find useful.
Blogging is an important tool in reaching out to current and prospective clients, as well as increasing traffic to your site. Many successful people blog every week, some even blog every day. Blogging builds credibility, adds content to your website, is search engine friendly and helps bring traffic to your site.
Many people understand that blogging is important but just don’t have the time to do it. It is hard to set aside an hour or two to per week to come up with thought-provoking topics and expand upon it by writing a blog.
If you find yourself pressed for time but still want to provide useful content, there are some alternative options that will still increase your search engine optimization and allow you to contribute your ideas that don’t require writing a blog that you may not have time for right now.
Tweet – Twitter allows you to engage with others on topics that interest you and potential clients. You don’t have to spend much time doing this. Engaging in conversation and including links to your site will help you build a brand for yourself and increase traffic to your website.
Comment on other blogs – Leave insightful comments on industry-related blogs and be sure to link back to your site within those comments. Others searching these blogs may read your comments and see that you have built a good reputation on that particular site and if you include links to your website they will be more likely to click them.
Short Response Blogs – Blogs don’t have to be long, they just need to provide relevant information and a personality. If you read an interesting blog or watch a valuable YouTube video, link to that blog or video and write a quick response to it. If you are consistently giving interesting, relevant content, you will attract new people to your website.
Generating inbound links is very important. The more people use the links you post on Twitter or have left in your blog comments, the more reputable your site will become to search engines and will in-turn give you better search rankings. Tweeting, commenting, and response blogging don’t have to take up much time to make a big difference!
