Blogging

Sure, you’ve heard wonderful things about running a business blog, but is it REALLY for you? In a world of uncertainty, we give you the answers to this all-important question and point out the things you need to take seriously before embarking in the blogosphere.

SEO Audio Episode 22

Hello? Hello? Is anybody out there?

Ever spend hours crafting the perfect blog post? It’s informative, witty and controversial, everything that all the blogging experts say a blog post should be, Yet, nobody comments on it…at all?  As bloggers, we spend a great deal of time, trying to convey information, thoughts and ideas to our readers, yet when feedback is not received, it can makes us feel like we are talking to ourselves, and let’s face it…blog posts can look a little pathetic without comments. Chirp. Chirp. Chirp.
So the question is, how do you get your readers to comment?

How to get blog comments:

1. Ask a Question - By asking your readers a question, they may feel compelled to answer it, especially if you are asking for their opinion or experiences. Remember, people love to talk about themselves and voice their opinions, give them an open invitation to do so.

2. Say Something Controversial - Do you have an opinion that goes against the majority? Write about it. State your conviction and stand strong while the comments from supporters and naysayers pour in.

3. Challenge another Blogger - Choose a successful blogger and write a post about how much you disagree or agree with one of his or her latest posts. Then, leave a comment on his post with a quick summary, be sure to link back to your blog. Not only will you be inviting the blogger to comment on your blog, but you will probably get a lot of curious readers of his blog to visit yours as well.

Comments give the visitors a sense of community. Communities are what you should be aiming to build with your readers, this is a sure fire way to get them to return, get them to subscribe, and best of all tell their friends about you.

Comment, Comment, Comment!
photo credit: saris0000

Alright, so you know you want a company blog. You want content to get indexed quickly, you want to cultivate a following for your business, you want to portray your authority on your industry, you want all the link juice that comes with a blog. But do you build it as part of your company website or as a new domain?

Listen to our top internet marketing experts duke it out in a showdown on this less-than-concrete question.

SEO Audio Episode 20

Search Engine Land featured a great article this week “Building a Company with Social Media” discussing the ways Senior Level Executives, Marketing, Public Relations, and HR Personnel can use social media to meet their professional objectives. Here’s a quick recap:

Senior Level - Top executives tend to be thought leaders. Utilizing a blog to promote those thoughts can be a very powerful tool in several respects. Not only does a blog run by a top exec bring insider knowledge to the common folk, but it also brings a human element to a company. Randy Baseler, VP of Marketing at Boeing Airline has a public blog where he writes about everything from Aviation news, safety to his european vacation.

Marketing - Marketing executives are hired to get the word out. In the last 10 years, marketing has seen a huge shift from print publications to online marketing. Through the use of social new sharing sites such as Digg, Reddit, and Propeller, marketers are able to get new content out to the public immediately and have it devoured by the tens of thousands of news seekers using these social news sharing sites.

Public Relations - Online Reputation management is a means of monitoring what customers, past clients and prospective clients are saying about a company or brand online. With the  help of online search tools like Google Blog Search and Technorati, PR execs are able to search for online references, good and bad about their product and be proactive about the negative comments

HR -  Human Resources professionals using social media sites, like MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn, are able to tap into their extended network of friends, co-workers and business associates to find qualified job candidates. The best part about this type of contact, it comes with a built in referral from someone you know and trust.

Whether you are a small business or belong to a large corporation, using social media to expand your business, your brand, and your authority is a cost effective way to make a mark for yourself.