With a blog you can get your business noticed online quite fast.

Blogging opens a whole new realm than what you will find with just a normal website. Blogging is part of the online world known as Social Media. In online marketing, the call to action (CTA) and promoting your services and products is the name of the game.  In blog marketing, the  goal is the converse and interact with your visitors.

Since the goals are usually so very different with blog marketing than traditional online marketing, what results can your business expect from good blogging?

Results you can get from blogging

1. You can reach new customers: With a blog you can reach readers that are interested.  These users are usually different than those reading traditional advertising or even your website.
2. Build a following: You can build trust and credibility for your company, products or services by regularly writing interesting informative postings on your blog.  You will build a following of readers that will understand and know that you are the expert in your field.
3. Inform customers: Do you produce products and sell? Blogs can build your market for these products by getting potential prospects to understand how your products and services can solve the problems that they might have. You can give them case studies on how your services or products are used.
4. Open up communication: Always keep the lines of communication open between your customer and your company.  Customer service blogs enable the flow of conversation to travel in both directions and it can alert you to developing issues.
5. Website rankings: Search engines adores blogs because they generate regular new keyword rich content. You can attract more search engines by researching and using keywords in your headlines and blog copy.  Always link generously from your blog to other websites.  You can also link to your own website within your blog postings.  Using keywords in the link text found in your blog postings is a powerful method to push up your organic website rankings.

To learn more about how you can generate great results through a company blog, visit http://www.wsidigitalmarketing.com/content-marketing.aspx

Yet it is this freedom which poses perhaps the greatest challenge when it comes to blogging for business. The humble blog remains one of the most powerful tools in any internet marketer’s arsenal, however for many the real challenge lies in maintaining control and producing a steady flow of quality content.

Fresh, engaging and optimised content is the order of the day here – it’s important to remember that blogging for business is about attracting traffic and keeping the reader coming back for more. In this article, we’ll take a look at some tips for building a consistent blogging strategy.

1. Planning and Preparation

Why does your business exist? It may sound obvious, but having a clear purpose regarding your goals, clients and purpose from the outset will provide a basis for a solid strategy and engaging content.

The preparation phase should also include a little keyword research – after all, what’s the point in putting it out there if no one’s going to find it? Your blog can be a very effective tool for attracting search engine traffic.

2. Content and Identity

Give your blog an identity. Start with the author’s name – it may sound obvious, but placing a name, photo and identity behind the content will help to breathe a little life into your posts.

Keep in mind your blog isn’t a business whitepaper, consider the following:

• Find a tone and style that suits you, whilst lending the content a little personality
• Educate, enrich, entertain and engage
• Is your format scan-friendly to the eye or an impenetrable mass of text?
• Use attractive, keyword-focused headers and titles

Be consistent and give yourself time to be creative, try using an editorial calendar to plan your posts.

3. Design

Your blog should reflect your business brand, not detract from it. Ideally, your blog should be integrated into your corporate website with seamless navigation and a consistent look and feel. Include a supplementary menu to make it easy for visitors to look through your blog categories and archives.

Add social media buttons to your content which will enable readers to effortlessly share, bookmark & discuss your content with friends and colleagues.

4. Marketing

Marketing should form the basis for any successful internet strategy. Don’t make the mistake of believing people will just find your blog once you’ve put it out there. Use your social media profiles to help spread the word by syndicating your content across Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn for example – offering a wealth of exposure for minimal effort.

5. It’s a Two Way Street

Engaging your audience is critical to success. A great rule of thumb is to spend as much time engaging your audience as you do creating content. This shouldn’t be confined to your own blog either – take the time to post comments on related blogs and profiles from clients, professional associates, industry specialists etc. Remember, to give is to receive.

Blogging provides businesses with a versatile online publishing tool – which can also be used as a hub to coordinate your social media activities.

Everyone is looking for exceptional value in 2011 as recession bites. But there are plenty of businesses bucking the trend. Here are just 4 tips to help your e-commerce business or online brochures website get a competitive edge in 2011.

1- Start Blogging, done well it really works

Why do the Experts Bother Blogging for E-commerce?

• Google looks out for Blogs
• Blogs increase the number of pages on your site, larger sites with fresh content can improve your online reputation with your prospects and with Google
• Blogs updated say once a week, means that there are weekly changes to your website, Google likes sites that are constantly updated, it shows that you care about your site
• Link your Blog into other Social Media Portals that you are involved with like Twitter, Facebook, or Linked In
• Make sure that others can also get access to your Blog by distributing your blog on social book marking sites like Digg and Delicious
• E-commerce businesses should demonstrate expertise for technical or complicated sales, a Blog is a great way to demonstrate this

E-commerce Blogging Advice

• Have a givers mentality to Blogging and any other Social Media Activity
• Don’t oversell your services
• Review your products and demystify them
• Link your Blog to your product
• Link in your Blog to your other Social Media Portals

2- Claim Your Google Places Page to boost E-commerce

Why is Google Places So Important?

20% of searches are for local products and services, Google has very recently changed  the way it displays local results See Our Previous Blog Post and Google Places Information. Google has pieced together profiles of businesses from local directories, Google Street Views and various Review Sites, however, this information needs verifying.

The Google Places Results now dominate local search, however, most businesses have not claimed their Google places Page and have not added or verified the content. Thus many businesses are not correctly represented which could cost them sales and referrals.

Google Places Advice for E-commerce

• Claim your Google Places Page
• Make sure that you have an effective description of your business
• Upload images and video to reinforce your image
• Make Use of the Offer and Coupon Facility
• Make sure that you define your sales territory
• Be sure to define your industry and services
• Make sure that the Google Streets image is your shop front
• get customers to write reviews

3- Get Up To Speed With Your Social Media Presence

Why is Social Media So Important?

Our experience working with our clients is that Social Media :

• Increases the number of times your brand is found
• Increases the number of times your brand is searched for
• Increases the number of keywords that you can be found on
• Generates more sales ( it can more than double conversion rates)
• Get’s visitors to stay on the site much longer and visit more pages

Social Media Advice for E-commerce

• Get A professional business page on Facebook and Linked In and a personalised page on Twitter
• Integrate your Social Media Sites with your Website
• Give good engaging advice
• Keep at it, don’t give up after 2 posts
• Use Twitter and Facebook to give short dated offers and deals
• Try to build a community based on great advice or the heads up on new trends

4- Use Web Analytics

What’s with Analytics?

Web Analytics programs are vital, your website should be treated like your top sales person, it should be looked after, it should be managed and above all it needs measuring. Once you know what’s working do more of it. You can find out some really important information e.g.:

• How many vistors come to your site
• Key times and days for visitors
• Most used pages or most searched products
• Whether the content on your site is interesting
• Whether visitors do what you expect
• The keywords that generate the leads or brand building behaviour
• The characteristics of visitors from different sites like Social Media
• Above all it helps you decide where to place your marketing investment

Web Analytics Advice for E-commerce

• Install Google Analytics, it’s free from Google, but it may cost to install
• Define what actions you want to measure e.g. e-mails, downloads, contact forms, sales funnels and have these set up as goals so that you can see what activities result in favourable actions
• Pay particular attention to your checkout funnel, analyse, where people are dropping out, small changes in conversion rates can dramatically increase sales
• Create a spreadsheet and measure your key statistics on a regular basis, make sure that all recorded stats are actionable ie, if they change it should result in an action e.g. to target a keyword, to change your processes etc
• Review the data and look for actionable patterns

e.g.

• If you get a lot of good traffic off certain paid for keywords (using adwords) then take action to get SEO on these keywords to take advantage of the higher levels of organic traffic
• If you have a high bounce rate on keywords that should work well for you, consider installing a Landing Page to help improve conversions

Reference Links

Google Places

Web Analytics

Social Media

Facebook Business Pages

Linked In Profiles

Twitter

SEO & Search engine Optimisation

Landing Pages

E-commerce Web Design

About WSI Yorkshire

WSI Yorkshire is based in Huddersfield, we are a full service Digital Marketing Agency and Internet Consultancy.

We provide Expert Advice to Medium Sized Companies, PLCs and smaller companies that want to punch above their weight.

To Speak to an Expert Please Call us for a Free Consultation

With Christmas looming – and with the opportunity to profit from an increasingly large proportion of festive sales – there has never been a better time to hone your web marketing strategy. In this article we’ll look at 4 simple ways you can make the most of the Christmas rush.

Sophisticated Web Marketing Methods for the Christmas Season
Ideally, your Christmas marketing activities are a continuation of the best online business practices you should already have in place – just with a little tweaking.

1. Keyword Blogging
The use of keywords or phrases forms part of everyday blogging best practice for the budding internet marketer. Digging a little deeper, however, can often yield surprising results. ‘Long-tail’ keywords (three or four word phrases which are very specific to your product) are a great way to widen the net a little, particularly involving universal themes such as Christmas.

Producing content that promotes your product or service in conjunction with generic Christmas terms such as:

• Christmas
• Christmas presents
• Present ideas
• Christmas gifts etc…

…is a simple but effective tool for boosting your website rankings in niche areas. Don’t forget to include a ‘call to action’ and link back to the relevant promotions/content on your site.

2. Focussed Landing Pages

Landing pages are a great way of experimenting with new strategies/layouts or simply to promote specific products in a targeted manner. Consider using time-sensitive, seasonal offers to give your readers an incentive to purchase a product or sign up to your newsletter:

• “15% off until x”
• “Free gift when spending £50 or more before x”
• “Sign up now to receive x” etc.

The key here is to include a time-sensitive offer that provides an incentive to take action.

3. Marketing Emails
Much like a mini landing page, targeted email messages can be a useful tool for promoting specific products and presenting exclusive offers to existing customers. Consider sending a pre-emptive mail-out, reminding existing customers on your database that Christmas is fast approaching.

People love nothing more than to feel organised – particularly at such a hectic time of year – so appeal to this basic human need in conjunction with a limited-time reward for that killer one-two combination.

4. Social Media & Keywords
Once you have a grasp on your basic keywords and search terms, this information can be used to broaden your seasonal marketing strategy. Take Twitter for example, which includes a facility to search and track certain words and phrases.

This is mainly achieved through the use of hashtags, Twitter’s version of popular tags used in posts. By monitoring the use of certain hashtags, internet marketers can ‘collect’ related Tweets and their associated authors. This information can then be used to target tweeters in an appropriate manner, for example by providing a link to your promotional landing page.

However you choose to promote your business this Christmas, being genuine and sharing some good will will ensure you are remembered for a long time.

Beth Hawkes Gene Bonano’s daughter explains how their offices develops and implements Social Media Campaigns..

Video Optimisation

• Make the video relevant
• 2-5 minutes
• Use corporate logo and call to action
• Skin You Tube Channel
• Syndicate across several sites not just YouTube
• Make sure the main keyword is in teh Title
• Blog, Tweet and syndicate comments on teh Video with links back

Blogging

• Themed to website like ours
• Enable SEO Puggins, ask for professional advice on this
• 2-3 posts per week minimum 1 per week
• Use  Word press Blog on the site’s server
• Include keywords in the Title and subheadings
• Use keywords in the tags and SEO plug ins
• 300 words if possible and link keywords to pages of your website
• Link to other relevant posts

Linked In

• Complete your profile 100%
• Set up company page
• Get staff to bio and link
• Include in your e-mail signature and website

Facebook & Twitter

• Account Set Up
• Personalisation of account and facebook business pages
• Training
• Start following relevant people or businesses
• Set up a competition
• Link into your site
• Get feeds into your site
• Participate regularly

WSI Yorkshire is based in Huddersfield and consults on Social Media Development

In this article we’ll be looking not so much at what to write about, but how to write about it. Fresh, engaging and optimised content is the order of the day here – after all blogging for business is about attracting traffic and keeping the reader coming back for more.

1. List Your Ideas
Many new bloggers start out with good intentions, but quickly run out of ideas and/or motivation. A great way to avoid this is to develop a list of topics from the outset, from which you can pick your posts. We’re not just talking about 5-10 topics here – think longer-term towards 50 or even 100. Farm ideas from online content and keep list up to date by creating a draft post of ideas on your blog dash post for ease of reference.

2. Double Your Earning Potential In 5 Easy Steps!
Okay, so we’re not talking money here, but you get the point. An attention-grabbing title will make the difference between whether established or new readers decide to read the post. Part of this process involves understanding your demographic and how to get their attention. Establishing this early on will make life much easier in the long run.

3. Quality, Not Quantity
For all but the most niche of subjects, blog content should be optimised to retain the reader’s attention over a short period. This means using simple formatting techniques to convey your point in a simple but effective manner, as opposed to reams of text:

• Use paragraph headings/quotes/bullet points wherever possible to punctuate the copy
• Use bold/underline/italics where appropriate
• Utilise images and/or multimedia content
• Ensure your font is of a decent size allowing readers to take in information easily

4. Exchange Wordiness For Conciseness
In other words, don’t waffle. Be concise and to the point. Heard of the term ‘all killer, no filler?’ – adopt this ethos when approaching your next blog post and you’ll be on the right track.

5. Link It
Building links are not only great for attracting traffic and building the strength of your page, but sourcing appropriate external material is a great way of demonstrating your authoritative grasp on the subject at hand. Consider other blog material too, and the favour will no doubt be returned.

6. Stay On Track
Remember, establishing a loyal readership is about writing appealing content that is relative to their needs/interests. Whilst the occasional off-topic entry is fine, maintaining a consistent flow of quality content is vital to build your image as an expert in your field. It’s not easy, but if you’re serious about blogging for business quality control should be top of the list.