Get Found! One Way Your Business Blog is an Inbound Marketing Platform

by Bethany on January 19, 2012

in Advanced Blogging, Blogging for Leads, Inbound marketing

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If your online marketing strategy includes corporate blogging, then I have one challenge for you concerning your blog. Remember from my last article, we are supposed to remember to internalize the idea that our corporate blogs are to gain leads. On that note, I have a word I want you to concentrate on (a phrase really) that makes marketers drool: inbound marketing.

Content Makes Your Blog a Foundation for Inbound Marketing

Seriously? Yes. Seriously. But you have to use it the right way. And that comes down to the content. I have read so many blog articles and books about the importance of content, and I agree with them. Content should be informative, helpful, funny, inspire awe, and yes, content is king. I get it. But there are so many blogs and websites out there that it seems like all the good content has been taken up. It can be a little discouraging. At times, it can even be daunting. But the truth is, in order for your blog to be a foundation for inbound marketing, in order for people to want to share it with others, your content needs to be really, really good. So good, in fact, that people will want to share it. And that takes time.

An Inbound Marketing Challenge for You and Your Blog

Now, before I scare you anymore, I have an answer for this so it doesn’t seem so daunting. It’s based on the writings of one of my favorite bloggers, Leo Babauta, who blogs over at Zen Habits. After reading his blog for several years, it’s clear to me that we need to apply one of his mantras about creating healthy habits to this whole blogging thing: just do one thing at a time. So I’m going to give you a challenge for your business blog: plan ONE really cool piece of content.

One really cool piece of content can help make your blog THE foundation for inbound marketing that it can be. My biggest piece of advice about this one really cool piece of content, is that you make it embeddable (implicitly shareable) content. What happens with embeddable content is that people reuse it! When they do that, that content gets pointed back to your blog or website!

Share and Make Shareable

Consider this really cool piece of content an artifact. It is an artifact of your business. So treat it like gold. Here are some things you are going to want to do with that artifact during its “life”time:

  • Make sure to create the metadata (tags) for it
  • Support it yourself by posting it to sites like Digg, Stumbleupon, etc.
  • Ask your friends, followers, and fans to share it, tweet it, repost it for you
  • Make sure you have your social sharing buttons enabled in the post in which it belongs

Slow down for a minute and realize the importance of REALLY good SHAREABLE content. Stop writing and rehashing the stuff you’ve already seen online. Take the time this week, this month (however long it takes depending on how much time you have) to create a really shareable piece of content, a piece of content that you can place in your blog post as say, an image, an infographic, a video, a PDF – and be sure you include credit to your website in a way that is not easily removed from the content. A piece of content that really, truly is a help in some way to your customers. Then come back and let us know what you did, and how it worked for you.

You can do it! I know you can!

Thanks to Funchye at Flickr for the great sharing photo

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Search Engine Academy chooses Innoblogs as its business blogging software

by Tom Williams on January 10, 2012

in About InnoGage, Advanced Blogging, Press Releases, SEO, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Writing for the web

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One of the things we are very proud of at innogage is our business blogging software, innoblogs. About a year ago, we got a little nuts with our blogging software and our goal to crack the ROI nut. We developed a mantra at innogage called “Search and Convert”. In other words, any enhancements to our blogging software were immediately halted if they did not relate explicitly to Search Engine Optimization or Customer Conversion – the two pieces of the ROI puzzle in social media.

The result was a cool piece of technology called the Search Engine Optimizer inside Innoblogs that coaches non-technical / non-SEO writers during the blog creation process to ensure that blog posts are strategic and driving brand, as well as being optimized for the RIGHT keywords and phrases for SEO.

Because of our diligence to building a collaborative blogging tool that optimizes for Search Engines, we recently struck a partnership with The Search Engine Academy! The partnership between innogage and the Search Engine Academy represents to major things.

  1. A global group of SEO experts loves our business blogging software (innoblogs) so much they want to use it and recommend it to others
  2. innogage has access to the incredible SEO knowledge across a global team of SEO practitioners

As we continue to build more and better functionality into our innoblogs business blogging tool, it's great to know the Search Engine Academy will be using our platform and assisting us as knowledge experts to help make our software even better.

Be sure to read the Press Release from Search Engine Academy!

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Remembering Your Purpose is Essential for Your Business Blog

by Bethany on December 29, 2011

in Blogging for Leads, Blogging for Sales

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Ross Furlong of blogstar.co.uk, recently posted a great infographic about business blogging in one of the LinkedIn groups that I follow. With the post, he asked a good question: are corporate blogs an inward facing vanity project or a marketing powerhouse for customer engagement?

*Original infographic posted here: http://www.blogstar.co.uk/our-blog/

Why Do Businesses Blog?

In answer to his question, I reflected on the stats concerning “why” a business blogs. Seventy percent of the responders said that they blog to share expertise, in comparison to the 52% who said that they blog to attract new customers. While sharing expertise is a definite draw for people to read your blog, if this is your ultimate goal for blogging, you haven’t yet internalized the purpose of a corporate blog.
While sharing expertise is what we are doing when we write for a corporate blog, it is not the why, the purpose for investing time and money into a corporate blog. The ultimate purpose for business blogging is to gain customers. If this purpose is not internalized in the hearts and minds of those who write or direct these blogs, they will be missing the mark, and missing out on a lot of opportunity to gain customers.

Your Purpose in Blogging Determines Your Content

The difference between having a mindset that you are blogging to share expertise or blogging to gain customers lies in the content that you will produce as a result of that mindset. If you are blogging to share expertise, then the answer to Ross’s question is that you are blogging as an inward facing vanity project. Your content, then, will not necessarily answer the questions and concerns that your customers care about. You might hit the mark sometimes, but more often than not, you will simply be admiring your own stockpile of intelligence.

Blogging for Leads

On the other hand, if your mindset is to blog to gain customers, you will have your customer’s needs and concerns as your goal for writing. Your blog topics will answer their questions, stimulate their curiosity and result in engagement. This is when your blog turns into a marketing powerhouse for customer engagement, as Ross suggested a blog should be. But I would go even a step further and say that if you keep this goal (gaining customers) as your central focus, your blog will be not only a powerhouse for customer engagement, but a resource for leads.

So keep your purpose at the forefront of your mind, internalize it and then act on it when you write for your blog. And that’s how you blog for leads.

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How to Create Compelling Blog Content (Guest Blog: Lori Crock)

by Blog Expert on December 27, 2011

in Blogging Tips, Business Blogging, Corporate Blogs, Writing for the web

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Last week at the Dublin Entrepreneurial Center (DEC) our monthly blogging roundtable group explored possible blog topics for small business owners.

Finding a suitable topic to write about can be a big stressor for bloggers. In fact, I received an email from one of my clients who gave up trying to write a blog post for today, “I went down one road and it just didn’t work …”

Even a writer on my team started a blog post on a topic last night that he hadn’t researched, and didn’t appear passionate about, and he ended up at a dead end.

My advice? It’s better not to post than to post something you don’t like and doesn’t move you closer to your marketing goals.

Here are 10 content ideas for your business blog:

1. Review an event, blog, App, website, movie, book or song. This is one of my favorites because you experience something new and it feels good to share your opinion backed up by your personal experience, research, links and and compelling visuals. Check out this clever approach to a Twitter and Facebook review.

2. Interview a thought leader. Interview someone, in any field, who is good at what they do. Their personal journey may be very interesting especially if you, as the writer, find those interesting nuggets that help make it applicable to your reader’s lives.

3. Share your side of something going on in the world and relate it to business. A friend just did this very well in a blog post as he tied holiday preparations to business.

4. Research a technology you want to learn more about anyway. I just discovered an App called Noteminder which allows you to shake your iPhone to activate, talk, and shake to stop and your verbal notes are emailed to you. Cool. This gave me the idea to research and write a full review of handy note-taking apps for bloggers.

5. Shine the Spotlight on a not-for-profit. Everyone loves a feel-good story and you probably don’t mind asking people to share it. If you have not-for-profit clients, or you are a volunteer with an organization, this can be an easy and compelling story to tell.

6. Write about a Trending Topic on Twitter. What are people talking about? Give them your perspective. Build out the trending topic or often-searched topic on Google in an area you have an interest. A few of today’s trending topics on Twitter for Columbus, Ohio: #thingsthatIwant and #MyFavoritePlaces, Family Matters and North Korea.

Facebook timeline7. Taking the opposing viewpoint of a blog post you read. Creating a little controversy can encourage folks to comment and share. Do your research, be professional and make sure you topic is current. My idea for a post at this moment? “Why I am skeptical about Facebook Timeline” in response to: Facebook Timeline: 9 Things you need to know.

8. Explore the human condition as it relates to business. The benefit of adversity, how to manage transition, what inspires me to keep building my business, how driven people manage, when success is a bad thing are just a few thoughts.

9. Write a ‘How to’ post. We want to do everything better. Give it to your audience in easy steps so they can comment, share, adopt and keep them coming back to your blog for more.

10. Reach out to guest bloggers. Reaching out to other bloggers who are friends, mentors, or people who have an interesting writing style or angle to share creates some content variety on your blog, gives you some time to do something else and may drive new people (from their network) to your blog. If you get a lot of requests from potential guest bloggers, develop and post some guest blogger guidelines.

What are some blog topics that allow you to develop interesting content quickly and effectively?

Lori Crock is a writer and founder of Written Impact and Blog Coaches. She lives and works in Columbus, Ohio. She is passionate about helping entrepreneurs and non-profits leaders build their brand through powerful marketing messaging for web, print, video and social media.

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Why e-marketing communication is so important for your business or organization

by Tom Williams on December 20, 2011

in Branding, Strategy

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I sat down with two members of the Westerville School board this morning to discuss the tough situation facing the district. Westerville is, like many communities, experiencing a financial crunch with decreased property valuations, delinquent tax payments and less money from the State. A levy to close the gap recently failed by a large margin (60/40) in a district that rarely fails levies.

“Rarely does the rumor mill

work in your favor.”

What happened and what does it mean for me and my business or organization?

I believe the levy primarily failed because of lack of communication – basically lack of a marketing plan. Even though the district was experiencing financial hardships, no real information was communicated or marketing campaign launched until just before the levy.  The information that was available was either hard to understand or high level. This resulted in people forming their own beliefs about the underlying issues and whether or not they would support the levy. Clearly this did not go the way the district had hoped. Rarely does the rumor mill work in your favor.

The moral of this story is take control of your brand and the information flow before the problem arises. You can accomplish this in a few straightforward steps:

1. Do not wait until the last minute to communicate important information. Whether its a change in policy, end of life of a product or service or needing more tax revenue, communicate as early as you so you reduce the shock factor. Have you noticed that no one blinks at the $3.00+ per gallon we pay for gas now? Do you remember when the price was climbing quickly to these new levels? It’s all anyone could talk about. Now we just accept it as the norm.

Rumor Mill2. Push information frequently and repetitively. A business blog (or organizational blog) is a great way to keep the flow of information – flowing! You may need to tell someone the same thing three or four times before it sinks in. I have heard seasoned public speakers say “state your main point at the beginning, in the middle and at the end”. This is because repetition sticks with us and sometimes we just aren’t listening the first couple times.

3. Be transparent. Nothing kicks the rumor mill into high gear like the perception of hiding or spinning information or facts. Most stories have two sides. Present both to your audience. Feel free to choose a side, but present them both anyway. Another way to enhance transparency is to invite comments and questions. (Think blog comments or posts to a facebook wall). Be sure to respond appropriately to all legitimate questions. Chances are, when a question is asked, many people have the same question in their minds. Respond with honesty and compassion and stop the rumor mill in its tracks.

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Balancing Keyword Density for Content Optimization

by Bethany on December 1, 2011

in Advanced Blogging, Content Optimization, SEO Blogging, Search Engine Optimization, Writing for the web

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Keyword density as it concerns content optimization, is the percentage that a keyword appears in your content, as compared to the total number of words in your content. There was a time when keyword density was extremely important to your search engine rankings. Today, not so much. At least, not in the way it used to be.

Keyword density: old news, but still relevant

A little keyword density history
Over time, a couple of things began to happen. First, online content writers became proficient in applying keywords, and this method of website optimization became the norm. Second, webmasters began to take advantage of keywords, to the point that they abused them. Terms like keyword stuffing, search spam and spamdexing came about as a result of this abuse. Essentially, search engines are smart enough to realize when content has too many keywords and this can result in lower rankings for your website. In fact, it is Google’s policy to remove a website from their search engines if they find this happening. Why? One, they find it unethical, and two, keywords repeated endlessly renders your content useless to the reader. Remember, Google searches for quality content.

So when it comes to keyword density, content optimization doesn’t just mean slapping some keywords in your content to get noticed by the search engines. You need to find that perfect balance for content optimization. Too much is a bad thing; too little is not good enough. Most experts state that anywhere from 2 to 8 percent is a decent balance for keyword density. If that’s all we can use our keywords, then we better use them wisely.

Three things to do to “optimize” your keywords

  1. Give them prominence: put them in your title, near the top of the page, and in the start of your sentences.
  2. Give them proximity: that means, put two of your keywords, or keyword phrases together if you can do so naturally. For instance, if I am writing an article on content optimization, it would be good to start a sentence with these two phrases: When you are writing for the web, it is good to have search engine optimized content. The words in italices are the keywords (or phrases) in this situation.
  3. For the advanced writer, try to include a keyword or phrase in an H1 or H2 title tag. Search engines give these words a little higher priority than words buried elsewhere in your content.

If you do these things, and you always keep in mind that you need to maintain between 2 and 8 percent keyword density, you will have created keyword rich pages.

*Image credit: http://blogs.longwood.edu/mediacrit/

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Business Blogging: 3 Tips to Engage Your Readers in Conversation

by Bethany on November 15, 2011

in Advanced Blogging, Business Blogging

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Business blogging is more than just a way to get content about your company “out there.” A good business blog should become a hub for conversation; it’s not only a great marketing tool, but its a portal for your customers to be heard. The more you hear from your customers, the more you will know what they need and want from your business. If you struggle with writing content that will compel readers to respond, here are a few great blogging tips to start opening up your blog for more conversation.

1. Write as a person, not as a business.
In Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers, authors Scoble and Israel write that if you aren’t maintaining a blog and having “naked conversations,” you can’t learn from your customers, and “they won’t come to see you as a sincere human who cares about your business and its reputation.”

Each person that contributes to a business blog has their own perspective and personality, and those should be shared. Obviously, there’s a balance between company brand and a corporate blogger’s own perspective and personality, but this balance can be made by some blogging standards and rules. Businesses are made up of people, and customers like to see the personalities behind the company. Allowing your corporate bloggers to share their own personalities in their blog posts creates another opportunity for customers to feel they can relate to your business.

I know when I read a business blog post written by a person who has obviously had some freedom to write from their own perspective, I am more likely to want to respond. At the time when I respond, I don’t necessarily feel like I’m interacting with a business. I feel like I’m interacting with the person who wrote the article. The more I’m compelled to respond (and assuming the blogger has replied back), the more I feel invested in that company, whether I do business with them or not. When it comes time that I need something that business has to offer, I will turn to them because of the interaction I’ve already had with them.

2. Your company blog is not a podium.
Have you ever had a “conversation” with someone who thought their opinions and voice were the best thing since sliced bread? These interactions are not conversations at all. It was really just a time for that person to feel good about themselves because they had a lot to say. What I’m saying is, leave room for your readers to interject something. Let them feel like they have something to contribute too. Because they do have something to contribute.

3. The customer has a story.
People like to see stories about themselves, their friends, their families, their business associates. These are the stories that not only create conversation, but these are stories that are shared. What does this mean for your business? Write articles about your customers. A good conversation doesn’t stop when the talk is over. A good conversation will be continued when one of the talkers shares that conversation with another person. One of the best ways to get your content shared is to write about your customer. Keep in mind that you will want to get your customer’s permission to write about them. But trust me, more often than not, your customer will love reading about themselves and sharing it with others.

I haven’t covered everything there is to know about starting conversation with your blog. Of course not–that would be breaking my second piece of advice to you. So, what have you done to create conversation with your blog? What have you found that always works? I would love to hear from you.

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Blogs, Blogs and more Blogs! Unlimited Blogs!

by Drew Dillon on October 24, 2011

in Blogging 101, Blogging Tips, Business Blogging, Content Management Systems, Corporate Blogs, Strategy

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Unlimited blogsEvery time I read about a content management system, I inevitably see the value proposition of creating an unlimited number of blogs. On the surface that seems great right?  However, in terms of business blogs – is it?

Let me ask you this – who wants to create an unlimited number of blogs? Most of us can’t even get one business blog to work effectively. Instead of creating a lot of blogs that don’t work, focus on creating one blog that does work. Here are a few things your blogging software should do for you:

  • Make the content strategy clear to all writers
  • Suggest topics of interest
  • Permit many writers while maintaining control
  • Enable real Search Engine Optimization (on the keywords YOU are trying to own)
  • Take care of the heavy lifting in terms of cross linking, tagging…etc.
  • Help your readers take an action step towards YOUR goals

If your business blog isn’t helping you achieve the list above, you’ve probably got the wrong business blogging software.  Don’t worry about creating unlimited blogs – just create one really really good blog.



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You think you know what mobile is… but I seriously doubt it

by Tom Williams on September 13, 2011

in Inbound marketing, Social Media Marketing

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Until I was asked to present on mobile technology at a recent conference, I thought I knew what mobile was.  After a lot of research and a lot of thinking, I was surprised to find out that I really didn’t know how to properly define “mobile“. When I asked the room of attendees at the conference if they knew what mobile was, most hands went up.  By the time I was done talking, most people weren’t so sure.

So…What makes a device “mobile” and more importantly, how should digital information render on a mobile device?

You may think that portability is synonymous with mobile, as many at the conference first believed. But that means that all laptops are mobile devices and really, any desktop you can put in your car trunk is also a mobile device… so it’s got to be more than just portability.

Perhaps it’s the screen size that makes something mobile but I know a lot of laptops that have really small screen sizes…so it must be more than just screen size.

What about iPads and tablets.  Surely those are mobile right! However… have you ever hit a mobile website with an iPad or Tablet? How annoying is that? If a mobile site rendering on the device is annoying is the device really mobile?

So, do you still think you know what mobile is or have I sufficiently thrown some wrenches in your gears? In my next post, I will discuss what I see as the Three Pillars of Mobile.

How would you define “mobile”??

I would love to hear your thoughts.

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Is your digital marketing plan ready for mobile 2014?

by Tom Williams on July 15, 2011

in SEM, SEO, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Strategy

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My next few blog posts will be dedicated to the topic of mobile technology and how it relates to your marketing mix of digital marketing and search engine optimization by helping you reach your customers and readers more effectively.

Mobile is coming at us fast.  By 2014 the number of users accessing the internet via mobile devices is predicted to overtake traditional desktop and laptop usage.

THAT’S ONLY 2.5 YEARS AWAY.

Mobile users overtake desktop

Stay tuned for what you can and should be doing to ensure you are ready for the mobile revolution, already underway. We’ll help you navigate this new landscape strategically by going over the low hanging fruit, the must-haves and most importantly, what you should NOT be going right now.

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