Blogging For Business
Transcript of Blogging For Business
Slides: SlideShare.net/HubSpot
Twitter: @rickburnes
How to Blog for Business
Rick Burnes
HubSpot Inbound
Marketing Manager
Agenda
I. Five Keys to a Successful Blog
1. Pick Your Target Keywords
2. Create a Mix of Posts
3. Write Great Posts3. Write Great Posts
4. Sustain It
5. Spread It
II. How to measure your blog
Key #1: Identify Target Personas
Kadient photo by: David Meerman Scott
Your Content Pulls in Your Personas
“Create the kind of online content that your buyers naturally gravitate to.” to.”
- David Meerman Scott
Author of The New Rules of
Marketing & PRwww.webinknow.com
What Keywords Will Attract Your Personas?
• Fill posts with them
• Build an archive of content full of them
How We Pick Keywords: Keyword Grader
A Word of Caution
• Writing for your personas DOES NOT mean writing about the products and services you sell them
• Write about the things they • Write about the things they want to learn about
Key #2 Create a Mix of Posts
Flickr Photo: jek-a-go-go
Step 2: Plan a Mix of Posts
NewsOpinion
Feature
Video
Photos
Many Types of Posts Get Traffic
PostPage Views
Did You Graduate From Link Building High School Yet11,270
State of the Twittersphere - Q4 2008 Report 8,768
You Oughta Know Inbound Marketing 7,498
6 Tips for Making a Business Marketing Video 4,211
Twitter in Real Life: The Follow Back [cartoon] 4,137
Raisin Bran – Basic, Everyday Posts
• How to posts
• Rich in keywords
• Get good at whipping them whipping them out
• Make sure they’re useful
Flickr Photo: greeneyesmilw
Spinach – Healthy, Thoughtful Posts
• Should establish your site a thought leader in the industry
• Put time into • Put time into them
• Don’t do too many
Flickr Photo: ulteriorepicture
Roasts – Big Blog Projects
• Lots of work
• Lots of links, discussion and attention
• Pick them well
Chocolate Cake – The Sweet Stuff
• These posts make your blog fun
• A chance to poke fun at yourself
• Lots of traffic/links • Lots of traffic/links
• Often video, images
Flickr Photo: scubadive67
Tabasco – Posts That Start Fires
• Make a bold statement
• Be prepared to defend yourself
• Lots of comments • Lots of comments and links
• Too many of these post could lose trust
Flickr Photo: ANOXLOU
Key #3 Write Great Posts
Flickr Photo: Olivander
No Need to Be Hemingway
Just follow a few simple rules.
Photo: Wikipedia
Tips for Post Structure
• Use Headings
• 500-800 words (or shorter!)
• Lists are OK (just not too many)not too many)
• 1 idea per post
Always Add a Photo
• Flickr
• iStockphoto
• Shoot your own
How to Search for a Flickr Photo
Go to Advanced Search
Then search for CC licensed photos
Where Do You Get Ideas?
• Everywhere
• Keep a list
• When you learn something, flesh it out
• Check your email outbox!
• Ask your readers
Write Great Headlines
How to Write Great Headlines
• Write the headline before the article
• Imagine the reader won’t see the article
• Surprise people
• No spelling errors!
• Use your keywords
Key #4: Sustain It
Flickr Photo: michalo
Pick a Publishing Schedule
• Once a week? Every Monday and Wednesday?
• Stick to it
• The goal is to build up a body of keyword-rich content of keyword-rich content (create an asset)
Different Ways of Doing Posts
• Email interviews
• Video interviews (conferences, office visitors, clients)
• Guest posts from people with similar blogs
• “Best of” lists
• “How we do it” posts
Should I Hire People?
It depends.
Pros:
• You don’t have to do the work
• You hire a “professional writer”
Cons:Cons:
• Nobody knows your business like you do
• You don’t build your personal reputation
• You don’t participate in the conversation
Key #5: Spread It
Flickr Photo: felipearte
Think of Blogging Like a Job Search
Would you sit at home and wait for a call?
Take Comments Seriously
• Make sure you comment back
• Find out who the people are• Follow their links
• Subscribe to their blog, follow them on Twitter
Use these links
Publish on Social Media
• Post directly
• Post via twitterfeed.com automatically
• Post to your status
• Post automatically via a feed to your fan or profile page
Also consider LinkedIn, other sites.
Where Do You Link to Your Blog?
• Your homepage
• Press releases
• Business cards
• Email signatures
Engage People; Stay on Their Radar
• Write posts that link to or follow up on bigger bloggers’ radar screens
• Most people do Google or Technorati searches for Technorati searches for their name, so they’ll see your post
Agenda
I. Five Keys to a Successful Blog
1. Pick Your Target Keywords
2. Create a Mix of Posts2. Create a Mix of Posts
3. Write Great Posts
4. Sustain It
5. Spread It
II. How to measure your blog
Metric #1: Subscriptions
• A measure of you blog’s total reach
• A “sticky” number
Metric #2: Pageviews
• Great for media sites selling display advertising
• Potential problems for your business:
• Doesn’t measure RSS
• Weak measure of engagement
• What’s the business value of a “view”?
Metric #3: Comments
• Quantitatively, a good indicator of engagement
• Qualitatively, a great way to listen to market
Metric #4: Inbound Links
• Measure the SEO impact of your blog
• An indicator of your blog’s role in outside conversations
Metric #5: Conversions
What Does HubSpot Do?
It’s a software system that helps you get found
Search Marketing Tools
Blogging & CMS Tools
Social Media Tools
Thank You!
Free Tools:
http://Website.Grader.com
http://PressRelease.Grader.com
http://Twitter.Grader.com
Rick Burnes
Inbound Marketing Manger
HubSpot
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/rickburnes
Twitter: http://twitter.com/rickburnes