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Blog Post SEO: Optimizing Your Content for Search

Blog Post SEO: Optimizing Your Content for Search

Once you’ve composed your blog post, your next step is to prepare it to get as much as visibility as possible. Your biggest sources of traffic in the long run is likely to be Google. In this post, we’re going to look at how you can optimize your blog posts for search engines for sustainable, long-term traffic and rankings. Keyword Research The first thing you need to do is decide on the best keyword phrase for your blog post. You may have already chosen this before you started writing, but if you didn’t, now is the time to do it. …

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Composing a Successful Blog Post

Composing a Successful Blog Post

So far, we’ve covered why your business should have a blog, how to set it up, how to create your blogging strategy, and where you can find good topics to write about. The next step is creating a great blog post. Today, we’re going to look at the most important elements that go into composing a successful blog post. Length There are lots of differing opinions about how long a blog post should be. Some stick with the 300 word minimum for SEO purposes. Some think that no one wants to read a post longer than 600 words. Some won’t …

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How to Find Popular Topics for Your Business to Blog About

How to Find Popular Topics for Your Business to Blog About

One of the biggest questions every business has when it comes to blogging is what they should blog about. Last month, we touched upon ways to find blog topics in How to Create a Blog Content Strategy. In today’s post, we’re going to dig a bit deeper into additional tools and strategies your business can use to discover what content performs best on social media in your industry. Finding Similar Blogs Your first goal is to find blogs in your industry whose posts you want to research. You can start with your business’s competitors. If they do not have great …

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How to Create a Blog Content Strategy

How to Create a Blog Content Strategy

Now that you know why you need a blog for your business and the basics of setting up your blog with WordPress, we’re going to look at the most important part of your blog. The part that will make it succeed or fail. And that is your content. In this post, we’re going to look at how you can create a successful content strategy. Analyzing Your Competitors As the old saying goes, there is no point in reinventing the wheel. Chances are, you have plenty of competitors that have a business blog. Your first goal is to look at your …

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How to Set Your Business Blog Up Right

How to Set Your Business Blog Up Right

Now that you know why your business should have a blog, let’s look at the technical details that go along with blogging. In this post, we’re going to look at choosing your blogging content management system and setting it up for success. Choosing a Blogging Platform There are several platforms you can choose from when it comes to blogging. Most brands, businesses, and bloggers choose WordPress on their own domain. Why? Here are just a few good reasons. WordPress is used on 8.4 million websites – this surpasses Blogger, Joomla!, Drupal, and other platforms. Because of its wide usage, WordPress …

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It’s the Engagement, Stupid: 6 Keys to Building a Blog to Strengthen Your Nonprofit’s Supporter Base

It’s the Engagement, Stupid: 6 Keys to Building a Blog to Strengthen Your Nonprofit’s Supporter Base

“Newspapers are just blogs that get ink on your fingers.” Stephen Colbert Blogs are media.  They’re also social.  They aren’t rocket science.  You can build a great blog.  But why would you want to?  Aha!  That’s the question too many nonprofits fail to ask.  So ask.  Seriously. Take a moment.  I’ll wait. “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” Lewis Carroll Nonprofit blogs may not be rocket science, but they should be rockets.  Where do you want to go? If you’re being honest, my hunch is you’ll want your blog to strengthen your …

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Why Every Business Should Have a Blog

Why Every Business Should Have a Blog

If your business – local or worldwide, small or large – does not have a blog, then make that one of your online marketing goals for this year. No matter what your industry, chances are there is something interesting you can write about and share with an online audience. In this post, we’re going to look at how to determine if your business needs a blog and the benefits of having one. Should Your Business Have a Blog? First off, you may be thinking that your business doesn’t need a blog. Here are two easy questions to ask yourself when …

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10 New Websites to Add to Your Social Media Blog List in 2013

Looking for new blogs to follow in 2013 for unique and insightful information on social media?

We are always looking for new insight as to how we can be better utilize social media for our business. We have more choices than ever from which to learn about social media, whether it’s a Social Media MBA program like the one I help teach at Rutger’s University, the ever-growing number of social media conferences, or the numerous social media books that have been published. On a daily basis, however, it is the blog posts of individuals, and a growing number of companies, which might have the biggest impact on our understanding of social media. As the mission of this blog is …

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Six Reasons Why WordPress Bloggers Should Switch to WP Engine Website Hosting

Six Reasons Why WordPress Bloggers Should Switch to WP Engine Website Hosting

After reading the title of this blog post, you correctly assumed that this blog and website is hosted using WP Engine (WPE). After going through four different website hosting services, Windmill Networking made a strategic switch to WPE – and we haven’t looked back! I wouldn’t want to recommend a service as vital as website hosting without having some experience under my belt – as well as reasons to provide you – so now that it has been six months since the switch, it’s the right time to report back to you all on my experiences. If you’ve ever had …

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10 Tips on How To Create High Quality Content for Blogs, Newsletters, and Other Content Marketing Initiatives

10 Tips on How To Create High Quality Content for Blogs, Newsletters, and Other Content Marketing Initiatives

Content marketing is more important than ever, and some would argue that it’s the most efficient way to boost your SEO these days. Content is also an excellent engagement vehicle.  Furthermore, creating good content for your website, blog, and newsletter is key if you want to continue to attract customers to your digital assets. How so? It’s because if you have something worth reading, it’s worth spreading and your readers and customers will be the ones bringing people to your site. Plus, amazing content makes your site more valuable to them and they’ll return to it time and again – …

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Case Study: Why Every B2B Business Development Executive Should Blog [INTERVIEW]

Case Study: Why Every B2B Business Development Executive Should Blog [INTERVIEW]

In my work consulting, coaching, and speaking to various organizations on how to leverage social media for their business objectives, I sometimes come across some that I feel can be role models in terms of how they utilize social media for their company. The below interview is with one such individual, Abhishek Mittal (@mumblr on Twitter), who is a B2B business development executive with the thought-leading global professional services company Towers Watson. He has become an “influencer” within his industry due to his savvy use of social media, and this had led to him being able to develop business from …

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Time to Write Off Your Company Blog?

Time to Write Off Your Company Blog?

Just when you thought it was safe to fire up your company blog and reap the highly touted social business dividends, the marketplace seems to be sending mixed signals.  Recent posts by social media influencers have challenged a University of Massachusetts study showing a decline in corporate blogging by rhetorically asking whether it’s possibly time to rethink your company’s blogging strategy, or even forget about it altogether.  The marketing industry and businesses with a vested interest in the growth and success of the blogosphere have naturally assumed a bit of defensive posturing concerning the long-term outlook for blogging as a marketing …

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What’s in a domain? Establishing your social business brand

What’s in a domain? Establishing your social business brand

Businesses come and go.  But your personal name, that’s another matter altogether.  In the social business world, your name can be leveraged as your personal identifier across myriad social media sites as well as your monetized business brand.  In creating a new business or online presence, one of the toughest decisions you may make is whether to establish your social business brand by your personal name or a fictitious “DBA” identity, such as a catchy word, phrase or slogan.  It’s hardly a trivial decision, especially considering your online identity eventually will sprout hundreds if not thousands of backlinks which will …

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I Blog for Content, Not for Comments. Surprised?

I Blog for Content, Not for Comments. Surprised?

I don’t know if that title surprised you, but I thought the time had come to face the fact that this blog gets very few comments when compared to other blogs with similar or even less website visitors.  I see a lot of bloggers trying to get more comments for their blogs to the point that they enlist in “tribes” to comment on each other’s blogs, a tactic introduced in a famous blog post by a famous blogger some time ago.  In fact, some bloggers go so far as to install WordPress plugins for comments that actually inflate comment numbers …

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Top 10 Social Media Blogs to Follow in 2012

Top 10 Social Media Blogs to Follow in 2012

Social media has gone from being a pastime to a necessary component of any brand and business. To build up your stockpile of social media knowledge, you need to stay informed of the latest news and trends by reading the best blogs in the business. You already know about the “famous” social media blogs – but what about those logs that consistently publish good information but just haven’t been exposed to the same traffic? Similar to my list last year of top social media blogs to follow in 2011, I wanted to update that list with 10 more blogs who …

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The 14 Best WordPress Plugins for Social Media and SEO Optimized Sites for 2012

The 14 Best WordPress Plugins for Social Media and SEO Optimized Sites for 2012

The New Year is a great time to either start a brand new blog or revamp your exiting website. One of the ways to improve your blog in 2012 is by using plugins that make it more social media optimized and SEO friendly. Having the right plugins can give you an edge over other blogs and can also assist you in gaining the extra functionality you need for your WordPress-powered site, especially if social media is an important part of your marketing strategy. Let’s have a look at the top plugins that I recommend you utilize in 2012. There’s a few …

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Are You Making any of These 6 Blog Content Mistakes?

Are You Making any of These 6 Blog Content Mistakes?

I get asked by a lot of companies as well as bloggers as to ideas on what they should be blogging about.  My golden rule, as a tool of Inbound Marketing, is to try to blog about topics that my potential clients might be interested in.  As you know, I believe a blog should be an essential component of any social media strategy.  Now, since I provide consulting and coaching services to companies as well as sell books to individuals, my target audience is pretty broad.  However, I always try to blog to showcase my expertise as well as attract …

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Ancient Religions and New Media : A Match Made in Heaven

Ancient Religions and New Media : A Match Made in Heaven

Religion is one of the oldest pursuits of mankind while blogging has only been around since the advent of the Internet.  Just as social media permeates every aspect of a business over time, it has the the potential to do so over many parts of our daily life.  Upon the introduction of, Michael Myers, an SEO guru who started out in his profession by helping his church hit the top of Google search results for their niche, I had the opportunity to interview someone who is considered a global expert on the relationship between social media and religion, Brandon Vogt.  …

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Stop Blogging – Start Thinking…

Stop Blogging – Start Thinking…

Chances are if you’ve attended any seminars in the last few years on leveraging new technology, social media, and the mighty power of the Internet, you’ve been told that you and your business must blog. Chances are, you’ve also been told just how easy it is to start a blog and that a monkey can do it. Throw up a page of some kind on any of the popular hosted blog platforms (WordPress, Tumbler, Posterous et. al.), or hire a broke youngster via some crowd-sourcing firm who’ll gladly hook you up with a self-hosted blog for a price of a …

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8 Insanely Simple Tips for Marketing your Blog and Increasing Subscribers

8 Insanely Simple Tips for Marketing your Blog and Increasing Subscribers

I recently blogged about why companies should blog and also why blogging is a great way to start your social media marketing efforts. Once you start blogging, you will soon want to increase the number of website visitors and RSS subscribers as well as get the word out about your blog. The problem, though, is that if your blog isn’t set up and maintained right, you could be promoting your blog to a transient audience. Whatever the purpose of your blog, you almost certainly want to reach as large an audience as possible, so here are 8 insanely simple tips …

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