Last post I talked about adding photos and videos to your site as well as promoting your blog on social networking sites. Today’s tips are about the look of your blog, blog statistics and building relationships with your readers.
Tip # 7 ~ Make your blog look professional. Make it easy to navigate and find things. Use the tools in your blog software to add keywords, word tags and categories. Add a site map to your blog so visitors can do a quick search of topics that interest them. If a calendar will enhance the visitor experience, add a calendar. Create a blogroll of blogs you follow. This is your way of referring other blogs to your reader.
Tip #8 ~ Keep track of your blog metrics/statistics. Most blog software either has the stats feature built in or has a plugin you can use to keep track. Things to know are you most commented on posts, most popular posts, inbound links and referrals and more. What questions or keywords are being used to find your blog in the search engines? Google Analytics, Woopra, and Statcounter can give you lots of data such as where your hits are coming from.
Knowing what your most popular posts are lets you know what your readers read and are attracted to. This can help you hone in on the messages that resonate with others. Check your blog stats on a regular basis. Some bloggers check their blog stats at least once a day and others once a week. Checking blog statistics can be addicting so you must determine how often you should check the stats to get the information you need.
Tip #9 ~ Develop relationships with your readers. Respond to their comments, visit their sites and leave a comment. Drop them an email and thank them for commenting. Find out more about the people who are interested in what you have to say. If someone is leaving a comment, chances are they want to be noticed. Make sure you notice them. If you like what they have written on their own blogs or websites, find ways to mention them on yours.
Answer questions in your comments section and ask your readers questions. When you respond to your readers comments it lets them know that you are reading what they say and it validates their reasons for leaving comments in the first place. This may also encourage others to also leave a comment on your blog and others.One of the coolest tools that I just learned about is CommentLuv atwww.commentluv.com. Every time someone leaves a comment on your blog it automatically shows the title of their latest blog post.
CommentLuv was recently added to all my blogs ~ I will let you know if it increases followers or not. Everyone I have spoken with who has it on their blog, loves it!
In the last post I talked about the importance of Content, creating a Community and Building a Directory to get your blog noticed, read and followed. Here are 3 more tips to Get Your Blog On:
#4 ~ Add photos. Photos add “life” to a blog, personalize it and make it more interesting. That does not mean EVERY post should have a photo it just means that readers will appreciate if you “mix it up a bit.” Share bits of you.
Let readers into your life by showing your personal side. On my blog Success and then Some, I often post pictures of me networking. Not only does it get people to “see you” in person it also makes you more real. More human. And if they see you as a real person, they are more likely to follow you.
Some great place for Royalty FREE photos include: Fotolia, Fotosearch and Dreamstime. There are also a whole host of free sites from which you can grab photos. A great list of free sites such as Flickr can be found at http://pstutorialsblog.com/44/free-stock-photos/. You can also “google” the photos you are looking for to get some great photos. Be sure you check the licensing from any of these FREE sites before using the photos.
Tip #5 ~ Add Videos to your blog posts. Some of the most popular posts on blogs are the ones that include a video. But don’t just post a video, be sure you also post a commentary about the video. And the video doesn’t even have to be one you created. It can be one you found on YouTube or other video-sharing site. The people who post videos to these sites appreciate the added “publicity” when bloggers refer to their videos and share them with their readers. You can also create your own videos to post to sites such as YouTube, Google Video and Blip.
I created a video about flowers, using Powerpoint, music and Camtasia Studios. You can see it at my blog Tulips Talk.
My good friend and mentor Terry Brock regularly posts videos to YouTube and in fact has one called Marketing with YouTube ~ How to do it.
Robin Goode has a great list of tools you can use to automatically post your videos at the top video sites athttp://tinyurl.com/6bhlre.
Tip #6 ~ Promote your blog on social networking sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. And niche social networking sites that cater to your target audience. I belong to several other social networking groups such asBoomer Diva Nationwe help one another promote our “stuff” all the time. For instance we have our own Twitter Tuesdays and every Tuesday we help one another spread the word about our blog posts, events, products and services and more. There are tools and plug ins for most social networking sites that allow you to automatically post your blog articles as they happen. For instance, use Tweetfeed to post to your twitter account. And you can update your profile with videos from YouTube on Facebook, LinkedIn and more.
These tips and others will help you draw more attention to your site and increase the chances of others becoming loyal followers. Stay tuned for my next post when I talk about blog design, connecting with other users and checking stats to increase blog followers.
Starting a blog may be the craze these days, but is it for you? Do you have what it takes to not just start a blog, but stick to it? Do you know what you want to accomplish with your blog? Do you know how you want to position your blog, what you want to write about and more importantly who you want to write for? A blog without an audience is still a blog, but it may not be effective in achieving your overall goals.
If you want to have an audience, you have to market your blog. You have to let people know it exists. Most people don’t write for themselves, they write for a consumer, a fan or someone(s) who has similar interests. Having others read what you write affirms that you have information worth reading. And if you have ever received comments on your blog you know that feeling that someone does take what you have to say seriously. Even when they don’t agree with your stand, they took the time to respond.
If you want to increase your readers and get more feedback from them (comments) you need to create a plan. And there are “little” things you can do every day to make that happen. In fact, I created a list of 15 tips to get your blog on the radar of your target audience and am sharing 3 tips today. That means I have content to span 5 blog posts. Maybe more if I decide to add to it. Here are those 3 tips:
Tip #1 ~ Create good content. Many blog consultants will tell you that content is king and that you need lots of it. I believe what you really need is strategically created informative or entertaining (and best if it’s both) content that interests readers and gets visitors to become followers. Writing posts strictly for the search engines may get you better rankings in the short term, but in the long term could hurt your credibility.
If you are having trouble coming up with content, start with a list of something in your genre or niche. Lists are very popular with readers and often lists get picked up and referred to on other blogs. On my blog WE Magazine for Women, I compile a quarterly list of Women Bloggers to watch. It is by far the highest visited (and commented on) post of all the blog posts we write.
Other types of content that are popular with readers is how-to advice. Teach what you know. On my Redhead Marketing blog I write about how to use weird, zany and unusual holidays to promote your business.
Write a 99 Ways to article. Or 33 steps, or 47 tips. Break those tips down into bite-sized pieces and do a series. For instance, the 99 ways could be broken down into a series of tips over a period of time such as a few days or weeks. Similar to what I am doing here with 15 tips shared over 5 posts.
Tip #2 ~ Many successful bloggers have increased their following and built a loyal base by creating an online community on their blog. You can create a forum, a social network or a simple chat room. In fact, most blog software these days allows or has plug ins that will help you establish your community. For an example of how one person did this, check out JamieOliver.com. Keith Ferazzi (author of Never Eat Alone) has a great mix of website, blog and community to take a look at as well.
If you are not sure if you should include a “community” for your readers, check out “Should Blogs Have a Forum?” at Blog Herald
Tip #3 ~ Create a Directory on Your blog. The Directory can include resources your readers would value and want to visit often. By including the directory link you increase the likelihood readers will return (provided the content is good). You can start compiling your directory content based upon your blog posts.
For instance, if you write a technology blog and offer the latest and greatest gadgets in every post. The gadgets could then be compileed and referred to in a directory of recommended sites that your visitor can refer to often. A directory could work with almost any type of blog. A parenting blog could list parenting resources, magazines, books, experts, educational sources, etc. A social media blogger could create a directory of social media sites, social media tools, resources, plug-ins, experts, etc. You get the idea. One of my favorite blogs BlogHer has a directory of other female bloggers on their blog. It is one of the most popular and respected blogs in the blogosphere.
The point is a directory can increase readers because if the content is good, your readers are likely to refer to the directory on their blogs and in their newsletters and emails. After all, if they find a great resource, they too will want to let their readers know about it. Why not be the “it” they refer their readers to?
“Communities can extend the edge of the corporation in truly transformative ways — tapping into new talent, helping design products and services, providing customer support and, most importantly, building the brand with the customer.” Ed Moran
What if your website could be THE place where people connect online? Where they could meet one another, exchange ideas and leads, keep up with current trends, learn about new opportunities and develop relationships?
I’m not talking the traditional Social Networking Sites that are made exclusively for meeting, mingling and networking. Not another Facebook, Myspace or LinkedIn. Although that is not a bad idea ~ and a topic for another post.
I am talking about a website that sells something and offers their visitors a place to share ideas and discuss items of interest to them along the theme of what you are selling. Add a forum to your website to increase your prospects! Forums can generate traffic, provide valuable customer feedback and build loyalty to the brand. Forums can give your customers a voice, a place to express their opinions about the product.
But online forums are not for everyone. It all depends on what you sell and if the product has enough diversity to lend itself to forum topics that would interest enough customers/clients to make the effort worthwhile. Lawn and Garden sites, Network marketing companies, sports fans and sites that sell products for pets are likely highly successful because the visitors have a PASSION for the product or the topic. If you sell detergent or mailboxes or office supplies your site might not be the ideal site to create a community forum. In my opinion a blog might be a more ideal option, a place where you can share your expertise with your customers about how to use the products as well as place to offer advice on ancillary topics that would interest them. Also another topic for discussion.
So why have an online forum for your business site? According to Bobybuilding.com CEO Ryan DeLuca “It’s about becoming the place where people come to talk and learn and meet.”
Consulting companies like the David Allen Company have a growing number of followers and active participants to their forums. According to their site, they have 10,761 Members. And their forum activity looks robust. Why? I am sure it’s because the topics are things their visitors are interested in learning more about or sharing.
I also found GAMING sites with active forums. Sites like GameReplays.org have forums that allow their fans to discuss the Company of Heros game at http://www.gamereplays.org/community/-CoH-Section.html. According to their site they have 90,736 registered members.
And then there’s sites like Bodybuilding.com which espouses more than 1.1 million users!
The drawbacks to forums are many. And you should be aware of them as well. Spam is perhaps the biggest issue. People posting stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with the topic at hand. I was on a forum the other day about how to turn an audio file into a podcast and one of the forum “members” posted the following: “I am searching for a partner to walk around the globe in support of our troups.” Well that may be a worthwhile post but had absolutely nothing to do with the topic. Of course everyone just ignored the poster. But I still find that sort of thing annoying and rude.
Other drawbacks include the cost of implementing a forum, the costs to monitor the forums, lack of participation, inappropriate participation and staying on topic (even for those who know and follow the rules this can sometimes be a challenge), marketing the forums so your target audience knows its available and also really expressing the benefits of participating so people want to be there. And let’s not forget the negative feedback that could occur from a dissatisfied customer. Too many of these can do more harm than good and be the downfall of a company. But then again, what’s wrong with that? If the company sells an inferior product then perhaps it shouldn’t be allowed to sell to unsuspecting buyers!
Building online forums is relatively inexpensive. If you’d like to try a do-it-yourself platform, try the Forum Co where you can set up a free forum at http://www.forumco.com/. vBulletin http://www.vbulletin.com/ is a professional, affordable community forum solution which according to their site has “Thousands of clients, including many industry leading blue chip companies, have chosen vBulletin – It’s the ideal choice for any size of community Or just ask your webmaster or webmistress to design it for you.”
The Wall Street Journal wrote a great article “Why Most Online Communities Fail. According to the article Ed Moran, a Deloitte consultant who just completed a study of more than 100 businesses with online communities said: “Not surprisingly, these sites failed to gain traction with customers. Thirty-five percent of the online communities studied have less than 100 members; less than 25% have more than 1,000 members … The article said one of the reasons for failure was that “Businesses are focusing on the value an online community can provide to themselves, not the community.” You can read the rest of the article here: http://blogs.wsj.com/biztech/2008/07/16/why-most-online-communities-fail/
Before you do consider adding a forum, think about your goals for the forum. What is the aim or purpose of the forum? What do you want your forum to look like? Who would you like to participate? How will you market the forum? And the big question: WHY? Why do you want a forum in the first place?
Forums are one of the original social networking platforms for building communities online. Once you have done your due dilligent, answered the questons above and studied your target audience for receptivity, you will be able to make a better decision about marketing your online business with a forum. Your forum can help you build word of mouth referrals for your small business, help you develop and perfect your brand, your business operations and your business offerings and more than that you will be able to help your targe market have, do or be better at something.
