Blogging

Top search engine Google recently put an end to its AdSense referral program, but it has already introduced a new revenue-generating option for AdSense users. Google recently announced on its AdSense blog that they had launched a new feed advertising system, which makes it possible to earn money by putting AdSense units in RSS feeds.

The feed advertising program will include both pay-per-click and pay-per-impression advertisements. According to Google, they will be specifically targeted to the type of users who view RSS feeds. Content authors can customize the advertising in several ways that are specific to RSS feeds; they can choose how often the ads are displayed throughout the feed, as well as the minimum entry length they should be applied to. Google AdSense Help Center now provides a section on “Getting Started” and “Troubleshooting” the feed advertising system, and the AdSense blog offers a short explanatory video with screenshots of the new system.

When using any RSS feed advertising system, advertisers should take into consideration the kind of people who will see their ads. Generally, it can be predicted that people who subscribe to feeds are at least fairly skilled in using computers, spend enough time on the internet to have an interest in subscribing to these feeds, and have their own computers (rather than only using publicly available computers). Free RSS reader applications are available for almost any operating system, so anyone who can afford an internet connection has access to them. Users with recent browsers like IE 7.0 have built-in RSS support, so they might be somewhat more likely to use it.

This new Google AdSense program gives web site and blog operators another opportunity to generate advertising revenue, if they produce RSS feed content. As with other companies which are introducing feed based advertising, it also provides Google advertisers with another promotional option. On the other hand, some readers of RSS feeds are displeased with this change; such feeds were previously free of ads and other “clutter” often found on web pages. This was probably to be expected; sources of information seldom remain ad-free unless they require a subscription fee or are operated by the government.

On a more positive note, Google’s new feed advertising program may encourage some web site owners to introduce new RSS feeds, even if they were previously reluctant about using RSS. However, feed operators should be careful not to overuse advertising in their feeds, keeping in mind that this could cause some users to unsubscribe.

With Web 2.0 and new media, many companies embraced blogging. But only a few are doing it right.

When executed correctly with a strategic and credible approach, blogging can build thought leadership online and foster dialog between customers and brands.

In this post, I’ll discuss some of the ways you can use blogging to reach these business goals. But first, what are most companies doing wrong?

The biggest mistakes I see are corporate blogs created merely for the sake of doing so. “Other companies are blogging, so we should too” (even if we have nothing to say). And then there are the blogs that function as thinly veiled undercover marketing tools, fake blogs or flogs.

In the blogosphere, there is nothing more important than credibility. What’s more, social media communities will turn quickly upon disingenuous and self-serving attempts at blogging. Worse, they won’t forgive and they won’t forget, so don’t shoot your blog in its digital foot.

So how should you blog if you want to create thought leadership? Corporate and executive blogs are communication platforms, and to get noticed and stand out writers need to share provocative ideas. Whether that means new perspectives on industry issues or discussing strategic concerns, thought leadership happens when you post original and relevant ideas.

Still, having great ideas is only half of the equation. With no attention or readers, your ideas will fall on deaf ears no matter how revolutionary they are.

In order to maximize your visibility and reach, start by researching the most popular bloggers in whatever vertical your going to be writing about. Then, comment on their posts and start a conversation. This helps you get your foot in the door and gain credibility by association. Chances are they’ll link to your blog too, which is a big help from a what marketers call an “influencer.”

As you write, make sure your posts utilize search-engine friendly titles, keywords, and links. A little SEO can go a long way propelling your blog to the top of the rankings, which lends further credibility to your words.

Add video and sound to your blog as well. Studies show that blogs with interactive media, especially video and podcasts, capture more returning visitors and offer a “stickier” user experience.

Don’t overlook social media channels either. By adding social bookmarking buttons, readers can digg, del.i.cio.us, Facebook, etc. your content and expose it to their networks. Again, being connected to these key “influencers” is a proven and effective method to build thought leadership.

None of this will happen overnight, however. It may take months of blogging before you start to build readership and gain recognition. Monitoring your blog with web analytics will provide further insight into your efforts while showing you what content is the most popular with readers.

Remember that a corporate or executive blog must create dialog between management, customers, and readers. Companies and brands can leverage blogs successfully to share information that otherwise would remain internal. Blogs humanize companies by giving a face to an organization, and well-written content can create loyal brand supporters. Always enable comments on your blog to foster conversation.

Allocate the resources for your blog before you start writing. If it’s a company blog, make sure you or whomever manages the blog has time to update it frequently, ideally posting new content every two or three days. Nothing looks worse than a blog that hasn’t been updated in three months.

Creating thought leadership online is tricky business. As you can see, many companies are prone to the mistakes and mishaps that arise when their blogs are used for the wrong reasons. In the blogosphere, credibility is paramount.

Developing thought leadership is about gaining credibility with readers and establishing yourself as the authority on whatever topic you write about. Do this and you’ll become one of the “influencers” I mentioned above. Key influencers are, by definition, thought leaders.

Nick Yorchak is a Search Engine Marketing Specialist at Fusionbox who is actively engaged in the art and science of blogging. Nick enjoys experimenting with social media and its many business applications. For more information, contact Nick at Fusionbox.

Marketing Sherpa, one of the better know research firms that publishes case studies and benchmark data for marketing professionals, recently launched another newsletter. The newsletter known as SherpaSearch will focus on all things related to search marketing, including search engine optimization (SEO), pay per click (PPC), cost per click (CPC), trends and marketing information about the major search engines such as Google and Yahoo.

SherpaSearch will be released every other week and will include tutorials, case studies, research insights and how-to articles. You can sign up to receive the newsletter at http://www.marketingsherpa.com/page/Search-Marketing-Newsletter-2008.

The goal of the newsletter is to help marketers better understand the world of search marketing. Readers will receive guides on how to improve SEO and PPC strategies, plan search budgets and forecast results to discover what really works in search marketing.

MarketingSherpa publishes 10 weekly newsletters and reaches 237,000 professionals every week. Topics in the newsletters covered include practical how-to and exclusive data and proven tactics in business-to-business marketing, ecommerce marketing, email marketing, search marketing, telemarketing, media relations, landing page design, marketing measurement and online subscription marketing.

Not only should a blog optimize its home page for search engines, but the individual posts as well. This will enable it to keep receiving traffic to each entry long after they are added. Here are some tips on how to optimize individual blog posts.

1. Put one or more keywords in the title which people are likely to query. Give each of the posts their own description and title tags; don’t just use the name of the blog for this. Each of the individual entries should have its own page as well, rather than appearing on a single long page.

2. Use these keywords regularly throughout the blog entries, but not excessively. A keyword density analysis tool can be useful for determining if the density is excessive (over four percent) or too low. Try to optimize the density without including awkward-sounding sentences.

3. Keep the content of each  individual entry on a single topic; create separate posts if you want to write about two or more distinct subjects. For example, if you post recipes on your blog, don’t put two individual recipes in the same entry, even if they are both breakfasts or types of soup.

4. If you allow comments at the end of your blog posts, be sure to check them and delete messages which are irrelevant to the topic. These comments could harm the keyword density or link to sites which cause the page to be penalized by search engines. While comments make individual blog posts harder to optimize, they do help attract repeat visitors.

5. Try to gain links on other blogs and web sites which point to your individual posts. In addition to the direct traffic they provide, these links will help optimize the search engine ranking of the blog. It is best if the links use words related to the individual entries in their anchor text.

6. If posts are about a current pre-arranged, date-specific event (such as a holiday or anniversary), attempt to enter them as early in the day as possible, or late the previous night. This will give the search engines a better chance of indexing these entries before they are no longer relevant.

Following the above-listed tips should help you more effectively optimize each of your individual blog posts, so that they will show up higher in search results and appear there more quickly.

Google seems to love blogs. If you use your blog correctly it can be a great tool for boosting your rankings and visibility. Here are a few tips and reminders of how to make the most of a blog from an SEO perspective.

1. Consistency: this is the number one rule or a reason. If somebody (anybody) isn’t posting to the blog on a regular basis the blog loses most of its power to attract users to the rest of the content on your website. A blog with sporadic posts at best lacks any credibility, so blog often. Here are some thoughts that might help.

• Routine - the most consistent bloggers incorporate it into their schedule.
• Keep the goal in mind – it might be tough in the beginning, but once you start to see the fruits of your labor (more traffic/more leads) blogging becomes a lot easier to do.
• Keep it casual – the best part about blogging is that the medium is so informal. Write posts as if you were sending an email to a buddy who wants to know what you do. I like the Cranky Developer title – it gives the blog some character.
• Multiple posters – get several people in the office set up to post on the blog and make sure they’re committed to contributing on a regular basis.
• Potpourri – writers block? No clue what you’re going to post about today? Put something random in. Not every post has to be topical (though the majority should). A light post now and then breaks apart your more serious and informative content.

2. Optimize Your Titles: most blog software will create a permanent separate page for each post in addition to the most recent ones in order on the main page. These individual pages are a great opportunity to rank for keywords. The trick is to carefully word the post title – Wordpress takes that and makes it the page title as well! All you have to do is keep your keywords in mind and you’ll create a powerful new page on your site every time you post.

3. Hyperlinks: remember to link back to the rest of your content. Also link to any authority sites that might be helpful to a reader. And especially link to any other blogs that might have given you an idea for a post. If your blog has led users to it from the search engines, don’t leave them with a dead end. Ideally, you want to funnel them into the rest of your site but don’t be afraid to send them elsewhere if the information is valuable – they’ll remember that.
4. Multimedia: when it’s appropriate I’d suggest throwing in a picture to illustrate a point and break up text. Users see a big block of text and perceive that it’s too much information to take in (like you might be thinking right now!). A picture gives the reader a break.

So there’s some food for thought. Remember it’s simpler than it looks to get the most out of your blog.

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, can help bloggers receive more hits to their blog’s home page as well as each of the individual articles they post. It may also improve the usability of their blogs at the same time. The following SEO checklist is useful for bloggers who wish to determine if their blogs are in need of additional optimization; consider printing the checklist out for future reference, and mark each item you answer “yes” to:

Checklist For The Blog Itself

- Is there a separate web page for viewing each of your individual blog posts? This lets them show up as separate search results and improves SEO keyword density.
- Can links to each page of your blog be found in a Site Map or other index?
- Do all of the pages have their own title tags specific to each entry’s content? Don’t just use the blog’s name for every title.
- Are there attractive title and description tags on the blog’s home page?
- Has your weblog been submitted to the major blog directories? Most allow bloggers to submit their blogs for free.
- Is your blog’s menu system accessible to search engine spiders? Try using it in a text-only browser like Lynx.

Checklist Questions For Bloggers

- Do you regularly ensure that unrelated comments and “comment spam” are promptly removed from your blog?
- Are you checking to see if your blog entries have a keyword density which is too high or low?
- Do you avoid using the same words and phrases repetitively in separate blog posts? Entries should be different enough from each other to appear as separate results.
- Are there relatively few unrelated words (menus, copyright notices, etc) on each page?
- Is most of your blog content original material which does not appear on other sites? Unique content is usually more effective in SEO.
- Do most of the links on your blog connect to web sites with content related to its subject? Avoid reciprocal linking with sites on much different topics.

Bloggers for whom most of these SEO checklist items don’t apply should consider working toward better optimization, which will enable them to gain more traffic with less promotional effort in the long-run. If the number of unchecked SEO tasks seems overwhelming, bloggers can consider paying someone else to complete them and/or work on them one step at a time.

Making your blog more popular requires taking steps to improve both content and promotion. Neither a well-advertised blog with uninteresting content nor a fascinating blog which is improperly promoted is likely to become popular. Here are 4 useful tips for making your blog popular, with two for enhancing content and the other two for expanding promotion:

1. Try to offer information on your weblog which is not already available online, being sure to cite the source if necessary. Such information may be obtained from reading printed publications and catalogs, personal experience, or telephone calls. Another option is to review a product or service on the blog which has yet to be reviewed online. Also consider briefly explaining data which can be found on the internet but takes a long time to read and/or load; for example, explaining the significant points of a 150 page report issued by an organization or government agency.

2. Write about shorter sub-topics in each of your blog articles/messages, rather than trying to cover broad issues or subjects. Depending upon the topic of your weblog, you may soon run out of subjects or material to post about if each message is very long. People are also less likely to read everything you have to say if the messages are several pages in length, rather than being broken down into shorter pieces. Being able to come up with new sub-topics to write about on a regular basis is an important part of making the blog more popular.

3. Occasionally submit some of your better blog postings to social bookmarking systems like Simpy.com or Reddit. This can be useful for making a significant increase in traffic/hits occur, if your weblog messages are popular with other social bookmarking users. Postings are more likely to be successful in these systems if they are on specific topics which aren’t covered by other members’ recently-submitted links, and don’t appear to be excessively promotional.

4. If you’re planning to post something especially significant or interesting on your blog soon, consider ending the previous posting with a message promoting the next post and when it will appear. This will help remind readers to return soon, thus making your weblog more popular. A similar technique is to release a long article in two or more parts, reminding visitors when to return for the next segment. Any method which can get readers in the habit of visiting your blog regularly is very helpful for making it popular.

A new year has begun, and it isn’t too late to start a blog if you haven’t already. It is easy, and can be entirely free, to create a blog. Here are a few of the top reasons you might want to start a new blog this year…

EARN MONEY: There are many ways to earn money by running a blog, including some income opportunities which are not available to non-blog web site owners. One way to earn money is to use sponsored blog advertisements from services like PayPerPost, Blogitive, and others. These services usually require blogs to have existed for at least a month (in some cases, as long as three months), so the sooner you start, the earlier the date you can start earning from them is. It is also possible to generate income from advertising systems like Google AdSense, or by attracting new visitors to your web site so they will purchase your products or services. As an alternative, some bloggers request optional donations from readers, often via instant payment methods such as PayPal.

GAIN EXPERIENCE: Your blog can be provided as an example of your work when applying for some types of online job opportunities. Such jobs can include writing, blogging (at someone else’s web site), some types of editing or proofreading, web design (if you can design blogs yourself), and possibly forum moderation. Operating blogs can also give you practice in writing, editing, managing comments, search engine optimization, and creating ad revenue. On the other hand, if you don’t have the time or expertise, it is not particularly expensive to have someone else perform one or more of these tasks for your blog.

EXPRESS YOURSELF: Another one of the reasons to start a blog in the new year is that blogging is a good way to express new ideas or theories you may have. Unlike with other web sites or publications, your ideas won’t have to receive an editor’s approval before they will appear on your own blog. If desired, you can also receive feedback from others about what you have to say. Additionally, blogs can help draw attention to important issues which are being ignored, or connect multiple events or pieces of information in a way which has been overlooked. All of this can be combined with earning money, using the above-mentioned methods.

SEO podcasts vary from the very basic to professionally produced productions. If you are looking to listen and learn here are a few sites to get you started.

1. SEO 101 - Although the name implies a very beginning level, this podcast also covers advanced SEO techniques. Many in the SEO field believe it to be one of the best available. You can listen to topics on your computer or download them for your commute. Lots of good info made easily available.
2. Daily Searchcast – This podcast focuses on the bigger search engines and their latest happenings. It also features industry gossip, funny and factual.
3. Mr. SEO - This podcast allows listeners to ask questions and then focuses on answering them. Although it’s a bit muddled there’s lots of great information hiding in there.

Additionally WebmasterRadio.fm is a large source of online radio and podcasts covering SEO. Here is a further list that you can explore on your own.

• Beginning SEO Podcast
• RSS Ray
• Strike Point
• SEO Radio
• eMarketing Talk Show
• Web Analytics World
• Rush Hour
• The Pulse
• Good Karma
• Marketing Pilgrim
• SEO Rock Stars
• The Alternative
• Net Income

When writing new entries in blogs, their titles should not only be descriptive and attention-getting, but also help make them easy to find in search results. Here are some tips on creating great SEO (Search Engine Optimization) titles for blogs you are writing.

1. Put words and/or phrases in the blog entry titles which people regularly search for. Preferably, these should be sentences or keywords which have not already been used by a massive number of other blogs and websites.

2. Use words from your blog entry in the title; don’t put the word “automobiles” in the title and only use the word “vehicles” in the body of your entry. This is beneficial for SEO because search engines give priority to blogs and other web pages which repeatedly use words the user searches for, not just in their titles. Remember that the title’s phrasing must still be appealing for search engine users to click on.

3. If the blog website itself has a fairly long name, put it after the titles of your individual blog entries, not before. Another option is to put the name near the top of the page, but not in the title tag, and use the titles just for describing the individual blog entries.

4. Unless your information is very time-specific, don’t bother writing the date it was posted in the title. An entry from 1999 about photography techniques is probably just as relevant today, but having the date in its title makes it appear outdated and distracts from the rest of the title.

5. When writing new posts for your blogs, determine the titles after you are finished (unless you have particular keywords already in mind); you will have a better idea of how to describe it and which SEO keywords to use in the title.

6. Don’t use individual entry titles which are too long or short. Aim for a title length of four to ten words, as fewer than four words is not descriptive enough, while over ten (possibly fewer if they are long words) is bad for SEO because it will only be partially displayed in search results, with the remaining words replaced by an ellipsis. If the most important word is near the end of a very long title, its meaning could be lost.

Keeping these tips in mind should be helpful in writing great titles which are effective for SEO, thus bringing a larger amount of traffic to blogs which have been optimized in this manner.