April, 2008

Social Media — 10 Comments
29
Apr 08

Top Blog Posting Questions Answered


Photo Credits: jared

If you are an independent professional who has embraced blogging for marketing, you’ve probably asked yourself these three questions:

  • Should I write long or short posts?
  • Should I write only original content or can I write about somebody else’s content?
  • Should I post daily? Weekly? Monthly?

Long vs. Short Copy

While some pundits argue in favor of writing long articles, it really depends on what you’re trying to do. “How to” articles dealing with complex subjects will usually be longer. Bloggers like Skellie and Maki excel in this blogging style.

On the other hand, it is entirely possible to communicate powerful insights with only a few lines of text. Client K (one of my favorite business blogs) does exactly that every day.

Original vs. Derivative Content

With so much information already published on the web, writing something completely original is quite difficult. It is even more difficult to do so day in and day out.

If you are a guru that can write original content with half your brain tied behind your back, great. However, the rest of us can do just fine by analyzing a common problem from a different angle or re-purposing existing content for a specific target audience.

Also, there is nothing wrong with writing quick posts that link to other people’s content. If you see something that can be useful to your readers on another blog, by all means link to it. Don’t let the Not Invented Here syndrome dictate your blogging policy and stand in the way of your readers receiving valuable information.

Posting Frequency

Here I have to agree with the experts: it is better to post frequently. While posting daily can be tough (especially if you blog part time), posting weekly should be doable.

Consistency, though, is more important than frequency. Posting consistently every two weeks is better than publishing daily for three weeks and then disappearing for weeks or months.

However, don’t be so hung up into sticking to a publishing frequency that you start posting filler content. Avoid publishing something of inferior quality just because too much time has passed since your last post.

In Summary

Writing long or short posts depends on what you want to accomplish. If you find something interesting on another blog, by all means link to it. The best posting frequency is this: post when you have something important to say. If that occurs frequently (weekly or more often), even better.

Personal Branding / Social Media — 5 Comments
22
Apr 08

Sustainable SEO: What Is It and Why Should You Care?

traffic.JPG
Photo Credits: tedkerwin

You Can’t Ignore Search Engine Traffic

With all the hype around social media it is easy to overlook the potential of search engines to deliver targeted traffic. Search engines are probably the best source of targeted traffic and, as such, they should not be ignored.

While social media sites like Stumbleupon or Digg can be very effective in delivering strong bursts of traffic almost instantly, that traffic dwindles over time and generally doesn’t convert very well.

Search engine traffic, on the other hand, has a longer term effect. Also, since search engine users are specifically looking for what you have to offer, search engine traffic has a better conversion rate.

Search Engine Traffic: Shoestring Branding’s Case

Six months ago, when we launched this site, we relied heavily on social media traffic. Stumbleupon was especially good to us, generating more than 70% of the traffic during our first two months. Search engines represented only 5%.

Today, six months later, our site has accumulated visibility and trust. Stumbleupon has decreased in relative importance, while search engine traffic has grown. In the last two months, search engines were responsible for 40% of our traffic (versus just 17% for Stumbleupon).

At the same time, we have seen our subscriber numbers grow, giving weght to the theory that search engine traffic converts better.

The Old Days of SEO

Since the early days, search engine quality engineers have offered this simple suggestion: if you want to rank well, just create a useful site with lots of great content. However, manipulating search engine rankings was so easy that webmasters usually chose to focus more on learning the latest SEO tricks than trying to grow organically.

These are some of the things you could do in the past:

  • Increase keyword density by repeating your keywords of choice in your page copy.
  • Use the same keywords in the link text of every link pointing to your site.
  • Get a keyword rich domain, like “keyword1-keyword2-keyword3.com”.
  • Exchange links with other people (chances are you’re still receiving spammy email from clueless webmasters offering you to exchange links to “increase Pagerank”).
  • Spam blogs by leaving meaningless comments as an excuse to include a link back to your site.

Most of these tricks don’t work any more, and are nothing but a waste of time .

Mechanical SEO Is Out. Sustainable SEO Is In

Search engines have been busy lately working to close all these loopholes. Search engines can now identify and penalize pages that use keywords excessively or develop too many links too fast. Blog comment spam has been out since blog platforms started supporting the no-follow tag.

SEO is not about using tricks any more. Instead, SEO should focus on getting your site firmly enmeshed in the community: SEO is now a social activity .

The time has finally come to follow the search engines’ original advice and build a great site that others will want to link to. It’s time to engage in sustainable SEO.

Sustainable SEO: Getting Back to Basics

No matter how you slice it or dice it, there are only two things you need to do to build a successful site:

1. Create and publish great content, and
2. Tell the right people about it.

Assuming that you know how to create great content (after all, you’re interested and passionate about your topic, right?) telling the right people about it should be your next priority.

Getting people to know you and link to you are the basis for sustainable SEO, since search engines use links from established, reputable sites as a proxy for value and trust.

The Number One Tip to Get Links

The best advice I can give you is this: link out liberally. If there are bloggers in your field that you admire and want to get their attention, link to their posts from your site. Use their posts to provide support and context to your posts.

Don’t be afraid to “send your readers to the competition” or “leaking Pagerank”. That is foolish and outdated thinking .

By linking out often, people will start to notice you. Some of them will read your blog, others will become subscribers, and a few of them will become your friends, link to your posts, and support you all the way through. These connections will become your most valuable asset.

Training the Search Engines

Aside from writing good content and reaching out to fellow bloggers, you must train the search engines to know what your site is about. This will help you rank for different queries related to your topic. Some of the things you can do to guide the search engines are:

  • Post regularly.
  • Link to very good sites related to your subject matter.
  • Make your blog posts focused: talk about only one specific subject per post.
  • Have a limited (10 or so) group of focused, related categories with descriptive names.
  • Include keywords in your page or post titles.
  • Link to past posts on your own blog using descriptive anchor text.
  • Create a sitemap and link to it from your sidebar.

Grab a Chair: Search Engine Visibility Takes Time

Search engine visibility doesn’t happen overnight. There is evidence that search engines like Google place new sites on a “probation” period before giving them weight in their rankings (in the case of Google, this probation period is known as the Google Sandbox).

During that time, it pays to be patient and to focus on building your site’s content. After a while (usually a few months) search engines will learn to trust your site and your posts will start showing up in the SERPs for a variety of search queries.

Other SEO Resources:

Book Reviews / Social Media — 4 Comments
16
Apr 08

Problogger (the Book) and the Value of Compiling Content

Darren Rowse, publisher of the wildly successful Problogger blog, has recently written a book . Problogger is all about making money online, has 45,000+ subscribers and features more than 4,000 posts. Probably most of the content in the book can be found by reading and digging deep into the blog (a real treasure trove of information). So, if you can read Darren’s blog, why buy the book?

The answer is simple: in the information age value can be created by simply aggregating and compiling information. We don’t have time to hunt for information. We want it fast and in a format that’s easy to consume: why browse through 4,000 posts when we can get a selected, condensed, organized and neatly packaged version of that content? That is why Darren will sell a ton of books.

Have you thought of all the possible components of your value curve? Are you addressing all the ways in which your customers may want to consume your product or service? Are you packaging your expertise in a way that’s easy to communicate and spread?

Business — 5 Comments
9
Apr 08

Do You Have the Right People On the Bus?

airportsecurity.jpg
Photo Credits: Stephen Witherden

Last Monday I traveled overseas and, while at the airport in Miami, I observed the behavior of two people working there. One was a food stand attendant and the other one a security agent for the TSA (Transportation Security Administration).

The food stand attendant was taking a personal phone call while serving customers, holding the phone with one hand and reaching for the customers’ money with the other. In the meantime, the line kept getting bigger and customers were getting impatient. There were breadcrumbs and dirty napkins lying on the floor around her, the shelves were missing product and the whole place looked untidy and neglected.

When there were no more people on the line I decided to buy a bag of chips, but before I could hand her my money she just walked away, leaving the stand completely unattended for around three minutes. During that time, customers who wanted to pay left their food and walked away.

The TSA agent was completely different. This guy was walking through the crowd lined up before the security checkpoint, acting like a rock star, greeting everybody and making jokes: “How you doin’ today sir? OK? Good! And how about you ma’am? Good? I’m glad… Happy passengers, that’s what I want…. New York Jets? New York Jets? You gotta lose that cap, buddy!….How are you, sir?….. OK folks, if the guy in front of you is not moving, kick him! …..How you doin’ sir?” He would then pause for a few minutes and repeat the performance with another group of newly arrived passengers. He even had some cool jazz music playing close bye.

Going through airport security ranks high as one of life’s most dreaded experiences (up there with getting a root canal or watching politicians apologize in public for their character flaws). However, this guy alone, with his positive attitude and personal touch made the whole experience different and almost enjoyable.

I don’t think it’s a matter of money. The difference in salary between these two people can’t be more than a few bucks an hour, however, one cared and the other one didn’t. It’s a matter of character and pride.

This episode made me think about Jim Collins’ remarks in his classic book Good to Great , when he talks about the need to “get the right people on the bus” first. What he means by that is that people are more important than org. charts and job descriptions, and that you should make sure that you hire the right people before you do anything else.

He is right, and under that perspective the TSA guy would get hired over the food stand attendant any time.

Branding — No Comments
3
Apr 08

“Targetizing” Your Business

target1.jpg
Photo Credits: yananine

You can see it everywhere these days: from the entry level car with the performance engine, premium sound system and power everything, to the neighborhood restaurant serving food fit for an upscale bistro, to the local grocer projecting itself as a destination for wine connoisseurs.

The path that Target beat years ago by offering quality and style at affordable prices is now being followed by all those who want to resonate with today’s demanding consumer.

Meeting expectations or doing things a little bit better is no longer enough to build a business.

Harry Beckwith says in his classic book “Selling the Invisible” that in order to stand out from the masses you must take a leap and surprise the customer. You must do what the successful companies we just mentioned have done: shatter expectations and create a new standard.

As small business owners in a competitive environment, we should be thinking regularly: how can we deliver amazing service? How can we “Targetize” our business to give it that premium feel at no extra cost to become our customer’s only choice?

One simple way to come up with ideas is to analyze your customer’s pain points and ask yourself what significant problem can you solve. For example, these are some angles you can explore:

  • Reduce wait time: In today’s time-starved society, anything you can do to deliver your product or service faster will bring you business. For example, try answering the phone by the second ring, having more inventory, or making your service scalable by mapping out processes and making them easy to follow.
  • Give your business a human face: People hate to listen to recordings and automated menu options. Make sure that your customers can interact with a knowledgeable human being.
  • Follow up: People are tired of companies that bend over backwards to make a sale, only to forget about you once you have signed on the dotted line. Call your customers after the sale to see if everything’s OK. One caveat, though: don’t use this as an excuse to up sell them on something else, or it will backfire.
  • Communicate honestly: We’ve learned to be cynical about top-down sales pitches and other self serving ways in which most large companies communicate. As small business owners and independent professionals we have the chance to establish a very different kind of relationship. Encourage openness, have a blog and acknowledge your readers’ comments, answer your own email, welcome feedback and let your customers feel part of your business. Honesty and openness go a long way.
  • Be consistent: small businesses have a lot to learn from successful franchises. The reason why these businesses thrive is because they have mastered their processes in a way that they can be duplicated anywhere. Giving good service shouldn’t be an isolated occurrence. Make sure that you can perform at the same level every time a customer interacts with you.
  • Make things easy: These days people have many options. Nobody will jump through hoops to do business with you. Is it easy to do business with you? Amazon’s sales increased dramatically after they launched their One Click payment option. Staples built a business around their Easy Button theme. As Mark Cuban, the outspoken owner of the Dallas Mavericks, says: “Make your product easier to buy than your competition, or you will find your customers buying from them, not you.”