Learn every tool and trick necessary for getting found by your future customers.
A Complete Guide to Learn every tool and trick necessary for getting found by your future customers. InboundMarketingAgents.com (615) 600-4790 InboundMarketingAgents.com BUSINESS BLOGGING 2 It’s a fact that 44% of online shoppers begin researching products with the help of a major search engine1. Achieving a high search ranking is critical to being noticed by your future customers and leads: 75% of search users never scroll past the first page of results 2 , and 60% of traffic goes to one of the top three web pages 3 . Google is now the consumers’ main vehicle for performing product research and making purchase decisions. If search engines can’t find you, neither can your leads. The best way to achieve and maintain a high search ranking is by starting a business blog. 2 3 The average company with a business blog earns 55% More Website Visitors 4 , 97% More Inbound Links, and 434% More Indexed Pages 5 . Writing a business blog that delivers unique, high-quality content on a regular basis will result in a higher search ranking, a surge of website traffic and fresh leads. 3 44 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Why You Need a Business Blog 6 2. Performing Keyword Research 12 3. Developing a Content Calendar 25 4. Writing Keyword-Optimized Content 35 5. Efficient Content Creation 43 6. Drafting Powerful Blog Titles 52 7. Styling Your Blog Posts 58 8. Incorporating CTAs for Lead Generation 67 9. Driving Traffic to Your Blog 72 10. Basic Blog Analytics 80 11. Getting Started With Social Media Promotion 88 12. About Inbound Marketing Agents 97 13. Citations 98 5 6 1 Why You Need a Business Blog 6 7 66% of Blogs That Post Weekly Have Gained a Customer Through Content 6 If you’re still not sold on starting a blog, you’ll be amazed to learn that driving business through content is much easier than you think. While blogging daily will yield the best results, 2/3 of companies that only blog once a week have still gained at least one customer. 7 8 The more often you blog, the better your chances of acquiring a customer through content. Many small business owners mistakenly believe that even if they start business blogging, no one will read. Blogs are a major source of information and entertainment for consumers worldwide. In fact, nearly half of all businesses have started blogging! It’s a fact that 40% of your customers have adopted business blogging as a real tool for connecting with their leads 7 . Are you going to get on board, or will you be left behind? 8 99 10 Break it Down: • The average blog post only takes an hour to write • 66% of these bloggers have acquired a customer via their blog • Starting a blog costs me $0.00 Why would you not start a blog with these stats? 10 [...]...11 Real Tips: Getting Started With Business Blogging 1 Pick a Template Starting a blog is fairly easy, even for those not in the know There are a wide array of free and low-cost templates that take away the need to have a CSS developer on staff Head to Wordpress.com and select a template that matches your current website Starting a business blog should take you less than 30 minutes to get up and running... calendar needs an associated date, and planning your work out at least a week to a month in advance is a recommended practice If you plan to distribute white papers or eBooks, give yourself even more time for last-minute edits and graphic design 34 Real Tips: Getting Started With Business Blogging 6 Meals and Snacks Not every piece of blog article content needs to be as elaborately crafted as thanksgiving... content calendar is a part of business blogging A well written blog takes time to generate a topic, completes keyword research for optimization, writes a draft, finds reputable link to supporting articles, content or data and then hits publish 32 33 Real Tips: Creating a Content Calendar 5 Set a Date The content calendar format that works best for your small business might look very different than ours... insurance against having to come up with a topic at the last minute A content calendar can ensure your business blog distributes a wide array of content targeted towards each of your buyer segments Simply sitting down at your computer and writing blog content the day before publication will result in weaker articles and monotonous topics 27 Real Tips: Creating a Content Calendar 1 Figure Out Your Format... Creating a Content Calendar 3 Be Realistic Search engine algorithms penalize poor quality content If you have no experience with blogging, you may want to schedule posts approximately a week in advance Giving yourself a realistic period of time will allow you to focus on the quality of each piece of content Start slow and gradually work your way up to a posting daily 4 Research Research time for developing... your content creation with smaller snacks Avoid overextending yourself by alternating meals and snacks on your business blog A meal might mean a photo or screenshot-heavy tutorial around 1200 words in length A snack might be a compilation post of some of the best news or editorial articles you’ve recently found that are related to your industry Not every piece of content needs to be a feast 4 35 Writing... important and popular to your audience and use this information to stay relevant Trends are constantly changing and learning what is about to be the next big thing will be a prime opportunity for your business to stay a step ahead of competitors • PRIORITIZE YOUR TIME Identifying which keywords can ultimately improve your bottom line gives your business the best chances of using content for profit Are... leads to non-targeted content being delivered that may not be relevant to their personas A small-town bakery won’t benefit from writing content about used cars because the content won’t benefit any of their buyer personas 29 30 Real Tips: Creating a Content Calendar To start building your personas you will want to know the demographic of each persona What is their buying cycle? What other brands or products... general keywords is tough in the current era of content saturation Writing a single, fantastic piece of content about a general term like “carpeting” or “sandals” almost certainly won’t get you first-page results You have a much better chance of connecting with qualified leads on the first page of search if you write about “organic women’s sandals.” Your content will have fewer competitors on Google, and... research is one of the most important, valuable, and high return activities in the search marketing field Ranking for the “right” keywords can make or break your website - SEOMoz Keyword analysis should be the first step in any marketing campaign If you don’t know what’s important to your audience, how do expect to make them happy? The first step towards writing content that matters to your customers . worldwide. In fact, nearly half of all businesses have started blogging! It’s a fact that 40% of your customers have adopted business blogging as a real tool for. behavior. Know what’s important and popular to your audience and use this information to stay relevant. Trends are constantly changing and learning what