We recently talked about the value of creating good content in your business blogs.  It sparked an interesting and valid question from one of our clients that I’d like to share.  If we accept that the value of consistent, relevant content as an online marketing tool is a given – how can we find the time to blog consistently?

Oh, the struggle!  It’s kind of like the gym for me – I know I’ll see a huge health benefit from going regularly but how do I get myself there each and every week?  Now we’re talking about forming habits – what is it they say, do something for 21 days… doesn’t work for me!

Even we are not always the best at practicing what we preach, but I do think there are a few things that can make consistent blogging a bit easier to achieve:

Plan it! Literally put a time block in your outlook calendar for 45 minutes, 3 days a week (if you skip it, move it a day or an hour, don’t delete it!)

Curate it! I recently encountered this term in another article – brilliant!  Curating content means spending time identifying relevant and valued content from third party resources on the web and passing them on to your own network.  It takes much less time to introduce a valuable resource, add your own two cents and pass it on than it does to craft completely unique content (don’t get me wrong – obviously the most valuable, but you get the idea!).  Consider curating 30-40% of your articles to save time.  And, to be clear here – I do NOT mean copy content!  You must add your own spin and give attribution and links as due.

Trend it! Even on-line research takes time.  How do you become an effective curator?  I find using Twitter trending is a great way to access valued resources.  There are lots of folks sharing great links and resources via the twitter network.  Trending means that you set up pre-determined searches around topics of interest and you watch tweets come through that match your search.  Let Twitter do the heavy lifting!  www.cotweet.com is a nice tool that does this without a local installation (happens through a browser).  TweetDeck of course works locally if that’s more ideal for you.

Proliferate it! This particular post was sparked from a client question I received by direct email.  Just a reminder that sometimes an internal conversation is appropriate for the whole sphere!

Push it! If you can master blogging, than you can easily dip your toes into micro blogging on social media sites by setting up an auto content push.  Places like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn will automatically publish links to the blog articles on your business blogsites with a one-time upfront setup.   Yes, you can do it yourself, but folks like us can also help you!

Plug it in! There are always some options to proliferate content from other data sources.  For instance real estate agents can blog listings and/or available properties in a specific neighborhood or price range within minutes right through a plugin that utilizes raw multi-list data.  These guys have figured that one out!

Shorten it! A blog post does not have to be a certain length to be effective.  If you can add value for your reader in three sentences – serve it up!

Hire it out! Yep – some companies (like ours) do offer custom blog writing services.  If you just don’t have the time, consider hiring a writer to provide custom content that will supplement your own posts.

I suppose when it really comes down to it drive is the key factor.  Blogging is indeed one of the most cost-effective online marketing tools available to you today as a business.  If you can find the drive and save time with some of the above tips – the opportunities are yours for the taking!

Need help getting set-up? Contact the Kinetic Team today – we’re full of solutions!

Something came up with a client on keyword repetition recently and I thought to run it here as a big reminder and heads’ up!

Obviously, we urge focus on targeted key word & phrase usage in blog posts; however, this post reiterates guidance on using balance for humans who may not appreciate seeing the same words over and over again.

Search engines definitely have filters for key word & phrase stuffing; however, I’ll bet they’re not nearly as strict as those we humans have. Note: when there is too much keyword repetition it tends to be content people will not be interested in reading or linking at!

Simple Guidance Points on Keyword Targeting or Density

1. Best to use target phrases strategically [i.e. Malibu CA Celebrity Real Estate] in post titles, once again in the first sentence or two for emphasis and then maybe one more time at the end of a post. 
2. If needed, mix in similar key phrases
3. Use logic – what would you find annoying or less appealing?
4. Go to quintura.com , wonder wheel or the keyword suggestions tool of your choosing and enter your key word or phrase for actual similarities on what else is being used online

No one ever said blogging was easy, but those paying attention and using a little logic will set themselves a part! There are never search optimization guarantees. Not when competitors are emerging with their own efforts & strategies and not when algorithms are proprietary and ever changing; however, here are some points we’d strongly suggest with regards to good optimization of your blog posts.

Guidance For Optimal Blog Posts … and also that will convert!

• Have your top 20- 25 target key phrases handy!
• Focus titles by using key words or phrases [i.e. Olive Oil Health or Wasilla AK Real Estate Blog]!
• Focus content carefully on targeted key words or phrases – see above bullet no. 1!
• Add links to, in anchor text [in key phrases] descriptive of, other relevant content URLs you’d like Google to see you as relevant for!
• Add useful outbound links to other relevant sources!
• Add images with descriptive Alt Tags  whenever possible!
• Add posts into broader categorization
• Add tags, 2 -3 phrases *strictly* from that page’s content
• Add ‘Call to Action’ [i.e. Search Indianapolis IN MLS]
• Add signature, with contact information

OK so we’re biased, but blogging for your business is highly productive. Let’s face it, advertising is about content. Yes we believe that, in a world where all consumers search & research before they make contact, a business blog is necessary in your marketing mix.

business blog content

Not only does it offer limitless potential [i.e. discoverable topic indexing and qualified direct subscription], but it offers a business person the opportunity to demonstrate a *knowledgeable & enthusiastic human approach* to winning business in a world where consumers have the power to gather information immediately. Your consumers have the power to research before they ever call so they assume that if you want their business you’ll be there “representing.’” If not, your competitors will be.

Blogging isn’t for every business person; however, qualified cost-effective online marketing is! Some business people don’t feel comfortable blogging/ writing OR they just don’t have the time. With traditional advertising, or even Pay Per Click, you create & put the message out there and your work is done. For many the concern with blogs is… well blogging [i.e. content for your business blog] so we felt it would be useful to run through options you most certainly do have.

Content Options for your Business Blog

Blogging in the first person is always the best call because no one, regardless of their writing skill, can express the enthusiasm, the knowledge and the authority you have for your craft. It doesn’t have to be dry or limited either, like with traditional advertising. Traditional is limited in time and space; whereas your business blog should go way beyond [i.e. product, services and supporting data] to the anecdotal. Blogging affords you the stage to be human: share accounts of success; share a related community event; share problems solved and/ or share genuine client happiness! Obviously, as a service, we’re committed to in depth and ongoing business blogging education so that our clients have every advantage in their respective marketplaces.

II. Custom Ghost Blog Writing

With custom ghost blog writing you hire someone else to write, preferably someone that not only writes well but that is versed in better blogging practices and the proper optimization of content. The idea here is taking a careful approach to having a writer become… like you. Do you really think the CEO of GM blogs? It’s highly unlikely he does, but it is likely he’s got sincere input and that he’s briefed regularly. With custom ghost blog writing the idea is unique content coverage of the things you would want to cover / write yourself, just by someone else. It’s a service we offer, affording the client accountability. Our responsibilities include the recruitment of capable ghost writers, training in best blog- writing practices, standard writing procedures, management, compensation, invoicing and monthly [client] recap reporting.

III. Automated Content

Our definition of automated content is pretty much affordable & targeted content with little control. You have someone else writing about a subject and that writing is being fed to your blog’s home page. The upside of automated content is it can serve a direct marketing model nicely. Assuming your audience appreciates it, subscriptions are a continuously direct connection to your current and future clients. It will keep your business blog active, authoritative and target market driven; however, the down side is it’s not customized or unique. It will likely have duplication with blogs in other places, meaning you should NOT count on any search engine indexing or optimization. In fact, it’s likely you will not see any search engine indexing – see Google and Duplicate Content for some depth on the subject. This is a service we offer, with both Real Estate and Mortgage/ Finance related content.

IV. Revision-Automated Content

For revision-automated content our definition doesn’t change too much. It is affordable targeted content; however and as opposed to automated, it offers a great deal of control so that the potential with search engines can be realized. With this method, assuming the content’s publisher will permit [we strongly advise, with our service], the content is automatically fed to a blog in save mode rather than to a home page. There it can edited for personalization, regionalization and search optimization. With this method any concern for ‘writing from scratch’ is no longer an issue, but all the great potential of your business blog remains in tact [i.e. search indexing, direct subscription, human online presence.] This is also a service we offer, so please inquire.

Our content services are intended to support your marketing and advertising needs & goals. Regardless of which service you choose it can ease the load of generating relevant content for your buyers, sellers and general fans. While you may get search engine results, depending/ obviously not with automated content, but know that search engines are unpredictable and their algorithms change regularly. Kinetic Knowledge makes no guarantee and is not responsible for changes in search engine rankings or indexed results with these services. 

Did you know that when you search Google [standard] you are actually searching all forms of content?

Referred to nowadays as ‘Universal Search’ Google search results may include the website or blog text links you are accustomed too and then also [assuming there are any to index], picture images, video and audio files. “The goal”, says Google’s Bailey, “is to present balanced results based on the search term and move away from the heavy emphasis on only textual Web links that existed prior to the switch to universal search in May 2007.”

As a search marketer/ advertiser, the question you should be asking yourself here is, “have I helped Google to understand my business blog pictures?” In fact, Google is so interested in indexing more pictures they have created Image Labeler. The purpose, in lieu of depending on average human web publishing, is to recruit anyone’s help in the development of better technology for understanding pictures.

Note: The Google spider or crawler cannot read the text contained on/ in an image as shown above; however, it can read any alt tags that have been added, only visible to the human eye when a cursor is rolled over the picture. It also reads and follows an embedded link to any other site or page. Clearly, most alternative content [i.e. a picture] is published to the web without any description.

So if Google is looking to index all pictures, if you can index [alternative] content where most haven’t and if some of your purpose online is search findability… why not start immediately? In fact, consider going back into your blog and adding text descriptions or ‘alt tags’ to all its’ pictures.

Typically referred to as ‘alt tags’ or ‘alternative text tags’, your pictures can be labeled easily for search engine indexing and, as a result, consumer findability. Again, Google can’t see text on/ in an image; however, depending on the content editor you have, there should be an icon for uploading pictures. When clicked you should see a pop up window appear with tabs for 1) picture file upload, 2) add ‘alt tag’ data entry [shown above], and 3) add link [also shown above] areas. Sometimes the ‘alt tag’ data entry will be referred to as ‘alternative text’, ‘image info’ or ‘tool tips’, but I’m certain you get the picture.

In summary, knowing that Google actually wants to understand, to index and to include your picture images in consumer search result pages should do nothing less than heighten your sense of opportunity! Why? Because, if not already, all of your picture images are an immediate chance to get a leg up on the competition. Use alt tags and you may generate more consumer findability in the search engines!*

Related Posts:

Pictures, Copyright and your Business Blog

Using Images For Local SEO

Most everyone knows the objective of a search engine is to provide searchers with the best user experience possible. Did you know that accurately linked anchor text can raise the odds your content will be highly ranked OR more likely a part of that user experience?

 Wikipedia defines Anchor Text as follows, “The anchor text or link label is the visible, clickable text in a hyperlink. The words contained in the Anchor text can determine the ranking that page will receive by search engines. Anchor text usually gives the user relevant descriptive or contextual information about the content of the link’s destination.”

That’s right, links in anchor text can improve the rank of the page it points to. Normally you can’t control how someone else will link to you, but given the opportunity be sure and ask they link to your posts or pages from text that accurately describes them. What you can control are your own outbound and also internal links. An outbound link is demonstrated above where we buried a link pointing outward to Wikipedia’s page defining ‘anchor text’ in the words “Wikipedia defines Anchor Text”; whereas, these contextual links below point inward [NOT to a home page] to our own content where we actually define RSS and offer a tutorial on Google Alerts.

This, in theory, is because search engines are constantly crawling the web, content and especially links for newer and better sources of information; therefor, the sources using links accurately are rewarded. Again, if anchor text is truly relevant to the page it links, the page’s visibility to a search engine algorithm will be raised carrying page rank along with it. Careful!! A common mistake is to bury a link in the words ‘click here’ rather than using appropriate words [or anchor text] for a clickable link. ‘Click here’ is NOT anchor text!

In summary and whenever possible, try and make the text that link inward to your pages or blog posts [inbound or deep internal] or outward to other pages or posts [outbound] the right contextual or descriptive key words and phrases!

We get the Duplicate Content question, “may I copy content that I believe will be valuable to my audience?” quite often. Our answer, which really tries to address the question with both search engines and humans in mind, is always, “duplicating someones content is never a good practice and it can get you in trouble; however, within reason you may be able to excerpt some content you’d like to share. The excerpt[s] should always be less than half the post, you should block quote it and you should credit the author with a live link.”

Admittedly this advice is based upon hearsay, but the consensus seems to agree it’s the way to go. Google, which [itself] isn’t that far off, defines duplicate content as, “substantive blocks of content within or across domains that either completely match other content or are appreciably similar.” They also say, “Most of the time when we see this, it’s unintentional or at least not malicious in origin… In some cases, content is duplicated across domains in an attempt to manipulate search engine rankings or garner more traffic via popular or long-tail queries.”  And finally they add you should not concern yourself with occasional snippets or quotes being identified as duplicate content, but in the event you are removed from the search results you must review webmaster guidelines. Once you’ve corrected the problem based upon those guidelines and the site is in order you can submit it for reconsideration.  

But what does Google actually say about the consequences for duplicate content? Apparently, during spider crawling and then the serving of search results, they trust their algorithms to rank similar pages correctly. When filters do identify the intent to manipulate rankings or to deceive searchers, the appropriate adjustments in the ranking are made *but they readily admit they’d rather rely on their filters than on making manual rank adjustments.* I’ll add they don’t define “adjustments” so one can only conclude the range lies somewhere between a lesser rank to actual removal. Your guess is as good as ours; however, it’s likely that your time, effort, cost and future business is at risk when duplicating content.

According to SEOMoz.org’s Eric Enge in his post ‘When Duplicate content really hurts’, “Conventional wisdom among experienced SEOs is that there is no such thing as a duplicate content penalty. There are exceptions to this rule. Search engines implement a filter… there is apparently a duplicate content threshold where Google’s filter will identify and actually penalize a site.” He says, “I write this based upon a combination of heresay and also some experience we’ve had we could only speculate about.” Enge also warns that Search Engine spiders only visit with so much crawl bandwidth or what he refers to as budget. If you waste those crawls on content that won’t be indexed successfully, you are sacrificing other useful content that could have been indexed.

In a similar instance we can only speculate about, we had a client who was copying the lead stories from their local newspaper. Low and behold, one day they disappeared from the search engine results pages [SERPs] eliminating their potential for consumer findability. Let’s face it, the vast majority of consumers are searching and they are researching so I’m certain no Advertorial Blog owner would ever want removal.

Folks, regardless of what one can and cannot get away with you must – at least - demonstrate a trustworthy, knowledgeable and value adding presence on the web. If the search engines don’t penalize you, the humans most certainly will. Considering the guidelines mentioned above [and I was careful to excerpt less than half this post], please do NOT duplicate content without thoughtful care and good reason!

We have a number of Real Estate Industry clients [Residential, Commercial & Mortgage] and it’s common to hear them say they’re not completely confident about what to blog. While client education is very much a commitment here, even confident folks need some guidance toward developing a productive ‘business blogging voice.’ It’s very important because most buyers & sellers want to believe their Realtor or Mortgage Broker is a local authority on the Community. With a Blog it’s easy to develop recognition as a trusted local authority… and it couldn’t be more affordable. 

Here are some neat ideas for locally focused content:

I. Blog answers to everyday questions: Have you answered any questions related to your Real Estate or Mortgage business this week? It’s likely you have, via phone and/or email. Those answers are valuable education to many and your authoritative knowledge is the greatest content to share. Rather than sharing answers with just one person, take notes so that you can Blog those same answers to the web. Like- minded individuals are searching for them everyday!

II. Blog new or improved services: Are you adding new, or improving existing, Real Estate services? New or improved service is an important development that needs promotion and defining it certainly makes for good content! Why wouldn’t you continually blog to update the folks who listen via subscription or those likely to be searching for those services?

III. Blog client successes: Client success stories help to establish credibilty. Do you have special client success stories? Have you solved a clients’ problem? Have you improved something for a client with your service? If so, why not share the successes Home Buyers & Sellers have had so that new prospects can trust your skill?

IV. Blog for local PR: It’s a great PR strategy to notify local news journalists, particularly those that cover Real Estate, of your Blog’s existence. Newspapers are challenged for content these days so they’re always looking for good information sources. Someone will be recognized for their local knowledge in the newspaper, so be proactive by letting them know you exist on the web… and it might just be you they recogonize!

V. Blog on local news: One way to engage a community is to cover important local, community or, in cases where it has local relevance, national news. Careful, positive coverage is generally the best course because leaning in one direction can cost you the trust of half or more of your visitors. What’s more, you don’t want to alienate the local news folks who can be your best friends [see bullet IV above.] However, there is NO reason that you can’t tactfully add commentary to top local issues covered by the newspaper. It demonstrates knowledge and will bring you into important conversations, which are likely followed by many new prospects!

VI. Preemptive Blogging: Have a listings presentation coming up? Why not Blog on the area or even Blog something great about the street the folks live on? It can establish an indexed presence for that development, area or street. Good local bloggers want to be indexed for everything they can, creating a huge net for local search queries. It also shows your prospective client that you are on the ball, likely to generate exposure for and interest in their home!

VII. Blog on local communities, neighborhoods & developments: Whenever possible, share what you know, hear & see in the surrounding areas of the community. Are their new developments, buildings, parks, community resources, doggie Parks, landmarks, historic buildings, unique architecture, local heroes, events, fundraisers, races, transportation, parking tips and opinions on local news of note? If so, Blog about them!

VIII. Blog about new local businesses: Are there any new intriguing local businesses getting started in your area? Have you eaten, shopped, or received exceptional service somewhere locally lately that you really liked? If so, get in the habit of sharing your local community experience. You can be assured folks are searching for those products, services and, often, those very businesses. Be there when they do with some great local insight!

IX. Blog local business interviews: As a local business person, there’s no reason you can’t share lots of community- oriented information. Why not interview other business owners? Why not be the one to share information about their products, services & intentions? 5 questions will do, but it demonstrates local knowledge, authority, team play, makes for great content and it adds value for those interested in the community! 
 
X. Blog with locally relevant images: Take local photos regularly. Uploading them to your blog should be easy. Share them with fun descriptions and interesting facts, demonstrating your enthusiasm for the community. It could be a great house, a development, a park or a local event with a description about why it’s special. And by the way, people really enjoy visual content!

XI. Blog local sales data: Solely regurgitating local sales data all the time isn’t going to differentiate you, but a monthly post with good data is welcome. Interpretation of that local data, normally limited to insiders, demonstrates an interest in sharing and being a value- added provider of Local Services! 

XII. Leverage commenting and social networking to generate interest in your Blog: Identify good local news sources and, if they are interactive [as most blogs are], add relevant thoughts with links back to your own blog. Try to link to a post related to the subject your commenting on. The author may appreciate your interest, but the audience might have a look and develop interest in you too!

XIII. Blog about new listings, open houses and on closings: Write about business successes like a new listing or what happened to get the listing and why the experience is, was or will be positive. Demonstrate not only success, but a willingness to learn and to share what you have learned!

Having a discipline for Blogging is really very easy and it’s also important to your business. You’ll serve it by being in the search engine indexes, prepared to help people looking for the answers you have… and they need. That or you will help all those folks already subscribing to your Blog in anticipation of your useful information. In all, make a commitment to blogging and you’re likely to be perceived as the authoritative, forward-thinking, open & honest local business person… that you truly are!

Our great friend Allen Hainge of Allen F. Hainge CyberStars® recently honored us by requesting an interview. We couldn’t have been more excited to share in a really cool conversation on the value proposition of Business Blogging and its use as a cost- effective marketing tool for Real Estate Professionals.

If you’re interested in subjects including the value of Blogging for a Business, Search Engine Discoverability, ‘The Long Tail of Search’, Thought Leadership versus Trust, Disintermediation and the potential cost advantages of a Blog… it’s a quick & painless read.

Thanks so much for having us Allen!

 The web affords all consumers power to find and to manage information on their own terms. They search, research, expect the gratification of answers and they are confident they can make informed decisions. With traditional marketing / advertising messages marketers are challenged with limited space & time to get a consumers’ attention.

A Business Blog affords us marketers the ability to generate visibility, discoverability, trust, brand and direct RSS connections… affordably and without limits!

Our friend Tim O’ Keefe of Spider Juice Technologies recently asked to chat with us on the subject of Business Blogging. Obviously, we were honored.

No surprise here, but we discuss subjects including the value of Blogging for a Business, Search Engine Discoverability, Trust, Online Brand, Direct Marketing, RSS, ‘The Long Tail of Search’, Disintermediation, Web 2.0, potential advertising cost advantages and [even] the possibility of relying on search [to connect provider with consumer] less and less in the future

I’m afraid I’m not the most cogent speaker, but hopefully the conversation is user- friendly / less techie and, if any of the above subjects sound interesting, maybe you’ll find something useful