Download - Blogging for business
Blogging For Business
Blogging for business – Today I’m going to show you
How to create a blog , a blog post and how to populate it.
By the end of this session you will
•Be able to identify the different sorts of blogging platform
•Set up a group Wordpress.org blog
•Installed a Wordpress.org theme
•Written and published a blog post to the group blog
•Installed a Wordpress.org plugin
What is a blog?
•A blog is a website or part of a website that is updated regularly.
•Blogs have the facility for readers to leave comments
•Most blogs are run via blogging platforms such as Wordpress, Blogger, Tumblr and Posterous
Why blog?
•Websites with blogs get 55% more unique visitors.
•Bloggers have 79% more twitter followers
•Bloggers get 97% more inbound links
Source Hubspothttp://bit.ly/kSYMTMhttp://bit.ly/keGHlY
Why blog?
•SEO – Search Engine Optimisation
•Establish you as an expert
•Brand awareness
•Communication with customers
•Hub of social media activity
Why blog?
•SEO – Search Engine Optimisation
•Establish you as an expert
•Brand awareness
•Communication with customers
•Hub of social media activity
What makes a successful blog?
What makes a successful blog?
What makes a successful blog?
What makes a successful blog?
What makes a successful blog?
Which blogging tool?
•Blogger – For non business bloggers
•Wordpress.com (hosted by wordpress) – For non business bloggers
•Facebook – Quick and easy blogging for beginners
•Tumblr / Posterous – Mini Blogging
•Wordpress.org – Self hosted for business blogging
Getting started with Wordpress.org
What you need
•Domain log in details (ask your web developer)
•Hosting package – www.blacknight.com
•Domain name
Getting started with Wordpress.org
Getting started with Wordpress.org
Getting started with Wordpress.org
Getting started with Wordpress.org
Getting started with Wordpress.org
Getting started with Wordpress.org
Getting started with Wordpress.org
Getting started with Wordpress.org
Installing a theme
dkret3
Customise your theme
dkret3
Customise your theme
dkret3
Customise your theme
dkret3
Customise your theme
dkret3
Customise your theme
dkret3
Plugins
•Akismet – Spam Filter (premium)
•All in one SEO pack - Search Engine Optimisation
•Addthis Social Bookmarking Widget
•fbLikeButton
•TweetMeme Retweet button
Installing a Plugin
Installing a Plugin
Installing a Plugin
Installing a Plugin
Getting an API Key for Akismet
www.akismet.com/wordpress
Constructing a blog post
•Headline
• Make it catchy and a ‘must click’
• Include numbers or phrases like ‘how to’ e.g. ‘6 ways to improve your blog’
• Short and snappy – Max 60 characters
Constructing a blog post
•Leading paragraph
• Short and snappy the first 160 are the most important as they are what the search engine adds as a description
• Include search terms you’d like to be found for whenever you can e.g. ‘Carlow’ ‘hair’ ‘property’ ‘nutrition’
• Make it compelling for readers, why would they want to read on?
Constructing a blog post
•Body of text
• Break it into short digestible chunks – sub headings
• Be yourself
• Link to explanations of technical terms if necessary
Constructing a blog post
•Final paragraph
• Ask for a comment
• Call to action – further reading, subscribe to newsletter, call us for more info.
Constructing a blog post
•Tags
• Anything that was mentioned in the post – consider search terms
•Categories
• Create some categories that your blog posts will fall into, always categorise blog posts
Creating a ‘New Post’
Creating a ‘New Post’
Finding inspiration
•Set up an RSS reader – Google Reader
•Google Alerts – Keep up to date with developments in your industry / area of interest
•Find and follow blogs of interest – Google Blog Search
•What questions do your customers ask you?
•What are you an expert in?
•Create a content calendar • Google Calendar
Finding inspiration
Getting people to read your blog
•Add to blog catalogues – Technorati, Irish Blogs, Irish Blog Directory, Blog Catalog, Alltop
•Social share – Feed to Twitter and Facebook
•Comment on other blogs
•Join forums and add to signature (but don’t spam)
If you get stuck
Email me: [email protected]
Phone me: 01 442 9410
Skype me: spiderworking.com
Get these slides: http://bit.ly/ckblogslides