Tag: blogging

Building a Blog Post

Blog posts add umph to your website!

Let’s talk about websites, the key to a blog, and what they can really do for you.

  • Websites are your on-line brochure.
  • Websites hold your photo gallery.
  • A website is the hub of your online marketing.
  • All of your social media points back to your website (or a landing page).
  • Your website is the repository for your blog articles.key to a good blog

The key to a good blog is to write one. Regularly. Let’s talk a bit about search bots. When your website is new and you first publish it, the bots come and scour your site to see what you have out there. They check out the keywords and all of the goodies that you put out there to make it bright and shiny. They come back in about 30 days to see what other new shiny stuff you added. If you added several things, the bots reprogram to come back more quickly than the last time. If you didn’t they wait till maybe 45 days to come back. The more frequently you add new items to your website the more often the bots return ranking your higher in organic search results. The less often you add new items or changes to your website, the lower your ranking becomes until one day…

Whenever I build a website for someone, I typically use a WordPress platform. If I do that, I always include the Yoast SEO plug-in. Here are the tips I give to my clients when they write a blog post:

Make your blog heading a continuation of your title with the keyword in the beginning. Highlight the text and make it a heading 2 from the WYSIWIG bar.

Make sure to employ the “Press this” option offered so that when you read another person’s article, you can use the handy dandy tool to add a post to your blog and write your opinion on what you just read.

If you do that, make sure that you include a link to the original. Like this: You can read the whole article here. Highlight the word here, click on the chain link in the WYSIWIG bar and add the link to the original article – Ensure that it opens to a new window.

Write your thoughts. Include an image. There are many resources for free images. Don’t use any images from a website with a UK extension. One resources to check is pixabay.com Read about more options here.

Make sure to write 270 to 300 words. Complete the Yoast SEO boxes that appear below the blog post content frame.

Your keyword should be in your title, heading, meta data and body text.

Select the category on your website in which you want your post stored.

Add additional tags, especially if you have a tag cloud on your website. If you mention an organization or a searchable term, add the tag.

Last but not least, make sure to share your just finished post on your social media!

Let me know if I can assist you in any way.

Social Media and Recruiting

Do you use social media for your recruiting and hiring efforts?

I recently helped Illinois workNet create a series of recordings and a webinar focusing on recruiting what works for youpractices using social media.  Check out all of the resources on the Social Media Guide.

Here are a few of the tips:

  1. Create a job posting on your website.
  2. Share the job posting link on your social media platforms.
  3. Ask your employees to share it to their network.
  4. Create a discussion in groups about your job posting.
  5. Participate on social media to build your company brand.
  6. Post items that will provide job seekers an idea of your corporate values and culture.
  7. Use social media to “check” applicants work history.

So frequently, we are reticent to implement change. Just one of the platforms could help you find the right person. It may even save you money.

Everyone knows that LinkedIn is the social media tool of choice when it comes to looking for jobs and looking for new employees. The resources I created help you with a few tips for blogging, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, Twitter and YouTube. Also on LinkedIn, if you aren’t making use of the groups including the Illinois Virtual Job Club Network, you may be missing a valuable resource. If you aren’t already using these tools, investigate how you can. If you need more help than the brief tutorials offer, give me a call and I will help you establish a recruiting strategy.

Blogging – why should you?

Do you write a blog for your business?  If not, why not? If yes, Congrats! Read this article to get Hubspots writer Pamela Vaughan’s perspective.

Let me boil down my perspective on BUSINESS blogs –blogoptions

1. Blogs need to be attached to your website – why give another platform your SEO.  There are a number of options from which you can choose.  But a self-hosted blog that has a static page option will give you the most flexibility.  If it is attached to your website then search bots will recognize the changes and it helps boost your pages in the search engines.

2. Share what you write – post to social media.  Always use an image in the body of your blog article so that the post gets more attentionSocial Media post with image on social media. Remember people are visual and an image will grab their attention. If you don’t have an image, all they will see if the text from the post.

3. Provide expertise – what do you know that you can share that will position you as an authority in your field.  Let’s face it, almost everything has already been said or what you are about to say is your opinion.  Make your opinion sought after by others. BUT do not give misleading facts.  It is too easy to check to see if you are accurate about what you are saying.

What other sort of things do you include in your blog articles?

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