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.

LinkedIn – Top 5 Tips – Photos

Whether you are trying to expand your business network or searching for a new job, LinkedIn can be your “go-to” social media platform.

When performing a social media audit for a new client one of the first things I look at is the presence they have on LinkedIn.  Whether you are B2B or B2C (business-to-business or business to consumer) you should have a profile on LinkedIn for you AND your company.  Your personal profile is your on-line resume and connection file.  It is a living representation of your career and should represent you.  There is a specific area to represent your company.

My question to you is – Do you use LinkedIn or just collect connections?

To help you move past the “collecting connections” phase, I offer my Top 5 LinkedIn Tips. We will be covering these over the next five articles.

Photo – There are two schools of thought on this option. The detractors feel that having a photo of yourself can lead to discrimination.  My philosophy is put on a smile and snap a headshot that is professional in appearance (doesn’t have to be professionally done) that is tight and well-lit with limited background distractions.

One of the benefits of having a good photo on your profile is instant recognition.  With a good photo, gone are the days of discussing what you will be wearing or your appearance when have  a meeting scheduled with a new client or a prospect for the first time.  If you take a look at their LinkedIn profile, you will be able to recognize and greet them right away.

Let’s spend a minute on what I mean by limited background distractions.  Plain backgrounds work best.  Bookshelves, an American Flag, or perhaps your “tidy” desk are all acceptable.  What is not considered professional is your kids (unless you own a daycare), your dog (unless you are a dog groomer or veterinarian), and especially you in a tiki-hut with an umbrella drink in front of you. Don’t laugh to hard, I actually had an invitation from someone with a photo like that.

Try to have the photo be close enough to allow facial recognition.  Group shots and further out than than the waist really don’t achieve the purpose of the photo.  Branded images are, if they are used in your marketing materials are fine, but logos should be reserved for the company pages. Speaking of branded images – you should use the same headshot across all of your professional platforms. It helps with your personal branding. Differentiate your profiles by your LinkedIn image vs. you and the family on your personal Facebook page.

Worried about discrimination?  Caricatures or black and white images help eliminate the representation of age.

Check back over the next several weeks as we discuss the other 4 top tips:
Complete | Connections | Invitations | Participate

 

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