Search Engine Optimization Indianapolis

I'm no car buff, but that TV commercial really caught my ear.  "What do you get when you pit a Ford Escape against a Lexus?" the announcer asked. The answer, unexpected as it was arresting: "Bragging rights."

So I'll give you one better:  What do you get when you pit business blogging against pay-per-click advertising?  Bragging rights again. According to Chris Baggott of Compendium Blogware, "There are two basic ways to use search as an acquisition tool" (referring to acquisition of new customers): Pay-Per-Click and Search Engine Optimization."

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is a form of paid advertising on the Web. (You the business owner bid on keyword phrases.  Every time an online searcher clicks on your listing, you pay a fee.) According to the Marketing Sherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Study, marketers using PPC typically target more than 1,000 of these keyword phrases in an attempt to rank among the top results for a dozen out of the 1,000 they've selected.

By contrast, blogs need to target only 1-2 dozen total keyword phrases (with the blogging company paying no fee when the sties get "found" and clicked on) to achieve comparable search results.

What if the "Lexus" isn't a PPC but a website?  How do blogs stack up against traditional websites?  Since search engines assign value to pages that are frequently updated, traditional website pages simply can't compete with more frequently changing content on blog pages. While a website page might be very keyword-rich, the cumulative use of keyword phrases over months and years , and over pages and pages of relevant content builds up the kind of "equity" that leaves traditional web pages in the dust.  Again, bragging rights for blogs.

As with any tool, blogging for business works only when - and if - it's used.  Good corporate blog posts may earn bragging rights when compared with other marketing tactics, but only if business owners actually keep up the pace.  The fact is, few entrepreneurs, even given the help of talented and passionate employees, can spare the time to post relevant, new material with enough consistency and frequency to improve search engine rankings.  Often a professional ghost blogger can help those owners earn bragging rights and convert online searchers to new clients and customers!

"Links are the lifeline of blogging," says homeschoolblogger.com.  Inbound links to your blog are tracked by "web crawlers" and help your blog move higher on search engine pages, SEO mavens explain.

Today, though, let's talk about different kinds of outbound links, and the different ways those can in fact serve as lifelines to your blog.

Internal links:
a) From your blog post to one of your own website "landing pages".
(You're using the link to guide the reader along a smooth navigation path, hoping to convert that "looker" into a buyer.)

b) From the present blog post to one you posted at some point in the past.
(If the reader wants more information and you've already provided further details on the subject in an earlier post, the link makes it easy for the reader to find.)

External links:
a) From your blog post to a news source or magazine article.
(In your post, you're showing how some current happenings relate to your product or service, or you're expressing your company's point of view about a news development relating to your industry. Linking to news sources lend credibility to your blog and positions you as the "go to" place to find out what's happening.)

b) To someone else's blog post on your subject.
(This type of link shows you're staying in touch with others in your industry and that you're confident you have special value to offer within a competitive environment. In fact, visiting others' blogs can help you improve not only your blog posts, but your products and services!)

c) To a website or blog you've quoted to illustrate a point.
(Linking to others is a form of networking.  I like to shoot an email to business owners whom I've quoted or mentioned.  They're usually flattered and quite often begin to follow my blog and post a comment or two on my site.)

When homeschoolblogger.com mentions that blog links should be readable as well as clickable, they're talking about hyperlinking the text.  In other words, rather than writing something like "click here" (which interrupts the flow of thought), you write in conversational tone and simply create a link that the reader can choose to ignore or follow by clicking.

There's a reason we call the internet a World Wide Web. It's all about connections and links!

Taped to the reception counter at the Tom O'Brien Chrysler dealer's showroom was a poster that immediately caught my eye: "125 Ways You Can't Tell the Difference", the headline read, referring to pre-owned autos versus new vehicles. Having just this month blogged about the power of using numbers in blog post titles to engage readers' interest, I thought this poster at the dealership a perfect example of the concept I'd tried to convey in my blog post. It was the number 125 on that poster that I found so arresting - could there really be that many ways?

Speaking of numbers, there are a number of ways that car poster can serve as 
a good tutorial for business blogging:       

Titles count (play on the word "count" intended)

A blog post title what draws an online searcher to progress to the content of the blog, because the title hopefully broadcasts two signals to the searcher:
 

1. They've come to the right spot to get the information/products/services they need
2. This blog post is going to be interesting reading.

The title counts with Google and friends from a Search Engine Optimization standpoint as well. In fact, that's why it's so important that you use the key search terms and phrases in the title of each blog post.

Focus counts.

Did I read through all of the 125 ways listed on that poster?  Of course not.  The title had already focused my mind on the concept of pre-owned cars. The very fact I was able to discern an actual list on the poster was enough for me.  Later, I thought, I might actually skim through the items, but the truth is, that poster had me at "hello".

Putting on my professional ghost blogger hat, I imagined how things might be if we were talking about a blog post, rather than a poster.  To engage online readers once they'd found the blog, I wouldn't go for the big numbers except in the title.  Instead, I'd:
 

• Focus on just a few of the pre-owned cars from the dealer's inventory, complete with photos (or even a video).
• Focus on just a couple of reasons you'd never know the difference between pre-owned and new without a Car-Fax report.
• Throw in some valuable hints on savvy car buying, showing readers how much the Tom O'Brien folks know and care about cars. 

Much more important, the blog post would need to convey how much the Tom O'Brien folks care about their customers' safety and comfort!

 

My children have children of their own, all older than kindergarten age, so what made me feel compelled to read that Indianapolis Star article about teaching kindergarteners? It was the number that aroused my curiosity: "9 Problems We Must Overcome".
 
The O Magazine title this month is "100 Things That Are (Actually) Getting Better". Somehow
I doubt that, minus the number 100, the title would have been as much of a grabber.  I know it was the number 100 that made me pause (It's hard, these days, to avoid the perception that a lot of things are actually getting worse, not better, and I just had to know what 100 things I might be missing!)

To freshen up blog post content, start with one idea about your product or service. Then try putting a number to it:

• 2 Best Ways To Eliminate Unpleasant Room Odors…
• 3 Discipline Problem Fixes to Try First….
• 4 Simple Home Remedies for Headache…
• 5 Home Décor Tips…
• 6 Knottiest Financial Issues in a Marriage….

The point of the "lists", of course, is to demonstrate ways in which your product or service is different, and to provide valuable information that engages readers, helping them see you as a go-to guy or gal to solve their problem or fulfill their need.

Who's on your list? Ted Demopoulos suggests you ask yourself, referring to other blogs and online resources in your "space".  Listing different viewpoints or tips from others, then clarifying your own position is one way to make your blog be the go-to site. 
"4 Different Viewpoints on Rearing Money-wise Kids…" is somehow more enticing than just "Viewpoints on Rearing Money-wise Kids", wouldn't you agree?

To top off the positives of using numbers in blog post titles, at least some SEO experts believe bullet points and numbered lists earn "Brownie points" with search engines.

Just one more reason to count the ways…

 

The larger a pepper, the less “hot”, is just one of the interesting tidbits I learned from a Whole Foods representative at the Indiana Health Expo the other day.  Peppers, in fact, could serve as a metaphor for blogs and websites, with shorter, “spicier” blog posts packing more immediacy than their longer, more formal website cousins. The typical website offers more detail and a broader spectrum of information on a company’s products and services, while blog posts focus on one idea with more intensity.

The first three ingredients listed on a food container, I learned at the Health Expo, are the most important, because ingredients are listed in descending order of how much of each is in the product. When it comes to business blogs, it’s important to use key words and phrases in the title and early in the text of each blog post. Those key words indicate to the search engines what the main idea of the post is going to be.

I found the Whole Foods presentation particularly engaging because it offered information I’d never heard before.  Offering information that is new to the typical online reader is a key principle of business blogging. The Health Expo speaker captured my attention with information new to me. I learned about a food called Quinoa (pronounced “keen wa”), which is a rice substitute high in dietary fiber, and about Greek Yogurt. New information is a winner for business blogging.  If you can’t offer brand-new information, your unique approach or “slant” shows searchers you’re far from run-of-the mill.

One of Suzanne Gunelius’ six tips on turning a business blog into a sales tool is “Provide Exclusive Information and Tips.”  A great example of that is a blog I read called Breathe Easy, which talks about about dog food. The blogger warns that comparing ingredients can be tricky, because, although two labels may have the same ingredient name, there can be a world of difference between two brands.” The recommendation is for buyers to look for the words “human grade” on the dog food label.  That’s the kind of valuable and detailed advice that distinguishes “human grade” blogs from the pack!

Between Shakespeare's Juliet asking "What's in a name?" and father-of-advertising David Ogilby's emphasis on headlines, there's simply no contest when it comes to blogging for business - titles matter! There are two basic reasons titles matter so much in blogs:

• For search - key words and phrases, especially when used in blog post titles, help search engines make the match between online searchers' needs and what your business or professional practice has to offer.
• For reader engagement - after you've been "found", you've still gotta "get read".  

In my magazine reading this week, I came across titles that illustrate just two of the many ways to make titles "pop":

The title of an advertisement in USA Weekend asks the question: "Do You Have Constant Ringing In Your Ear?"

If ear ringing is, in fact, a problem for the searcher, there will be a "Bingo!" I've come to the right place" response. But even if I somehow arrived at this site looking for, say, hearing aids or even diamond earrings, the title has an immediacy that grabs my attention, perhaps causing me to reflect, " You know, sometimes I DO have a sort of ringing sensation…"

The concept of asking readers if they're grappling with an issue or a need that you not only know about, but which you're accustomed to helping solve - that's perfect for the headline of a business blog post.

One title on the cover of O Magazine is a "grabber" in a different way: "100 Things That Are (Actually) Getting Better".

This title passes Ogilby's "acid test" by making you wish you'd thought about many things actually getting better, because most people suffer from the perception that a lot of things are getting worse nowadays.  The title's not only refreshing - it arouses curiosity. (Are there really that many things getting better?  What have I missed?)

One thing Indianapolis small business consultant Lorraine Ball thinks is getting better is blog writing. Ball attributes the improvement to Twitter and other social media, which focus on titles short enough to "Tweet".

Truth is, no clever or even Tweet-able title can substitute for well-written, relevant content in the blog post itself, content that provides valuable information to your readers. But, in order for blog marketing to lead searchers to become buyers of your products and services, your stuff has got to get read!

Sorry, Juliet.  When it comes to business blog posts, the answer to the question "What's in a name?" is EVERYTHING!

A couple of Michigan justices learned a new word when law professor Richard D. Friedman, consultant to one of the judges, mentioned that a point was "entirely orthogonal" to the argument in front of the court. After being met with a "What?" response, Friedman explained the point in question was "at right angles, irrelevant, and unrelated" - in other words, off on a tangent from the main issue.

The judges reportedly got a kick out of the new word, and so did I. As a professional ghost blogger and blogging coach for business owners, I've found going off on "tangents" can serve a real purpose in business blog posts. The business blogging challenge is both simple and daunting: How can the content of a business blog stay relevant over long periods of time, without becoming repetitive and even tedious (to both writer and reader)?

On the one hand, blog posts need to stay on task and on topic.  After all, the search engines helped readers find your blog by indexing it high on page 1 or 2 (on Google, Bing, or Yahoo precisely because the needs of the searcher (based on the phrase or question they searched on appeared to match what you're talking about in your blog posts - what you sell, what you do, and what you know about!

But on the other hand, there are two crucial motivations for not being repetitive in blog posts:

• Technical reason:  avoiding "duplicate content".  Search engines tend to penalize rankings of sites that duplicate content that's already in the blogosphere.
• Common sense reason: avoiding staleness and continuing to engage readers.

So, how do you keep talking, several times per week over periods of months and years, about essentially the same thing, without becoming either duplicative or stale?

Professor Friedman used a "word tidbit" that captured the concept of a "right angle" that veered 90 degrees "off" the main point.  The anecdote made the papers precisely because it was about capturing attention with something unusual and unexpected.

My Say It For You blog is about business blogging.  So why, back in August of '08, did I blog about an advertisement for a piano? I was being orthogonal.  Why? To show that in your business blog, you can convey to readers different levels of involvement are welcome and that ultimate buying decisions don't need to be made the moment a customer "steps into" your website.

Blog posts need to capture readers' attention in precisely the same manner, by presenting examples and illustrations that don't at first glance appear to relate to the subject at hand.

Don't get stale - get orthogonal!

If anybody's got a keen sense of what an audience wants, it has to be singer/actor Mel Tillis, who's been onstage for the past fifty two years.  Now age 77, Tillis is still going strong, performing 100 or so live shows each year, according to a recent article in Speaker Magazine.

Today Tillis performs at the speaker's lectern, giving motivational talks about how humor helped him through his career. In fact, I'm going to hear Mel Tillis speak at the National Speakers' Association Winter Conference in Nashville, Tennessee next month.

There are two points Tillis emphasized in his interview with Speaker Magazine's contributing writer Jake Poinier that I believe are worth sharing with all my Say It For You readers and clients, in fact with anyone using blogging to market a business:

         1.  Talking about the twenty different performances he'd done last November alone in the Branson theatre he used to own, the singer/comedian remarked "I'm always coming up with new anecdotes and stories, so it seems to work."  
   
This lesson is one bloggers need to learn, for sure.  Since maintaining consistently high rankings on search engines means maintaining the discipline of posting blog material by putting content on the Web over and over again over long periods of time, what makes the tactic work is finding new anecdotes and stories to keep the material fresh.

        2.  Tillis, Jake Pointer stresses, empathizes with one of the main challenges facing 
professional speakers.  "Sure, I get tired, like if I have to sing 'Coca Cola Cowboy' one more time, I think I'm gonna die. But what you need to do is act like it's the first time you've ever done it."

Whether composing blog post #17 or #577 for that business, the blogger needs to write as if it were #1. In fact, since blogging is a form of "pull marketing", attracting only searchers who have a need relating to what you do, what you sell, or what you know about, for most of those searchers, it will be the first.time they've ever read your blog posts!

"Every time I walk out there, it's a different audience," says Mel Tillis. 

Every time you step up to the blog "lectern" (or hire a professional ghost blogger like me to do it for you), that Tillis mantra can serve as the inspiration to deliver your blog message - in every single post - with gusto and panache!

Seasoned professional speaker Michael A Podolinsky, CSP, says to speakers, "Stick to your knitting.  In an attempt to impress the audience when you do a big presentation, don't change what you have been doing…", he says.

CVTips.com comes at the issue from the other end, advising job seekers to learn about the corporate culture of a prospective employer, getting a glimpse of some of the organization's core values.  "The more aware one is about the corporate culture of a particular organization, the more the possibility to strike the right chord with that organization."

Corporate culture? Isn't that something that's been done, way done? Well, says Inc. Magazine, "it's back. (It never left!) Your employees crave it.  Your customers will love it. And the one who needs it most is you."

I think the "two C's" (Corporate culture) relate to two of the "Four P's of Businss Blogging": Passion and Personality.  That's because, in business blog posts, as compared to brochures, ads, or even the website, it's easier to communicate the unique personality and core beliefs of the business owners.  Over time, in fact a business blog becomes the "voice" of the corporate culture, whether the "corporation" (or partnership or LLC) consists of one person or many.

The concept of revealing the corporate culture through blog posts doesn't have to mean you stick to one narrow topic, with each post offering the sort of detailed information you'd find in a catalogue or product manual. In fact, when I'm "meeting" a business through its blog, I like to get a sense that the owners are tuned in to the bigger picture of what's going on in their industry and to what's happening the everyday world around them. I want to know what they "make of it all" from their little corner.

Yes, I expect a business blogger to focus on what's relevant (that's the "expectation" of the search engines, as well!). But, the more revealing the blog is of the owner's slant on what's going on - and what should be going on and how - the more engaging and interesting I'm likely to find that business' blog posts.

You might say that sticking to one's knitting while still managing to knit something with a little personality to it is the real challenge in blogging for business!

 

Parents may be reassured by finding a video game rate “E” (for everyone), but that’s certainly not the best rating for business blogs. In order for blog posts to be effective as part of a business marketing plan, the content of the blog must be targeted towards a specific audience.

Web searchers are on a fact-finding mission, looking for information about what you do, what you sell, and what you know about.  The specific key words and phrases in the title and in the body of the blog post help the search engine direct those searchers to your blog.

Since blogging for business is a “pull marketing” tactic, the more targeted the content and the title can be, the narrower the “rating”, and the better chance your blog has of “getting found”.

The entire process of online search is based on bringing searchers to the right place to find the precise kinds of information they need.

According to Chris Baggott of Compendium Blogware, there are four qualities or variables that make blogs more successful than traditional websites in targeting and attracting the right kind of visitors: 

• Content-rich
• Specific
• Relevant
• Personal 

You’re writing a blog (or perhaps turning to a professional ghost writer like me for help) in hopes that searchers will not only read what you’ve written, but react favorably by becoming clients or customers. To achieve that outcome, advises blog consultant Mark White, “your knowledge  (of your target audience) needs to influence every aspect of your blog, including:

• What your blog looks like
• The content of the blog
• The style of writing
• The length and frequency of posts
•  How you elicit comments and feedback

In short, your business blog should not be rated “E” because they were never intended for everyone.  “S” for SOMEONE is the best rating for business blogs!

Hard to believe, but my little professional ghost-blogging company, Say It For You, is celebrating its third New Year's today!

The company’s work product, some 2,000 unique writing selections, can be found in clients’ corporate brochures, on client website pages, in press releases and even letters to the editor. Primarily, though, our pieces populate the blogosphere.

2009 was certainly a year of learning for me, and “text” material was everywhere.  I continued to follow big, nationally-known gurus such as Seth Godin and Ted Demopoulos, along with the many local marketing and social media mavens who’ve become my friends and blogging colleagues.

Ideas for content were sparked by magazine and newspaper articles, radio and TV broadcasts, and even billboards and print ads. I paid close attention to how I was treated as a customer by businesses I patronize and by the different charities to which I direct dollars. I devoured books on marketing, SEO, web design, and the vagaries of Google and friends. Networking groups were my classrooms.  Mostly, Say It For You clients were my best teachers.

2009 was also the year in which an informal “Say It For You Manifesto” took form, clarifying a business model that reflects the way I want to do business.

Say It For You is a premium ghost-blogging and blog marketing service that provides your business with enhanced potential for improved standing in search engine results but also highest-quality marketing content for a wide variety of uses. Our blog posts are more than just a collection of keywords; they are strong, thoughtful messages about your business
by writers with extensive business experience.

When you use Say It For You, you receive the following benefits in addition to impeccably written posts:

• A single writer dedicated to understanding your business and keeping abreast
• of topics in your industry. That writer is ready to interface with your SEO expert,     marketing consultant, or web designer.
• Say It For You works with only one client in each field of business, so that all research and promotional efforts are devoted towards benefiting you and your business.
• You will have personal contact with your writer, including regular in-person meetings or phone conferences. Your writer is always available to discuss content and strategy.
• The ideas and input of writers with strong background in business. Our writers have expertise in finance, marketing, operations, event planning, autos, seniors, international commerce, and more.

True, for Say It For You, this is only the third time to celebrate New Year’s.  But it seems that every day there’s something new to celebrate and to BLOG about!

The old saying “Practice makes perfect” was never the same once coach Vince Lombardi had pointed out that, no, it’s only perfect practice that can help players achieve perfection.  

Psychology professor K. Anders Ericsson, who has spent twenty-five years analyzing high-flying professionals, draws a somewhat different conclusion.  Elite performers in any field, he says, engage in deliberate practice, an effortful activity designed to improve performance.

For example, Ericsson says, most medical diagnosticians see a patient once or twice and then move on, repeating this process thousands of times over many years. The most successful diagnosticians, by contrast, spend time following up on their patients to compare what the physician was thinking at the time of diagnosis with the actual patient outcome. “Just because you've been walking for 55 years doesn’t mean you’re getting better at it,” observes Ericsson.    
   
While practice may need to be perfect to win football games or deliberate to excel in medical diagnostics, plain old practice can play a very important role in business blogging. Momentum in the online rankings race comes from frequency of posting blogs and from building up longevity by consistently posting content on the Web over long periods of time.

In Quamat’s The Go To How To Blogging Guide, the authors note that many start out blogging with the best of intentions, but then find themselves unable to keep up the discipline. Tennis coach Spencer Fields might have been talking about business bloggers instead of college tennis stars when he summed up the problem: “Often they start out strong, but fizzle toward the end.”

Playing a game where the rules are constantly changing poses special challenges - the answer to the question “What do search engines want?” might be different next week than it was yesterday. On one thing, though, most mavens appear in agreement: One secret to winning search is consistent posting of relevant content on the Web.

Given the multiple demands on most business owners’ time, the level of “deliberate practice” it takes to win online search rankings might fall, in many cases, to professional ghost bloggers like Say It For You!

The old saying about a chain being only as strong as its weakest link is certainly true of blogs.  Each time you publish a post, that post becomes the newest link in your blog chain. Actually, it becomes the first link in your blog chain, because all your posts remain on the Internet, appearing in reverse chronological order.

The chain concept is the secret behind blogging’s effectiveness in helping your company or professional practice get found.  “With blogs you’re casting a super-large net of keywords,” explains Chris Baggott of Compendium Blogware. “By nature, blogs have more of the positive variables that search engines are looking   for when compared to a website,” he adds, citing four blog qualities:


1. Content-rich
Each blog post should offer expert information and advice in a professional, easy-to-understand way.  Visual aids such as the font you use, bolding, italics, photos, and charts can all add interest, but the main job of business blog posts is to assure visitors they’ve come to the right place, and to tell them why that’s so.

2.  Specific
Arriving at your blog, Web searchers are on a fact-finding mission, looking for information about what you do, what you sell, and what you know about.  Give them “Just-the-facts-Ma’am” satisfaction.

3.  Relevant
Keywords and phrases in the title and in the body of your blog post help search engines make as close a match as possible between the question and the answer, the problem and the solution, or the need and the product or service. Keep those “key people” – your blog visitors – in mind whenever you post!

4.  Personal
“Though we live with digital technology, it’s still an analog world,” comments Tony Fannin of Be Branded. Great marketing, he points out, is still about humans talking to humans, and blogs must give readers a sense of real people talking. (The essence of my work as a professional ghost blogger is to capture your personality and your message and express that to your customers and clients.) 

Before you hit “Publish” or “Submit”, give each of your blog posts the once-over to be sure that newest link in your blog chain meets the “Big Four” test!

Understanding why blogs beat websites hands-down when it comes to winning search engine rankings is a matter of simple addition.

See, if a searcher is using a particular phrase in asking a question or looking for a product or service, the search engine wants to make as close a match as possible between the question and the answer, the problem and the solution, between the need and the product or service. An apt explanation was given by local SEO maven Ken Zwiegel's metaphor: Google likes to say "Gotcha!". 

The problem, points out Chris Baggott of Compendium Bogware, is that the typical website has only a finite amount of space for text.  It's nearly impossible to have a large volume of content that targets all the key words that relate to that business. On the other hand, Baggott explains, blogging doesn't have those constraints, because blog content stays around forever.  As new content is added, all the formerly posted content moves "down" a spot to make room, but remains on the blogsite, adding to the cumulative number of repetitions of key words and phrases! "The more content, the more chances you have to use the keywords you want to be found on," adds Baggott.

When I explain the concept of cumulative blog content, I use a real estate analogy.  Blogging for business is somewhat like building "equity" in real estate. Since the whole idea behind Search Engine Optimization is to move your business name higher in the rankings on search engines (when someone is online searching for information in your field of expertise, for a service you provide or a product you sell), you want your name to come up on Page One.  The more relevant and cumulative content you've posted using your key words and phrases, the more likely that is to happen. Cumulative blogging, I like to say, is what "saves your real estate spot!"

In blogging for business, one + one + one = infinity!

Business consultant and coach Lois Creamer's positioning statement™ is an elevator speech with a plus. If you're at all interested in building your business, says Creamer, you'd better polish up your own positioning statement post haste.

A positioning statement™ promotes you by concept - who you are and what you do - and (here's where most "60-second commercials" miss the mark) by outcome.

Creamer's own positioning statement serves as the perfect model:

"I work with small business owners and entrepreneurs who want
 to book more business and make more money."

In my Say It For You blog posts, I've often described blogs as extended elevator speeches.  After hearing Lois Creamer speak, though, I realize that's not enough. For blogs to be effective, they must more closely resemble positioning statements, clarifying and emphasizing outcomes. At the same time, positioning statements as part of your marketing strategy and tactics development, are SEO friendly, utilizing the key words and phrases that most accurately describe your company branding and your corporate identity.

True, business blogs, being shorter, less formal, and more personal than websites, are the perfect venue to showcase your products, the services you offer, and your unique approach to your field.  Always remember, though - your potential clients and customers are still thinking "So what?  What's in it for ME?"

"People aren't concerned about remembering your web address or even your name or brand," says Chris Baggott, CEO of Compendium Blogware.  "Search engines like Google have opened up a wonderful new world for consumers where they simply have to enter their wants, needs, or problems."  And with whom do consumers want to do business? As market research overwhelmingly demonstrates, "People like me", Baggott points out.

Every single blog post gives you a new opportunity to explain what outcomes result from working with you and your company, answering the "so what?" and the "Why you?" even before your target customer formulates those questions.

(How's this, Lois?) I work with business owners and entrepreneurs just like you who want to attract customers and clients they would otherwise never meet and who want to make more money.  I Say It For You!

"Simple is better" could become 2010's most powerful marketing mantra, according to Bruce Horwitz of USA Today ("How Many Ingredients In This Scoop?").  Horwitz explains that consumers these days want to know not only what's in the stuff they eat and drink - they want to know what's not.

Simplicity's an apt mantra for business blogging as well.  "At the end of the day," says Chris Baggott, CEO of Compendium Blogware, "search engines want to deliver relevant content."  And relevance, according to Vanessa Fox of Search Engine Land, means "keeping to the topic, helping the search engine understand what your site is about…ideally about one thing in particular."

So, what should be the basic ingredient mix in an SEO marketing-friendly blog?

Convinceandconvert.com names eight blog elements, but my take is that there are five basic must-haves for each blog post, and I believe you should decide on those in the following order:

1.  Today's main point
Each post should have a "reason for being" that can be summarized in one statement, a sort of blog post "elevator speech".

2.  Title
After deciding on a main point, you can use a keyword-rich title to capture the attention of search engine spiders. The work of your title is hardly done at that point, however; it needs to engage the curiosity of searchers so they click on that link.

3.  Supporting points
These are like the legs supporting the seat of a stool, where the seat is your main idea for the post. Here's where a bullet-pointed list, an illustration, or an anecdote might come into play.

4.  Visuals
Add power to the words in your post with a blog visual - a picture, chart, or video clip.

5.  Call to action
Suggest where readers can go from here - click to your website, call you, send an email, post a comment, ask a question, respond to a survey or question you've posed.

Michael Pollan, author of the book In Defense of Food, apparently agrees with me about five being about the right number for ingredients.  "As soon as you stress fewer ingredients," he says, "you're implying that the food is healthy."

Very simply, the KISB standard, (Keep It Simple, Blogger!) could prove a rule worth keeping!

We ghost bloggers are marketing specialists, to be sure, but, at least for me, a lot of the pleasure of my profession comes from working with words.  Whether I'm reading a newspaper article, skimming through a magazine during my pedicure, or even taking notice of billboard slogans, it gives me a special kick to discover "word tidbits".

The other day, in USA Today, I read a feature story about cities that are offering incentives to banks to get them to offer services to low income residents.  This is a really serious topic, because many people are getting into deep financial trouble by using liquor stores, check cashing establishments, and payday loans for their financial transactions.  The headline of the article was "Bank On Programs Work With Challenges of Unbanked."

The reason "unbanked" is so effective a tidbit is that it captures a whole complex of issues in just one word.  In a way, that's precisely the effect you want your company blog posts to have.  Your potential customer is searching, scanning various pages until something causes an "Aha!" reaction.  Had the USAToday headline mentioned "people who don't have bank accounts", for example, I doubt I'd have read the article.  "Unbanked" - now that was engaging!

In blog marketing, of course, key words play a role in winning search engine rankings.  But there's so much more than that, I think, to using words as tools to engage blog readers.  In the business world in general, I find, we get tied up in making our products or in providing service to our customers and clients, and sometimes forget how much help the right words can be.

Blogging can be an absolutely indispensable marketing tool, but too often, business owners and professionals remain unblogged, mostly for lack of time.  After all, word tidbits aren't likely to appear near the top of most business owners' "To-do lists"!

A professional ghost blogger can help the "unblogged" business owner unleash the power of words to bring in business!

Restaurant reviewer Lou Harry generally avoids using exclamation points in his writing: "I figure if the sentence is dramatic enough, the exclamation point isn't necessary," he says.

To test this theory in restaurants, Harry's devoting this month to visiting restaurants with exclamation points in their name, pronouncing Zionsville eatery Oobatz! more than worthy of punctuation braggadocio.

In blog posts, I've found, it is important to exclaim.  There are at least two reasons for this.  First, as I often stress, online searchers tend to be scanners, not readers. Punctuation, italics, and bold type are some of the ways to draw attention to the central point(s) in each post.

Friend and language expert Bill Alerding reminds students that any language develops initially in spoken form, only later evolving into written form.  The function of punctuation, then, is to indicate the pauses, the intonation, and the emphasis that a speaker would communicate with his or her voice.
 
The second reason to use emphasis clues in blogs is to satisfy the "spiders".  Search engine software indexing programs need clues to match up the content on websites and blogs with searchers' needs.  Google's "goal in life",(as I heard it expressed once by local SEO maven Ken Zweigel) is to "crawl" the Web and say "Gotcha!" when it finds information most relevant to the search phrase entered by the user.

Of course, using exclamation points to "cry 'Wolf!'" too often will nullify the effect.  Lou Harry's approach to restaurant reviews is actually very apropos for blogging - an idea has got to earn its punctuation!

"Bragging is repulsive to introverts," says Nancy Ancowitz in Psychology Today. 
But effective self-promoting - that's different, she says.  "It's finding the overlap between what you have and what your audience wants."

Ancowitz might have been referring to blogging, which is the essence of self-promoting for business owners - minus the bragging.  After all, what is search engine optimization if not finding the points of overlap between what you, the businessowner do, what you know about, what you sell, and what searchers want?

Two of the coping tips Psychology Today offers introverts are good ideas, I think, for reticent business bloggers stuck for content ideas:

             Host: When we host, we get to be seen as a go-to person, and we don't have to reach out as much.

Use some of your blog posts to highlight interesting ideas and information you find on others' posts, "introducing" those bloggers to your readers.  Your comments highlight your own expertise, while you play gracious blog "host"!


            Say Hi: Remain visible to your boss and colleagues by regularly exchanging niceties 
                         and sharing with them.

There are several ways to apply that excellent advice to blogs. After quoting someone in your post, commenting favorably on their insights, then adding some of your own, post a comment directly on their blogsite or send an email message explaining you've just quoted them in your own blog.  Include a link to the post that "stars" them!

"Introverts", remarks Psychology Today, " are more inclined to rely on writing and often excel at it."  How cool is that for business blogging?

 

It takes seven years to digest swallowed gum (Not! That’s just one of those lingering misconceptions one hears.)  According to Mental Floss Magazine, “Despite what you heard on the playground, the gum you swallow doesn’t exactly linger in your gut.” In fact, Mental Floss goes on to explain, your gum shoots through your system towards the “exit” at the same speed as other foods.

For newbie business bloggers at a loss for content ideas, debunking a myth about your industry is a great place to begin. Here’s why: In the normal course of doing business, you’ve probably run up against misunderstandings about a product you sell or a service you provide. 

Not only is addressing misinformation in your company blog interesting to readers, it highlights your own special expertise and knowledge. With doubts reassured, many readers are more comfortable trying out your product or service. What’s more, if you make it a habit to debunk myths in your blog posts, that in itself can go a long way towards making your blog a “go-to” place when people need information relating to your industry or profession.

One myth about blkogging itself is that it’s simply a fad. Truth: The Pew Internet Project estimates that almost 32 million Americans read blogs regularly.

Speaking of big numbers, a second blog-related myth I hear a lot is that you need many visitors and many RSS subscribers to be successful in blogging for business. I love what blogger Rich Brooks has to say about that one: “Search engines deliver over 73% of our traffic, and over 85% of that traffic comes from first-time visitors.” 

Well, then, what is the secret of blog success?  “What we need to do is capture these names by making them an offer they can’t refuse,” answers Brooks, dispensing with overblown claims about the importance of comments with a terse: “Comments aren’t clients.”

If there’s something new in your industry, don’t let your readers find out about it somewhere else, advises HomeschoolBlogger.com’s Karen Braun. I agree.  And, if there’s a persistent myth out there about anything you sell or anything you do, your blog should be the place to go tfor the truth, the whole truth, and nothing "bust"!