Are you clueless on how to blog for SEO? This beginner’s guide will take you through simple steps on how to get your blog posts in tip top shape for when the search bots come crawling.

Why Blog for SEO?

There’s two very good reasons you should do this, which lead me to put together this beginner’s guide on how to blog for SEO.

1. Since you’re already taking the time to write the blog, so you might as well know how to blog for SEO.

2. It will help drive extra traffic to your blog in the long term – which is why you’re blogging right?

How to Blog for SEO

First you should plan out your blog post. It might seem like extra work, but believe me it will make the whole process a lot easier. You can download the plan I used to prepare this blog for SEO here.

Topic – First you’ll need to decide on the topic you’ll be blogging about. Ideally it should be a trending topic or something you know is popular with your target audience. There’s no point writing about something no one’s interested in.

Keywords – Probably the most important consideration when tailoring your blog for seo is the keywords you’ll use. Once you’ve decided on your topic, the best way to select keywords is to head on over to the google keyword tool, which will show you a bunch of suggestions for the topic you enter. Ideally try to choose 2 or 3 phrases which have high search traffic and low competition. If you downloaded the plan I used for this post, you’ll see that the phrases I’ve selected are ‘blog for seo’, ‘how to blog’ and ‘beginner’s guide’, which all have low competition and searches in the thousands.

Outline – Next you should come up with the outline for your article which should look something like the below. By creating a good outline all you’ll need to do when it comes to writing the article is fill in the blank. It will also help with keyword placement.

Main Idea

• supporting detail

• supporting detail

• supporting detail

Main Idea 2

• supporting detail

• supporting detail

• supporting detail

Main Idea 3

• supporting detail

• supporting detail

• supporting detail

Tailoring the Blog for SEO

Okay now you’ve got the plan and outline sorted, it’s time to think about how to blog.

Title – First up you need the title, this is probably the most important thing from the SERP point of view. Try to have your primary keyword as close as you can to the beginning; mine is ‘blog for seo’. If you can work a secondary keyword into the title, then have at it. I’ve managed to squeeze in two secondary keywords ‘how to blog’ and ‘beginners guide’. Don’t make your title all about keywords though, remember it still needs to be intriguing and memorable to your target audience.

Subtitles – it wouldn’t be a beginners guide if I didn’t mention subtitles. There are so many bloggers out there who show their clear lack of understanding on how to blog by churning out massive chunks of text and paragraphs with no subtitles. Subtitles make your blog posts heaps easier for the reader to absorb and it also helps prepare your blog for seo by helping the bots understand what your article is about.

Introduction – Your intro should be a stripped down, bare bones account of what the reader can expect from the rest of the article. Try to have your primary keyword as close to the beginning of the first sentence as possible, and ideally keep it to 70 words or less.

Body – Here’s some simple tips to follow when writing the article body:

• Keep your paragraphs focussed, and concentrate on one topic at a time. Make sure each paragraph is under 100 words.

• Use your primary keyword once every 100 words or so

• Stick to your outline! Have you ever read a blog post that made you feel like you were being pulled in 8 different directions? Fair chance they didn’t use an outline. Articles that use an outline are always more organised and compelling than those that don’t.

Conclusion 

If you’re taking the time to learn how to blog for seo, then there’s a high chance you also want your post to convert, i.e. lead the reader to some form of action. For a blog post to convert successfully, the body should compel the reader toward a powerful conclusion which will drive home what the post has offered and convince them they must take action now.

Although this is just a beginners guide on how to blog for seo – following these steps diligently and persistently will no doubt have a big impact on your blog traffic. And unless your blog is a personal diary, traffic is the point of it right?

What other SEO tips have worked for your blogs?  Please comment below!

Guest Author:  Daniel Smith, the founder of Propaganda House, has over a decade of marketing experience, and as a Social Media Consultant, runs courses and individually consults business’ on how they can grow through the effective use of Social Media Marketing techniques. You can tweet Daniel @propagandahouse or email him here.

Everyone out there with a blog wants a bigger following.  If it is brand new, you want to get a piece of the pie.  If it is already established, you want to get a bigger piece of the market.  Still, the toughest part is getting that initial following which will make your blog relevant on the scene.  How can you build that following?  Here are the ideas you need to have your blog hit the ground running.

1. Corner a market. People will wonder what the point of your blog is if it does not have a certain piece of the market cornered.  You are new, so you have to stand out.  Surely, you have thought of something new or would have little reason to get out there in the first place, right?  Nail your themes down very early on so people know they can count on you from the outset.  If they know they are getting something special when they visit your blog, they will continue coming back – as long as you deliver.

2. Spark a controversy. Well, it doesn’t have to be a major controversy.  In fact, it doesn’t have to be anything ridiculous at all.  What you ought to do, however, is take a concept which is integral to your overall message and get it out there in the boldest possible way.  If you hit a nerve, people will associate you with that relevant style.  If you back it up with real substance, you are going to have a number of readers ready to follow wherever you might lead them.

3. Have some relevant links. Having your niche in the field you write about is different from being isolated on a far-flung island.  You want to be part of a community, so team up with websites and other blogs that don’t tread on your ground but instead help you achieve your goals.  You may benefit a lot from these associations.  Keep in mind that you can also be considered guilty by association, so take your links seriously.

4. Mix in some quality video. One of the great things about writing in the twenty-first century is that you can also be a rock star at the same time.  YouTube can be your MTV and you can make your blog sing in ways that never will happen in print.  It’s important that you don’t look like most bloggers (bespectacled and bearded) if you want to stand out.  However, for a literary blog, that might just be the look you can pull off.  Whatever you do, make sure your videos have the goal of more readers, not viewers.

5. Troubleshoot the other blogs. Blogs that are similar in your field will always have problems.  If you notice them surely others do as well.  Why not be the go-to place for solving the issues on the scene?  People always have some feeling that a void exists when this is the case.  If you fill that void, you’ll instantly gain a number of readers.

Guest Author: This article was written by Mona Pennypacker of Acorn Creative Studio who specializes in web site design in Colorado.

Here are 20 most read and widely-shared social media blog posts of 2010 on MirnaBard.com. It’s a good time to revisit many of these posts, as they are great reminders when planning for 2011.  Please let me know what your favorite one was in the comments below.

Thank you for all my supportive readers.  I appreciate you more than you know!

1. Ask Mirna: What criteria do you suggest people use to select a social media expert?
2. 7 Signs Your Social Media Consultant is Really an Expert
3. 15 Categories of Social Media
4. 21 Twitter Conversation Tips
5. 99 Favorite Social Media Quotes and Tips
6. Top 50 Social Media Mistakes Made by Small Businesses
7. 6 Essential Mindset Shifts for Social Media Success
8. The 21 Essential C’s of Social Media
9. How to Write Re-tweetable Tweets in 5 Minutes or Less
10. 290 Email Spam Trigger Words to Avoid
11. 4 Steps to Strengthen Your Brand with Social Media
12. Is Social Media a ‘Get Rich’ Scheme or Competition?
13. 3 Undeniable Ways to Turn Competitors into Enemies on Social Media Sites
14. 25 Monitoring Tools That Will Not Cost You a Penny
15. 11 Key E’s of Social Media
16. 11 More Key E’s of Social Media
17. 5 Definite Reasons Why Videos are an Effective Marketing Tool
18. 7 WordPress Plug-ins to Help You Control Content Scraping
19. 9 Ways to Reduce Scraping and Catch Blog Post Theft
20. 7 Simple Social Networking Tips for Business

Which one of the 20 was your favorite of 2010?

Are you coming to the point, where you say to yourself – “Oh sh%t, I have to write my article or blog post?” Does the though of writing drain you? And, even though you know you need to write articles to get more website traffic, build your list, nourish relationships and increase your profits – are you procrastinating writing your articles?

Then this new article is for you.

Learn from Marshall Goldsmith (the man who is ranked one of the most influential business thinkers in the world by The London Times and Forbes) and see how you can apply his secrets for getting unstuck to your own article writing and marketing efforts.

Why You End Up in a Writing Rut!

As Marshall says, “Our default reaction in life is to experience inertia. We all tend to go where we have been going, do what we have been doing and say what we have been saying.” If you say the same story time after time after time, and repeat the same advice – it gets boring! And, it’s not only boring for the reading, but it’s boring for you the writer.

Marshall’s Solutions for Getting Unstuck

1. You need to challenge yourself to create new content — content that is not found anywhere else online.

2. Change your approach to article writing. You have to ask yourself, “If I have to spend this time writing articles, how can I make it more meaningful to my readers and myself? Part of the answer is to find your passion and let it shine through in your articles.

3. Stop saying later. The time is now. How many times have you said this to yourself, “You know, I am incredibly busy right now. And, given the pressures of work and home, I feel too over-committed. I simply don’t have the time and energy. I’ll write my articles later in maybe 2 to 3 weeks when things calm down.” The reality is that there will not be two or three weeks. It is always going to be crazy.  If you are not taking the time to build your business now with articles, it’s never going to happen. As Marshall says, “To get unstuck, you have to look in the mirror day after day, and remind yourself of the actions that you will take today.” It requires discipline – but once you get writing and get out of this rut, you will get more profits and it will be worth it.

4. Get a peer coach – In a SUCCESS magazine article, Marshall mentions that he has a peer coach which asks him every day – “On a scale of 1 to 10, how happy were you yesterday? On a scale of 1 to 10, how meaningful was yesterday? How many minutes did you write? How many push-ups did you do?” This peer coach holds Marshall accountable. How do you hold yourself accountable to make sure you write and submit articles online and do the other marketing activities that will build your business?

Follow these tips and you’ll be writing articles on a daily basis – just like me “your article writing and marketing expert!” You see, I write articles on a daily basis for my ezine, blog, article submission and for my social media efforts.  And, I never get bored.

Guest Author: Instant Article Writing Template Creator Eric Gruber helps internet marketers and small business owners overcome writer’s block and end their writing rut fast so they can get more publicity, prospects and profits. Now, you can get 3 of Eric’s article templates for free – so you can write your articles in 30 minutes or less. Get it now at http://www.TryMyFreeArticleTemplates.com

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

I still see many businesses setting up their blog incorrectly, and one of the biggest mistakes is not hosting their own blog. When it comes to choosing WordPress as the blogging platform, this question is very common. Many companies and individuals still don’t know that WordPress has two options: WordPress.com and WordPress.org.

I’ve been meaning to write a blog post about this topic; however, I discovered that my colleague and WordPress wizard, Jarrett Gucci has an excellent blog post and video that discusses the pros and cons of each option. So why reinvent the wheel, right?

To read the full blog post, please visit Jarrett’s blog.

If you have already set up your blog with WordPress.com, I highly suggest you make the switch. What did you think of Jarrett’s tips?

Website owners are always seeking new ways to improve their organic rankings and to gain some popularity through SEO practices. There are several known techniques to help improve a site’s SEO such as title text, keywords, and various link building options, but one of the fastest and easiest ways to gain SEO points while incorporating all of the above is often overlooked by many website owners. It is Blogging.

Many webmasters will focus their SEO efforts on their static site and overlook the added juice blogging can lend to it. Because a blog can be updated easily with new content, it offers more of an opportunity to try various methods of SEO to see which work best. Let’s take a look at a few.

1. More Indexed pages, High Authority

A simple commercial site normally contains 7-10 pages so you can only get these many pages in the search engine index. But with the help of blog you can easily add fresh content at regular intervals. For e.g. – If you update your blog 5 times a day, 20 times a month, at the end of year you’d be having 240 more pages in the search Index as compared to other sites. And, higher is the number of your pages in search engine index, more will be the chances to get found by your target audience.

2. You can target more Keywords

Keywords are a very important part of SEO, but often hard to figure out or target. While you may be attempting to target one keyword or keyword phrase, your analytics may tell you that your customers are getting to your site through another.

In the case of a website, you would have to rebuild each page in order to accommodate these new keywords. This is very time consuming and costly. However, if that same site has a blog, a post (or two) could easily be created to target the new keyword or phrase. It is much easier to add a post in a blog. Plus it is far less confusing to your visitors.

3. Split Testing

Blogs are a great way to split test your information. You can easily create two posts, covering the same topic, but written with different keywords or offering a different product or service from your site. Then, you can check to see which post resulted in more clicks to your product pages. You can always eliminate the post that is not working well and maybe you will get lucky and find that both were equally successful.

4. Natural Link Profile

Blogs with unique and high quality content acts as link magnets. A well researched and written article is more likely to attract natural links than a pure commercial website. Not only it will help you in your organic rankings but will also give a natural look to your overall link building campaign.

5. More Internal Links Mean More Time On Your Site

Blogs also makes your visitors to stay longer on your site. By creating internal link chains, you can easily connect your visitor from post to post, feeding them more information about the benefits of your product or service as they go. The more time they spend, the more invested they become, and the more likely they are to buy in.

Don’t overlook the SEO benefits of having a blog for your website. Here we have listed a few well known techniques, but there are many other ways you can use a blog to gain a lead in the search engine wars. Just look at it as a way to offer a constant flow of information to new and established visitors and you will surely think of numerous ways to use it to your benefit.

Guest Author: Patsy works for Go-gulf.com, a web design Dubai Company that provides web design solution in Tehran, Sharjah and Middle East.

Are you experiencing writer’s block?

Whether you are a new writer or an article writing and marketing expert like me, there comes a time when you just stare at the blank white screen with your hands ready at the keyboard – but they’re not typing. The dreadful writer’s block is stopping the words from flowing as they should.

It is frustrating to be stuck especially when you know when you write and submit articles online you will get more website traffic, prospects and profits. So, you start pulling your hair out and grinding your teeth.

See, I know exactly how you feel. There were many times that I wanted to throw my laptop and my desktop right out the window. I know what it is like to try to force yourself to “work through it”, and when you sit down to write you are numb and feel like your brain is composed of concrete.

I also know that the longer you stay in this state the more discouraged you get, which makes it even harder to write. That’s why I am going to help you get out of that dark, cold, gloomy corner and see the light so you can start writing articles faster.

7 Ways to Overcome Writer’s Block and Banish It Forever

1. Use instant article writing templates – You want to use article templates that literally guide you through the article writing process. For example, my 40+ Instant Article Writing Templates Kit, is filled with worksheets and ideas. All you have to do is enter the information that the template asks for – where it asks for it. Not only will you generate article ideas, but you’ll be able to organize your ideas in a way that gets your prospects to read your articles from top to bottom.

2. Host a teleseminar –- Greg Ivers of Church Loan Services, an article marketing coaching client of mine, has the hardest time putting the information inside his head into words. No matter how much time I spent with him – he just wasn’t getting it like many small business owners. However, he has no problem speaking about his expertise. So, using Instant Teleseminars, I’m having him do a teleseminar recording that he can use as a lead generation device. He’s then going to use the recording to create a number of articles to promote his free audio program.

3. Keep a digital or analog notebook with you 24/7 – They say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Coming up with compelling ideas to write about is sometimes the hardest challenge of all. But, if you have an “idea pad” with you at all times, you can build a reserve of good topics to draw upon as you need them. You’re working proactively to prevent writer’s block.

4. Start writing without constraints — Consider this: Have you ever been blocked while playing Frisbee? Eating doughnuts? Dancing naked in your living room? Those are joyful things and there’s nothing at stake. If you fail, who cares? Nobody. If there are no rules, and no judgment, psychological blocks are impossible. So, start writing without constraints. Deliberately write badly, but write.

5. Write about how it feels not to be able to write – It’s sneaky, but, it works. The voices in our heads are always saying something, so get it down. Imagine yourself as a recording device, writing down the radio broadcast of some other person who happens to live in your head. Eventually your mind will hit thoughts on the topic itself and, presto, you’re on your way.

6. Make Lists – List making is never as threatening as “writing”, so go there first! As far as I know, there is no shopping list block, is there? For example, when I created this list article, I kicked my list around for awhile. I made changes. I did lots of moving and shuffling. Then once it reached critical mass, I put in a document and created my article.

7. Keep writer’s block away by writing daily — Just like someone who is out of shape could not run a mile in a respectable amount of time, someone who doesn’t write frequently will not be able to write high quality articles fast. You have to train your body to run, just like you must train your brain to write. And, you become a faster runner and writer through repeated practice and perseverance.

Guest Author: Article marketing expert Eric Gruber created online marketplace opportunities for authors, small business owners, speakers and internet marketers who want more website traffic, prospects and profits. Now you can get started with writing and marketing your business with articles, by getting 3 free article templates that will help you write articles faster. Get it now at: http://www.trymyfreearticletemplates.com

Millions of people from all over the world produce content for the Internet on a daily basis. It is almost impossible to keep track of everything that is written and posted. Search engines are the number one tool that people use to sift through all of the content that is available on the Internet. However, when people search for something, they usually end up clicking through only the first few results that show up. This means that you need to optimize your content for search engines. This will allow your content to show up as one of the top results when people search for the topic you are writing about. However, it is important to place too much priority on search engine optimization. You will also want to make sure that your content is high quality and pleasing to readers.

Producing Good Content for the Internet

You need to have solid, relevant content before you can even start to think about search engine optimization. You should try to set yourself apart from the thousands of other articles available on the Internet. You need to offer people something that they cannot get anywhere else. Do some research on what is already available about your topic. You should think about ways that you can improve upon what is already out there and make it more relevant to readers. The content that you produce should also be well written. Nobody wants to read something that is filled with errors and misspellings. You should write in a way that is clear to your reader. You have to understand your audience and give them what they want.

Search Engines Use Keywords

After you have produced content that is worthy of being read, you need to understand how search engines work. Search engines enter all of the text on a website into a very large database. Search engines go through this database when something is being searched for. Websites are ranked based on relevance. The relevance of a website is usually based on how often the word or phrase that was searched for appears.

You should select one keyword or a couple of keyword phrases that you think best represent the content that you have created. You will want to make sure that these keywords appear throughout your article. However, you should be careful to not overdo it. You want to have your keywords appear naturally throughout your writing. It should not be obvious to the reader that you are stuffing your content with keywords.

Search Engines Like New Content

A lot of search engines will display new content ahead of content that has been on the Internet for months. This means that you should always be updating and refreshing your content for websites to make sure you rank highly on search engines. Constantly updating content will also help you attract new readers and keep old ones. People will be interested in frequently visiting your site to see if any new information has been posted. In addition, adding new content will allow you to practice your writing skills. You will find that your new articles will flow better and be more readable. You will also get more practice in using keywords so your content will be optimized for search engines.

Do you do keyword research before you create your content?  What content strategy have you found helpful for your business?

A couple months ago, Visa Business Network’s Outreach team discovered my blog and reached out by completing the form on my site to let me know that they find my blog to be very impressive and a valuable resource to businesses. They asked if they could feature my blog on the Visa Business Network as part of their public blog roll.

And what was even more exciting was Visa’s invitation the following week, inviting me to be one of the expert mentors for their 100,000+ active member community.  Of course, I accepted and anxiously waited for their announcement this week. Yeah!

Recently, the Visa Business Network launched enhancements and new features to their community site to help small businesses connect learn, and accomplish goals.  Visa quickly realized that social media is playing a huge role in business and wanted to provide its community with a better way to connect, learn, and grow.

The new features include:

Business Goal Toolkits – These are step-by-step “how to” guides that lead small business owners through the process of setting and achieving business goals.

Small Business Mentor Program – Small businesses will now get personalized help and guidance from other successful small business owners through a question and answer forum.  Through the mentor program, members are able to collaborate by asking questions related to their goals and receive personalized advice and responses from small business peers and mentors with experience across a wide range of industries.

Mentors were invited based on the following criteria:

- Expertise in the topic/goal area

- Previous mentor experience

- Small business experience. Since this is a community of peers, owning or working for a small business is required

- Previous active online community involvement

- Ability to help provide initial goal content

- Enthusiasm for selected goal and helping small businesses succeed

“We are thrilled to have our new mentors on board as we launch the Visa Business Network with new features. Our mentors are leaders in their respective fields and will lend their expertise to small business owners on the Visa Business Network, who are looking for guidance as they work to grow their businesses. The mentors will be vital both as a resource and participant in the growing Visa Business Network community, and we look forward to working with them to encourage and foster small business growth.”  Rich Yang, Head of Small Business Marketing

I will specifically be mentoring businesses on creating and promoting Facebook business pages to help businesses grow and thrive on this giant social networking site.  My answers will enable many business owners to gain more clarity, eliminate confusion, and reduce overwhelm when it comes to promoting their businesses on Facebook.  So, I invite you to ask away!

Content Ranking – Their new ranking system will also provide small businesses with quick access to the resources and articles fellow small business owners have declared most useful.

I am sharing this with my readers for two reasons:

1. This opportunity happened due to my content strategy and online visibility.  So, this is a reminder to all of you.  By showcasing your expertise online, you will open many possibilities.  As I always say, you never know who is reading, watching, listening and sharing your content online. Transparency does equal opportunity, and this can come from anywhere and anyone (including people who you think are competitors).

2. It is easy and free to join Visa’s rapidly-growing community.  You can quickly create your profile by visiting  www.visabusinessnetwork.com.  You can also join their Facebook community.

What do you think of Visa’s idea? And, do you have any great success stories due to your blogging efforts?  I would love to read them in the comments below!

I am a natural born writer, so writing has always come easy to me. But, when I had to start writing articles everyday for my blog, for my newsletter and for article submission – I quickly ran out of article topics.

Then one day as I was reviewing all of my articles, I realized that there was a structure and a formula behind each article I wrote. By recognizing these formulas I’m able to write an unlimited amount of articles – and write them in record time. And, If you want to overcome writer’s block and start writing articles faster, then you want to model proven article writing formats.

Here Are 10 Different Blog Post Templates That Will Help You Overcome Writer’s Block So You Can Write Articles Faster…

1. Myth Buster Article Template — With this template, you crush your prospects’ preconceived thoughts and notions about a subject. Take 3 myths people have about your industry. Explain to people why it’s a myth. And, then show them what can happen if they clear this myth from their mind.

2. Top 10 Article Template – Have you ever seen a Jay Leno, David Letterman or any other late night television show that doesn’t have a “Top 10″ segment? Well, neither have I! It’s because people love top 10 lists. So give readers and prospects what they want.

3. How-To Article Template – It’s no secret that “how-to” articles and blog posts are some of the most sought after, linked to and bookmarked content online. People want useful information and they’ll reward you by promoting it to others when you provide it. It’s also one of the easiest articles to write.

4. Step-by-Step Article Template – If you think writing a how-to article is easy especially if you’re using article templates, then you’ll think the step-by-step article template is a cinch. In how-to articles I start off with the problem or pain that my prospects are experiencing. Then I give them a solution and end with the results. In a step-by-step article, I like to sell the dream. I want to instantly connect with my prospects’ desires, wishes and needs. So, I explain the results up front that can happen if you follow my advice that I give in the article.

5. Quiz Article Template – Why do you think magazines publish quizzes all the time? Why do you think the quizzes you find on Facebook are so popular? It’s because people love taking quizzes, unless it’s a pop quiz in school. So, why not use a quiz format for your articles that will enable you to do a soft, pre-sell for your products and services. When readers answer “NO” to your questions, you’re implanting thoughts of “Maybe, we should be doing this.”

6. 3 Mistakes Article Template – When you mention mistakes within your title and throughout your article, you will automatically grab attention. People will think in their minds, “Am I doing this right? I better find out!”

7. The Why Article Template – How-to articles are great. And, as I said before, it’s the most popular article template. But sometimes, when you give too much of the “HOW,” you give prospects no reason to go to your website for more information. So, why not write an article that focuses on the “WHY” and give prospects a reason to visit your website and join your list.

8. Differentiate Yourself Article Template – I created an article entitled “How to Choose an Article Submission Service.” Within this article, I created 10 questions that prospects should ask. Now these questions were designed to show everything that my service includes that no one else offers. It educated prospects and at the same time, it pre-sold my article submission services.

9. Failure to Success Article Template – Did you ever notice how speakers (especially those who sell from the stage) would always tell you about their hardships? Why do speakers do this? Because we want you to connect with us. We want to show you that if we can achieve success, so can you. By opening up and revealing your failures or your scars, you add realness to your written words. People will look up to you and they will want your guidance.

10. What I Learned From Article Template — Through my years as the article marketing expert, I’ve learned that I can connect almost anything – no matter how unrelated it may seem – to various secrets that I teach my clients, subscribers and readers. For example, I’ve written articles such as “7 Article Marketing Lessons I Learned From Being a Martial Arts Champion,” 3 Lessons I Learned From the Mother of a Fearless PR LEADER,” and “5 Relationship Building Lessons I Learned From My Parents.”

Guest Author: Article Marketing Expert Eric Gruber uses the power of articles to create online opportunities for Internet marketers, small business owners, authors, entrepreneurs and speakers who want more publicity, prospects and profits. Now, you can get 3 of his favorite his instant article writing templates that will help you overcome writer’s block and write your articles in 30 minutes or less. Get your free article templates now: http://www.TryMyFreeArticleTemplates.com

When you read tips about blogging, it almost always comes down to “content is king.” And there’s certainly truth to that statement. If you don’t have quality, compelling content, you’re never going to have a successful blog. People won’t have any incentive to read it.

However, there’s a flipside to this that rarely gets discussed. That is: Just because you have quality, compelling content doesn’t mean your blog will be successful. In other words, “if you build it” they still might not come.

You have to be able to promote your blog successfully so that readers will know you exist. This can take time, but if you keep putting out great content and promoting it the right way, eventually word will spread about your blog, allowing you to build a base of loyal readers.

Now, when promoting your blog, there are two key things that a lot of people overlook: Timing and frequency.

Timing

Timing has to do with when you publish your post. The blogosphere moves fast, so you need to start promoting your post as soon as it’s published. Think about it: You don’t see old, outdated content on the front page of Digg or ReddIt do you? Of course not. You see content that was published within the past few hours.

Now, that means you have to publish your content at a time of day when you can attract the most readers. This is a subject I’ve discussed at length with other bloggers, and the opinions have been quite varied. Some bloggers pay no attention to when they click “publish” (a dangerous move in my opinion) and others have a specific day and time they feel is ideal for promoting linkbait.

The truth is the best time depends on your location, your audience, and your network, but here are a few general guidelines to consider.

• Where are most of your readers located? If you have a truly worldwide audience, this can be a bit tricky, but most bloggers get at least the majority of their readers from the same region. Knowing where your readers are allows you to figure out the time they’re likeliest to read your content. In the U.S., you can usually get readers’ attention if you publish your content at the beginning of the work day in the middle of the week.
• When can your social media pals help you? Do you have a network of friends that help you promote your content? I do, and my group has specific times that they’re available to do this. With that in mind, I have to try to publish my content within that window of time so I can get help promoting my new posts.
• Is the information time-sensitive? If you’re publishing breaking news or information that is only relevant for a short period of time, then it’s best just to publish it immediately, regardless of what time or day it is.
• Is the weekend or a holiday coming up? Weekend posts have a hard time getting much attention because readers are out doing other things. The same goes for posting on the holidays. Sure, you have less competition from other blogs vying for the reader’s attention, but you also have fewer readers.

Frequency

Now that you have a better idea of what time to publish your posts, let’s move on to discussing how often you should be posting new content. Again, this is a subject a lot of bloggers disagree on, and my opinion is that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all posting frequency. However, there are some rules of thumb that can help you be more successful with your blog.

• Give your best posts a little space—If you’re publishing a piece of linkbait that you want to go viral, you need to give the post a little room to work. In other words, don’t publish another post while you’re still in the middle of promoting this one.
• Create expectations for your readers—Whether you publish new content every day, three times a week, or just once a week, you need to set a schedule and stick with it. If your readers know when to expect new content from you, it’ll be easier to keep them coming back. If you only post haphazardly, you’ll have a hard time building a base of readers.
• Beware of declining frequency over time—Many bloggers wear out over time, and they start posting less and less frequently. Blogger’s burnout is common, but it’s very deadly. You need to keep up the pace so you don’t lose your readers.

So, when do you publish your posts? And how often do you write new content? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment.

Guest Author: John Smith manages the nursing scrubs website NursingUniforms.net, one stop online shop for branded lab coats, scrub tops and all kind of medical uniforms.

Recently, I had the pleasure of connecting on Twitter and Facebook with Chef Zov Karamardian (@Zovs), an award-winning chef, restaurateur and bestselling cookbook author. Chef Zov jumped on the social media bandwagon a few months ago, learning and embracing as much as she can.

As part of her social media strategy, Chef Zov announced the “Make an Eggplant Proud Recipe Contest,” in which I became a finalist after submitting my favorite eggplant recipes.

The eggplant contest was only promoted through Zov’s blog, Facebook, and Twitter, resulting in over 30 recipe submissions. With the assistance of creative minds Marcie Taylor, Suz Broughton, and Frank Groff, Inc., Chef Zov turned the contest into an exciting offline affair. On May 12, several influential Orange County bloggers were invited for lunch at Zov’s Tustin location to taste and judge the recipes of the four finalists (See partial blogger list and finalists as well as my recipe below).

Chef Zov, Me (dressed like an eggplant, but unplanned), Jihan Assi (winner), Priscilla Willis, Yuko Graham

The winner (Jihan Assi) took home a plaque with a $100 gift certificate for Zov’s restaurant and will have her recipe featured as the “Special of the Day” at Zov’s Cafe in Tustin on Friday, May 28th. You can grab Jihan’s eggplant recipe on Zov’s blog.

I was thrilled to see Chef Zov take on social networking and blogging, not only because I am a social media consultant, but because I have been a long-time customer of Zov’s restaurants for quite a while. Since the 90’s, I have enjoyed many scrumptious family brunches and relaxing dinners with friends at Zov’s restaurants. I’ve also met colleagues there for great networking, while sipping green tea and devouring the mouth-watering desserts (Yummy! ).

Zov’s contest is a great example of the many social media tactics restaurants  can use to increase their online presence and encourage visitors to their location.  Although some restaurants are jumping on the bandwagon, I still don’t see many of them with amazing uses of social media (But, I am here to assist them and give them many ideas of course ). This is unfortunate since the restaurant industry is one that can leverage and hugely benefit from social media.

With this one experiment alone, Chef Zov created brand awareness, bonded with existing customers as well as realized the power and endless possibilities of social media.

There are a few things I like about Chef Zov’s approach:

- She has an open-mind to the opportunities social media offers for promoting her restaurants and cookbooks.

- She has the willingness to learn and experiment with different tactics.

- She is taking the time to blog, tweet, and post herself instead of using a “Ghost,” which is truly the best way to build community and enhance relationships with customers.

-  And, she is starting to integrate social media with her offline marketing/PR efforts.

I am looking forward to chatting with Chef Zov more through social networks and seeing her social media strategy develop.

Here is how you can connect with Chef Zov online:

Website: http://www.zovs.com
Blog: http://www.zovs.com/blog/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/zovsfans
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/zovs

“Make an Eggplant Proud Recipe Contest”

Contest Finalist

Jihan Assi of Tustin (contest winner), Yuko Graham of Orange, Priscilla Willis (@shescookin) of Huntington Beach, and Mirna Bard (me) of Costa Mesa

Contest Judges

Chef Zov Karamardian, “Fast Food Maven” Nancy Luna, Greer Wylder of Daily Dose of OC & Greer’s OC, and Teri Williams of Great Taste Magazine

Bloggers

Marcie Taylor (@suburbanmama), Kathleen (@ksugarandspice), Lindsey Garrett (@modchik), White On Rice Couple (@WhiteOnRice), Suz Broughton (@Suzbroughton)

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Mirna’s Eggplant Salad Recipe

This makes a fresh and light salad or dip for Summer! (4 – 6 Servings)

2-3 Large Eggplants
1 to 2 ripe tomatoes (depends on size), chopped
2 Persian Cucumbers, peeled and chopped
1 Onion, chopped (This can be left out if you are not an raw onion lover) ¼ C. Parsley
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. Olive Oil
¼ C. T. lemon juice Dried mint (Sprinkled in)
Salt & black pepper to taste 1 to 2 T. Sesame Tahini (Optional)

Slit eggplant and broil till skin is charred and center is very well cooked, remove skin. Mash it. Mix in above ingredients. Adjust seasonings to taste. The Sesame Tahini adds more fat, but does enhance the flavor. Serve cold with pita bread slices (they can be fried pita chips as well). You can also serve on top of romaine lettuce for less carbs.

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Surprise! Can you believe I know how to cook?  It was really funny to read the comments of my online friends and followers when I announced I was a finalist.  As busy as I am, I love to cook! I also have been told by many that I was very good. I wonder if they were being honest? Hehe!

If you try the recipe at home, please let me know what you think!  Don’t be afraid to add your own twist to it.  I am always adding new things to it myself.  Enjoy!

Here are eight WordPress plug-ins that may help you better monitor your blog posts, as promised in yesterday’s blog post 9 Ways to Reduce Scraping and Catch Blog Post.

Simple Feed Copyright Plug-in – This adds a copyright notice at the bottom of feed articles.

©Feed Plug-in – This can add the copyright, a digital fingerprint and/or the IP of the feed reader.

Disclosure Policy Plug-in – This is another plug-in that gives you the option to add a copyright statement, legal disclaimers, and links to related content on your site or content on 3^rd party site.

Ozh’Better Feed Plug-in – This allows you to add a custom footer to RSS items.  You can include copyright notices or any other links.

Owen Winkler’s AntiLeech Plug-in – This plug-in will help you create a cloaking.  It produces fake content for automated software programs that includes links back to your site and sends it only to them.  Reminder from my previous post:  you should be very cautious when using cloaking methods so you don’t damage your reputation with search engines.

Feed Footer Plug-in – This is another plug-in that allows you to add footers under all blog posts in RSS feed.  You can include copyright notices and even include rotating ads under each post.

Digital Fingerprint Detecting Content Theft Plug-in – This plug-in will place a digital fingerprint into posts, tailored to each individual user.  The fingerprint is only visible in the RSS feed, not on the website itself.

To learn more, it is best to visit each plug-in site and choose the most suitable one for your blog.  The best way to control scraping is to use a combination of the suggestions I shared on my previous post and a really good plug-in(s) of your choice.

The more difficult you make it for the automated programs, the harder it will be for them to steal your content and republish it.

Already using one of these plug-ins?  What has your experience been?

Content scraping or theft is when original content is stolen from a blog to republish on another blog or site.  This is considered to be plagiarism or copyright infringement, but since the Web is not completely regulated yet, scraping has become an extremely common problem.  Although, this process can be done manually, normally it is done by automated software programs that allow content to be easily scraped from any blog.

Blog Post Theft

Some people practice scraping to intentionally harm others, but some do not know they are actually creating harm.  If the original content is published on other blogs or websites, it can cause duplicate content issues, especially if the copied content out-ranks the original content in the search engines (See my blog post on duplicate content).

I have experienced this problem myself in the last few months, and I have let it slide because I know people who copied my posts meant no harm.  Although I appreciate and encourage sharing of content, there are netiquette rules that should be followed (I will cover this topic in a different post).

Unfortunately, we cannot completely prevent this growing problem, but there are steps that can be taken to reduce the problem.

Simple Steps

1. Put a copyright statement with every blog post.  This can be done manually or automatically (I will share some plug-ins in the next post).
2. Inspect your blog’s back links often.  This can be done manually in the search engines or a back link checker.
3. Set up keywords related to your blog posts in Google Alerts.  This method will alert you of similar posts and may help monitor scraping.
4. Use absolute links if you are interlinking any blog posts or pages of your sites (i.e., a href=”http://www.domain.com/pagename.html”; vs. a href=”pagename.html”).
5. Place a link to your blog in the footer of each post.  This can also be done manually or automatically if you have a WordPress blog.
6. Link to your blog posts within your RSS feeds.

Advanced Steps

If you are not a techie, you can ask an experienced webmaster to perform the following steps for you.

1. Utilize cloaking to change the source code by sending content other than what is originally seen on the blog, making it harder for automated programs to scrape.  This is normally thought of as a black-hat SEO technique, so should be used sparingly with caution (only use this as means to protect your content if you are having a huge theft problem).
2. Make use of IP Blocking methods to prevent future content theft.  IP Blocking is done through your site’s .htaccess file.  This method finds the IPs of sites publishing your content without permission, and then blocks them.
3. Use captchas to effectively block automated scraping.  Captchas are randomly generated strings of words and numbers that can be displayed in picture format. Some scrapers have found a way around captchas.  Also, this will not work if someone is copying your content manually.

If you use the above methods and find scraping incidents of your blog posts, I recommend you leave a comment and a link to your original post to warn both the scraper and the blog readers.

Look for my next post on WordPress plug-ins that will help you streamline your efforts.

If you’ve caught content thieves in the past, share your story in the comments below.