A Complete Guide to Business blogging

Learn every tool and trick necessary for getting found by your future customers.

A Compl et e Gui de t o

Lear n ever y t ool and t r i ck neces s ar y

f or get t i ng f ound by your f ut ur e cus t omer s

I nboundMar ket i ngAgent s com

( 615) 600- 4790

I nboundMar ket i ngAgent s com

It’s a fact that 44% of online shoppers begin researching products with the help

of a major search engine1 Achieving a high search ranking is critical to being

noticed by your future customers and leads:

75% of search users never scroll past the

first page of results2, and 60% of traffic

goes to one of the top three web pages3

Google is now the consumers’ main vehicle for performing product research

and making purchase decisions

If search engines can’t find you, neither can your leads The best way to achieve and maintain a high search ranking is by starting a business blog

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The average company with a business blog

earns 55% More Website Visitors4, 97% More

Inbound Links, and 434% More Indexed Pages5.

Writing a business blog that delivers unique, high-quality

content on a regular basis will result in a higher search

ranking, a surge of website traffic and fresh leads.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 Why You Need a Business Blog 6

2 Performing Keyword Research 12

3 Developing a Content Calendar 25

4 Writing Keyword-Optimized Content 35

5 Efficient Content Creation 43

6 Drafting Powerful Blog Titles 52

7 Styling Your Blog Posts 58

8 Incorporating CTAs for Lead Generation 67

9 Driving Traffic to Your Blog 72

10 Basic Blog Analytics 80

11 Getting Started With Social Media Promotion 88

12 About Inbound Marketing Agents 97

13 Citations 98

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1 Why You Need

a Business Blog

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66% of Blogs That Post Weekly Have Gained

a Customer Through Content6

If you’re still not sold on starting a blog, you’ll be amazed to learn that driving

business through content is much easier than you think

While blogging daily will yield the best results, 2/3 of companies that only blog

once a week have still gained at least one customer.

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The more often you blog, the better your chances of acquiring a customer

through content Many small business owners mistakenly believe that even if they start business blogging, no one will read

Blogs are a major source of information and entertainment for

consumers worldwide In fact, nearly half of all businesses have started blogging!

It’s a fact that 40% of your customers have adopted business blogging as a real tool for connecting with their leads7 Are you going to get on board, or will you be left behind?

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Break it Down:

• The average blog post only takes an hour to write

• 66% of these bloggers have acquired a customer via their blog

• Starting a blog costs me $0.00

Why would you not start a blog with these stats?

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1 Pick a Template

Starting a blog is fairly easy, even for those not in the know There are a wide

array of free and low-cost templates that take away the need to have a CSS

developer on staff Head to Wordpress.com and select a template that matches your current website Starting a business blog should take you less than 30

minutes to get up and running

2 Remember Search Engine Optimization

For SEO purposes, you need to create a subdomain attached to your business

website for hosting your blog Do not host on WordPress or any other free

Blogging site or you will not get the SEO help you are looking for You may need

a little help from your webmaster to set up the subdomain if it is your first time

business blogging

Real Tips: Getting Started With Business Blogging

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Keyword Research

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Keyword research is one of the most

important, valuable, and high return

Ranking for the “right” keywords can

make or break your website - SEOMoz

Keyword analysis should be the first step in any

Engage Your Audience!

The starting ground for producing relevant content is understanding what keywords are driving traffic to your site Performing keyword

research is the best tool for learning what your audience is

interested in.

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Keyword analysis can offer you insights into marketing trends

and consumer behavior Know what’s important and popular to

your audience and use this information to stay relevant

Trends are constantly changing and learning what is about

to be the next big thing will be a prime opportunity for your

business to stay a step ahead of competitors

• PRIORITIZE YOUR TIME

Identifying which keywords can ultimately improve your

bottom line gives your business the best chances of using

content for profit

Are you spending your time creating content on the most

important keywords? Doing keyword research can allow you

to have a real impact on your bottom line through content

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• GO LONG TAIL

Long tail keywords are simply defined as key phrases consisting

of three words or more

Instead of optimizing business blog content around the phrase

“bicycles,” you could use the term “women’s 10-speed bicycles,”

or other specific phrases that likely resemble common search

queries for products and services

Long tail keywords may have a lower search volume but they’re

easier to break into In fact, long tail search is the most

popular type of search

Long tail search comprises 70%

of search traffic 8

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• WHY SHOULD I USE LONG TAIL KEYWORDS?

Long tail search results reflect what people are actually looking

for when they begin product research People use major search

engines to find real-life solutions to their needs and problems, and search users are smart

They often have a pretty good idea of what they want when they

begin product research, so delivering content to match specific

needs requires long tail keywords for SEO results.

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Ranking for short, general keywords is tough in the current era of

content saturation Writing a single, fantastic piece of content about

a general term like “carpeting” or “sandals” almost certainly won’t

get you first-page results

You have a much better chance of connecting with qualified leads on the first page of search if you write about “organic women’s sandals.”

Your content will have fewer competitors on Google,

and has a better chance of being read by someone in

need of a product or service solution.

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Long tail keywords for SEO results make the most sense for

small businesses You need to deliver specific content on your

business blogs to achieve and maintain a high search engine

ranking, so choose long tail keywords for SEO results.

84% of Internet Users Don’t Click Ads

Keyword research is the way to go.10

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Real Tips: Getting Started With Business Blogging

1 Pick your Tool

One of the most effective tools for performing keyword research is the HubSpot module which provides up-to-date information on how many people are

searching for terms and how difficult it will be to achieve a high ranking for each term The iPhone app Keywords by Affportal can also let users search keywords and gain intelligence on difficulty and search volume

Real Tips: Getting Started with Keyword Research

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2 Don’t Google

Some people recommend using Google search suggestions as a tool for

keyword research, though we caution against this method because it offers

extremely limited intelligence

By typing a basic keyword such as “Portland Chocolate” into Google, the

suggestions box is populated with long tail keywords:

Real Tips: Getting Started With Business Blogging

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2 Don’t Google

The main problem with this method is that even though search suggestions

meet the definition of long tail phrases by containing at least three words, you

have no way of finding out whether they are popular among your consumers or

difficult to rank for

While the term “London Olympics 2012” is technically a long tail phrase, it

is exceedingly difficult for your average small or medium-sized business to rank in search over news giants like CNN or BBC who’ve spun thousands of words and hundreds of inbound links on the same phrase

Real Tips: Getting Started With Business Blogging

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The only smart use for Google search suggestions is to come up with ideas to

get started on keyword research Don’t set yourself up for failure by blogging

about topics that are either impossible to rank for or that no one is searching for

3 Make it Easy

Don’t shoot for difficult long tail keywords As a general rule, the lower the

difficulty and the higher the number of searches, the better your chances are

that people will find and read your content

Real Tips: Getting Started With Business Blogging

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Content Calendar

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Keyword research and topic development require time,

and developing a content calendar is your best insurance against having to come up with a topic at the last minute

A content calendar can ensure your business blog distributes a wide array of content

targeted towards each of your buyer segments. Simply sitting down at your computer

and writing blog content the day before publication will result in weaker articles and

monotonous topics

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1 Figure Out Your Format

Whether Google calendar or an Excel spreadsheet is your preferred format,

start lining up content with dates Include working titles, a long-tail keyword and the content category Categories can include Infographics and videos can add

variety to the categories of your content calendar

The Content Calendar example shown can be easily emulated

in Google documents or Microsoft Excel If you’re planning an

aggressive posting schedule, it can help you stay organized over

time to employ the sort function or dedicate different tabs to

each type of content.

Real Tips: Creating a Content Calendar

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2 Build Personas

Building your customer personas will allow you to target each segment of your

customer base and create compelling content for each persona

This is something that many beginners neglect to do on the front end, which

leads to non-targeted content being delivered that may not be relevant to their personas A small-town bakery won’t benefit from writing content about used

cars because the content won’t benefit any of their buyer personas

Real Tips: Creating a Content Calendar

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To start building your personas you will want to know the demographic of each persona

What is their buying cycle? What other brands or products do they associate

with or purchase? Where do they live? How much do they make? Why do they

need your product or service?

The more questions you can answer about each of your buyer personas, the

closer you can come to identifying the answers they want through your business blog Buyer personas are an important step towards developing a calendar full

of customer-centric content

Real Tips: Creating a Content Calendar

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3 Be Realistic

Search engine algorithms penalize poor quality content If you have no

experience with blogging, you may want to schedule posts approximately a

week in advance Giving yourself a realistic period of time will allow you to focus

on the quality of each piece of content Start slow and gradually work your way

up to a posting daily

4 Research

Research time for developing your content calendar is a part of business

blogging A well written blog takes time to generate a topic, completes keyword research for optimization, writes a draft, finds reputable link to supporting

articles, content or data and then hits publish

Real Tips: Creating a Content Calendar

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5 Set a Date

The content calendar format that works best for your small business might look very different than ours Every content calendar needs an associated date, and planning your work out at least a week to a month in advance is a recommended practice If you plan to distribute white papers or eBooks, give yourself even

more time for last-minute edits and graphic design

Real Tips: Creating a Content Calendar

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6 Meals and Snacks

Not every piece of blog article content needs to be as elaborately crafted as

thanksgiving dinner Supplement your content creation with smaller snacks

Avoid overextending yourself by alternating meals

and snacks on your business blog

A meal might mean a photo or screenshot-heavy tutorial around 1200 words

in length A snack might be a compilation post of some of the best news or

editorial articles you’ve recently found that are related to your industry

Not every piece of content needs to be a feast

Real Tips: Getting Started With Business Blogging

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4 Writing Keyword

Optimized Content

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Do you remember what trying to find information on

Google was like a few years ago? It was really hard to

find anything that actually mattered on Google

Article spinners, really excessive SEO techniques and

poor writing weren’t effectively penalized by major

search engine algorithms

It’s a fact that Google has gotten smarter through a series of improvements

which place a heavy emphasis on inbound links

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Search is less focused on keyword density and more focused on

identifying writers who work hard to deliver quality content

When it comes to the latest search engine algorithms, what is the optimal

keyword density for SEO and quality content?

Optimal keyword density can actually vary by industry and content When

optimizing really specific key phrases, less is definitely more When your content starts to sound choppy and repetitive, you’ve exceeded optimal keyword density for SEO and quality content

My recommendation is to have someone

else read it and sort of say ‘do you spot

anything that is artificial or stilted or that

doesn’t read quite right?’ - Matt Cutts

The optimal keyword density for SEO and quality content is always below the

point where your writing ceases to make sense

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• DON’T STOP AT JUST ONE!

One great way to maximize keyword density for SEO and quality

content is to always strive to identify at least 2 keywords to

optimize in each piece of blog content One of these keywords

should be always be a long tail phrase

Optimizing multiple long tail phrases can add variety and depth

to your copy in a way that writing around a single phrase can’t.

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The law essentially states that if you increase a single factor, while holding all

other factors constant, at some point your benefit will diminish

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1 Go Long tail

Many small business bloggers mistakenly think using long tail keywords for SEO results is tough Fitting longer phrases into sentences can be more difficult than writing around single words, but it isn’t impossible

Don’t let this fear prevent your company from adopting long

tail keywords for SEO results It may be easier to optimize

around important phrases than you think.

Real Tips: Writing Content Around Long Tail Phrases

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2 Do the Math

HubSpot recommends 600 words as a good target length for small business blog content

This length is long enough to establish expertise and explain a small topic in depth, without

being so long that it requires too much time to write

To achieve a reasonable keyword density of 2% that will be identified by search

engines without being too dense to read well, you only need to use the long tail

keyword for SEO results 12 times If your content is divided into 2 paragraphs, an

introduction and conclusion, that is only 3 times per paragraph

3 Don’t Just Use the Content Body

Sav v y bloggers understand how to use long tail keywords for SEO results

throughout the content Writing short segments can allow you to place

long tail keywords in subheaders Take full advantage of the page title and a

main header to further optimize the long tail keyword for SEO results

Real Tips: Writing Content Around Long Tail Phrases

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