What Makes a Great Business Blogpost ?

In this week’s episode of Online Marketing & Communications I look at some of the key strategies we can employ to increase the way we connect with visitors to our sites with effective blog posts.

Those of us that invest in blogging as part of our online marketing strategy really need to be getting the results we deserve for our efforts; however, often publishing without a clear strategy can result in traffic but little or no conversion.

As far as I’m concerned it all comes down to creating content that really answers the problems and issues that people go online to solve. It’s common behaviour to ask Google for recommendations and advice. These are the kind of subjects you need to address as they will: [Read more...]

Should You Link to a Competitor’s Site ?

no-dead-linksI was asked to remove a link on a client’s blog this week. I’d written a news item merely announcing that a senior member of staff was moving onto another job after eight successful years at the organization. The company the member of staff was going to had also posted an interview with her about her new position and I’d linked the two articles together so anyone interested in the community could get a more nuanced picture of events. After all, this was pretty big news for both communities.

Neither the client article or linked article was critical; in fact, both were very positive and looked to the future development of each organization.

Still, I was told to “delete the link” by the powers that be because they felt it was tantamount to an “advert”, I was told, for the other organziation.
[Read more...]

Why Outsource Your Company Website

How to outsourceLet’s face it. It’s only geeks like us who enjoy digging around a content management system like WordPress, adding links, optimizing a page for search engines and creating custom widgets.

We don’t mind updating plugins or tweaking a bit of custom code to add drop capitals to blog posts and help increase the readibility of your site.

Chances are that you loathe or fear fidding with your WordPress if you run a bricks and mortar business, a consulting business or just about any other kind of business that doesn’t involve the web.

So here’s what you should do.
[Read more...]

How to Make Your Blog Stand Out?

If you’ve drunk the online marketing kool-aid and started a blog to build your online presence for your business but not got the results you’ve been expecting, it might be time to really think about how you can really make your blog stand out.

I’m not talking about some wacky blog design or garish use of colors; I’m talking about outstanding content that’s tailored to your particular target audience.

Escape the Dross

Our lives are busy and when we go online to find a solution to an issue that’s bugging us, a service we need or advice, we don’t want to wade through dross. We want a quality answer, advice or help. There’s so much information out there it’s almost impossible to filter everything out.

Think of your blog as a filter; a filter that gives your target audience exactly what they’re looking for.
[Read more...]

Will Inbound Marketing Save You Money?

If you aren’t sure about the value of online marketing (sometimes referred to as inbound marketing) you definitely need to check out the latest HubSpot study: The State of Inbound Marketing 2012.

It’s definitely worth reading even if you’re unsure about the value of online marketing to a small business like yours.

The report is based on a survey conducted in January 2012 of 972 marketing professionals. The study includes data and insights about marketers’ costs, budgets, lead quality, and priorities.

[Read more...]

The One Thing Swedes Can Teach Your Business About Social Media

social media sweden

The results of a study here in Sweden by Viasat and SIFO reveal that every other Swede who uses social media like Twitter, Google+ and Facebook follows a business. The figure is even higher for Swedes who follow a business on Facebook with them on average liking four companies.

Despite these striking figures, less than half of the Swedes surveyed know that you can get customer service through social media, and instead see a company website as the main channel for getting customer support.

This still reveals though that 50 percent DO know that social media is a route to content businesses for customer service. [Read more...]