1. Visual Appeal

2. Well Written Content

3. Easy to Navigate

4. Give Perspective

1.) Don’t copy content from other sites or press releases.

2.) Use good quality photographs. If you don’t have an eye for it, buyquality stock images.

3.) Spell and grammar check.

4.) Proof-read.

5.) Don’t overbold

6.) Don’t repeat the post title as the first line of the blog post.

7.) If you like to write long posts, use the “more” tag to shorten the look of the post on the main page.

These points make a blog more pleasant to read. After all, there is so much quality content out there, who wants to spend time on the crappy content?

Fast forward a few years… Blogging was recognized as a great method for improving SEO; allowing the average online user to quickly add new content to their websites. I helped clients set up self-hosted blogs and gave them tutorials to get the blogging. We’d chat over coffee about different ideas that would help differentiate their companies from the competition, via content marketing.  Makes sense, right?

Fast forward again… Some of my clients have been blogging regularly for their businesses, others not so regularly (myself included how busy I am working on clients’ projects). After doing a few site reviews and analysis of the content, it became very clear to me that an editorial calendar truly is a blogger’s best friend.  Lesson Learned.  An editorial calendar allows site owners/editors to:

• Get a big picture view of the blog

• Allows for planning

• Avoid repetitive subject matter

• Improve content creation continuity

• Stay on track developing content

• Keep the content focused

• Give readers a reason to return to the site

• Open up advertising opportunities

This business serves a finite local community with their services. At the peak, the business was receiving approximately 450 visits per month with marketing. After cutting out marketing activites, the site only received 45 to 50 visits per month. Don’t let this happen to you.  Continue marketing your business.

Not enough time to get it all done?  Screen Caffeen offers reasonable rates for online marketing and personal branding.

Prior to creating your strategy you need to take time assessing:

• marketplace
• customer profile
• your unique value
• competitive landscape
• product pricing & positioning
• online tools available for promotion

From here you can build your strategy, so that the messaging on your site speaks to the intended audience.  From here there are many tools that you can use to promote your products and services, driving traffic to your site. Pick and choose which tools are most appropriate to your audience.  For example, if you are primarily offering B2B services, then LinkedIn is a good vehicle for reaching business professionals. If you have B2C customers Facebook or Google Plus might be more appropriate. Twitter can help you reach both types of customers effectively.

As you choose the promotional avenues, make sure that your messaging is consistent, clear, and on target.

Sometimes it can feel frustrating, but in the end if you manage them well, you will have a client that refers you to others and be a return customer. The TLC you provide in the end will reap rewards.

I signed in to G+  a little over one week ago. At first I wasn’t sure what to make of the interface.Within a short time, I was very comfortable with the interface.  Some of the features that I like include:

• Being able to segment my social media stream into “circles”
• Integration  with other Google tools
• Interaction with other social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter
• The interface has a faster feel to it than other social networks, allowing for capture, drag, and drop.