Blog best practices

Blogging, Search, and "All that Jazz"

Thursday, November 19, 2009 by Ali Sales Roach

Here at Compendium, we are huge advocates of blogging for search. Simply by having multiple blogs titled with the keyword phrases that your company wants to get found for (versus having a single corporate blog), you are dramatically increases your opportunity for sea ch engine optimization.

But the great thing is that this is not in place of all of the other reasons (all that jazz) why individuals and businesses typically start blogs - to identify with others on a human level, to share information and knowledge, to connect with others - those things stay intact, too.

Take our own blogs here at Compendium as a great example. We have tens of thousands of new people every month who are searching on phrases like "blogging best practices" and finding one of our blogs. When they arrive, they get to see real, happy people who are passionate about what they do sharing helpful information.

At the heart of blogging is still the idea of connecting with people on a personal level and giving them the information that they need and want. Compendium allows companies of all sizes and kinds (over 400 of them!) accomplish this while at the same making it easy for their prospects to find them online.

To see for yourself how Compendium makes this possible, just go here to schedule a quick online demo.

I'm a Blog Admin! Now What?!

Thursday, November 19, 2009 by Allison Bowen

As an employee for Compendium Blogware, my job every day is to help our clients with our blog software. This often means that I find myself updating calls-to-action, explaining how clients can add users and answering other various questions that our users and admins might have.

But recently, the tables have turned. I have now become a blog admin myself! Now what do I do?!

Both Amber Mohling and I are fellows with the Orr Fellowship program. The Orr Fellowship program provides a unique opportunity for undergraduate students searching for their first salaried, full-time position following graduation. It's been a great opportunity for both of us!

Well wouldn't you know it, we recently were able to set up an Orr Fellowship blog. And I'm the new blog admin! Check it out -- http://blog.orrfellowship.org. I now find myself actually performing some of the duties that we discuss with clients each day. So as a new blog admin, what have I done? Followed Compendium's blogging best practice tips, of course!

Updated our calls-to-action
Added ShareThis to our blog (visit here and send the code to help@compendium.com)
Encouraged my bloggers to blog frequently and consistently
Made sure each blogger has a sticky post set up
Monitored my Google Analytics statistics (admins should get them each Monday by e-mail)

It has definitely been an adventure, but I'm really enjoying being a blog admin. When I saw the number of click-throughs from our blog and our most recent search results, I was thrilled. Compendium really does provide the best blogging software!

Exciting new feature release this week!

Thursday, November 19, 2009 by Abby Brosmer

This week, Compendium was excited to announce a new feature release for all standard users. A keyword tab was added to the text editor screen you see upon login. This tab now allows users the ability to see a full listing of their companies keywords. It also allows for easy navigation and sorting of large and small keyword networks. Want to know more...Check out the solution in our knowledge base.

As a blog contributor, it is important to know what topics are important to focus on. And while the 20 suggested keywords are listed to the right, for general content ideas. Often in a blog post, a user can rearrange a word or two of natural writing to accomplish the addition of a keyword, helping the SEO of their corporate blog.

As far as blogging best practices, I am of the belief that it is import to write naturally and to write about what you know. My own practice is to write a post, keeping in mind a general topic about Compendium and corporate blogging as whole. I write everything and then, I go back and revise to add in some keywords. I never want my content to be stacked with keywords. Not only does it look spammy to the search engines, but it looks spammy to readers as well.

I would love to hear how what you think of the new keyword tool. Also, tell us about how you write...how do you add keywords to you posts, and what are some of your blogging tips?

Great Blog Template Re-Designs

Thursday, November 19, 2009 by Kaila Woodside

Over the past few weeks I have been working with a few clients to re-design their blog. The re-designs are happening for a few different reasons - but the #1 reason is always to increase conversions. A blog for business that brings in 1500 visits a day - but doesn't convert a single

on to a lead is problematic. Check out a few great new blog re-designs:

blog.widen.com
survey.cvent.com
blog.hhgregg.com

Blogging Best Practices push for a stand out Call to Action on your blog that will easily allow visitors to take the next step with your business. Take a look at the widen blog (pictured right) the nice eye-catching image with an easy to locate call to action to "TAKE THE TOUR" immediately grab the attention of the searchers.

These re-designs have been in place for only a short period of time and have already generated more leads and/or more qualified leads on average.

Know Your Audience - and the Difference Between an Oven and Range

Thursday, November 19, 2009 by Tyler Bender

This morning, while I was editing some blog content, I ran across something I had never seen before.

(preface: before you make any judgments on me or my lack of knowledge, please understand that I am a 26 year-old guy who isn't that far removed from dormlife in college and has never done the following:

bought a house
bought an oven
shopped for either a house or an oven
used an oven for anything more than a place to see what time it is in the kitchen.
been so intrigued by the names of various components on an oven that I felt the urge to ask the nearest person in my vicinity. )

This blog was about outfitting a new home with new appliances. Particularly a new oven. Only they didn't call it an oven anywhere in their text. Ever. They called it a "range." But I saw the picture in the post! It looks like an oven to me!

When I think "range," my mind immediately goes to golf or guns. Not ovens. Actually, there's only one oven-looking device on the first two google image search pages when you type in "range." So it's not at the top of other peoples' minds either.

I thought to myself, "ok maybe this writer isn't writing to me. Maybe they're writing to a different demographic. Maybe since I've never seen the backend of a kitchen, I should ask someone else if "range" was appropriate and common appliance-speak among regulars."

I asked the people around me (all female coworkers). They told me that "range" is part of an oven, and commonly referred to as "oven range," but most people probably don't exclusively call it a "range" without the "oven" preceeding it - and they certainly don't go tell a salesman "I'm in the market to buy a new range...show me what you got!"

(note: And after doing a little research, I learned that a range is the combination of an oven and a stove-top. Who knew?)

So if I'm not their target audience, and these women aren't their target audience, who IS their target audience? Are they even writing to their target audience at all? If I'm confused by the content in question, who else will be?

Point is - we need to know who our audience is when we're trying to blog for business. Sometimes when we're blogging we're so focused on hitting target keywords, learning blogging best practices, repeatedly having something to write about each day, it can be easy to lose what might be most important - the connection with our audience.

When you're blogging for search, put yourself in your audience's shoes. Use the most common language ("oven" or "oven range" - not "range") that anyone can understand. Don't expect people to know everything you know.

The great thing about blogs is that people can find you even when they don't exactly know what they're searching for. So don't lose them because your content is unclear and not directed toward an audience.

The upside of this morning: at least now I know what a range is. Just wish I didn't have to spend this long learning it.

Click here to learn more about Compendium Blogware and how blogging can help your business.

Get Out of the Way

Thursday, November 19, 2009 by Brian Graham

I was talking with a business owner on the phone yesterday and the conversation went south on both his account and mine. We were getting in our own way. He was not getting it and not listening to me and I was not getting it and not listening to him. Traditional marketing, "push marketing", is a lot like the described conversation. You are trying to push your product, service, or message until someone will get it instead of creating opportunities to listen and help.

Blogging best practices suggest telling stories of how you help people in your business. By creating an inbound marketing strategy through a blogging solution you are letting your potential customers and clients find you on their terms. You are getting out of your own way and letting the process happen. You are letting the relationship grow. This is the "social" aspect of blogging that lets your company be human.

Try listening and understanding and get out of your own way to let progress happen. Start a blog for business. It is a great place to begin.

Where's your call-to-action?

Wednesday, November 18, 2009 by Stephanie West

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photos-picture-frame-gold-path-included--image432413

Picture this: You have written a great blog post. It is well-written and full of substantial content. You may even have included relevant pictures in order to capture your reader's eye.

But here is where the problem is: After the reader/viewer reads your post, there is nothing left to do. Maybe they are really interested in what you had to say, but if you need to have something for them to click on to get more information. That's where call-to-actions (CTAs) come into play.

Having a link within your blog post allows the reader to seek further information if they are interested. Having CTAs embedded in your blog is also a great way for readers to learn about your product or service.

CTAs on the top and side bars of your blog that contain links to additional resources are very beneficial to the reader, as well as the marketer. Marketers are able to track the effectiveness of blogs by these CTAs and the leads that are generated.

When you blog for search engine optimization - great! But you need a way to convert those leads into prospects - which is where your CTAs come into play. Incorporating these CTAs as a part of your blogging best practices will make your blog a better SEO tool. Compendium provides a great blogging platform, and the Client Success team at Compendium will help incorporate your CTAs so that they provide the most benefit.

Calls to action drive the success of AirFlow's blog

Thursday, November 12, 2009 by Compendium Client Reviews

AirFlow's blogging success driven by its calls to action - which are great ways to drive traffic. Last month the company strove to develop stronger calls to action. By replacing their two original calls to action with three new specific calls to action, they saw a 987.5% increase in conversions by following Compendium's CTA best practices. Compendium is constantly providing feedback and insight on how to make your blog as successful as possible.

Name: Stephanie West
Company: Compendium Blogware
BlogURL:

Whose success are you measuring?

Thursday, November 12, 2009 by Stephanie West

When it comes to stories of success, Compendium wants to make sure you know how its corporate blog software will fit into your daily routine.

There are numerous case studies available from various companies' success stories. They are all real stories from real companies that have seen success from Compendium's corporate blogging software.

For more of these success stories and more information on them, sign up for Compendium's free Webinar: Finding Business Blogging Success: Real-Life Stories. The Webinar will be hosted by marketer Chris Baggott, CEO and CoFounder of Compendium Blogware.

The Webinar will take place on November 18th, from 2-3pm EST and it will share the successes of several companies, including an eCommerce Gymnastics Apparel Company, SaaS Event Management and Web Survey Company, and Concrete and Services Company in Minneapolis.

In addition, the Webinar will cover:

Best Practices for ROI driven business blogging.
Real-life examples of successful blogging strategies.
How to set up a blogging strategy built for success.

Don't hesitate, sign up today!

Beyond the "One Blog" Strategy

Thursday, November 12, 2009 by Chris Baggott

Think about moving beyond the concept of "A" blog. At it's most simplistic, a search engine is looking for a page that is focused on one thing....the one that relates most to the keyword or specific topic. I love this statement by Vanessa Fox:

"Relevance means keeping to a topic, helping the search engine understand what your site is about and, ideally, about one thing in particular."

Often, a blog can be confusing to search engines because they can cover so many different aspects of a topic.

For example, I had a blog in my email marketing days called "Email Marketing Best Practices" and I think I still win that search most of the time today.

Now in that blog I talk about "list building" almost 200 times.   List building was an important keyword for our business...along with about 5000 others.

You will never find this blog on a search for "list building" or any of the other terms we were targeting.   That's when it hit me.

My content wasn't organized properly.

If I had a blog titled List Building and put all my List Building content on that blog, I would have a significantly better chance of ranking on that term. Because I talked about all aspects of email marketing, the search engine is naturally going to look for an easier page targeting the right keyword and offering more perceived relevance.

Powerful blogging software can solve this problem for you. Think of blogging software that empowers lots of content creation, and organizes that content around the topics....Think of blogging as a target marketing strategy.

Improving a Call to Action

Tuesday, November 10, 2009 by Sarah Sedberry

One of the most important pieces of information to have when measuring the success of any marketing or SEO tools is the number of conversions, leads generated, or data captured to put into nurturing campaigns. All of this data will eventually lead to a larger pipeline and more sales!

A corporate blogging software, such as Compendium Blogware, allows a company to increase their online marketing efforts, as it is a platform built for search engine optimization. Our powerful blogging software takes on all of the heavy lifting and allows the user to focus solely on creating content.

Another piece that makes our our blogging solution so easy is that we incorporate CTA's (Calls To Action) on every blog network with us, to help track visitors that come to the blog then click through to the company wanting more information or to take that next step towards conversion.

Recently Compendium held a Client Only webinar focused on understanding and improving the calls to action (CTA's) on your corporate blogging network. This webinar allows you to get a better understanding of what makes a great CTA, and how to incorporate best practices to draw more leads into your sales pipeline.

For a replay of this webinar, contact your dedicated Client Success Manager or our Product Support Team at help@compendium.com.

Common Mistakes in Blogging (#5)

Monday, November 9, 2009 by Sarah Sedberry

(5th in a series of 5)

Common Mistake #5:

Expectations. The majority of marketers are used to immediate reactions to their efforts, where winning organic search takes time. Therefore it is typically a resetting of expectations when it comes to a blog program or search marketing effort.

Blogs are not overnight successes and will some times take a few months before really gaining traction. It takes time for the search engines to find your network and deem it an authoritative resource for their search queries.

Answer:

Understanding that a blogging strategy is a marathon, not a sprint. Set attainable goals for your program and realize that its for the long haul. Canceling blogging efforts after 3 months is the worst thing - as that's about the time frame when you will start to see traction (obviously depending on the amount of effort that's been put in). A rule of thumb for content generation in order to see results, according to Ian Lurie, is as follows:

When looking at the competitiveness of the term, use this scale for how much content you should be producing based on the number of competing pages showing up when you search for that term in Google:

    * <10,000 competing pages: Write once a week.
    * 10,001-100,000 competing pages: Write twice a week.
    * 100,001-200,000 competing pages: Write three times a week.
    * 200,001-2,000,000 competing pages: Write every day.

Keep in mind, these theory applies to each keyword - so if you are targeting 100 keywords, you need to write a lot of content! (You can see why we just tell people to write as much as possible).

Setting expectations appropriately with your blog strategy will both set it and your team up for success. For more best practices or if you have further questions, contact us today at help@compendiumblogware.com

Common Mistake #1
Common Mistake #2
Common Mistake #3
Common Mistake #4

Keyword Strength Meter: What it Does and What it Does not Do

Monday, November 9, 2009 by P.J. Hinton

Compendium Blogware's post editor features a small widget known as the Keyword Strength Meter (referred to by the development team simply as the "KSM"). It's a display that gives the author a quick indication of the current keyword usage in your post. Starting at a bright red, the appearance will transition to green as keyword phrases are added to the post.

I wrote an introductory post about the KSM soon after it went live in the summer of 2008, and since then it has gone through many changes.

There were revisions to make sure that it was able to compute the score on the fly without imposing too much overhead the host browser.
When we switched editor technologies at the beginning of 2009, we made the code more modular so that it wouldn't be as tightly coupled to the editor that it was monitoring.
Also during the editor revamp, we changed the display to emphasize that the meter is a qualitative measure.
This past summer, after introducing a new moderation dashboard for network administrators, we added a keyword strength meter to the post preview so that network administrators could view the value.

One thing that hasn't changed as our user base has grown is the intense affinity that users have had for the widget. From Sales and Client Success, I have heard stories of users who endured great frustration because they couldn't make their posts turn the right shade of green. I've also heard of network administrators who have rejected posts because they weren't green enough.

As the developer of the original implementation of the KSM and the designer of its scoring algorithm, I think it's important for content authors and network administrators to have an awareness of what the meter measures so that it can be used effectively. I'll also talk about what it can't do for you.

The meter looks at three things in determining its score:

Does the post contain any keyword phrases?
Are the same phrases being used over and over, or is there a variety of keywords being chosen?
Are too many keywords being used relative to the length of the post?

These measures are combined in a way that simultaneously rewards keyword usage and penalizes keyword stuffing, a practice that Compendium discourages because it runs counter to what we are trying to help our clients achieve.

Keyword usage is but one piece of a successful corporate blogging program. Other significant factors include:

Creating Content Steadily -- The primary axis of content organization within a single blog is time. Newer content appears on the lead pages. Older content takes more mouse clicks to reach via pagination. Assuming that search ranking algorithms place greater emphasis pages closer to the root of a URL hierarchy, the new content is what gets the greatest weight. A steady stream of new content ensures that indexers know you're alive and relevant.
Choosing Topics Relevant to the Customer -- If sales of your products fluctuate over time and change of season, you'll probably want to adjust the emphasis of your posts accordingly. Sometimes the keywords you chose initially for your blogging program don't take these topics into account. If you focus too narrowly on the original keywords, you'll wind up creating posts that miss opportunities to convert.
Being Real by Letting the Rank and File be Themselves -- Our application makes it easy for organizations to add new user accounts for blogging. We do this to encourage our clients to a wide variety of employees blogging. Packing the blogging team with people exclusively from the Public Relations team runs the risk of making blog content read like those newsletter inserts that come with utility bills. Do you read those things? I didn't think so. Overemphasis on using exact keyword phrases in every post also runs the danger of making their usage look forced, which can be spammy looking.

What's common to all of these points? They cannot be measured by the KSM.

The content creation time line graphs on the network administrator's dashboard can help keep an eye on frequency. The content ideas panel on the user dashboard can provide timely reading for new ideas. Producing real content requires human beings with inspiration and knowledge of the customer's needs. No computer can replace that.

The bottom line? Use the KSM as part of a comprehensive strategy to make sure that keywords are being used in reasonable measure. Treat it as a rough guide, not an all-knowing oracle.

More marketers are practicing organic search optimization

Friday, November 6, 2009 by Stephanie West

A recent article by Advertising Age titled, Digital Marketing: The State of Search Marketing: 2009, has reported that search marketing is continuing to grow. In addition, about 9 out of 10 marketers are practicing organic search optimization. That's a large percentage of marketers that are going organic to get found in search!

http://2medschool.blogspot.com/2007/10/organic-chemistry-alkyl-halides-part-ii.html

The benefits of leveraging your online marketing strategy by organic search are limitless. Since many people are clicking on organic search results, they are attracting viewers to their blog, which can, in turn, draw potential customers into their website.

If you want to acquire new customers and then convert those customers - corporate blogging might be your answer because blogging humanizes your marketing strategy.

Compendium's corporate blogging software is designed to help leverage your blog in organic search - with a humanized approach. Nine out of 10 marketers are trying to position themselves in organic search - which mean YOU (as the customer) are likely to come into contact with one of these marketer's organic search strategies.

For more information on blogging for organic search and how it pertains to you - click here to speak with a blogging expert. They will explain the benefits of using Compendium's blog software to you!

Finding Business Blogging Success

Wednesday, November 4, 2009 by Amber Mohling

Are you considering starting a blog program at your company?
Or are you looking for ways to improve your current blog's ROI?

If you answered Yes to either of these questions then you'll want to tune into Compendium's upcoming free webinar:

Finding Business Blogging Success: Real-Life Stories
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 from 2-3pm EST
Hosted by award winning marketer, Chris Baggott

During the webinar, Chris will discuss the best practices for ROI driven business blogging, real-life examples of successful blogging strategies, and how to set up a blogging strategy built for success.

November Webinar: Finding Business Blogging Success, Real-Life Stories

Wednesday, November 4, 2009 by Jess Wehner

We have a webinar coming up this month that is sure to be interesting for clients and prospective clients alike.

If you are a current client, this will be a great time to learn about what some of Compendium's most successful customers are doing on their business blog, how they incorporate blogging best practices, and what success really means to them. Come see how you can make improvements to your current blog program.

If you are new to Compendium, come learn about how blogging for search can lead to an increase in traffic to your site, generate leads, and increase sales from people that have actually experienced these results.

As a snapshot, you'll hear from the following types of companies who blog for business:

eCommerce Gymnastics Apparel Company:

Over $100,000 closed business within a year, directly from blog traffic.
$10,000 in sales within the first two months of blogging with cheer uniform network.

SaaS Event Management and Web Survey Company:

500% increase in keyword reach, compared to the number of paid keywords targeted.
Receive over 50,000 keyword referrals each month.

Concrete and Services Company in Minneapolis:

Customer was searching for “spancrete”.
Found the company’s blog and called.
$3000 job complete within 48 hours of search.

Success Stories are the Best Stories

Wednesday, November 4, 2009 by Meghan Manning

No matter what stage you're at with researching Compendium and deciding if we're the best solution for your search marketing strategy - client success stories are always a great way to get the inside story on a company! That's why our November Webinar is focused on just that...

We want you to hear about our clients and learn how Compendium has helped them to successfully achieve their blogging goals. During this informative Webinar, you'll learn:

Best Practices for ROI driven business blogging.
Real-life examples of successful blogging strategies.
How to set up a blogging strategy built for success.

Don't hesitate to register for this Webinar - there are only 250 spots available and they are filling up very quickly! Also, after you register, email Chris Baggott at chrisb@compendium.com to send him your questions for the Webinar.

We'll see you there!

Common Mistakes in Blogging #3

Wednesday, November 4, 2009 by Sarah Sedberry

(3rd in a series of 5)

Common Mistake #3:

Not allowing or enabling conversation. A blog is a great way to allow potential customers to see the human side of the company. Don't let the blog just become another masterfully skilled piece of marketing that has to go through 8 layers of approval before going live to the web. Readers expect to see a human element when they land on a blog, so make sure they receive that.

Statistics show that the majority of visitors that read a blog, are new visitors. So how would you approach a new potential customer in person? You would engage with them and earn their trust before trying to sell them a product.

Same concept with a business blog - this is the first time they have seen your company, so if all they read are marketing and PR posts, that are super "sales"y - you're going to scare them away instead of engaging them.

Answer:

Allow visitors and readers the ability to interact with your writers. Let comments show on the blog - both the good and the bad - it allows you as the company to respond and show that you are willing to be transparent with your customers.

It is also good practice to engage with other bloggers in your industry. Comment on their blog posts, highlight an article in the industry and what your opinion is on it.

Let personality show, engage and encourage conversation with others out there.

Common Mistake #1
Common Mistake #2

Happy Halloween from Compendium!

Sunday, November 1, 2009 by Kaila Woodside

Happy Halloween from Compendium! That cutie over there is my sweet little cousin Carter dressed up in his astronaut costume. He is my motivation for my Halloween post of the day. 5 spooky ideas for your next 5 blog posts that follow blogging best practices:

1. Tell a spooky story. Testimonials are a great way to allow your prospects to hear from your current clients.

2. Creepy Statistics - Your prospects want numbers. Numbers showing clear ROI from your product are great ideas for blog posts.

3. Show a Scary Video! Videos embedded right into your blog post will give your readers a different way to connect with your product.

4. Report on an evil story. Sharing a story where your company is highlighted is a great way to talk about your company's success from another angle.

5. Happy Halloween - blogging about timely holidays and events are great for search. Show your personal side and share how your company celebrates holidays and events.

Great Blogging Templates

Sunday, November 1, 2009 by Kaila Woodside

New clients coming on board with Compendium are always wondering if they can see some of our best-looking templates . Obviously, "best" is a relative term - and when I say best I mean a template that has great calls-to-action, high conversion rates and high read times. Here are some of the templates that I send new clients to:

CVENT Web Survey Software
CVENT Event Management
Lydia's Uniforms
Roto Rooter
ExactTarget
Widen

Each of these blogs has a great design that follows blogging best practice and makes it easy for the searcher to take the next step with the company. A blog for business should highlight the company's' brand and give the searcher in each stage of the buying process a possible next step. If you'd like to learn more about how to update your blog software template, email us at help@compendium.com!