This presentation was given by Erika Taylor Montgomery, CEO of Three Girls Media & Marketing Inc (www.ThreeGirslMedia) at "Market Yourself Online - A Web Strategy Camp," on June 6th, 2012. It covers Blogging Best Practices for Business with a heavy emphasis on how to write posts with search engine optimization in mind. It also provides some tips on how to keep blog content fresh.

1. Blogging Best Practices
for Business
Market Yourself Online – A Web
Strategy Camp
June 6th, 2012

2. Blogging Best Practices
Why Blog?
Two primary reasons:
4. It’s great for Search Engine Optimization
(SEO).
5. It establishes you as an expert in your
industry, driving credibility.

3. Blogging Best Practices
• Post as frequently as possible – at least
once a week, as much as once per day.
• Each post should be between 300-600
words. If you have a post that would
naturally be longer than this, break it up
into a Part 1 and Part 2.
• Use proper grammar, sentence structure
and punctuation.

4. Blogging Best Practices
• Each post should have at least 1 keyword, and no
more than 2 keywords.
• The best way to create relevancy is to find out what
your customers are searching for. An easy way to do
this is to research the keywords they type into the
search box. Google Adwords provides a free, easy to
use tool for doing keyword research.
• The primary keyword should appear in the title, ideally
towards the beginning.
• The primary keyword must appear in the body of the
post at least 3 times, including once in the first
paragraph, ideally towards the beginning.

5. Blogging Best Practices
• Each post should include an image, along with
a photo credit for the source of the image.
• Find images on
http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/by-2.0/
• If possible, add a caption to the image. This is
not possible on all blog platforms, but on the
ones that do allow it, you should include one.

6. Blogging Best Practices
• Each post should have at least 2-3 links
in it, including one in the first paragraph.
• Each post should have a strong call to
action at the end. This can be identical in
every post. Include contact info.
• Proof read, proof read, proof read!

7. “Grading” Your Blog
• Integrate ScribeSEO.com on your website.
• A social media grading tool that tells you
how your web or blog content is doing with
SEO.
• Subscribe to their least expensive version
- $17 a month.

8. Blogging Best Practices
Keeping Blog Content Fresh
• Create an editorial calendar. Plan three, six, nine months or even
a year at a time. Start by filling in any upcoming events that are
important to your business, then your industry, then your
community. New location opening in 2 months? Tease the opening
now, and devote a full blog post to the new location as you get
closer to the big day.
• Be the reader. Think about your target audience and what they are
interested in – your content doesn’t have to be all about you. If your
business is outdoor gear, write about an upcoming fitness day at a
local park. If you sell pet food, highlight the work of a local humane
shelter.
• Get visual. People respond to photos and videos, so use them
where appropriate. A “behind the scenes” look at your workplace
might be fun, or give a sneak peak of a new product.

9. Blogging Best Practices
Keeping Blog Content Fresh Continued…
• Invite a friend. There’s no shame in inviting a guest
blogger to post once in awhile. Your audience might
appreciate hearing another voice. Consider an expert in
your field, a co-worker from a different department or
even a longtime customer.
• Be a resource. Collect information that might be useful
to your audience. Try a top ten list or a collection of links.
For example, if you are a CPA you could link to
appropriate local, state and federal tax agencies.

10. Erika Taylor Montgomery
Three Girls Media & Marketing Inc.
Call or Email for Your Complimentary
30 Minute Consultation!
Info@ThreeGirlsMedia.com / 408-871-0377
www.ThreeGirlsMedia.com
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LinkedIn: Erika Taylor Montgomery (Personal page)
Three Girls Media & Marketing Inc. (Business page)
YouTube: Three Girls Media & Marketing Inc.
Blog: www.ThreeGirlsMedia.com/blog