2. What are we going to do? 1st session: What are blogs and Blogosphere Some does and donts SEO of blogs Blogging Styles 2nd session: Vidcast, vlogging Upload onto blog, write press release Syndicate
3. What are blogs? Name comes from ‘web log’ Technicalities: Software system Plugins and widgets RSS, XML, atom feed Wordpress, Blogger, Moveable Type Squidoo, Hubpages (self publishing) ‘Blogosphere’
4. Key Features About Blogs Turnkey publishing platform Text, video, photos, sound ‘Push’ concept: Content automatically is syndicated to readers and the web e.g. search engines Conversation and Participation: Comments and trackbacks (links to blog) SEO friendly: Keywords, regularly changing content, search engine spiders like them Metrics: Provide lots of interesting data
5. Do and Don’ts Of Blogging DO: Know your character Know your audience Engage with appropriate blogging style Post regularly and split posts up aka the “arabian night method” Use plugins .. Twitter feed, latest comments, bookmarking etc Use keywords and tags Have a RSS feed and optin box
6. Do and Donts Of Blogging DON’T: Leave spam or random negative posts online Break character or be anonymous stop
7. SEO of Blogs 2 considerations On page SEO Off page SEO Keywords – tags that are related to the post, can also be found using online tools Linking – backlinks to your blog post can increase search engine rankings
8. On Page SEO Headline with keyword Opening paragraph with keyword Tags Social button Links to other media
9. Off Page SEO Submit RSS feeds to aggregators www.feedagg.com www.feedage.com www.feedburner.com Use tags and keywords Social bookmark – diggetc Link back to blog from social media Monitor positioning in serps
10. Blogging Styles Different styles require different periods of update Styles will also influence comments and trackbacks Some styles are easy, others are quite hard 5 suggested styles ….
11. Expert Insights…. Topic … PR, cats, football, nightlife Writer shares insight, original ideas, commentary, trends Quite difficult Mashable Problogger Daily blog posts Generates good buzz
12. Breaking News … Announcement and news not found anywhere else Being first matters Frequent daily posting Generates lots of buzz Hard to maintain Engadget.com
13. Me Too Blogging … Select a topic that’s already being talked about News item that’s currently popular 2 or 3 days a week Regular readers may share comments Not too hard Mark Borkowski
14. Evangelist Blogging Passionate postings showing affinity, support for a cause, organization, product, individual etc Inspire and inform Daily Can create buzz, have viral power Medium difficulty
15. Top Ten Favourite Lists Blogging Popular and effective method Top ten things Best, favourite etcetc Good for bookmarking and readinglater Viral Need to be done daily Create good buzz Not too difficult
16. Video Blogging Create original video or embed from a popular sharing site Write a blog post to accompany the video Daily posts Can create good buzz if with original content Can be hard to find good source of original ideas regularly
