Why You No Longer Need a Blog
Posted on 26. Oct, 2011 by John Jantsch in Blog, blogworld expo, Duct Tape Marketing, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Social Media
Why You No Longer Need a Blog
This content from: Duct Tape Marketing
Despite the title of this post I happen to think that blogging as a business marketing tool is very much alive, but not in the same sense that kicked off what might be called the golden age of blogging. (Wonder if that period will make the history books?)
While great examples of well-read traditional blog publications will probably be with us for some time, the real growth in the future of blogging will come as content producers turn the content production and consumption behavior that blogs accelerated into the ultimate tool for sales conversion.
So, you no longer need to think in terms of a blog as some extension of your website, but more in terms of blogging behavior and technology as the fundamental component of your content strategy.
Websites owners are using blog software to turn their sites into highly engaging content management systems and that evolution will continue to pick up steam for every type of business in the near future.
Database driven sites
The next evolution of the small business website will include proven blog technology – database driven pages, RSS feeds, and auto created XML sitemaps. (While not perfect, my entire site, pages and all, has been WordPress driven for years.)
Permalink content structure
The traditional blog structure around dates and categories will go underground as content producers simply create keyword rich content that is evergreen and no longer consumed in chronological or journal fashion (Copyblogger has been doing this for some time.)
Jukebox delivery
One of the real innovations in the content management approach will come in the delivery of the content. As the site owners move to a content strategy they will ask designers and programmers to create new navigation, search and presentation formats that allow consumers to call up content very much like a jukebox and follow paths of content based on their interest rather than site structure.
Aducational writing
Now that the market has developed a mature taste for blog style content, marketers will begin to wrap more commerce in the content. Educational content will contain product and service offerings as a natural flow of the conversion process.
So, that’s my take on the future of blogging, but if you would like to get the thoughts of thousands of people highly immersed in the world of blogging, you should join me at this year’s BlogWorld Expo in Los Angeles – Nov 3-5.
This is an amazing event that will make your head explode in a good way and I have a few free tickets to give to my readers.
I have three freebies – 1 Full-Access Pass, 1 – 2-day Pass, and 1 Expo Pass.
If you would like a chance at one of these passes, just finish this statement in the comments – I think the future of blogging is . . .
I also have a 20% discount on BlogWorld tickets just by using the code – DTM20
Looking forward to your thoughts and hope to see you next week in LA.
Dominate Your Niche with Social SEO & Blogging – BlogWorld Expo New York
Posted on 23. May, 2011 by Lee Odden in Blog, Blog Marketing, Blog Optimization, blogworld expo, content marketing, Marketing PR Conferences, Other Events, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, social SEO
BlogWorld Expo is holding it’s first conference in New York this week and I’ll be presenting “Dominate Your Niche with Social SEO & Blogging” on Tuesday at 10:15am as part of the Social Business Track. This post is a light preview of that session and I hope to see you there.
Is blogging dead? A number of high profile bloggers and news media sites from Scoble to Wired to the New York Times have opined the demise of blogging as a consequence of growing social destinations like Twitter and Facebook.
The reality is that like many other forms of media, blogging is evolving and with the right strategy, highly effective. Short attention spans are served by short form content like Tweets and status updates. When it comes to influence on business, longer form content like that found on blogs serves an essential purpose. Rather than displace the most valuable attention spent on blogs, social sites like networks, microblogging, media sharing, news and bookmarks facilitate awareness and engagement with blog content.
Smart online marketers see this and are putting their budgets and priorities where it matters. According to eMarketer, 1 in 3 businesses publish blogs for marketing and HubSpot’s recent 2011 State of Inbound Marketing reports that more companies rated blogs as “critical or important” (62%) than any other social channel. These investments are paying off: AdWeek’s “Changing Scope of Advertising” infographic cites blogs as the leading source of customer acquisition over any other social channel.
Key Messages of Your Niche Provide Focus for Content Promoted from the Blog to Networks and Channels of Distribution.
Blogs are perfectly suited as social media information hubs for companies or individuals that want to dominate their niche online. Blogs can play an essential role in an integrated search, social media and content marketing strategy that directly influences consumer information discovery, consumption and sharing. But with literally millions of blogs published online and mainstream media getting involved, how does a blog stand out, let alone dominate their niche?
The first step is to understand what your niche is. Formalize your unique selling proposition (USP): How is your content unique and how does it serve the needs of the people you’re trying to reach better than any other blog? What does your blog stand for? What specific can you focus on that represents demand (search keywords) and topical discussion (social)?
The mechanics of a coordinated blogging effort that leverage search, social and content marketing involves:
- Goals & objectives
- Key message and differentiator – USP
- Persona development
- Search and social keyword research
- Editorial plan mapped to search and social content
- Optimization
- Link analysis
- Social channel development
- Intersection with online PR, media relations, advertising
- Content promotion
- Real-time, adaptive
- Monitoring, measurement & refinement
Whether you’re frustrated with the performance of current blogging efforts or you’re starting a new blog and want to maximize effectiveness, following a coordinated online marketing approach with a focus, can force multiply the effect of a company’s ability to “Be where customers are looking” (search), “Be where customers are talking” (social) “Be a source of influence, trust and engagement” (content). The result? You dominate your niche because all signals of credibility point to your social hub whether it’s via search, social, media – push or pull.
For the full presentation, you’ll have too attend BlogWorld New York this week. Hope to see you there.
Sometimes I like to open presentations common questions people have on the topic. What questions do you have about making more out of your business blogging effort? What challenges do you have in your efforts to dominate your niche?
Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the
TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.
© Online Marketing Blog, 2011. |
Dominate Your Niche with Social SEO & Blogging – BlogWorld Expo New York | http://www.toprankblog.com
Connect With Us Here:
