The Evolving Internet Marketer

Build Traffic to Your Blog with Blog Directory Submissions

Building relevant traffic for our blog is often the biggest challenge we face. One great way to generate links and traffic is to register your blog with popular blog directories.

WebsiteMagazine.com recently published a list of 30 popular blog directories. I’ve taken this list and turned it into a blog submission tracking spreadsheet that you can download and use to track your efforts in submitting your blog to the relevant blog directories on the list.

30 Popular Blog Directories

Use this list to generate additional traffic for your blog by

• Visiting each of these directories and
• Registering and claiming your blog.

Then use this document to track your efforts and any login information and other notes related to your submission. Keep in mind that not all directories are appropriate for all blogs. Some serve special niches which may not be appropriate for the focus of your blog. Also, check within your own industry to see if there are industry specific directories where you’ll want to pursue a listing for your blog.  

Many blog platforms provide the capability to “ping” or notify popular blog catalogues when you create new posts but a more hands-on effort on your part will ensure that you create a more targeted, focused listing that will pay off in more targeted, focused traffic to your blog.

Social Media Essentials for Business – You’re Invited

You’re invited to attend Social Media Essentials for Business - a free teleseminar on Wednesday, May 20, 2009. 

Executive Coach and best selling author, Marsha Egan, will interview me on why, as a business owner or manager, it’s essential that you add social media to your marketing mix. We’ll discuss the major social media platforms and give examples of how you can use these to build your brand, establish your authority, create relationships and turn those relationships into partnerships, prospects, customers and profits.

View the following video for a message from me as to what you’ll learn when you tune in on May 20th! (By the way, even if you can’t attend, go ahead and register for Social Media Essentials for Business and you’ll receive the free MP3 recording of the session to listen to at your convenience…

SEO is NOT Dead

Micah, who I had the pleasure to meet at Wordcamp Denver recently tweeted, “If you do SEO for a living, you will be out of business or irrelevant in 3 years.”

Naturally this got a lot of response.

To clarify and expand on his tweet he posted an article titled, “SEO is Dead” on his Learn to Duck blog where he contends that not only is SEO dead but that all of the SEO’ers have reinvented themselves as social media marketers and are now ruining social media. Micah, as you can tell, doesn’t have a problem being a lightening rod.

What he contends is that all we need is killer content and a Wordpress blog. 

And, you know what, in general I agree. But why then, you ask, do you title your post, “SEO is NOT Dead” instead of, “I agree with Micah, SEO is Dead and I, for one am Happy!”

Because I also disagree with Micah. The point is that SEO, done correctly, will continue to be relevant for a long time because, to expand on his premise…

The need for killer content is a given but there’s an art to writing content that tells it’s story using the phrases and terms that resonate with your customers. Micah referenced writing for search engines when what good SEO is really all about is discovering the language of your audience and using their language, not yours, to convey your message.

Wordpress as your site’s platform makes sense too, but why? Because Wordpress has been developed to stay out of the way of your content. In other words it doesn’t obscure your content from the spidering eyes of search engines but reveals and spotlights instead, particularly with the assistance of plug-ins like the All in One SEO Pack.

But what if your site doesn’t easily lend itself to a Wordpress overhaul. What if you don’t know the right way to populate the description fields of All In One SEO or how to select the right keywords or know how to emphasize them in your content. 

Micah’s a very smart guy and knows this stuff cold but what about the guy who knows how to make a great cup of coffee, customize a motorcycle, prepare taxes like nobody’s business? They do those things really well, why do they need to be SEO experts? Just because TurboTax is available should I abandon my CPA or H&R Block and spend the next 6 weeks digging through boxes of receipts?

I agree, SEO has been presented as some sort of magical, mystical dragon that can only be slain by SEO Knights, LLC. And, I’ve been one of those who’ve been abused by overcharging, underperforming BigSEO Incorporated. So yeah, I’m going to agree that a lot of SEO experts deserve all the anger they seem to be garnering these days but, in my view, the solution to SEO abuse is not to kill the industry but educate the consumer as to what good search engine optimization is really all about so they can make informed, intelligent decisions when selecting a specialist to assist them in gaining visibility and rankings in the major search engines.

Twitter Quick Tip – Tracking Retweets

I confess, when I see someone’s tweet (twitter post) and I believe it’s worth Retweeting (passing it on to my network of Twitter followers by adding a RT or Retweet to the beginning of the message) I’ll often swap out any short url links they’ve embedded in their tweet for one of my own?

Why this potentially nefarious breach of Twitter protocol (by the way, I don’t know if this is or not so chime in with your comment if you have an opinion)?

Simple. I want to know if what I’m tweeting is of value to those who follow me and by using a short URL with analytics service like http://cli.gs I can do this.

The following illustrate my point:

1.) The original tweet…

This post interested me because I was considering using the Auto DM feature of SocialToo myself.

2.) My Retweet

Using cut and paste - or Twitter platforms like TweetDeck to this automatically - I created a Retweet of the @SocialToo post but with my own short URL created via http://cli.gs

3.) Are my Twitter followers interested?

A short URL service like Cli.gs allows me to easily track what interests my followers the most. This feedback allows me to focus on adding more value by knowing what resonates.

What do You Recommend?

If you have your own Twitter analytics tools or comments of any sort related to this post, please let me know. Oh, and be sure and follow me on Twitter.

The Death Knell for Blogging?

They sucked me right in on this one, didn’t they?

Google Likes Blogs; Why You Should Too!

Do you still wonder why (or if) you should be blogging? I’m going to give you 3 hardly comprehensive reasons…

1. Customers & Prospects like blogs with good, relevant content that addresses their interests, opportunities or needs.
2. You can engage those customers and prospects at a deeper level than through traditional marketing media. More importantly, you can engage them with value that often creates obligation.The value leading to obligation conversation may well look like this: “They’re the guys who told me about this … It’s obvious they know something about this … I have a need for this … I should add them to my list of prospective resources for this…”
3. You should have your customers (although they’re seldom aware of all you can do for them). Prospects are a different story. If they don’t know you from Adam where do they find you? Well, if they’re online, chances are they’ll find you through Google, Yahoo, MSN or another search engine. Which brings me to the point of this post. 

The more frequently you blog and the more relevant your blog post are to your expertise the more often Google (and other search engines) will visit and the quicker your content will be indexed, ranked and listed online where it can be found by those prospects (and customers) I mention above (and that we all so dearly covet!).

Yesterday (2/3/09) I wrote this post (1) talking about the growth in adult adaptation of social media networks and equating this to the new gold rush for acquiring customers. An hour later (2) Google had the post indexed and ranked for the keywords I’d used. While it’s a bit long-tailish, you can see that an hour after posting my article ranked #1 for (3) “social networks gold rush“. 

So here’s a question for you, have you ever talked to a search engine optimization company and they told you that the work they do today won’t bear fruit for 2-3 months depending on several factors? Yup, that’s what they’ve told me too. And they’re correct.

So why blog?

Because search engines equate blogs (and other forms of social media) with currency and relevancy. They also recognize that blogs tend to be less ‘commercial’ and more value driven from a content perspective. And, if you blog with any sort of consistency, focus and frequency, you train the search engines to check-in with you more often. A site like CNN.com gets spidered (a search engine term meaning checked out for fresh content) several thousand times a day. With frequent posting your site will get spidered on a much more frequent schedule as well.

And, obviously, the more frequently Google and other search engines visit, the quicker your content will be available for your next prospect to find you!

So don’t delay, start blogging today!

And, if you need some help you can always contact me (303) 882-8252. Afterall, you found out how effective blogging can be here!

Social Media Networks: Still Think They’re a Fad?

The Pew Internet & American Life Project reports that use of social networking sites by adults has quadrupled from 2005 to December 2008. In 2005 only 8% of adults reported having a profile on the social network sites while today that number exceeds 35%. Percentage wise adults still trail the 65% of teenagers with profiles but since the adult population is so much larger the reality is that about 4 times as many adults as teens have a social network profile in place.

Overall, around 100 million Americans of every age have profiles. That’s around a third of the total population with a social network profile. And, considering that the top 10 social media sites as reported by Nielson Online (source: http://mashable.com/2009/01/23/most-popular-social-networks-2008/) draw over 180 million visits a day, I’d say there’s little wonder that Twitter’s been valued at $250 million (growth in 2008; 664%) and apparently offered $500 million (owner’s reportedly politely declined, obviously believe can get more). 

By the Social Network Numbers

Pew reports the following age groups having profiles on social network sites (the question asked is mine):

• 75% of online adults 18-24 <– Are they your audience?
• 57% of online adults 25-34 <– Are they your audience?
• 30% of online adults 35-44 <– Are they your audience?
• 19% of online 45 to 54 <– Are they your audience?
• 10% of online 55 to 64 <– Are they your audience?
• 7% of online adults 65 <– Are they your audience?

The Social Media Gold Rush

Still think that you don’t need to a.) stake your claim on twitter, linkedin, facebook, et al, and b.) shouldn’t be consumed with understanding how to mine social media for connections, opportunities and revenue discovered in the gold filled streams of social media? You will.

Getting Started with Social Media

I ascribe to the Nike Methodology, Just Do It! Go to Facebook and setup a profile. Same with LinkedIn. Same with Twitter. Same with YouTube … and any other social media platform that tickles your fancy or that you’ve heard that your peers, colleagues or customers frequent. Sign up. Follow. Connect. Capitalize. (Social Network Tip: the best way to capitalize is to add value for others already there. Believe me, you’ll get plenty of value back!)

It’s as simple, to get started, as that.

—

By the way, if you’re interested in a 3rd party perspective or assistance, give me a call (303.882.8252). I’d love to discuss social media networking and marketing opportunities for you and your business.

The Power of the Tweet: Using Twitter to Powerfully Promote Yourself…

Social Media Maven, Dr. Sally Witt, gave me keys to her blog and let me have a go at guest blogging. Since she’s going to be interviewing me (on using social media) later today (January 30, 2008) on BlogTalkRadio, I thought it would be a good opportunity to fire off a post to get the ball rolling.

I actually think it’s one of my better efforts and, for now, I invite you to read The Power of The Tweet; Using Twitter to Powerfully Promote Yourself and Others at DrSallyWitt.com.

4 Simple Rules for Creating Effective Twitter Posts

Twitter is, in essence, a headline service and, like every other form of digital communication, it’s all about the power of that headline or subject line to compel you to take action. If it doesn’t compel it won’t get acted upon.

In reality Twitter is a continuous news feed where the new’s items are whatever the twitter poster thinks is valuable enough to throw on the feed. If you want to catch your follower’s attention and, in particular, if you want them to click through to something else (or @ or RT) then you need to consider if your post (a.k.a. the headline) provides a compelling enough call to action.

Here’s an example:

The first image is a Twitter post from a friend of mine and someone I follow. He recently left a tweet promoting his latest email newsletter (ezine).

He doesn’t say what his ezine is about and, unless I know him and even if I do, he probably hasn’t provided me enough information to compel me to click through to the link he’s provided.

The next image is how I changed his message when I retweeted (RT) it; in order to give it exposure to my network.

I’m not going to say that this is a brilliant Tweet but I looked at his email newsletter, captured the gist of his message and gave a reason for people who employ young workers to click through. As my friend speaks to companies that employ lots of young workers, that’s the audience he wants to reach.

Creating Effective Twitter Posts

Here are 4 simple rules for creating compelling Twitter posts:

1. Make your tweets compelling if you want to inspire action. Think of the tweets you reply to (@) or retweet (RT). They inspired you in some way to invest the time in reading and responding. You can use a tool like Twitter Grader to find out who the Twitter elite are in your area, or across the board, for inspiration by example. Apply that call-to-action mentality to constructing your twitter posts.
2. Offer more value than you receive. Sure, it’s perfectly fine to post, “Just had a great cup of coffee.” but it’s better to post, “Just had a great cup of joe at Joe’s Cafe in Columbus. If you’re in town, it’s worth the trip.” Add a picture you took at Joe’s and uploaded using Twitpic to make the post even more valuable AND compelling!
3. Ask for Retweets, nicely. The reach of any given post is limited to the number of followers you have accumulated times the number of followers you have who choose to RT you to their network of followers. You can increase the number of RTs, hence the reach of your post, by simply adding “Please Retweet” to any message that you’d like passed along. Now, seriously, only make the request on stuff you feel is valuable enough to RT.
4. It’s okay to Repost. If you have a question you really need answered or information that you strongly feel deserves the broadest possible audience then, by all means, repost it. Rule of thumb (I can’t remember whose rule or whose thumb says reposting every 8 hours is about right. After all, so many twitter posts stream by unseen or unread so chances are your twitter posts will be exposed to a new audience each time you repost.

If You Need Help

There are so many great resources on the web or contact me, I’m happy to help. tom.gray AT gemsolv DOT com. Oh, and please feel free to follow me on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/tomjgray!

Build Site Traffic by Blogging

One of the best ways to build traffic to your web site continues to be with a consistently published, compelling blog. I was forced to lay off blogging for over a month due to circumstances I couldn’t control. The upshot, my site’s traffic tanked. After a couple of weeks back in the blogging saddle my traffic, over the previous, non-blogging period, increased by almost 1600%. Yeah, I know what your thinking, “he went from 1 to 4 readers, big deal.” Ha ha.

Blogging Builds Website Traffic – The Proof is in the Google Analytics Pudding

Okay, enough about me, the following chart illustrates the effect blogging is having in building website traffic for a client who I recently worked with to setup a Wordpress blog. She’s still working to find the right editorial mix and she’s not blogging enough but the proof is irrefutable that when she blogs, her traffic soars. You’ll notice that her traffic numbers aren’t huge but then again her site sat virtually stagnant for a number of years with little or no search engine optimization.

Is a 510% Increase in Website Traffic Significant? Doh!

The chart above compares the current month with the previous month just to more graphically illustrate the spike that posting to her blog had on daily traffic versus a ‘regular’, non-posting day. In general she saw a 380% increase in site visits on the days she blogged and a 359% increase in page views. When you subtract her blog posting days from the equation, the numbers are even more dramatic with her site traffic showing an increase in visits of 560% and 510% in page views!

Adding Social Media to the Mix

Our next step is to increase her overall social media marketing effectiveness by integrating her social networking presence on sites like LinkedIn and Twitter with the content she produces on these sites. By bringing her Twitter feed into her blog, for example, and feeding her blog content through her LinkedIn profile her traffic will increase that much more.

The Ripple Effect of Social Media

The beauty of an integrated social media marketing approach is that you can create these outgoing content ripples that expand well beyond your content’s original entry point.

The truth is that this site doesn’t have a lot of traffic … yet. But, it has about 3 times the amount it did before the site’s owner began blogging. As we integrate the website’s content with that generated throughout her social network and increase the frequency of publication, her traffic will increase at an exponential rate. The ripple effect will kick in and the same amount of effort will result in an ever-widening scope of distribution; and influence.

Lessons Learned

The web, like nature, abhors a vacuum. In the case of a website that vacuum translates to stale content and static websites. The easiest way to correct this is to establish and regularly contribute to a blog. And, while your at it, start posting to Twitter and claim your space on LinkedIn, MySpace, Naymz and other relevant social networking sites.

Need help? Call or email me. That’s what I do. 303.882.8252. tom.gray @ gemsolv.com.

What’s Your Experience?

Leave a comment about your success, or lack thereof, in the blogosphere or social media space. Don’t just stand there. Join the conversation!