One of the challenging parts about blogging is sourcing big, beautiful and relevant pictures that you can legally use on a regular basis.

Yes, you can publish without photos.

But you’ll be missing out.

Images are an easy way to increase your readership because they tell your story better than text:

• 90% of the information that comes to the brain is visual.

• We process visuals 60,000 times faster than text.

• We recall pictures 6 times more easily than text. 

So, don’t let finding the perfect image stop you from creating great content. Here is everything you need to know to create beautiful blog posts, every time. 

But first…

What Pictures For A Blog Perform Best?

Big + Beautiful + Relevant

Use images to capture my attention, so you can tell me your story. If the image is small or boring, you’ve lost me. If it’s cool but doesn’t relate to the rest of the post, you’ve confused me. 

Confused about the socks? 

Exactly. This is a prime example of what not to do. 

Make it easy for your readers to visualize what you’re saying. We saw a change in our readership engagement once we started using full images in our posts. The average number of comments increased, and more importantly, we were sharing a stronger message with the 84% of people who skim our posts instead of read them word for word.

Graphs are also great.

If you’re talking about trends in data, try to find a graph.

And comment on it to highlight your angle.

Remember, it’s not enough to share something, we want to see why you’re sharing it. For example, in our post on what other small businesses are doing online, we used the following graph to highlight how many hours the average small business owner spends on marketing each week – by calling attention to the most important part of the graph, it felt more like a conversation.

p.s. Always include the source and link to where the image came from.

It’s also good practice to email your source to thank them for creating the content, and let them know you’re using it on your blog. In addition to being a good online citizen, it can be the start of a relationship (relationships with people who conduct original research are vital to being an authority), and if you’re not permitted to use the image, a personal note is the best way to find out.

 

How To Legally Use The Best Pictures For A Blog

You have a few great options to legally use pictures for a blog…

1. Take Them Yourself

One in 9 of us has a smart phone.

Chances are you’re one of them.

Use it to capture what goes on behind the scenes with your business, your customers and other things your fans will enjoy. It’s the fastest and cheapest way to add original images to your post.

You can even use free services, like Photoshop’s Express Editor or Instagram, to edit photos before you use them in your blog so they’re more enticing.

2. Hire A Photographer

If you sell a unique product or service, or you’re writing a special post or ebook, consider investing in a photographer. Not only will you get remarkable photos, you can use them on all of your touch points (website, blog, promotions, booths, social media, etc…).

Remember - sell the solution, not the product.

Some of my favourite examples of this are from a company based in Victoria, Canada called Abeego, which produces natural food storage wraps from beeswax, jojoba oil and tree resin. They recently redid all of their marketing photographs to move away from product shots and showcase “the Abeego lifestyle.” I love it.

What do you think?

Before

After

Helping your customers visualize how your product or service fits in their lives is a great step to making your next sale. 

p.s. Since most small business owners spend less than $2,500 a year on marketing, and personalized photo shoots can be expensive, you can also try student photographers. You’ll stretch your dollars more, plus they’re usually keen to make a name for themselves. And from my experience, do a beautiful job.

 

3. Use Stock Images

Stock images are probably your best option to source pictures for a blog on a regular basis. The key is to make sure you use them legally and properly attribute them. You have 2 options for using stock images:

Free

You can use free stock images donated by photographers around the world.

Flickr has a fantastic creative commons with over 40 million photos for you to choose from. My other favourite is CreativeCommons.org, which searches a variety of free image, video and music services (including flickr, Google Images and Wikimedia Commons) so you can see all your options in one place. 

Make sure the sharing licence also applies to businesses, as some photographers only donate to non-commercial ventures. And some only allow you to use their image without modification. See the licencing page on flickr for a better idea of how to make sure you’re using photos legally. 

Paid

Sometimes you just can’t find what you’re looking for in the free section.

For those special posts that you really want to promote, you might consider buying photos. There are a ton of services you can use – Lisa from PaySimple did a good review here. We also love Veer, as the have a fun and creative selection of photographs for a reasonable price (between $10-$20 an image).

4. Bonus: For Spokal Members

Even with these tips, finding big and beautiful images that you can legally use on a regular basis that are relevant to your post can be a challenge.

So we decided to make it a little easier.

If you’re using Spokal, you can now drag and drop images right into your post from flickr’s creative commons library. We automatically display images for your keyword (although you can find any image by doing a new search) and we automatically attribute the image (and include a link to the licence), so your photos will be properly sourced every time.

This is what the flow looks like:

1. Find beautiful photos.

2. Drag + drop them into your post.

3. Photo credit is automatically done, including a link to the source.

You can also upload photos from another source, and use Spokal to credit them so all the images on your blog have the same format.

Want to try it out?

Simply go to the editor and hit the image icon on the right to start your search – Spokal will take care of the rest.

Not a member?

No worries – you’re welcome to sign up for your free 14 day trial, and in addition to the photo attribution service, you can use the entire Spokal platform during that time.

And as always, if you have questions give us a shout at 1-888-470-5990, send us an email or ping us on Twitter.  

 

Conclusion: Pictures In A Blog

Google made a change to their algorithm last year that increased the number of images they return in search results. 

This means that while your post might not rank on page 1 for a keyword, a photo you used in that post (properly optimized with a keyword) could appear in the images section on page 1. 

Images don’t just improve your message – if you properly optimize them, you have a better chance of making sure your customers find you!

So, what else do you do to add visual content to your posts?

 

You Might Also Enjoy…

• 19 Fascinating Statistics That Make the Case for Using Visual Content in Your Marketing via HubSpot

• Is Optimizing Photos More Important Than You Think? via moz

• What is good content? Live By These 9 Rules [Hint: It’s easier than you think] 

Twitter is a great way to increase your online reach, so you can drive more potential customers to your website.

Social media mentions of your business help you increase brand awareness, credibility and the likelihood that someone will follow you, allowing you to drive even more traffic to your site.

There are a lot of obvious ways to increase mentions of your business. We’ve shared 5 below. But we wanted to have some fun – so we’ve included 6 creative ways for you to increase social media mentions on Twitter.

5 Obvious Ways To Increase Social Media Mentions

1. Share great content.

2. Be consistent.

3. Write short tweets (tweets with <100 characters get 21% more engagement).

4. Use hashtags (tweets with hashtags are 2x more likely to be retweeted).

5. Ask for it (brands get a 23x higher retweet rate by asking for a “retweet”).
   

And now for some more creative ways to increase social media mentions on Twitter…

1. Offer to Retweet

How often do you ask people to retweet your content?

How much better would you feel if someone asked you what they could retweet for you?

Send a message to your followers asking if there’s something you can share for them this week. Focus on people who create content that your followers will love.

We got this idea from one of our fans, Sharla.                                 

We hadn’t chatted in a while, so she sent me a message asking how it was going and if she could retweet something for me. I immediately responded with the post I was promoting at that time. Not only was it an easy way to increase our reach, it was good to reconnect and continue our relationship.

Asking to share other’s tweets (instead of asking them to share yours) may sound backwards.

It’s not.

Offering to retweet harnesses the reciprocal nature of the Twitter community. If you ask someone what you can share for them this week, chances are they’ll return the favour.

2. Comment on Links

Don’t just share links, comment on them.

Your followers don’t want to see the resources you’re sharing – they also want to know why you’re sharing  them. And what you thought about them.  

People respond more to tweets when you comment on what you’re sharing because it mirrors a discussion.

We started doing this with our Twitter account, and now more than 50% of our tweets are retweeted on average. And more importantly, our click through rate on our links increased.  

3. Include a “Click To Tweet”

Do you have something you want to promote on Twitter?

Try sending an email to your fans or colleagues with a simple Click To Tweet message. Click to Tweet allows you to compose a tweet for someone to send when they click on a link.

The easier it is for people to share, the better.

Make sure you include a shortened link of the site and “via your Twitter handle.” For example, “via @getspokal.”

Want to try?

Click here to share this post with your fans on Twitter!

4. Always Credit Sources

When you share something, credit the person or business that created it. A simple “via @Twitterhandle” is fine.

Not only is it good practise to credit the sources you use, it’s a good way to get on people’s radar so you can start a relationship with them. (They may even thank you publicly or retweet your tweet, which will help increase your online reach.)

And if you’re feeling extra social, you can send send them a message thanking them for creating their content. You may be surprised at the response you get!

Crediting sources can also grow your following.

Twitter discovered that organizations that tweet 100% more @mentions grow their following 17% more than they expected.

More followers –> Increased online reach –> Increase in potential customers to drive to your website

5. Add an Exclamation Point!

Social Media Scientist Dan Zarrella analysed 2,000,000+ retweets containing links, and separated them into ones that had exclamation points and those that didn’t.

As you can see, Dan discovered that tweets with “!” were retweeted more than 2x than those without them.

This suggests that if you use exclamation points in your tweets, they’ll be shared more.

However, keep in mind that while tweets with exclamations are shared more, the click through rate on them is almost 2x lower. So, while it’s an effective tactic, use it cautiously. 

 

6. Add Media

Tweets that include media get 300%-400% more engagement on average than those without media. So it’s not surprising that 36% of links shared on twitter now include images.

Next time you share something, why not include a picture, video or infographic along with it?

The more visual you can be, the better.

 

Conclusion: Increase Social Media Mentions On Twitter

Keep in mind the goal of social media mentions.

The idea is to increase your brand awareness, social credibility and the likelihood that someone will follow you, so you can increase your online reach and drive more traffic to your site.

If your click through rate for your links is low or dropping, rethink what you’re sharing. Retweets with no follow through won’t help you grow.

So, what do you do to get more social media mentions or retweets on Twitter?

 

Twitter Resources

• Avoid Vanity Metrics – 4 Things Every Business Owner Must Track Using Twitter

• The 2013 Twitter Marketing Guide via KISSmetrics

• 3 Social Media Metrics Your Business Should Track via SM Examiner

• How To Get More Clicks On Twitter [INFOGRAPHIC] via Dan Zarrella

• p.s. What was the most popular tweet in 2012? Click here to find out!

Blogging isn’t hard, but blogging on a regular basis can be.

This is why it’s critical to create a blogging strategy that works for you.

While the blogging process is personal and many bloggers have a different approach, we want to share one that’s working for us. (Since we started this strategy we’ve had a 624% increase in unique visitors and a 245% increase in leads.)

It’s a systemized approach to creating content – you break the blogging process into 5 steps and do each step for all your posts together. It saves time, helps you create better content and you’ll feel like you’re not always in a mad dash to publish a post.  

So, here is the practical guide to creating a blogging strategy that actually works.

Step 1: Plan

The first step to creating an effective blogging strategy is to make a publishing schedule, so you know what you want to say when, and an action items list, so you know what you need to do to accomplish your plan.

I wish I did this when I started blogging.

Instead, I created every post from scratch. I brainstormed what I wanted to say, then did my research and wrote it. It was a long process. Every post seemed like a bigger project than it should be. And the thought of repeating the process a few days later was uninspiring, especially at the beginning when our traffic was growing slowly.

Our blog felt disjointed, and since I didn’t create a blogging strategy, I never felt like I was on top of it.

Then I realized blogging is a process – while some prefer to sit down and hammer out a post every few days, I discovered the joy of planning.

You’re a blogger, which also means you’re a publisher and a content curator. Think of your blog in terms of “monthly or weekly issues” and plan accordingly. 

Just like a magazine.

1. To start, what do you want to say?

Every month our content marketing team sits down and brainstorms topics we want to blog about. 

We review our list of ongoing ideas (when you have an idea, write it down – you’ll be doing yourself a huge favour – we thank Chris Brogan for this concept), brainstorm new ones, pull from trending topics and review conversations we’ve had with our customers.

We also look at our best performing posts (we focus on posts that are converting prospects, not just ones that increase traffic), and which ones from our competitors are doing well.

If you’re stuck on what to say, don’t worry.

I agree with Neil Patel – you don’t have to recreate the blog idea reel – leverage what others are saying. For example, Neil suggests you analyze the posts of 20-30 of your competitors to see which ones get shared the most, and write a related post. 

So, if “How To Write Magnetic Headlines” is being shared a lot, you can do a post on “5 Common Headline Mistakes and How to Avoid Them.”

You can read more about Neil’s strategy here.

You don’t need to know your exact keywords yet, but get an idea of the main thoughts you’d like to explore. Sometimes you’ll jot down how you’re going to start your post, the points you’re going to convey, and how you’re going to wrap it up. Sometimes you’ll just say, “I want to write about 10 ways to improve x” and discover those during your research.

The more focused you can be the better, as it saves time during your research so you won’t get sidetracked.

2. How often will you post?

Blogging 2x a week is the most effective for small business owners, so if you’re doing a monthly plan you’ll need to organize 8 posts. If that’s too much, start at 4 a month and go from there.

Now you’re ready to create your blogging calendar, which shows you when you’ll publish each post. Ideally you’ll post on the same days each week, as Google loves consistency. I like to put my blogging calendar on a wall above my desk, so I have a high level overview of what’s being published throughout the month. 

When you know what you want to say and when you’re going to share it, you’re ready for the next step.

 

Step 2: Research

There are 3,000,000 new blogs each month. Make yours stand out by:

1. Doing proper keyword research so your customers find you. 
   

2. Using research and facts to validate your thoughts.
   

Keyword Research

Take the ideas and topics you created in the planning phase and find the best keywords to focus on for each post. To recall, keywords are what people type into Google – they can be anything. The goal of keyword research is to find the best words that you a high chance of ranking for, and optimize your post for that phrase.

There are a ton of resources on how to do effective keyword research. My favourites are: 

• The Keyword Research Chapter from SEOmoz’s The Beginners Guide To SEO
  

• 12 Tips for Keyword Selection to Guide your Content Marketing SEO from the Content Marketing Institute

• We also wrote one as part of our popular 12 Step Series To Getting Customers Online - check them out and let me know what you think
  

Use Facts

There are 100 billion searches on Google every month. How will your blog stand out?

This is your chance to research your topic and see what other experts are saying, so your post can add real value – while you’re not writing a research paper, adding 1 or 2 facts from reputable sources will increase your authority.

I can’t overstate the importance of using facts in your blog. 

Besides your credibility, it increases the chance that people will learn something after reading your blog and come back for more.

It also shows you other posts on a similar topic, so you can include them as resources in your post. The more related you are to the content you want to rank for, the better.

Plus, it can help you build relationships with influencers. 

If you include someone’s post as a resource, be sure to send them an email or tweet to let them know and thank them for creating their content. It’s a great way to get on their radar (you might get a retweet if you’re lucky), plus you’re curating great content for your readers, which is the most important goal.

 

Step 3: Write

Now you’ve planned what you want to say and you’ve done your research, writing should be simple.

I save this part for when I have a few hours of focused time so I can get into a flow. Early in the morning or late at night seems to be the sweet spot.

I usually follow a similar post format.

I introduce what I want to say, flush out the idea or concept, and close with a new remark, which increases the likelihood that someone will read to the end, and a question, to encourage comments. To create a blogging strategy that actually works, think about the format for your typical post – it will help you write even when you’re stuck on “how to say what you want to say.”

You don’t need to worry about using proper keywords, optimizing your post or adding links and images.

Just write.

 

Step 4: Upload

This is the fun part!

It doesn’t require a lot of thinking, so you can save it for when you’re tired or do a few minutes throughout the day between meetings or other projects.

Upload your post to your blogging platform, break it up into smaller paragraphs so it’s easy to read (only 16% of people read posts word for word, your content must be easy to consume), add headings and links, optimize it using SEO best practices, and finally add images to make it visual.

If you’re using Spokal, this process is fast and enjoyable. In addition to our real-time SEO monitor, we integrate with creative commons images on flickr, so it’s easy to find big and beautiful photos to spice up your post. If you’re using another platform, there are plugins you can add to speed up this process.

When you’re finished, schedule your posts according to the blogging calendar you made in step 1.

 

Step 5: Promote

This is the step most people miss.

No matter how great your posts are, if you don’t promote them you’re missing a huge opportunity to capture your customer’s attention.

The key to promoting is to do the same thing each time.

In addition to sharing the post on your social networks (you can get plugins to do this automatically for you), what else are you doing?

For example, we schedule several tweets throughout the day when we launch a new post (all with slightly different copy) to increase our chances of people seeing it and make sure we reach our followers in different time zones. We send notes to everyone we mention, thanking them for sharing their content. And we email our post to 10-20 colleagues and customers who might enjoy reading it and ask for comments. 

We also use the relationships we’ve built with bloggers and other influencers and ask them to retweet our post if they enjoyed it. Plus, we usually include a highlight in our weekly email for our fans.

We could also contribute more to online communities where our customers are, and occasionally share our posts on there, which is something we’re building into our strategy. 

• CopyBlogger wrote a fantastic ebook on How To Effectively Promote Your Content– it’s worth reading if you want to learn more
  

• Check out the 12 Things You *Must* do After Writing a New Blog Post from Unbounce – it’s a good checklist to start with

• You can also promote your post with these 10 Obvious Ways To Increase Your Readership That You Might Not Be Doing. 
  

 

Bonus Step: Metrics

Once you’ve found a blogging strategy that ensures you create content on a regular basis, you need to measure your results.

So, what should you track?

Besides the obvious traffic and social media shares, track comments. Those are a better indicator of engagement (the goal of your blog is to build relationships with people) and more importantly, track conversions. For example, how many people read your post and become leads, either by signing up for your email list, following you on social networks or contacting your directly.

For example, Spokal’s Complete Guide Of How Often To Post, Tweet + Facebook For Your Small Business has been shared less than our post on the Top 11 Most Powerful Content Marketing Examples By Small Businesses, but it has converted almost 3 x more leads, suggesting that the type of content is more relevant to our potential customers.  

 

Conclusion: How To Create A Blogging Strategy

Since it takes 3-6 months for inbound marketing to start working, and most marketing initiatives fail within 3 months, it’s important to have an effective blogging strategy to ensure you make it past the 3 month cliff.  

As you continue blogging, you’ll discover what works for you, and how you can adjust your blogging frequency and goals based on your results.

So, what do you do to create a blogging strategy that actually works?

 

Blogging + Content Resources

• What is good content? Live By These 9 Rules [Hint: It’s easier than you think] 

• Starting A Blog? Here Are Ideas For Your 1st 5 Blog Posts

• 9 Hard-Hitting Content Strategies for Small Business Blogging via Neil Patel

• Capture Those Pesky Leads! The Complete Guide To Lead Nurturing For Your Small Business

While we’re huge advocates of inbound marketing, just because you’re a small business with a limited budget doesn’t mean you can’t play the offline advertising game.

In fact, some of the best inbound strategies have started from offline grassroots campaigns. There’s no limit to the number of guerrilla marketing ideas for small businesses that you can try.

When you pay for traditional media advertising, your customers have a 33% chance of remembering what they saw (assuming they actually saw your ad amongst the noise), but with guerrilla marketing they recall almost 100% of what they saw. This is why we’re huge fans of guerrilla marketing for small businesses.

So, here are the 5 pillars you need to create a wildfire campaign.

1. Be Visible

The goal is to create something that’s remarkable enough to catch people’s attention, so they not only remember it but feel compelled to share it.

Amnesty International did a great job of this. They were trying to promote their efforts to end human trafficking, and instead of doing another rally or “insert advertising status quo here,” they put a woman in a clear suitcase on luggage carousals around airports in Germany.

Exactly.

The press swarmed to capture the moment and Amnesty’s message spread.

The key to being remarkable is to be visible. They put the suitcase on numerous platforms to get noticed, especially as the campaign was picking up buzz. And according to Amnesty International, it was one of the most successful promotions they’ve had in recent years.

See more photos of the women in the crystal suitcase. 

2. Include Influencers

Who you share your stunt with can be just as important as what you do.

The director of the film ParaNorman perfected this concept.

He sent a 30 pound crate to The Bloggess, an active blogger with an online reach of over 340,000 followers. Inside the box was a shovel and dirt, and once The Bloggess started digging she uncovered a coffin! Inside was a creepy handmade doll with a note explaining that she’d been sent this box…

In commemoration of the opening of the movie, ParaNorman, which the creators thought celebrated the joy of weirdness just as much as my blog and book do. – The Bloggess

The goal of blending your offline efforts with your online reach is key. And by pairing the grassroots promotion with her personality, ParaNorman’s campaign took off.

3. Contrast Trends

What is everyone talking about today, and how can you leverage that to do something different?

Let’s put that into context.

Graffiti can be thought of in a negative light because it’s destructive to public property. But a few years ago English artist Paul Curtis (aka “Moose”) wanted to do something different in the tunnels of San Francisco. He leveraged the typical polluted image of graffiti and contrasted it with the eco-friendly movement to create a new form of street art, now referred to as reverse graffiti, clean graffiti or clean advertising.

The concept is simple – instead of adding something to the environment, you clean or remove something.

It took off.

Since then everyone from Microsoft, BMW and Smirnoff to small businesses around the world have garnered attention using clean advertising. And even though some city bylaws are not sure how to classify it (it’s technically graffiti but it’s not defacing public property), it’s an economically and environmentally positive way to share your message, and one of my favourite guerrilla marketing ideas for small businesses.

Environmental Graffiti showcases their favourite 35 reverse graffiti examples – what do you think?

4. Be Creative

If you like having fun, then chances are you can imagine some great guerilla marketing ideas for your small business.

Just like Ikea did.

Ikea wanted to celebrate the 30th birthday of one of their most popular book shelves, so they took the shelves where books usually end up in the summer – the beach. They set up bright red shelves on Bondi Beach in Australia stocked with the classics and favourite summer stories. People could browse and read the books, and even take a book if they exchanged it for one they brought.

The guerrilla marketing campaign created a lot of positive press for Ikea, who become known as creating the world’s longest outdoor bookshelf.

5. Be Resourceful

If you’re like the typical small business owner, you spend roughly $2,500 a year on marketing. The best part about guerrilla campaigns is that they don’t need to cost a lot of money.

So, why not hire an artist to do something for you outside of your shop or on the street? Street art is a great way to support local artists and help your message spread in your community.

Check out this collection of 20 of the coolest street ads for inspiration. While some of these ideas are more extensive and may require city permission, I believe chalk drawings are still the most impressionable – considering of all of the technology at our disposal, I’m amazed at the masterpieces people can create with a piece of chalk.

Guerrilla marketing is perfectly suited for small businesses that usually thrive on the local customer base. – Neil Patel, Serial Entrepreneur

Conclusion: Guerrilla Marketing Ideas For Small Businesses

Guerrilla marketing can be one of the most fun campaigns you’ll create for your business this year.

But don’t worry if your first idea doesn’t make the waves you imagined.

Just like with all marketing activities, one setback doesn’t mean you should pack up shop. Make sure your guerrilla marketing ideas fit with your marketing strategy and business concept (for example – Ikea becoming known for creating the longest outdoor bookshelf is 100% on brand), and improve what you do going forward.

So, what are some of your favourite guerrilla marketing ideas for small business?

Craving more?

• How to Make Your Small Business Stand Out with These 8 Marketing Twists via Quick Sprout

• Top 11 Most Powerful Content Marketing Examples By Small Businesses

• How Guerrilla Marketing Can Transform Your Boring Product via Geek Wire

• 100 Guerrilla Marketing Ideas: Grow Sales With No Budget  via Tweak Your Biz

We hear it time and time again – create good content.

But what is good content?

The biggest misconception around content is that it has to be great.

This is wrong because it forces you to believe everything you create needs to be an opus, which prevents many of us from saying anything.

While I hate to say it, you just need to be a little better than the average business in your niche. If you’re focused on learning, it’s easy to rise to the top and provide real value to your customers.

Here are 9 rules to creating good content that will help you rise above the noise.

 

 

1. Have A Clear Goal

The goal of your content marketing campaign is to create value to attract potential customers, so you can nurture those leads over time.

But what’s the goal of each post, ebook or video?

• Are you trying to share who you are to build trust?

• Educate your readers so they learn about your industry, and you’re positioned as an authority?

• Inspire them to take action?

Every post is different. 

While we usually blog about online marketing for small business owners, we also include posts about how we’re doing and occasionally press we’ve received – by sharing our story and allowing our readers to celebrate with us, it invites them to be part of the journey and helps us build a strong community.   

The more you can share and be honest, especially as a small business owner, the easier it will be for you to develop relationships online.

 

2. Make It Accessible

Make it easy for people to find what you create.

This includes everything from good SEO practises to sharing with your network to building relationships with other bloggers and growing your online reach.

I believe content should be free – unless you’re selling online courses as a profession – so make it easy for people to read, engage and share.

This may sound obvious, but online newspapers are trending in the wrong direction. The average price of a monthly digital subscription has risen 39% in the last 18 months to $9.26/month. Publishers are offering fewer articles for free because they make money by selling content. 

But this is good news, because the more value you can provide for free, the better chance you’ll have of winning your readers.

p.s. Not sure you agree with me? Check out Copy Blogger’s guide on How to Build a Business Using Paid and Free Content – they go into the benefits and downsides of building a marketing strategy on free vs paid content. 

3. K.I.S.S.

Keep

It

Simple

Stupid

Write in simple language so people can understand – the general consensus is to write for a 5th grader. Only 16% of us read a post word per word, so if you’re confusing or hard to follow, chances are we’ll skip to the bottom or leave without gaining any value. 

But being simple doesn’t mean being short.

Google actually favours longer posts. However, don’t write a long post for the sake of it – keep it meaty.

For example, The Complete Guide Of How Often To Post, Tweet + Facebook For Your Small Business is the same length as a post we wrote that describes why you should have a phone number on every page of your website. While both provide value, the first is significantly better because it covers more – I got a little research happy for the phone post and could have written what I said in 2,000 words in 500 words – and not surprisingly, the first post has been read more, shared more and more people joined our community as a result.

4. Be Educational

There are over 100 billion searches on Google every month because people are curious.

We love to learn.

In fact, “how to” posts are among the most popular type of post because they teach us something that we can take action on. 

While all your posts won’t be step-by-step tutorials, make sure they share something new. My goal for everything we write is to transfer one piece of knowledge to our readers, so they leave knowing more than when they came because if we provide real value, people will come back and contribute to our growing community.

p.s. While we recommend occasionally sharing stories about yourself – if it’s “me me me” all the time you’ll find it hard to build a following. 

5. Be Remarkable

When I hear the question “what is good content?” I also hear “what is remarkable content?”

Seth Godin describes being remarkable as “something worth making a remark about.”

If you’re driving along the highway and see a purple cow, chances are you’ll stop and comment on the purple cow because you’ve never seen one before. Purple cows are remarkable. But if you continue to see purple cows, they become common and you’ll stop remarking on them.

When you write, try to find the purple cow.

If your post doesn’t evoke learning, a reaction, an action, discussion or even entertainment, then what’s the purpose?

You want people to remember you.

p.s. Want a quick tip to be remarkable? Use facts – it’s one of the easiest ways to set your blog apart because most people don’t take the time to back up what they say.

 

6. Be Honest

The goal of inbound marketing is to build relationships at scale, so you can convert interested readers into customers over time.

Trust is the foundation of these relationships.

I also believe trust is the biggest asset small business owners and bloggers have because it’s something that you can’t buy and you don’t need to be big to achieve – in fact, Harvard Business Review shows more people trust small businesses than larger corporations. 

It’s not easy to be honest, especially for small business owners when it comes to things that aren’t going well, but if you can share the highs and the lows it will go a long way to set you above the rest. 

Sharing truthful moments show you’re real – people relate to not being perfect. It’s the difference between fake relationships online and meaningful ones that actually turn into customers.

7. Always Use Visuals

Posts with visuals perform better.

• Posts with photos on Facebook generate 53% more likes and 104% more comments than posts without photos.  

• Photos on Pinterest refer more traffic to websites than Twitter, Google +, LindedIn and StumbleUpon. 

• Posts with videos get 3x more inbound links that posts with text. 

• 3M and Zabisco showed that we process visuals 60,000 times faster than text. 

• We recall pictures 6 times more easily than text. 

So always include a photo in your post – graphs and charts are great too. And you don’t need to be literal. Choose images that represent the heart of your post, like how a movie trailer represents the heart of the film.

HubSpot shares more on why visuals are key in their article on 19 Fascinating Statistics That Make the Case for Using Visual Content in Your Marketing. Check it out and leave a comment below to let me know what you think. 

8. Let People Engage     

Bain & Company showed that people who have a meaningfully engagement with a company using social media spend 30% more than those who don’t. 

Blogging is the start of a conversation.

If people don’t participate, what’s the point?

But most of us need to be invited before we take action. So, actively invite people to join you.

Encourage comments, use social sharing buttons and join conversations online. When you finish chatting with someone in person, invite them to continue your discussion on Twitter or Facebook (or wherever you chat online). If you’ve written a post that was relevant to your discussion, feel free to send it to them. 

It’s a surprisingly obvious way to grow your readership, and not enough people do it.

I really don’t care how many people follow your brand on Twitter, or Like your brand on Facebook. Numbers like these are essentially meaningless; building the right kind of relationships with 500 targeted people will always be more beneficial to you then meaningless, un-targeted relationships with 500,000. – Matt Rhodes, Fresh Networks 

Read Mashable’s 21 Rules for Social Media Engagement for a quick refresher on how to engage with your customers online. You might also want to check out this post by Matt Rhodes, which further discusses why engagement is important. 

 

9. Do You Like It?

If you don’t like what you create, why will someone else?

If it’s not engaging, stop.

Start again.

I’ve done this before. I thought I had a great idea for a post, got halfway through and realized I wasn’t adding value. It was boring and no one would read it.

Sure, you can try to save what you’ve written. But sometimes it’s better to start from scratch than build on poor foundation.

If you want to learn more, check out this post from Social Media Today. It’s an overview of 28 attributes of content marketing – it’s easy to understand and covers what not to do as well.

Conclusion: So, what is good content?

Creating great content doesn’t need to be a full time job.

Leverage what the experts are saying – you don’t need to reinvent the conversation, simply join it. See what’s popular or being shared in your industry, and build on that.

Because we know the results pay off.

So, what is good content? How do you content worth sharing? Leave us a comment below so we can continue our conversation.

 

You Might Be Interested In

• What’s the Difference Between Content Marketing and Copywriting? via Copy Blogger 

• Top 11 Most Powerful Content Marketing Examples By Small Businesses 

• Starting A Blog? Here Are Ideas For Your 1st 5 Blog Posts!

• 10 Obvious Ways To Increase Your Readership That You Might Not Be Doing

Using keywords can be confusing, but it shouldn’t be.

Sometimes as marketers we go over the top naming things, which can make them seem more complicated than they are.

Keywords are simply the words and phrases you type into Google when you’re looking for something. They can be anything.

So, why should you care about them? 

If you understand what your customers are searching for, you can figure out what type of content to create (like blog posts, ebooks and videos) to capture their attention and answer their questions by providing value. You can read more about keywords here. 

But we’re not perfect. Here are 5 common mistakes using keywords in your blog that you should avoid.

1. You break the “1 keyword/post rule”

While you’re trying to rank for multiple keywords, each post should focus on one.

Your goal is to optimize each post, so you have the highest chance of being found in Google for that keyword. 

If you put too many keywords in a post (aka the same phrase of certain words over and over again), you won’t optimize for anything, your post will sound fake, and worst, your blog will get lost among the sea of 150,000,000 blogs that are online today.

Solution: One post, one keyword.

 

]]> http://www.getspokal.com/do-you-make-these-5-common-mistakes-using-keywords-in-your-blog/feed/ 2 http://www.getspokal.com/avoid-vanity-metrics-4-things-every-business-owner-must-track-using-twitter/ http://www.getspokal.com/avoid-vanity-metrics-4-things-every-business-owner-must-track-using-twitter/#comments Fri, 26 Apr 2013 06:00:00 +0000 Alexandra Skey http://getspokalcom.thryz.com/?p=5560

Photo Credit: eldh via Flickr

You track the obvious using Twitter: how many followers you have, how many times you’re getting retweeted and how many of your tweets are being favourited.

But it’s easy to get distracted by vanity metrics, which are highly visible metrics that are easy to track but don’t indicate real value.

Community isn’t about size – it’s about the strength of the tribe.

Here are 4 things every small business owner should track using Twitter to avoid vanity and grow a strong community.

 

1.  Mentions of your name

The real power of Twitter is that you can listen to everyone who’s having a conversation about your business online.

Most people track their own handle (so you can see when someone is mentioning your business) but people might not use your handle, or get it wrong. If you track your name (and various ways to spell it) you’ll never miss out.

For example, our handle is @getspokal, but often people assume it’s @spokal or they’ll tweet #Spokal. By tracking all of these names on Twitter, we make sure we’re always tuned in.

Otherwise, we would miss tweets like this. 

So, how can you track mentions of your name using Twitter?

Take advantage of free tools like the Twitter search function inside Twitter or TweetDeck (simply add a column called search and enter versions of your business name). You can also use Hootsuite to monitor a search, but Hootsuite is geared towards advanced marketers.  

p.s. Are you using Google Alerts?

Google allows you to track mentions of your business (or any term) on the internet. They’ll send you an email when someone posts a relevant article, blog or news report, so instead of just monitoring your business on Twitter, you can monitor the entire conversation on the web.

 

2. Your Retweet vs Tweet ratio

You probably track your retweets using Twitter, but do you track your retweet ratio?

This will show you how much of the content you’re sharing gets shared – it’s a measure of your online reach (how often what you share reaches beyond your immediate network) and it will help you understand if you’re providing enough value (people share good content).

You can use a tool called retweetrank to determine your retweet ratio.

They’ll also show your retweet rank, which is how your retweet ratio compares with the entire Twitter community. According to retweetrank, we’re in the top 8% of the most influential people on Twitter – we’re ranked 385,962 out of 500 million accounts.

But while it’s interesting to compare yourself to the community, it’s more important to focus on building a loyal following. So don’t obsess over rank, obsess over your customers. 

Not sure you have enough followers to get retweeted?

Your follower count has less impact on retweets than you might think.

Award winning social expert Dan Zarella analyzed over 20,000 people using Twitter and graphed the average Retweet To Follower Ratio (RTpF). As you can see, while most people have the same RTpF ratio, some get more retweets than others – but it’s not dependant on their size.

While the number of followers exposed to a Tweet does have a positive effect on the number of times that Tweet is ReTweeted, it is a weak correlation, meaning that other factors play a much larger role. – Dan Zarella, Inbound Marketing Specialist

Dan’s study shows that tracking your Retweet ratio isn’t about the size of your tribe, it’s about the strength.

You can read Dan’s full analysis on The Science of ReTweets and let me know what you think, or glance the highlights on Mashable. 

3. How many times your links are clicked

What’s more important that tracking retweets using Twitter?

I believe how many people click on your links and engage with the content you’re sharing is more important. Because anyone can retweet without reading, so while you may get a lot of shares, you might not be providing value.

This is a symptom of vanity metrics.

By measuring how many clicks you’re getting, you’ll have a closer idea of what people want to read (or are curious about) and what you should share to grow a strong community. This is one metric we’re measuring to make sure we’re building a following of people who love our content.

How do you measure clicks?

You can use Tweetthrough.com, a free service that measures the average CTR (click through rate) for anyone on Twitter. Currently the average CTR is 6.23% – meaning that 6.23% of the links that get shared by the average Twitter user are clicked. 

Most social media scheduling tools will also show you your CTR. Buffer will do it for free and Hootsuite will if you have a paid account (which starts at $9.99/month).

p.s. Want to learn more?

Jeff Bullas wrote a good piece on how to quantify your twitter reputation – he also looks at some famous Twitter handle reputations for comparison. 

4. How many people are responding

Do you measure traffic or engagement?

Photo Credit: andresfranco.net via Flickr

I measure engagement.

It’s a better analysis of how you’re developing relationships online, which is the goal of inbound marketing. Because even though 97% of people won’t buy from your website today, 70% will eventually buy something you offer – it’s up to you whether it’s from you or your competition.

Just like I’d argue it’s more important to measure the comments on a blog post than overall traffic (as it shows how many are actively joining the conversation), it’s more important to track how many people are responding to your tweets than your total following.

Those people are your true fans.

This is why people say Twitter is an engagement platform.

As a small business, your goal isn’t to build a following of 5,000 or 10,000 followers. Your goal is to build a network of people who are interested in what you do because if someone is engaged, there’s a higher chance they’ll become your customer. Or a true fan (which can lead to more customers).

If you’re prioritizing growing your following over engaging your following, you won’t get there.

Seth Godin wrote a great short post on The Trap of Social Media Noise, where he focuses on the value of building a real network, not a bloated one. 

Relentlessly focus. Prune your message and your list and build a reputation that’s worth owning and an audience that cares. – Seth Godin, Global Thought Leader on Marketing

Conclusion

According to a study by Barracuda Labs, the average price for buying 1,000 fake Twitter followers is $18. And the industry for buying followers is worth roughly $40-$360 million. 

Don’t fall into the trap.

While you can buy a following, you can’t buy a tribe.

Focus on real metrics, not vanity metrics, and you’ll build a loyal and engaged Twitter following that will support your business.

So, how do you measure the value of your community? What do you track using Twitter to see if you’re on the right path?

 

4 Things You Might Want To Read

• The Simplified Guide to Social Media for Small Businesses via Blog Tryant 

• 10 Ways To Increase Your Readership That You Might Not Be Doing 

• Why Research is Key and How to Create a Research Station For Your Social Media Strategy via Danny Brown 

• How to Get More Clicks on Twitter via Dan Zerrella  

]]> http://www.getspokal.com/avoid-vanity-metrics-4-things-every-business-owner-must-track-using-twitter/feed/ 6 http://www.getspokal.com/should-you-use-vine-for-your-small-business-these-6-qs-will-help-you-decide/ http://www.getspokal.com/should-you-use-vine-for-your-small-business-these-6-qs-will-help-you-decide/#comments Sat, 20 Apr 2013 07:00:00 +0000 Alexandra Skey http://getspokalcom.thryz.com/?p=5521

What’s Vine?

It’s Twitters new social network that makes it easy to create and share social videos on the go.

Twitter is obsessed with limitations (because they breed creativity), so just like we only have 140 characters in a tweet, we only have 6 seconds to shoot a Vine.

Vine was released on February 4, 2013 and within 7 days of launching, over 100,000 Vines had been shared. Which makes you think…

Does Vine for small businesses work?

Social Media examiner wrote an AMAZING post on 16 Ways Businesses Are Using Twitter Vine that got over 3,000 tweets and 800 shares on Facebook. If you want to understand how small businesses are using Vine, check it out. 

But before you get distracted, the real question is should you use Vine?

That depends. Here are 6 questions that will help you make your decision.

 

1. Do you use Apple?

Vine is only available for Apple iOS. So unless you have an iPhone or iPad, it’s an easy decision – you’ll have to wait.

But not for long, as we’re predicting an Android Vine app will be released this year.

2. Are you exclusive?

Vine is public to everyone.

You don’t have privacy options like you do with Twitter, Facebook, G+ and other social networks. This means secret giveaways or messages that you share exclusively through private groups won’t work on Vine.

Chances are this isn’t an issue – just remember what you post is free for all to consume.

3. Where are your customers?

The rule of online marketing is to go where the conversation is happening.

If your customers aren’t early adopters on Vine, chances are it’s not worth your time.

Sure, Vine for small businesses is the cool new thing, and it’s fun to be a part of a social community from birth (just ask Chris Brogran who started blogging in 1998). You can set trends and you might get good enough marketing your business on Vine that you’ll convince your customers to use it, and you’ll pick up new leads there as well. 

But unless you have time to test this without hurting the growth of your business, there are better ways to get customers online.

4. Do you have a Marketing Strategy?

If you don’t, Vine isn’t for you.

Why?

You won’t know what to do. You’ll waste time, focus on vanity metrics and chances are, you’ll stop using it in a few months after you realize it’s not helping the bottom line.

p.s. Don’t have a marketing strategy? Check out these resources on 10 Simple Strategies for Business Blog Content, 9 Hard-Hitting Content Strategies for Small Business Blogging and 7 Strategies for Growing Community on Your Blog.

5. Do you love social media?

Be honest.

You know the answer, but you may not feel comfortable telling everyone because you’re worried they’ll think you’re “behind the times.”

If you love sharing online, go for it. Vine is fun (though we’ve only tested it on silly things like my kittens and ferry commute to work.)

But if you’re struggling online, maybe this isn’t the platform for you?

It’s early days, and while there are already best practise guides by inbound marketing leaders like Hubspot, why not let people who are obsessed with social media test the waters and figure out what works – and you can jump on board when it’s more mature.

The key with any social platform is to focus.

We were doing a content marketing presentation a few weeks ago in Vancouver and an entrepreneur in the audience asked us if we’d heard of “the 50 social media networks you MUST be on for your small business.”

My heart sank.

No, I hadn’t heard of it. Sure, there are 50, probably more like 500 social media sites you could be on, but there are a lot of things you could do to grow your business. The real question is – how much time and resources do you have to actually grow your business? 

Focus is key.

6. Do you hate Twitter?

Ironically, I think Vine is a great platform if you’re not a huge Twitter fan because video is an easier media to consume.

It’s probably the biggest idea in making videos since YouTube. – Business Insider  

Just think, if a picture is worth 1,000 words, how much is 6 seconds of video worth? If you do the math, there’s an average of 24 frames a second. Multiply that by 6 seconds and we get 144 frames. That’s the equivalent to 144,000 words!

But again, best practises haven’t been defined. So if you don’t like Twitter because you’re not seeing growth that’s different than if you don’t like Twitter because you prefer visuals and can’t stand text.

Conclusion

Vine is a trend.

That doesn’t mean it’s going away (we love it and believe it’s here to stay, and will become critical to some businesses) but it does mean that you shouldn’t jump on the latest trend without understanding how it fits with the rest of your business strategy.

It’s easier to get distracted by the shiny object than it is to fix something that isn’t working.

So, are you using Vine? What helped you decide it was the right platform?

You Might Also Enjoy

• How To Use Twitter’s Vine To Create and Share Videos via Mashable 

• How 15 Real Businesses Are Getting Creative With Vine for Marketing via Hubspot 

• 2 Ways Most People Are Misusing Vine via Convince & Convert 

• House of Cards – A Fad or A Fundamental Change In How We Do Business? 

• BONUS: Our favourite Vine!

1. Start with your offline relationships

Starting a blog can be overwhelming, especially if you’re trying to build a social following to increase your reach. But you’re not starting from scratch.

The easiest way to increase your readership is to start with the relationships you’ve built offline. Move those relationships online to kickstart your growth. Invite them to read your blog, comment on it and let you know what they think.

Even if you’ve been blogging for 6 months, how many of your customers, business partners, colleagues and other people you know in the industry have heard about your blog? How many have read it?

This may seem small, chances are you only have 20, 50 or 100 people you can invite. That’s enough. The goal isn’t to make them customers, the goal is:

1. To get used to building relationships online so it becomes natural.

2. To get honest feedback from people you know, which will help you create posts that people want to read.

2. Put recent posts in your email signature

How many emails do you send? The average business person sends 105 emails a day. Imagine if every email you sent had a link to your most recent blog post.

While it’s hard to find stats on how effective it is to drive traffic from post links in your email to your website (you can measure direct traffic, as that includes links from email signatures, but from other places as well) if you talk to entrepreneurs, they’ll tell you it works. 

Nikki and LeighAnn from Christian Mommy Blogger just blogged about how it’s helping them grow their readership. And Unilever went from 40,000 subscribers to 235,000 in just 10 months after putting a link in their email signature. 

How can you add a link to your most recent post in your email signature?

Don’t do it manually.

Try using a free app like WiseStamp. It works with all big email providers (including Gmail and Outlook), and chances are you’ll forget about it until you get a comment from someone who read your post because they saw it in your email. 

You can also include a link from press about your business, or links to customer reviews. We were featured on ShawTV last month with one of our customers talking about how Spokal was helping them grow online. I included the YouTube video link in my email signature, and was surprised at the number of people who sent me a follow up email commenting on the interview.

Want to know more about marketing in email signatures?

Check out this great post by Smashing Magazine: The Art And Science Of The Email Signature. It’s a bit dated (2010) but Kat’s comments are still relevant, especially her belief that you don’t need to give someone 10 different ways to get in touch with you.

3. Create a post for your customer

If someone asks you a question and you think it’d make a great post, turn it into one! 

You’ll be amazed at how important they’ll feel when you send them an email saying they inspired you to write something. (That’s how I came up with the ideas for Will keywords hurt my business? and It’s not about being perfect.)

Plus, if one person is thinking it, chances are they’re not alone. 

Over 100 billion searches are done every month on Google. If your posts answer their questions, you have a higher chance of being found when they’re looking for you. (This is the heart of inbound marketing, which is how you attract people naturally online and build relationships with them over time, so when they’re ready to buy you’re top of mind.)

Creating posts for an existing customer may sound counterintuitive – aren’t you blogging to get new customers? 

Well, yes. 

But even though the purpose of your blog is to generate leads, write for existing customers as well. Your goal is to build a community, and sometimes we forget the easiest place to start is with people who are already members.

One more idea.

If you’re having a conversation with someone and they ask you a question that you’ve written a blog post about, send them that post after your discussion. Bosco Anthony, a marketing expert who was voted one of the top 3 bloggers in Vancouver, does this on a regular basis. He told me that it makes people feel special and continues to establish himself as an authority. Plus, it lands customers.

Photo Credit: Tracy Hunter via Flickr

4. Finish by inviting people to join you

Every time you end a conversation, invite people to join you on twitter and interact with your blog to keep the discussion going.

Be careful not to sound like you’re being too pushy. Just say “you can stay in touch with me here” and that you’d love to hear from them.

5. Add a Hello Bar

Have you seen the bars at the top of websites lately? Those are Hello Bars, and they’re great for creating a prominent call to action.

Tim Ferris used his Hello Bar to drive visitors to Amazon to buy his latest book, and serial entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk uses his to take visitors to a landing page to encourage sales, tweets and links.

Why not use it to showcase your latest post? Or your favourite post each month? 

You can set it up in 10 minutes and you don’t need to be a coder to do it. Plus, it’s free for up to 25 clicks. And if you don’t want to pay (roughly $13/mth for 500 clicks), you can set it to turn off automatically each month once you’ve reached your free limit. 

p.s. Let me know if you add a Hello Bar to your website, I’m curious what you’ll say!

6. Use facts

Does it feel like the same person writes most of the blogs online?

Someone mentioned that to me the other day, and I realized it was true.

A lot of us don’t say anything or give solid advice. In fact, that’s what drove me to create The Complete Guide on How Often to Post, Tweet and Facebook for Your Small Business, because no one was giving small business owners a clear answer.

That post was the start of a shift in our blogging strategy. 

It was the first one I spent time researching and adding relevant facts, and it was the first one that spread organically. Now I’m adding facts to almost all of our posts, and those posts are getting shared more, generating more leads and more importantly, I’m proud to share what we’re creating because we’re adding to the conversation.

So, why not use facts to back up your thoughts? 

It sets you apart from the crowd, gives you credibility and increases your chances of people learning something and coming back for more.

Don’t worry – you’re not writing a research paper.

Blog like you normally do, and when you’re done, see if you can find 1 or 2 stats to supplement your post from reputable sources. Even if it’s not 100% related, it will go a long way to establish yourself as an authority.

Photo Credit: geishaboy500 via Flickr

7. Invite people to leave comments

90% of us are lurkers, according to Neilsen’s recent study.

We read without contributing.

In fact, only 9% of us contribute “a little” and only 1% of us contribute “actively.” 

So, 1% of your blog’s community are engaging with your blog, the rest are occasional observers. That means for every 100 people who read your post, only 1 will comment on a regular basis.

That’s fine.

But comments make a blog come alive because that’s where the real discussion happens. How often do you come across a blog no one has commented on and feel like no one is there? Few of us want to stay at a party when everyone is somewhere else. And few of us will go back.

Your readers can’t see everyone who read your post, they only see what other people left. Since it’s easier to comment after someone else has crossed the “Leave a Comment” bridge, ask for comments.

Two easy ways to do this:

1. Finish your post with a question.

2. Get a blog commenting buddy.
   

What’s a blog commenting buddy?

Find someone who is starting a blog in a similar field and commit to commenting on every post they write, and get them to do the same for your blog. It takes about 3 minutes a post, and will encourage discussion. Some bloggers even have commenting circles, where they comment on 5-6 of each other’s blogs on a regular basis.

The blogging community is very supportive, and getting a commenting buddy is an easy way to join the community and start building your reach.

ProBlogger also wrote a great post on 10 Techniques To Get More Comments On Your Blog. Check it out and let me know what you think by leaving a comment below. 

 

8. Do you have an email optin box?

This may seem obvious, but I still see business blogs without them.

Emailing people your latest post is a great way to increase your readership. Neil Patel (serial online marketing entrepreneur who’s built blogs with 300,000+ monthly readers) says 13.9% of his traffic comes from emails that he sends to his readers. And 41% of his comments come from them as well!

There are a lot of free widgets and tools you can use to do this, and tons of posts online that will show you how. 

If you’re stuck, comment below and I’ll send you a few of my favourite resources to get you going.

9. Use Google Authorship

Have you seen the author photos beside articles when you search on Google?

I love them. They’re personal, and I’m more inclined to click on posts with photos because they stand out. Is that the same for you? 

Google makes this happen through their Google Authorship program by displaying your G+ profile photo.  

But it goes beyond looking cool. Those photos will start to affect your search rankings because they tell Google that the content you created is verified. Aka you’re not an anonymous blogger – in this case, your blog is verified with your Google Plus account. 

If you were Google, wouldn’t you favour articles written by people who belong to the social network you built? By setting up  your profile photo on G+, you’re giving yourself the best chance of being ranked higher. 

Don’t worry if you don’t have a G+ account, if you don’t want to use one, or even if you don’t know what it is. You don’t need to use G+, you just need a G+ profile so Google can display your photo in their search results. Check out their Getting Started With G+ Guide to setup an account.

p.s. If you use Spokal, it’s easy to connect your G+ account to your blog. Simply go to your settings tab, select “G+” and Spokal will walk you through the 2 steps. If you use another platform, check out these resources from KISSmetrics and Constant Contact to get started.

10. Consistently write less

If you have the resources to create 2 blog posts a week, do it.

But what’s more important than blogging 2x a week is blogging consistently.

If you publish 2 posts this week, 3 posts the next week, 1 the next and keep flip flopping, it will hurt your search results because Google loves consistency.

Check out Neil’s case study on how not blogging consistently resulted in a 21% decrease in his monthly traffic, and worse, it took him 3 months of consistent blogging to recover. 

Plus, consistent blogging shows commitment, which will help you gain trust and build a loyal readership.

So, if you’re deciding between doing 1 post a week that’s well-thought and researched or 2 light ones, go for the solid post. You’ll add more value, and because of that, your post will have a higher chance of being shared.

Conclusion

Despite everything we’ve said, if you don’t believe in your post, you won’t share it.

And if you don’t share it, no one will read it.

The best way to increase your blog readership is to have confidence in what you say. Not everything will be your opus, but if you try to add real value every time you post, you’ll be in a great position to grow organically.

So, what do you do to increase your readership? I know our readers would love to hear, so let us know in the comments below.

You Might Also Enjoy

• Starting A Blog? Here Are Ideas For Your 1st 5 Bog Posts via Spokal

• 5 Creative Tips to Increase Blog Traffic and Boost Your Business via SocialMedia Examiner

• Should you pay for search ads on Google? Here’s how you can decide via Spokal

• 12 Things That Will Kill Your Blog Post Every Time via Neil Patel on the SEOmoz Blog

• 21 Tactics to Increase Blog Traffic via Rand Fishkin

The last month has been pretty exciting for Spokal. 

We wanted to take a minute and share some of the highlights with you, and more importantly, thank you for joining us as we continue to empower small businesses to grow online.

Are you new here? You might want to check out some of our favourite posts: The Complete Guide of How Often to Post, Tweet + Facebook for Your Small Business, Top 11 Most Powerful Content Marketing Examples By Small Businesses or Should you pay for search ads on Google? Here’s how you can decide.

Highlights from the last 30 days…

We were invited to present at the BCTIA Demo Day with 11 other companies on March 12, 2013. It was a great chance to meet local entrepreneurs and share the stage with some of the best emerging tech companies in BC. 

Check out the presentation that won us the Investor’s Choice Award below, and feel free to read about our experience behind the scenes in this guest post on BCTIA’s blog.

On March 15 we hit another milestone – our first time being on TV! ShawTV did an interview with us and one of our customers, Collin Stewart (founder of VoltageCRM), who shared what his experience has been like as a Spokal customer. 

Curious what Collin said? Check out the 2 min interview below.

The following week we moved into the Generator at Discovery Parks in Vancouver, where we won a competition with Spokal and earned a free year of office space. 

We’re enjoying our new home so far, especially meeting our neighbors: Optigo Networks, Dragonfly Instruments, Inception Sciences, Emberlight Technologies, MedVoxel, PHEMI Health, BeanEvo and a few others. 

The water cooler conversations are interesting – last week I met entrepreneurs trying to solve cancer, use a protein to cure arthritis, make sustainable fish food, measure water quality using laser beams, and make products using data from online poker games, and that was all in one afternoon! 

Now it’s your turn…

What are you saying about Spokal?

Your favourite blog post in the last 30 days was the Top 11 Powerful Content Marketing Examples By Small Businesses and your favourite tweet was…

Upcoming events – see you there!

Want to learn more about inbound marketing? Meet the Spokal team in person? Step away from the computer and chat with like-minded entrepreneurs? Get inspired? Have some fun?

We’re presenting at the following events in Vancouver in April 2013, and we’d love to see you there – this is your official invitation to join us.

• Building a Strong Web Presence and Powerfully Promote Your Brand – On April 10, 2013 we’re presenting on a panel about inbound and content marketing at one of Vancouver’s largest business MeetUp groups. We’ll be joining Bosco Anthony (voted one of Vancouver’s best bloggers) and Ronald Lee (digital media enthusiast) to discuss powerful ways small businesses can grow online. It’s free, doors open at 6pm.

• How To Use Content Marketing To Grow Online – On April 16, 2013 we’ll be speaking at the Vancouver Business Network MeetUp on content marketing and how you can leverage it with a small team to grow online. Held at a pub, it should be a relaxing evening! Doors open at 5pm, cover is $5.

• Founders Collective - “Equal parts TED, Summit Series and The Conversation,” the goal of Founders Collective is to celebrate and promote female entrepreneurship. We’re sitting on a Startup Panel with the founders of Weddingful, ePact and Strutta, and we’re looking forward to meeting leaders from HootSuite, Lululemon, Vision Critical and more! If you want to check this one out, you’ll need to use the password “founders” to get in. The event kicks off with a pre-yoga session in the morning and ends with cocktails at Wildebeest. Tickets are $150.

Finally…Spokal for WordPress!

We’re excited to announce that we’ve been developing a Spokal WordPress plugin in secret, and we’re almost ready invite our first beta customers to use it! If you’d like to check it out, give us a shout or ping us on twitter and we’ll make sure you’re among the first to try Spokal for WordPress.

p.s. Are you wondering how I added the tweets to this post? 

I used Spokal’s drag and drop editor, which makes curating and sharing content easy. You’re welcome to give it a test drive – your free 14 day trial is waiting for you.