I recently read that 27% of all time on the internet is spent on blogs and social media…that’s more than one quarter. As a small buisness owner, if you are not capitalizing on this, then you are really missing an opportunity!
One of the most effective ways of networking online is blogging…now I have said, it’s my third child, I spend a lot of my time each week prepping for blogging, writing content and marketing my posts, but there is a direct connection with my level of inquires to the amount of blogging I do!
Here are a few tips for blogging!
Guest Blogger: If you struggle with content, host a Guest Blogger! Not only will this help fill space for you (in those slower times) but it will also help you increase your circle of influence! You will be able to post on their social media sites, you can encourage them to share with their friends, back link to their blog, and hopefully its interesting for your clients and readers. It should be refreshing, and informational!
Use Video: So google owns YOUTUBE and therefore it’s picked up by the search engines at a pretty high rate! Any time you can ad a video to your post do it. Make sure they are professional, but again link to YouTube, and other social media sites. This will help with your traffic!
Content: Let’s face it, people want to read interesting information, and that is often…personal, controversial, or inspirational. Remember, your number one goal is to get people to share your blog or post…they won’t do that unless its something that is different or has changed them. If you are a photographer, blogging about another session isn’t going to do it, tell a story, the clients story. If you are a bakery, don’t just post a picture of the finished product, do a step by step. Post that are bold and somewhat controversial will get more attention. I will tell you, the most popular post of mine are HERE and HERE.
Comments: Encourage your readers to comment…this means you need to do the above, but also ask a question of them. Host a contest for anyone who comments, etc…if you have other bloggers, encourage them to leave their information (most blog hosts require this for commenting) as it helps to create back links.
Social Media: Link, link link….it’s not enough just to write a blog post, but then you want to share it on FACEBOOK, on TWITTER, on PINTEREST…all these are like little roads that lead back to your blog! The more different people you have reading it, the better. Again, it’s work..it takes time, but you will see an increase in traffic!
Tag…You’re It! There’s much talk about tagging…but the rule of thumb is NOT to use too many! Make them specific and targeted to your post. Use Key Words and categories. If this is all a bunch of mumbo jumbo…then let me know and I’ll do another post about it! Using keywords in your tags does not help you rank higher. However, when you include them, Google bolds the keyphrase in the search results, which may help drive people to your site!
Be Consistent: Your goal as a blogger is to have people sign up in an RSS feed…to subscribe to your blog. In order for people to want to do that, you need new content. Even if you have a once a week goal, be consistent with it. It will help your readers be faithful to you!
So there are many other tips such as linking to other sites, posting on blog networks, creating blog rolls etc but if you are serious about using your blog as a tool to increase your online presence, then just following a few of the above will help!
We have two weekend dates for this fall for sessions…so if you want family pictures or senior pictures…please email the studio as soon as possible.
This beautiful young lady participated in our last Teen Shoot! I love the way her eyes just sparkle and her beautiful smile lights up too 😉
