SEO for Beginners Part 2

• Linkworking. Networking can be one of the greatest tools that you can use to build traffic to your site. Within your posts, try linking to other bloggers or websites that are having the same conversation about the topic that you are covering. This is proper blog etiquette and can get others to link back to you. Once readers see links to your pages on other pages, they will most likely travel back to your page. If they like what they see, they may even backlink to your page when they post on other sites. For example, in my Yo Trakz post, I linked back to the interviewee’s blog so that my followers can also check out his page. With the use of this tip, I am going to notify the YoTrakz blogger of my post about him, and hopefully he will link back to me in return.

• Check the stats. Google Analytics and other blog stats managers such as Omniture are a great source for keeping track of who is visiting your blog, how long they are there, where they are coming from, and what posts are they looking at specifically. By visiting the link listed above, any Google user can access analytics simply by clicking the tab on the welcome screen (those who do not have Google accounts will have to sign up). After using analytics I was able to track who my audience is and what content they were most interested in so that I can tailor the information that I put on my page to their interests. This has helped increase my followers, and even now I have a follower named CCCam who manages Mobtown Media Beat which is a blog that covers the same niche audience that I have been trying to target.
  



• Analytics gives you information about how many visits you get to your page, how many page views, what countries your visitors are coming from, how long did they remain on each page, what keywords are landing people on your site, and from what source did they find your page (i.e. direct search, referrals, or search engines). You can use this information to your advantage by implementing certain keywords in your posts, tags, and titles. You could also link to the other sites that viewers are coming from in order to increase your visibility. These tips will help your blog to place better in search engine results.
  

SEO for Beginners Part 1

What is SEO? How do I use it to build traffic on my blog?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) helps bloggers to increase the traffic that flows into their site and makes the information that they post readily available for web crawlers. When bloggers search for their website in Google they are more likely to find 100 links ranked highest above their own. This would occur because they haven’t made their content “site friendly” to web browsers such as Google or Yahoo. Using SEO to optimize their sites’ rankings in these search engines will help the millions of people who use search engines on a daily basis to find the content that they are searching for on your website.

• Submit your URL to Google and submit your RSS feed as a sitemap. In order to do this step, you will need to start by adding your URL to Google’s list of sites for the first time. However, after you do this you will also need to log into a Google Webmaster account (those with Google accounts can use their already existing accounts to applications such as this) and create a Google sitemap for your website. The way I did this was by submitting my URL to “My Sites” and then embedding the metatag into my HTML info on my Blogger dashboard in order to verify that this was my site.
• Using appropriate keywords. When I first began adding tags to my posts I would frequently write any word that I thought could be associated with my post. However by using Google Adwords , I was able see all of the keywords that are searched the most by Google users on a daily basis. Google Adwords can search the keywords on your page or you can enter a specific topic that you would like to see keywords used for. Afterward, I took the keywords that had the highest rankings and implemented them in my tags, page headers, and titles of posts. I used keywords such as Baltimore City or Michael Phelps which received high rankings on Google. If the content on your site is completely random, I would suggest to include words that are associated with the highest ranked terms in Google. For example, I wrote a post about a festival occuring in Baltimore City, however since it was close to cinco de mayo, I decided to include the words "Cinco de Mayo" as part of my tags and write "Happy Cinco de Mayo!" in my post. To be honest, I believe that SEO is all about the hustle and bustle of getting users to your site! Although the words you choose should apply somewhat closely to your content ;)
• Feeling Lucky? Google Hottrends is another good way to keep up with what hot topics searchers are looking for. This site ranks keywords from most to least searched. It is also wise to embed these words into your posts and tags in order for searchers to be directed to your site. You could also write posts about the news and trends that people are searching for.

Building Traffic

How do I get people to read my blog?

The key to building traffic is to find the right people to follow and have the right people follow you! Here's how:

1. Join the community: You should actively search for and participate in the conversations that are going on in the blogosphere about your topic. According to the Idiot’s Guide to Blogging, you should start out by looking for people in the community who offer fresh news on the subject often, and who are highly visible in the community. Say, for instance, you are using Blogger. If you become a follower of one of the veterans of the topic who already of a huge audience, people may stumble onto your profile and take a look at your blog. But you should also interact with anyone who is apart of the conversation in order to build more traffic. Going after internet gurus such as the Huffington Post may not always benefit you, but looking to engage in many smaller conversations can help.
2. Contribute to the conversation: After you have found the community you connect well with, start to dive into the conversations they are having. Leave comments on other people’s blogs. Include link references in these commentsThis may incite them to track back to your blog and leave a comment. This could also increase your followers and build a professional relationship between you and the community. Viewers will see that you are actively participating in the conversation and may look to your blog as a resource if they see that you are knowledgeable about the subject.
3. Market and Promote: How do people even begin to look at your blog if they don’t know it exists? Trying to master SEO is enough of a challenge to master. However, in the meantime you should use social networks such as Facebook, Myspace, Twitter (and the thousand others that exist) to promote yourself. I find that Tiny URL and Tiny Pic are my best friends in this area. If you update a post and want to put it in your Twitter status, you will notice that it isn’t wise to try to fit the whole URL in there when you only have a few characters to work with. By visiting Tiny URL you can shrink your link down to a size that looks more attractive. Also, you might want to write a brief description about what readers can find on your blog when they click the link. Sometimes just including the link can compel people to want to click on it, but if you mention something like “Interview with Obama”, more then likely people who are interested in this topic (who are the people you want to target anyway) will visit your blog.

Images and Video tips

Image Tips:

• Link to the original website that you obtained the image from. Google Images and Getty Images are good sources for free web images.
• Send an email to the web site host or person you are trying to copy an image from and ask permission.
  

Video Tips:

• Try to keep the camera still. Shaky videos are not attractive. Use a tripod if possible.
• When interviewing someone, don't be afraid to cut it short. Don't do it in a rude way of course, but sometimes interviewees like to ramble. I don't know what kind of memory you will be using, but mines certainly won't hold a 15 minute interview with one subject.
• Don't talk or make noises behind the camera. This is so annoying! I have a bad habit of doing it myself. Be silent and let the interviewee fill in that silence. It's not easy to edit what you say out of a video!
• Watch out for ambient sound such as cars zooming by, people talking, or the wind for example. Of course this will depend on the environment that you are in.
• When you post your video, write a few lines introducing what people will see in the video, then include the clip, and maybe write a few lines after. You want viewers to know what they are watching.
• Don't stack your videos!
  

Stylistic and Grammatical tips and tricks

Now that I know what to write, HOW should I write it?

Okay, so we've covered a lot of the meat and potatoes of blogging, let's move onto the bread and butter:

Blog Content Tips:

• Be an authority of your topic WITH personality.
• Include links: this builds credibility, research, and transparency. Make sure they are well chosen, well placed, and that they pertain to the story. Embed them in your words, similar to what I have done Chris Brogan does here. Instead of writing out a link to be clicked on like this: http://www.chrisbrogan.com/my-best-advice-about-blogging/, I embedded it behind a word (or words) so readers could click on it.
  
• Variety in presentation: visuals, headlines.
• Short and crisp content (average 100-249 or 250-500 words)
• Omit needless words
• Get outside sources (the better your sources, the better your content). Go where they are, email them or call them and introduce the topic (make sure it is relevant to them). Be polite!
• Write leads; pay attention to how you start your post. You must grab the audience's attention right from the beginning!
• Use paragraphs. Vary your prose between short and long sentences.

Minor Grammatical Tips:

• Acronyms: Don't use them, unless the AP Stylebook says so.
• Address: You can't abbreviate every address, but to find out how to use this properly, refer to your style book.
• States: Correct abbreviations are listed in your style book. Don't use zip codes, use AP state codes.
• Numbers 0-9 should be spelled out, 10-1000 should use numerals.
• Ages: should be spelled out when starting a sentence

When all else fails, use your style book!

Start Posting!

What should I post?

Oh the possibilities! Well of course you should post content that applies to your topic. But here are some other tips and tricks about things you should include in your posts:

1. What does your audience want to hear?: Since you have already become part of the conversation about your beat, post some things that you see people discussing, or what your readers may request of you. I received a request from my professor to post graffiti on my blog, so that's what I did. If you keep your readers interested in your content, they will keep coming back for more. You can even ask your audience what they would like to read about. See how they respond.
   
2. Images and Videos: I mentioned this one before, but I would like to stress it's importance again. Visual learners like myself would appreciate if your blog wasn't so text heavy. Internet users usually have a short attention span, so breaking up your text with an image or to that relates to your post would be helpful. Also, I am a big advocate for videos. That's why I started a vlog. A video adds much more impact to the story you are trying to cover.
3. Find inspiration from reading other blogs. Try to build off of the concepts you read and not simply complement them. Create new ideas for your audience.
4. How-to's are always fun to read, and depending on your blog's topic, they can be a great help to your readers.
5. A series of post can bring up follow up points for you and your readers to add to.

For 40 more ways to deliver killer blog content click here!

You'd Better Beat It!

What is beat blogging? How should I cover a beat?

According to Alana Taylor, Beat blogging

is a beat reporter who uses their blog as a tool to engage their readers, interact with them, use them as sources, crowdsource their ideas and invite them to contribute to the reporting process.

A beat blogger becomes more then a journalist because they are not just reporting news, they are everywhere in a specific community covering the news and having that community actively engage in the news. I decided to become a beat blogger for Baltimore initially, which didn't work out. Baltimore is too big for me to be everwhere and cover every topic, so I knew I had to narrow my focus.
That's when I decided to create V-MORE and cover a beat of arts and culture on the west side and downtown areas of Baltimore city. I became a beat blogger by going out into the community and starting conversations with it's members. My interview with Ronald Day is a good example.

In order to become a beat blogger, you should start with these tips:

• Establish your beat and narrow it down. If you know what your covering specifically, you'll be able to hunt down the sources for it.
• Start conversations with your readers. Go out into the community and be apart of the activity, be up to date with the trends, talk to people BE IN THE KNOW.
  
• Go beyond the outside. Find blogs that are having conversations about your beat and link to them. Leave comments on those blogs. Leave responses to comments that may be posted on your blog. Take tips from those comments. Become a part of the online conversation. This will establish your authority on the topic and increase your visibility.
• Be accessible to your audience. Make sure your email, the links to your pages on social media sites, your professional photos, and basically all of your professional life is easy to find. You want to build relationships with your readers right? This is the way to do it.

For more tips like these click here.