All Entries in the "Blog Consulting" Category

Blogging on Free Hosts Like Blogger and Wordpress A Bad Idea

This article is about blogging and why you should never blog on a free host like blogger.com or wordpress.com I am writing this to alert people out there who are building blogs on free blog hosts like blogger.com and wordpress.com.

Installing wordpress is free and gives you full control over your blog. There are other platforms like moveable type to choose from as well. Take a look around and find the platform you like or that best fits your blogging style. I’ve learned an expensive lesson and now will only build blogs on my own domain names.

The reason?

Lets start with blogger.com

They have a new out of control spam bot. Search the blogger help forums and you will find the horror stories. Legitimate blogs are being deleted, people are getting locked out of their blog until reviewed, and assumed to be a spammer because either the bot flagged the blog or someone clicked the little flag button at the top of all blogger blogs.

That and the fact that they have constant problems with the publishing getting stuck at 0%, slow load times, etc. it makes blogging through blogger.com a buggy experience at best and your content or reason for blogging is up to someone else’s interpretation of what is or is not legitimate.

I understand getting rid of splogs and spammers, but in blogger.com’s case the cure is worse than the disease. They were not always that way. I’ve been on blogger a long time and the service used to be good.

As far as wordpress.com they are just as bad. If the blog links to a website and looks as if it might be promoting people to go to that website they will suspend your account without warning and lock you out of all the content.

I’m not sure what they think blogs are for, but they seem to think they have a noble purpose in life and that they alone decide what is a “genuine blog” or not.

A “genuine blog” is one that is controlled by the individual who writes to it, not one that must adhere to someone else’s idea of what their blog should look like and what it should say.

If you blog on freehosts just be aware your content and your blog is in the hands of others who will decide for the world whether or not your blog should be seen by others.

I recommend all bloggers get their own domain names and install their own blogs. You probably have learned that using a freehost for your company’s website is bad for business so why put your company’s blog on a freehost?

The same goes for individuals. Blogs allow you to express yourself the way you want to express yourself. That is the beauty of blogging. Are you willing to sacrifice your individuality to conform to what blogger.com or wordpress.com thinks is a “genuine” way to express yourself?

Many times the person deciding your fate is someone who has never had any authority over other people and who think that now they have Godlike powers to decide the fate of content written by others. These are people who likely produce no content of value themselves and think they know what is best for the rest of the world.

Get your own domain name and install a blogging platform that fits your needs. It’s the best advice you will ever get about blogging.

You only own the blog if it is on your own domain name.

Everything else is just providing content for someone else.

What Does A Blogging Consultant Look Like?

by Chris McElroy

You know, normally you can find a definition of a word or phrase by typing “define: your phrase here” into google and come up with a lot of results. Currently there are millions of blogs and there are hundreds of people who call themselves “Blog or Blogging Consultants”, yet when you type “define: Blogging Consultant or Blogging Consultant” into google you get no definition.

That is probably a good thing for most blogging consultants because without a definition, there is no standard to hold them to. I’m not claiming to be the blogging guru of all time or anything of the sort. So before you “blogging consultants” out there start getting defensive about this, think before you write. If you get too nasty about the post I may ask you to define “blogging consultant” and without google many of you couldn’t do it.

Now that is out of the way, lets talk business. Every business should have a blog. There are so many reasons for your business to have a blog it would be hard to write them all in one blog post, so lets assume you know your company needs a blog.

So do you hire a blogging consultant? What qualifications do you look for in a blogging consultant? What does a blogging consultant look like? How much should I pay a blogging consultant?

Lets start with “Should you hire a blogging consultant?”

The quick answer is yes, but lets go into why first. There are a lot of things that go into making a blog popular. Technorati tags, submissions and pings to bloglists and blogsearch websites, learning how to get on the right blogrolls, etc.

If you are new to blogging it takes awhile to catch on to most of these things and most blogging consultants say that all of the above is necessary if you are going to have a successful blog.

There are more things to add to the list but this article isn’t about how to run a successful blog, it’s about blogging consultants. Hiring a blogging consultant can save you from making a lot of early mistakes and get your blog found a lot quicker than trying to do it on your own.

Now all the blogging consultants are liking me again. I can tell. But will it last?

What qualifications do you look for in a blogging consultant?

Here is where things get ugly between me and the blogging consultants. Most blogging consultants are . . . well . . . bloggers. Many of them have what they think is a successful blog although many bloggers have different ideas for what success is.

Some think it’s defined as how much they made on google adnonsense last month. Others count success by number of visitors to their website or the number of comments that appear on their blog. Still others measure their success by what the other bloggers think about them.

What do all of those bloggers who are blogging consultants have in common? They all think that having a successful blog automatically makes you a qualified blogging consultant. I told you it was going to get nasty. After this article if I measured my success by what the other bloggers think of me then I’m doomed!

Fortunately I don’t measure my success in terms of what the other bloggers and blogging consultants think. Lets get back to those qualifications for a blogging consultant.

First of all a blog is a website. It is a website that is updated often in most cases, but it is still a website. Each blogpost becomes a page of that website. So with a blog you are creating more webpages to your website as often as you post to your blog.

Now I have a question for you. Would you first look to hire a blogger to do search engine optimization for your website? Would you first look to hire a blogger to handle your AdWords campaign? Would you first look for a blogger to build your website for you?

The answer to all of the above is probably no, unless the blogger also has experience in those fields and not just for their blog. Actual websites they have built, optimized, and marketed for themselves and for clients.

A blogging consultant should not just be a blogger. They should also have all of the skills necessary to run a website. Now the blogging consultants are all mad at me again. But think about it. Many bloggers know how to write. They know how to get into the right circle of blogger friends who will link to them. They know about blogging.

So if all you need to know is how to write a blog, then hiring a blogger who knows how to write is the answer, but if you need someone who is going to manage your blog for you including posting to the blog, search engine optimization, link popularity, (and not just from blogrolls), and marketing, then you need to hire a webmaster who also blogs.

Okay, How much should I pay a blogging consultant?

How much do you have? Just kidding. A lot depends on the type of blog you want or have. A corporation blog has to pay more, not because they have more, but because there are all kinds of legal and policy matters that have to be considered with every single blog post and every single link to or from another blog or website. A small business blog doesn’t have many of the same issues as the corporate blog, but still has certain standards that need to be met.

If you have ever hired a webmaster, not a web designer, a webmaster, (Thats another article), or a Search Engine Optimization Company, or a Search Engine Marketer, or even just a Marketing Consultant, (The just was in there just so I could make consultants mad again.), then you have an idea of what a blogging consultant should cost.

Now keep in mind, if you are hiring a blogging consultant to strictly teach you how to blog, then it’s not worth as much money as when you hire a blogging consultant who is also going to perform all of the services a Webmaster and Internet Marketer would provide plus search engine optimization.

Ha ha! I still didn’t say how much it costs. It’s coming. Read on.

What does a Blogging Consultant look like?

He or she looks like someone who has more than just a blog or blogs. Someone who also owns and manages several websites for themselves and for clients. As I said before a blog is still a website.

Are Blogs Still Relevant To Today’s Online Businesses?

If you listen to some people on the internet you would start to believe that blogs had gone past their ‘use by date”. I rather think they are missing the point when it comes to business blogs. Blogs in general are communication tools. They provide a pathway for businesses to communicate information to the public while providing a means with which the public can communicate with a business – in a very public way – comments are open to all to read. From an SEO perspective, blogs are still valuable tools when it comes to link building, particularly if the content is of value to someone. That last is the most important. You may not find this content valuable, but others may. Here are a couple of examples of where blog content is providing useful information to others.

Taker the The Plus Size Clothing Blog. Okay, so you are as skinny as a rake. But half of the western world’s population is said to be overweight and a great many of them require plus size clothing. A blog like this is in a position to provide information to these people whilst, hopefully, leading readers through to purchase plus size clothing. Since blogs are easier to rank in search results than, say, a sales site, it makes good business sense to create this blog. The latest post (at the time of writing) – Plus Size Style for the Apple Figure – looks at a particular body shape. Do you know about apple figures (not Apple Corp sales figures) and where to buy clothing to match? Probably not but a search may show this blog in the results – that is the aim.

Blogs go beyond sales. They are also valuable for distributing information. Are you parent considering sending your child to a private school? Are you in the New York area? The NYC Private Schools blog publishes information on private schools in the New York area. As a parent, you may find this blog a valuable resource when trying to determine which private school (if any) you want to send your child too. Their latest post – NYC Private School Focus on Beekman School - provides valuable information on the Beekman School, information parents will find useful before making any final decisions.

Is the business blog dead? No, it’s far from it. Providing good quality content over an extended period of time can help a business achieve their goals much faster than if they ignored the power of blogs. Add social marketing to the mix and you have a very powerful tool.

Need help establishing a powerful business blog? Ask a professional blog management team for more information.

There’s Still Room For One More Blog

Technorati is tracking more than 1.5 million blog posts daily. Since 2002, Technorati has tracked 133 million blog records. That’s quite a stretch in seven years. But there’s always room for more.

According to Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere report, half of all male bloggers are professional business bloggers and 38% of female bloggers blog about business. But we think there may be more. Not every blog is listed with Technorati. The website only tracks those blogs that are listed in its database. So there are likely millions more out there.

No matter how many business blogs there are, however, there could be more. And your business could probably benefit from having a blog. But don’t buy the hype about the “blogosphere”. Not every blog has to be connected to the social web. Yours can be, but there are different purposes for a blog. If you’d like to know more about business blogging and how your business may benefit from a blog, contact a professional blog manager today.

A Blog Is The Best Link Building Tool You Have

I love it when people verify what I’ve been saying for years. Michael Martinez back in February had a great post that discussed the three best link building tools. One of those is blogging.

Here’s what he says about the benefits of blogging:

Pros of Blogs
–They are usually easy to set up and low-maintenance
–They are more powerful and flexible than widgets, gadgets, gizmos, and plug-ins
–They allow you to populate multiple domains/subdomains quickly

And I’ll add this to the pro list on blogs as well – They achieve better search engine results more quickly than any other tool available. Yes, even better than articles. Better than static websites. Better than social media. More powerful than a speeding bullet. Etc.

Why are blogs so good for search engine optimization, including link building? Because they are crawled – like all updated content – every single time you update them. The more often you update your blog, the more it will get crawled. The more it gets crawled, the more opportunities you have of achieving great rankings. Each and every blog post you write is treated like a separate web page by the search engines. Therefore, every ranking factor that applies to any web page applies to every single blog post you write. If you have a blog with 500 blog posts then that’s 500 chances to rank for your keyword, 500 chances + for your links to build link juice and gain the age advantage, 500 chances to build anchor text links with high quality and relevance, etc. Blogging is guerrilla SEO on steroids!

I could write all day about the search engine benefits of blogging. But, do it wrong, and you can kill your rankings. That’s why it is important to choose an expert in blogging, ghostwriting, and SEO who can steer you in the right direction and keep you away from dangerous waters.

Want to know more? Get a free consult with a blog consultant.

Business Blog Consultant – Why Do I Need One?

Most people think; “Blogging? How hard can it be?” or “Of course I know how to blog”, or even; “I’ve been writing my personal blog for a long time now and I know all about blogging.”

Okay . . . You run a business. You’ve spent thousands of dollars to develop and promote your website. Now you’ve decided to have a business blog. Mary Sue and Billy Bob, who work in your marketing department and handle your offline marketing both have blogs. Mary Sue is on MySpace and Billy Bob has a blogger blog.

They tell you they can handle all the blogging. no need to outsource. After all, Mary Sue has 112 friends on MySpace and Billy Bob’s post about bull riding on his blogger blog had 32 comments! And they both know offline marketing! Wow! You are in good shape aren’t you?

First: Offline Marketing and Online Marketing are two different animals altogether.

Second: Writing a personal blog and managing a business blog are also two different animals. There was no money invested in mary Sue’s MySpace blog or Billy Bob’s Blogger blog. Your business did not depend on those blogs.

I have a client that shall remain nameless, but they are a multinational corporation. The person I deal with understands the different ways blogs can be used for business, but some in their marketing department do not. Their company has several blogs that are written internally and they send out a newsletter to promote them.

Their mailing list is huge so they do get a lot of visitors to their blog. They have a lot of pride in the number of visitors they get and rightly so.

However, since I do the SEO for some of their websites, I keep up with how they rank in the search engines for their targeted keywords and phrases.

None of their 12 blogs rank for any of their search phrases. Their websites rank very well. But the blogs do not. They have about 60,000 unique visitors per month to those blogs so they have the traffic, but it’s all from the newsletter.

So basically, except for a few new signups each month for the newsletter, the same 60,000 people visit those same blogs every month. if they have not sold these people something yet, will they ever? It’s like preaching to the choir.

We set up a blog for SEO purposes and within one month we were ranking on the front page of Google for the targeted keywords. The first time their company has had a position that high for those phrases. But it did not have 60,000 visitors yet.

It also was not promoted in their newsletter. Ahhh, so you want me to get the same number of visitors that you get to your other blogs, but you don’t want to give me that same tool you use to get them? I see.

However, the visitors we get to the new blog are NEW visitors you never had before. A large percentage of them visit the website we are promoting. And a good number of those have converted to leads.

I know, imagine that. Here I am more concerned with higher rankings in the search engines for their keywords, getting NEW visitors to their blog, generating leads and what their conversion rate is. Shame on me.

We tried to offer them a course on how to do a little better with the search engines on those blogs they write, but their marketing people and inhouse bloggers said, “We get 60,000 visitors per month to our blog, so we don’t need to learn anything new. As a matter of fact, we are going to start writing the blog that you guys created for us.”

Are you one of those people who think you know all there is to know about writing a business blog and think you do not need to learn how to improve it? if so, you wasted a lot of time reading this post.

However, if you are not one of those people and you truly want your business blog to be a success, give us a call at 786-317-8774 and we’ll give you a free business blog consultation. What have you got to lose?

Why Do I Need a Blog?

Why do I need a business blog and why should I hire someone to manage it for me?

By now, most business Website Owners have learned there are advantages to having a company blog. But why do I need a company blog? How will it really help me?

Most bloggers, even those who have been blogging for a long time, do not truly understand all of the ways a blog can benefit your business. They are good bloggers. They even may know a little about SEO and can put all the keywords and phrases into your blog. But do they really know about blog marketing and what the benefits are for their clients? Do they really know SEO or the technical aspects of operating a blog?

Do you know all of the benefits of having a business blog?

Let’s see;

Why does my Business need a Blog?

A business blog is the most cost-effective way to add fresh content to your website daily.

It is the most affordable way to build link popularity.

A business blog can make you money through Conversational Marketing.

A business blog will help drive more traffic to your website.

It gives you a place to offer special deals, make announcements, issue press releases, and get feedback from customers.

You can have a private blog that your employees or shareholders read.

There are way too many ways your company can benefit from a business blog to list on one page. As they say; “Think Outside The Box” and create new ways blogs can be used. All the uses for a blog have not even been invented yet. Be the first to try something new. Call us at 786-317-8774 and get a free business blog consultation. We’ll brainstorm with you!

Your business blog can be within your website or on it’s own domain name.

Your company blog can be used to help capture a specific search phrase or phrases in the search engines.

You can have a company blog in your website and one on its’ own domain name, each achieving a different purpose.

You can have multiple blogs all working for you at the same time. The options are endless.

It is not a one-size-fits-all deal. Our Blog Consultant will talk with you, analyze your business, and come up with a strategy that benefits your business. Click here to get a free business blog management quote.

Blog Management and Marketing

Blog Content

Your blog content will make a lot of difference to how well you do with both the search engines and with visitors. Whatever your goal is for your blog, to make your blog popular to read, to make sales, to drive traffic to your website, to get people to sign up for something like a newsletter or affiliate program, or something else, you will need good, original content.

Not only do you need good original content on your blog, you need it every single day.
Blog search websites like technorati.com and Google’s BlogSearch list blogs by the most recent posts that match the user’s keywords. If you are not posting daily, you can get buried beneath all of the other blogs that do one post or more every day. Our daily blogging service will make sure your blog is updated every day or more often if you choose that option.

Blog Posting is more than just writing. If you want your blog to be interesting to user and also rank well in the search engines, you need to know how to structure your blog posts properly.

Do you know the proper way to write your blog post titles?

Do you know how to use keywords in your blog post for the search engines without seeming spammy or obvious to your readers?

Do you know how to use good anchor text and a proper linking strategy?

Our bloggers are trained to write relevant, interesting blog posts that are also optimized for the search engines. Read more about our Daily Blog Posting Service.

Social Bookmarking and Social Networking

Social Bookmarking and Social Networking are extremely beneficial to your blog. It can help you with link popularity, attracting more visitors to your blog, more comments on your blog posts, and even help you rank better with the search engines. However, social bookmarking is time consuming.

Many people try to automate the process for that reason. Automated social bookmarking will not get you all of the benefits that social networking will get you if you take the time to do it yourself. Most business owners do not have the time it takes to participate on these social networks. That is why Blog Content Provider does it for you. Our basic social bookmarking package comes with our Daily Blogging Service, but we also offer social bookmarking as a standalone service. Read more about our Social Bookmarking Service.

Professional Full Service Blog Management

Let our staff completely manage your business blog for you. We will handle everything. We will choose a domain name for you where necessary, provide blog hosting, do the installation, create or choose a blog template, optimize your blog for the search engines, provide the daily content, and do the social bookmarking. You turn your business blog over to us and we do it all for you. Read more about our Complete Business Blog Management Service.

Blog SEO and Programming

Blog Installation

Wordpress claims you can install wordpress in just 7 minutes. Some cpanels have fantastico that will automatically create a database and install wordpress for you. But is that all there is to installing a wordpress blog? No. There are better ways to securely install a wordpress blog on your server.

Then you need to choose the right plugins to enhance the usability and improve the SEO of your blog. Every blog is different. Every blog has different goals and obstacles. So choosing the right plugins is more than just going to someone’s favorite list of plugins and using them all.

Some blog service companies brag that they install wordpress with more than 80 plugins! Wow! 80! How many of those plugins do you really need? Usually just a few. We securely install your wordpress blog and choose plugins for you that fit your specific needs. Read more about Blog Installation.

Blog Setup and Configuration

A lot of people will tell you that choosing the settings in the admin area of your wordpress blog is self-explanatory. To who? There are a lot of choices to make in the admin area.

An experienced Blog Manager knows which settings are best to use from experience. For instance;

Do you know the best sites to put into your ping list?

Do you know the proper way to create categories?

Post Slugs?

Is time-stamping a good idea?

Do you know how to configure all of the plugins or get an API Key?

Our Blog installation specialists will set everything up for you. Read more about Blog Configuration.

Blog Theme Installation and Editing

Here again, it sounds easy. You choose a theme, upload it to your themes directory, and voila! You’re done right? No. Choosing a theme isn’t as easy as it sounds. There are tons of free themes on the web. You could buy one from a designer. You can have one custom made for you.

Do you know a good theme from a bad one? I mean besides how pretty it is. Did you know that sometimes free themes have hidden malicious code in them, put there by the programmer/designer?

Are you able to determine good code from bad code? Is the code in the theme written in a way that will hurt your chances in the search engines?

Do you know how to edit the php in the header.php file, sidebar.php, or footer.php to add the enhancements that will make your blog both more attractive and more productive?

Choosing the right theme for your blog is more than just finding one that looks nice. You do not need to have a custom blog theme built. You can use a free blog theme. But you need to know how to choose the right one. Our Blog Installation Service includes choosing and installing the right theme for you. If you want a custom theme, you can read more about Custom Blog Themes here.

Blog SEO

You need to optimize your blog for the search engines. That means editing the code of your blog theme, setting up proper permalink structure, creating the right categories, and even choosing the right plugins, among other things. Our Blog SEO specialists go over your blog theme line by line to get rid of unwanted or unnecessary code.

We fix the blog title structure. We install and configure your blog plugins. We create a proper permalink structure. We edit your blog template to install feedburner, email scripts, affiliate buttons, or whatever else you need. Our clients are very happy with the search engine rankings their blogs are getting. Let us show you how we can improve your results. Read more about Blog SEO.

If you are not sure what you need, call us at 786-317-8774 for a free business blog management or SEO consultation.

Why C-Level Execs Need A Blog

C-level executives can use a blog for a number of things. You can use a blog to discuss important information with and for your employees, you can use a blog to discuss important stockholder information, or to communicate with members of the public about your brand. A blog is a type of mass communication tool that allows you to communicate important information about a specific topic with a large number of other people interested in that topic.

Whether you are CEO, CFO, CIO, or another important C-level executive at your company, a blog that communicates details of interest regarding your area of expertise is an important asset, not just for you but for your entire company, and can affect the bottom line in so many ways.

If you’d like to know more about how a C-level blog can help you and your business grow and be more efficient, call Blog Content Provider today.

Enter The No Guru Zone

A few years ago most people had never heard of blogging. Now, everyone wants to be an expert blogger. It seems like you don’t have to go far to find the gurus harping up this and hyping up that. The truth is, I’d only consider a handful of people online to be expert enough at blogging to call them a guru, and I don’t think any of them would call themselves a guru.

But if you go to any of the popular social networks online you’ll meet some gurus that I’ve never heard of. Probably a few you’ve never heard of either. Some of them have taken to calling themselves social media gurus, which I’m sure is a category that doesn’t even exist.

At Blog Content Provider, we don’t consider ourselves gurus. We consider ourselves consultants who are willing to share our hard-earned knowledge with business professionals who are considering a blog as a means of marketing. If that describes you then we’d like to talk to you. Enter the No Guru Zone.

Why You Shouldn’t Listen To The Gurus

The gurus want to sell you books. They are full of advice about how you should do this or you should do that. But they aren’t holding your hand while you’re doing it, are they?

It’s nice that they want to share their knowledge. Isn’t it? I mean, they’re not giving it away. It’s not free. There is a price tag on it. But your success doesn’t ride on that price tag. They get paid whether you succeed or not.

The fact of the matter is, online marketing comes in different shapes and sizes. What works for one situation may not work for another. A blog is an instrument. In the right hands it can play a beautiful tune. To someone else it may just make a bunch of noise. At Blog Content Provider, we consider ourselves your personal guide to blogging and when it comes to blog marketing, if you don’t succeed then you don’t succeed. Our business model is based on your continued success. If you don’t make then we don’t make it. What guru is going to tell you that? Do you get a refund on that e-book if you fall on your face? Will he retract his advice? If we don’t help you succeed, you can fire us. And that’s why we bank on what we say. Because we’re doing it.