Entries Tagged as 'Blogs'

Looking for a Cure

July 23, 2008 // Drew Stauffer

Blogging can be a challenge - it takes a lot of time to create decent content that people are actually going to want to read. The last three months I have been very active over at the Cure for Common Marketing blog.

The Cure is a blog that I started at my 9-5 job, Jackson Dawson, to try and bring them up to speed in the blogosphere. I am very proud of JD because, while a lot of companies say they want to get involved, for some reason or another they never do. It took JD a while to get on board, but they’re finally coming around.

The blog is one of many upcoming projects for JD, and I’m glad to see it getting underway. It’s very exciting to be behind the scenes in a corporate environment, making changes and shaking things up.
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Bloggers Unite For Human Rights

May 15, 2008 // Drew Stauffer

Bloggers UniteThroughout the hustle and bustle of everyday life we constantly get bombarded with outside noise and it’s important to remember to respect each other.

No matter what happens in life we always need to treat each other with the same compassion that we would like to be treated with.

Check out any of these sites for more information about how you can help your fellow man or go over here if you’d like to learn more about Bloggers Unite.

Amnesty International is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights for all. They work to improve human rights through campaigning and international solidarity.

Human Right Watch is dedicated to protecting human rights of people around the world. They stand with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, uphold political freedom, protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to justice.

Youth For Human Rights is an independent non-profit that educates people about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights so they become valuable advocates for tolerance and peace.

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Wordpress Theme Development Presents: Elements of SEO

April 22, 2008 // Drew Stauffer

Wordpress themes are an easy way to change the entire look of your website. Free wordpress themes are even better. Every time I develop a new theme for public use I end up using it myself. What can I say, I get too attached.

But as the saying goes, “If you love something, set it free.” So, I’ve decided to release my Elements of SEO theme.
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Organization + Exploration

April 4, 2008 // Drew Stauffer

Ever lose track of all the sites you like to read? Remember when you used to stumble onto new sites only to discover the perfect resource? The days of not having time to roam and losing urls like pennies are over. Now there’s Alltop.

Started by Guy Kawasaki, Will Mayall, and Kathryn Henkens, Alltop is an organized list of sites arranged by topic. Whether you’re looking for SEO, design, education, politics, sports, or even the twitterati, Alltop has it.

I found quite a few new sites to add to my radar and I can’t wait to really dive into them. Check out Alltop when you get some time and let me know what you think.

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Alibi Gets Hacked

August 6, 2007 // Drew Stauffer

Every once in a while Wordpress releases newer versions of their popular blog platform urging people to upgrade to avoid hackers exploiting security loop holes. I always told myself that I would get around to it, but never actually made the time.

Yesterday I got a phone call from a friend asking me if I changed my site. Since I view my site quite a few times a day and actually viewed the site hours before, I confidently told him no. Much to my surprise, when I viewed my site I was greeted with a new screen.

alibi gets hacked

In a post from Threadwatch you can read about shoemoney, wolf-howl, and stuntdubl also being hacked.

The moral of the story is if Wordpress offers an upgrade, you should seriously consider doing it immediately. Here is the latest Wordpress 2.2.1 version.

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Website Promotion with Wordpress Plugins

May 28, 2007 // Drew Stauffer

Wordpress has a number of plugins that can help the performance of your blog, anything from catchy widgets to plugins that are solely developed to increase your exposure on the search engines. On this particular blog I use a few that I’d like to bring your attention to that have helped my performance.

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24…The New Series

March 15, 2007 // Drew Stauffer

The end of February and the beginning of March has been absolute chaos for me. Wildfire has signed three new clients which are currently in development, DrewStauffer.com is in the middle of a much needed facelift, and I have been traveling non-stop. Needless to say my post output has drastically decreased.

My next article is about how to keep money coming in from existing clients which will be finished shortly. I want to know what you guys do when you’re just too busy to post? What do you do when there aren’t enough hours in the day?

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How to Write Blog Posts to Increase Search Engine Traffic

February 19, 2007 // Drew Stauffer

Businesses put a lot of time and energy into website development, design, blogs, and search engine optimization. These elements need to be implemented into a website in order for it to be indexed and perform well on the search engines. But once you’re done, you’re not really done, you’re just beginning. Since you were wise enough to implement a blog into your website, you can now utilize this feature to create content that is going to increase your search engine traffic and exposure.

The nice thing about writing blog posts to boost your search engine traffic is that a lot of the thought process has already been developed while constructing the foundation for your website. Hopefully, you took the time to carefully research the keywords that are targeted on each particular page of your site. All you need to do now is write your posts with those keywords in mind and direct your links to those pages. It can be really simple if you organize your website design and development and plan everything out.

Here’s an easy formula to follow:

You chose to target keyword A for page2.html in the development of your website, use that formula when you are thinking of posts and article ideas.

  • In your blog, write a post with keyword A in your title…something catchy, more info on that over here at seomoz or copyblogger
  • Write in-depth and informative content related to keyword A
  • Target keyword A in a link from your post to page2.html
  • When appropriate, link out to other authorities that can offer more information about your keyword topic (Use this tip with caution. While you are trying to give the user more info and get the attention of the other site – thus possibly getting a link back to your site – you should try to strike a balance so that the effectiveness of your post is maximized without excessive links out from your site)
  • Remember to vary the way you link keyword A to page2.html (did you target long-tail keywords? Those are very easy to alter)
  • Repeat this process on each post for all pertinent keywords throughout your site

The nice thing about this formula is that you actually tackle quite a few of the common marketing questions that challenge many business owners.

Common business marketing questions:

Q. We have a website…now what?

A. Writing informative posts and articles re-iterating your keywords will only build your prominence on the search engines for your particular keywords.

Q. We have a blog, but what do we write about?

A. Now you will have at least a post for every keyword in your site…the more posts on each keyword topic, the better.

Q. How do we create link bait?

A. Writing content rich articles and posts that are targeted with your keywords both in your content and witty titles will attract users, thus creating link bait.

Business can easily get side tracked with all the commotions of new clients, old clients, and day-to-day affairs. This focused plan will keep your business on a steady path and not have you chasing this month’s new trend in search engine marketing and website promotion. These steps will likely take a while to fully implement, but if applied correctly and consistently they can help promote, market, and develop your site as an authority in your niche. In time your posts will increase your presence on the search engines and increase your overall traffic.

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You Want Link Bait, Here It Is!

February 12, 2007 // Drew Stauffer

Link bait is what you need, but what’s the best way to go about achieving it? We all know quality content is the best source of link bait, but what is quality content? Andy Hagans’ lays out all you need to know when it comes to good link baiting and with his simple formulas, link bait doesn’t seem so hard. Here are few examples:

Title, maybe the most important part of link bait:

  • Who Else Wants [blank]?
  • The Secret of [blank]
  • Here is a Method That is Helping [blank] to [blank]
  • Little Known Ways to [blank]
  • Get Rid of [problem] Once and For All

Quality Content

  • News Hook
  • Resource Hook
  • Contrary Hook
  • Humor Hook
  • Tool Hook
  • Giveaway Hook
  • Research/Statistics Hook

Packaging and Formatting

  • Scannability
  • Take down your ads
  • Images are good

Promotion

  • Digg
  • Delicious
  • Netscape
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit

Check out Andy Hagans’ Ultimate Guide to Linkbaiting and Social Media Marketing article for a complete break down on each section. It doesn’t get more in-depth than this.

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What All Businesses Must Have in 2007

February 5, 2007 // Drew Stauffer

In November of 2006, Technorati, the leading blog search engine, was tracking nearly 60 million blogs. With blog software like Wordpress, Blogger, LiveJournal, and Movable Type, anyone can setup a blog and begin posting articles, stories, and comments almost instantly. The power of a blog incorporated into your company’s website can be your most substantial and valued marketing tool by incorporating organic search engine optimization elements throughout every post. A blog can also serve as an important medium to reach out to potential clients where your ordinary website would normally fall short. Through social networks like digg, del.icio.us, and reddit, you can publish your news and services, which can then be syndicated throughout the Internet.

Effective Marketing

Companies that have successful websites and blogs typically attribute a large portion of their incoming clientele to the blog itself, ranking closely behind referrals. One reason that blogs are so effective is simple: getting the media to notice your business can be a daunting task, but a blog can serve as a valuable vehicle where you become the media. You begin by establishing a “voice,” then you can publish any information you deem valuable to your client base.

The distribution of your RSS (Real Simple Syndication) feed can allow you to syndicate the information on your blog to multiple outlets. You no longer have to wait for users to return to your website for new information; you can bring the content to them. You can add unique functions to your website where users can subscribe to your RSS feed through specific RSS readers. You can pre-install your feed into these readers and as soon as the user clicks on the reader of their choice, your feed is automatically installed. This feature will allow users the ability to read your news or services when it’s convenient for them.

Building Credibility

Clients typically have many questions about specific areas of your business. Often, however, they feel that these questions are too minor and won’t contact you about them. A blog will allow you to interact with your users and create relationships. If you find yourself getting a lot of the same questions, write a post or distribute articles pertaining to the information. Just like in school, if one person has a question, it’s likely that other people have the same question, and because blogs are a much less formal setting, users are more likely to “raise their hands” and bring up their concerns.

Remember, though, that users want answers to their questions from a trusted and informative authority. The Internet is filled with information, but finding the correct answer to solve your problem can easily turn into a long ordeal. As you write posts and articles that answer your clients’ questions, you slowly build a reputation as an authority. Additionally, if you give users the answers they’re looking for, you pass along more than just information; you begin to implement an effective viral marketing campaign.

Improved Search Engine Results

Blogs are typically updated more frequently than websites; therefore, search engine spiders or bots crawl and catalog them more consistently. Blogs that are crawled regularly have the most up to date information catalogued and indexed on the major search engines, and there’s no waiting around until next week when Googlebot finally comes to your site to index your “breaking” news story. A blog allows you to maintain the sense of urgency that draws the immediate attention of your readers and clients.

Another huge advantage to blogs is that they are dynamic and archiveable, which makes them searchable. Users don’t have to know the exact article name; they can simply search for a relative term or phrase to find results. Not long ago, in order for a website to be considered dynamic, developers would have to spend many hours on custom code that would end up costing thousands upon thousands of dollars. Most of the time the search feature, which was the complete magic of a dynamic site, wouldn’t even work properly. We’ve all been to sites that had a search feature and scratched our heads in confusion either over the results that it did return, or over the results that it didn’t. Fortunately, blog software is developed on a solid foundation that works. All of the features that you would need to create a user-friendly, dynamic structure are already installed as soon as you download the programs. Additionally, the uncomplicated URL structure allows the search engines to easily crawl through all of your content, giving your blog the best possible chances to rank for your particular keywords and begin to develop organic search engine optimization results.

Blogs are the new keys to a positive and effective online presence. Website marketing strategies for small business development begins with a blog. If utilized properly, your blog can promote your business faster and through more avenues than a regular website. Any business can take advantage of a blog. In many cases businesses that felt they were too small for a website can easily utilize the blog platform to begin to establish themselves online. 2007 is the year to build your business with one of the best viral marketing tools: your blog.

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