10 SEO Tips for Bloggers

This is a guest post by Alexandru Rotaru. Whatever your platform of choice - WordPress, Blogger, Blogspot, Tumblr – the most important thing for any budding blogger is to draw in readers to peruse their carefully crafted text. As any blogger will tell you, besides the need for quality content, blog visibility is vital and it’s becoming difficult to stand out on an increasingly crowded Web. Search engine optimization (SEO) plays an important part in boosting your blog’s rankings on Google and other search engines. (more...)

Plan your email marketing campaigns

Whether you plan to use your email to remind, inform or persuade your customers, you’ll want to achieve the best results from your email campaigns. In order to help you maximise the potential of your email as well as help protect and enforce the your brand, I have listed below a few ‘Dos and Don’ts' email marketing campaigns Do make sure that you have something worthwhile to tell your customers. Remember that your customers may not be as passionate about certain subjects as you are. Do tailor your email to make it relevant to your audience whether they are: - existing or potential customers - frequent, infrequent or lapsed customers Do clearly understand what you want your email to achieve as a one-off email or as part of a larger campaign and ensure it fits with either your short or long-term objectives Do ensure your emails are timely to gain the best response i.e. weekends, afternoons or to correspond with a national appeal for example. Do think about how to react to sudden affiliate events i.e. would your customers be happy to receive a sales pitch email soon after they’ve received their regular newsletter? Don’t email your customers just because you haven’t communicated with them in a while. Don’t email your customers too frequently as this can cause frustration for the customer and lead them to want to unsubscribe. Don’t assume your customers already have an understanding about your subject. Don’t overload your customers with too much copy. Be clear, concise and avoid jargon.

Connect With Your Audience

Just like you would engage with your friends in a comfortable relaxing mode is the same way you ought to find the same zone with your readers. For most, time with friends is enjoyable and fulfilling, there's no reason why that shouldn't be the case with your audience whether you own a blog or a website. Understand them Treat your audiences/readers as friends, as a result of this you'll be able to build a relationship with them. (more...)

3 Ways to Get More Traffic This Weekend

I would like to share with you three quick ways to get more eyeballs on your blog this weekend. [1] Share your expertise Run a quick Q&A session on Twitter and help someone who has a question. You can do this by finding tweeted questions related to your market. You'll be surprised how much people would appreciate a helping hand. So go ahead, jump on Twitter and search for typical questions such as : - How do I... - How can I... in wordpress [2] Email your list Give them a quick update of you've been up to Find out how they are doing? Also, Keep them informed of any latest news on your blog. [3] Do a quick video post. This doesn't have to be anything fancy. Just a quick hello along with quick tips. Videos are very powerful, and bring you closer to your audience. What are your 3 tips for this weekend?

Personal Networking Can Benefit Your Blog [Part 2]

In my previous post, Personal Networking can benefit your Blog, I highlighted some benefits of face to face networking and where to find a local meet-up event. Following on from this, I wish to share some tips that will help prepare you for one. If you are new to this whole networking stuff, it may sound a bit daunting and intimidating at first - meeting someone for the first time, talking about what you do, what your business is about and so on... I can still remember when I attended my first ever meet-up event, on my way there I heard this little voice in my head saying - "turn back you muppet... you gonna to look like an idiot... you don't even know anyone there..." Nevertheless, I pursued on, kicking aside my fears. I had one intention in mind, and that was to make new friends and learn something new. There should be an overall motive when networking on any medium. If your motives are good, goodwill will follow. And you never know, these relationships may end up being great business or personal opportunities. Be An Ice Breaker Now, with fear driven out and the right attitude in place, you now have the freedom to mingle and instigate a conversation. If you find a yourself standing alone - start introducing yourself to others. Open the conversation by asking what they think of the meeting, what they blog about e.t.c Although, with that said, 80% of my interactions had been instigated by others - They've beaten me to it :) So, to do a quick recap: Banish your fears. Personal interaction is bound to happen at some stage in your blog's life-cycle. i.e. meeting fellow Bloggers, Advertisers e.t.c. Have the right attitude. Your motive is really important here. People see through fake individuals who do nothing but promote and talk about themselves - Do more listening. Be an ice breaker Start a conversation. Most of the time, your effort are always appreciate and valued. Preparation It is important to prepare yourself when you attend a meet-up group. One of the first questions regularly asked are "What do you do?", "What is your Business about" or "What do you blog about". I was asked this over and over again. After a couple of shaky answers, I soon got into the rhythm of it. I would recommend reciting what your business is about within a 30 seconds time frame - Stick to this and you'll be fine. Last thing you and want to is over-sell yourself or bore them. Spend equal time listening and talking. Also, always ask questions - It shows you are fully engaged in the conversation. Business Cards Have your business card handy and produce it at an appropriate time. Don't pull out your business card before you start talking or 5 seconds into introducing yourself. I have had several instances when this has happened - not a good look. I personally find it distracting - It becomes an awkward moment when I end up reading the business card instead of listening. Rather, let the business card hand-over support the conversation not the other way round. In your preparation, keep the following points in mind: Be able to explain what your blog/business is about in 30 secs. Engage yourself in the conversation. Arm yourself with business cards. Don't expect others to remember your your domain name - it is forgotten the moment you leave them.

Personal Networking Can Benefit Your Blog [Part 1]

Personal Networking is important to your online business Couple of weeks ago I attended my first ever bloggers meet-up group here in London and met some amazing people - real life bloggers :) I went there alone but soon made friends with some really cool guys in the blogging world – I never realised there were so many bloggers in my area. It was refreshing to get off my blog and physically meet people who did similar things to me. The evening had a nice friendly atmosphere, free drinks all night and a chance to win a 32" LCD TV (which I didn't win it of course) – but hey, not bad going for a first time visit. I was first introduced to Meetup.com by David Risley,  go ahead and check out Meetup.com, you may just find a group in your local area. Benefit 1 The first benefit of attending such group is the opportunity to converse face to face with like-minded individuals, getting to know them and how they operate. In my case, meeting bloggers and online marketers from totally different niches was refreshing. Benefit 2 Secondly, you get to learn from others. I had the pleasure of seeing Marko Saric give a presentation on blogging. Marko runs  HowToMakeMyBlog.com and he gave a very good presentation on 58 Ways To Build A Better Blog Check them out, I really think you will find value in them. If you look carefully, you should be able to spot me in the video [Hint: I was sitting on the couch] In my next post, I will be sharing some useful networking tips for a meet-up group and how best to prepare yourself for one. In the meantime, visit meetup.com to see if there is an event in your area.