I read a blog post earlier, which was clearly written for SEO purposes, rather than for people. It was an example of an SEO tactic called keyword stuffing.

What is keyword stuffing?

Keyword stuffing is the process of over optimizing a page of content, for a word or phrase, which is then used over and over again, in order to improve the keyword density of the post. The higher the keyword density, the easier it is for search engines to figure out what that post is all about. The post I just read was 337 words long and repeated the same 2 word key phrase 24 times!

It’s a low value form of SEO, as these over optimized posts tend to achieve very poor conversion rates. Yes, people will find them via search engines, but because they are stuffed with the same phrase over and over and over again, they make little sense. So, people tend to leave those pages as quickly as they arrive.

Focus on conversions, not traffic!

Over optimized, keyword stuffed posts are tempting for bloggers, who are more focused on traffic than focused on conversions; sales, subscribers, emails, sales inquiries etc.

Whilst it’s nice to see a few thousand people visit your blog each day, if they leave within seconds because the content fails to earn their attention, what’s the point? It’s a little like sending a huge mail shot out to people, which contains a badly written letter that makes no sense to the reader. It would reach lots of people, yet generate no positive response.

Organic optimization

The reality is that a well written post, which is on topic and focused around a single idea, can easily be picked up by search engines, whilst being of value to your target readership. Such posts are organically optimized. It’s natural. It reads great. It converts!

For example, if I were to write a review right now, for my new HTC One X phone, there would be a number of times where I would need to mention the full name of the phone. This would include the post title, the initial paragraph and at least one of the sub-headings. I’d also need to mention the full name of the phone in any stats I produced as well as the summing up section at the end of the review.

In short: Attract focused traffic by optimizing organically. Yes, it’s a smart move to ensure your blog posts are easy for the Google bot to understand, but stuffing them with keywords so they make little or no sense when people try to read them, is a waste of your time.

Photo: Jma Work

Business owners who blog tend to fit into one of the following 2 groups.

Some see blogging as a chore

The first group don’t write posts very often and see blogging as a marketing activity that they have to do.

Of course, it’s hard to find the time or motivation to blog, when you see it as a chore. It’s understandable too, when we consider that the massive majority of business owners who blog have no effective strategy, so they see very little reward for their efforts. They wrongly assume blogging is the problem, rather than the approach they are using.

Some see blogging as a goose that lays golden eggs

The second group always seem to find the time and energy to invest in developing their blog.

Of course, it’s easy to get motivated to blog, when you see bankable results from your blogging, such as new clients and more targeted, high quality marketing leads. When leaders from your industry contact you via your blog to ask your opinion and you see your reputation growing within your marketplace literally every working day, blogging is actually extremely enjoyable.

I generated close to a quarter of a million dollars in high quality business from my blogging last year, and loved writing every word or every post! Blogging is only a chore, when it isn’t generating the results you need.

What next?

If you are in that first group, the solution is not to do more of what doesn’t work. That would be like rowing a boat harder and harder in the wrong direction, hoping you will magically reach your destination, if you just row hard enough for long enough.

The answer is to get yourself into the second group, by learning how to do the right things, correctly.

When you do, blogging suddenly becomes a positive circle, where your effort is rewarded many times over. This motivates you to carry on doing the right things, correctly, which creates increasingly good results, which inspire you to do more.

If you’d like some help getting into that second group, I strongly recommend you read this.

Photo: Mykl Roventine

1. Embrace the idea of writing some posts, which people may disagree with

The weakest posts out there, are those where the blogger tries to be all things to all people and cover every possible objection to what he or she is writing. This not only makes for over-long posts, it makes it hard for people to find anything within the post to comment on.

If you have experienced problems getting people to comment on your blog, it could be that you are leaving nothing for them to say.

2. Embrace the idea of writing short blog posts, as well as longer ones

One of the so-called rules of blogging, is that your posts should all run to over 300 words. Yes, if you write exclusively for search engines rather than people, you may do better by X% if you pad out a short post with fluff and keywords. However, if you want to write content that works for your business by engaging people, your posts need to be as long as they need to be.

For example, some of my most popular posts run to little over 100 words. This type of blogging is embraced by Seth Godin, who often writes very short posts. In fact, many of his most shared posts, are also his shortest.

3. Embrace the idea that most ‘rules of blogging’ are totally bogus

Once you have some good quality hosting and a professional looking blog theme, the only rule you need to abide by is to write useful content, which people will read, share and link to – and make it easy for them to share your work. Beyond that, you will almost certainly do better by ignoring the rules that hundreds of thousands of other bloggers are sticking to. It’s hard to get noticed, when you are following the pack!

On Jimsmarketingblog.com, one of the world’s most popular marketing blogs, I break most of the so-called rules of blogging.

For instance:

• I rank on page 1 of Google all over the world, for the term ‘marketing blogs’, even though I do very little SEO and zero SEO on my posts.
• I don’t guest post.
• I don’t attend blogging conferences.
• I don’t make sure my posts are all 300 words or longer.
• I don’t write a newsletter.
• I don’t use SEO software.
• I don’t use pop-up software.
• I don’t use landing page software, either.
• I don’t use a fancy commenting system.
• I don’t write posts that tie into a news story, to news jack.

I just turn up regularly and write useful posts. It works, because those are the type of posts that naturally get links and shares. Those links and shares take care of the SEO to a large degree and have allowed me to reach thousands of people every day, via that site.

4. Embrace the idea that your posts need to be human, rather than perfect

If you want every post to be perfect, you will seldom write anything. Your work is your voice. It’s a reflection of the way YOU see things. Be human when you write and you will not only write more great content, more often, you will also make it easier for prospective clients to connect with you and your work.

5. Embrace the idea that if you can say it, you can write it

One of the questions I get asked the most is how I manage to publish posts and articles pretty much every day. The answer is simple. I discovered that if you can speak without people falling asleep, you can write and keep people engaged too. This is linked to the previous point about being human. I found it massively easier to write on a regular basis, when I understood that writing was very similar to speaking and that I never got ‘speakers block’.

So, what would you add to those 5 ideas?

Photo: psd

If there is one theme that resonates on this blog, it’s Content.

My definition of content, as it relates to Content Marketing is; the message we share in order to attract the right people’s attention and then earn their interest, to their betterment and the development of our company and personal brand.

Content is going to be extremely important in 2012 with Google changing its algorithm and with people looking at ways to create a strong presence on platforms that continue to change, like Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Google+. Great content is the one constant!

Here are some items I think about on a regular basis with respect to the content I share on blogs.

Creative: You have to have a strong voice and stand out. If you are blogging for a company, make sure the content you are writing relates to the products or services that your company provides. If you are writing about a popular subject, like social media, you really have your work cut out for you. There are so many social media blog sites. My advice to you, write about your personal experiences. This way you can take a solid stance on a particular subject.

Objective: Know your facts, do your homework. It is OK to use other people’s information or refer to articles, but always give credit. In fact, other writers appreciate people conducting reviews of their articles. Check out this blog post I wrote, about an article by Todd Schnick – entitled “Social Media Opinions”

Name: Always remember when you write, you represent your personal brand and company brand. You are always working to build your image and earn the respect of your readers. Always respond back to all valid comments left on your site. You can disagree with someone, but do not make it personal. Disagree with the point, not the person.

Time: Blogging takes time in the beginning. Generate ideas. Find a time that works for you to write blog posts on a regular basis. If you get stuck, come back. If you miss a day, it’s ok, just don’t miss another day. Take weekends off if you need to. You also might discover that weekends are the best time to write. Timing is everything. Find your best time and stick with it.

Every day: Work with your site every day. Check out the type of readers who are accessing your site. Spread word about your blog using Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and Google+. If you see a potential story, bookmark it for a later time. Read other blogs and see if there are things you could add to your own blog to make it better.

Newsworthy: Blog about topics or issues that are current and would add value to your  readers. Build on someone else’s idea and give credit. Check out trending stories. Make sure you are creating good, original content. It really doesn’t make sense to echo the same news as someone else.

Test: Try out different topics. Look at different blogging platforms. Personally, I prefer self hosted WordPress. Check out different page layouts. Make sure you use an analytics tool to gauge how many visitors, pageviews you are receiving and the words they use, to find you etc. Also, test sharing your links on social networks, using different titles to the original post. This allows you to learn which type of title attracts the most interest, so you can write better post titles next time. Talk to people who have been blogging for longer than you, as their experience could be extremely useful to you.

The Author: Brent Pohlman is Director of Marketing for Midwest Laboratories, a multimillion dollar business in Omaha, Nebraska. He is also the man behind the Marketing Director Blog and a passionate advocate of content marketing. You can catch Brent on Twitter and also here on Google+.

Photo.

I checked out his profile and he seems to use it to share funny photos and seldom mentions his business. He is, apparently, a professional copywriter, yet I’m willing to bet that few of the people who have circled him on Google+ know that or have any need for his services.

Building the wrong numbers

So, I asked why he was just sharing unrelated, funny photos and not mentioning his business or anything about him.

His reply was interesting: “They get shared a lot more than the business related posts I publish here.”

I then asked: “As the photos are nothing to do with your line of work and it’s a commercial Google+ account, how valuable to your business do you think these shares are?”

His response was: “No real value Jim. The share numbers look good though.”

There are very few service providers, for whom the point of using Google+ is to simply rack-up shares. Most are looking to develop a targeted network of prospective clients and advocates, whilst positioning themselves as an authority in their particular field of work.

Be human but also be smart

Now, whilst it’s a great idea to show the human side of you and your business, the primary focus should be on ensuring you are attracting and connecting with, the right people. For example, if I have 1,000 random followers on Twitter who follow me because of my jokes and you have 100 targeted followers who follow you because they are interested in you and your business, you win.

You win, because you will be attracting targeted inquiries, while I’m attracting ‘shares’ of my latest skateboarding dog video!

Photo credit.

Black, white and many shades of grey

Very few things in life are truly binary, black or white, good or bad, right or wrong. With most things, there are many valid and equally correct opinions. For example, if you love the taste of honey and someone asks you what honey tastes like, you will say it tastes great and be telling the truth. If I hate the taste of honey and someone asks me what it tastes like, I will say it tastes awful and I will be telling the truth too. Those 2 different answers to the same question were both true and each opinion was valid.

As a blogger, if you fail to accept that there is more than one truth, your posts will read less like approachable, informed opinion and more like diktats. Equally, it is almost impossible to grow your blog into the business asset it should be, without embracing external feedback, even if it runs counter to what you currently believe.

Feedback helps you to improve

The most interesting, educational and compelling blog posts are often those, where people examine a topic from different perspectives. Even so, many bloggers are against the whole idea of people taking a counter opinion to their own. One blogger once commented to me that he deleted any comments that either disagreed with him or which disproved something he had stated. That’s one way to try and develop a blog, but I recommend another approach.

Last year, I wrote a post here about copyblogger, asking Sonia Simone and Brian Clark if they would add dates to their blog posts. Every post on copyblogger is published with no reference to the date. So, you could be reading a post that was a day old, or 6 years old. After writing the post, I did some research. I removed the dates from the posts on this blog and immediately figured out why they did it on copyblogger. It dramatically increased the number of times older posts were shared on social media and the number of page views per reader. As soon as the data was in, I wrote a new post, saying that I was wrong to ask for them to add dates to their post.

The lesson? My follow up post about removing dates from blog posts became the most read post on this site last year! This, despite my having to admit my initial thoughts were incorrect.

The most effective way to grow a successful, lead-generating blog, is to open your mind to feedback. Testing and measuring what you see, then using the results to make better decisions, is the foundation of all great marketing. Business blogging is no exception.

Photo credit

Content Marketing & balance

It’s extremely important to focus on the needs of your marketplace, rather than your own needs. People can tell instantly when a service provider has this balance wrong. A very common example we see daily, is when we arrive on sites and get hit by sales messages, banners and pop-ups – All demanding we do something for them. That’s the completely wrong balance for successful Content Marketing.

The foundation of great Content Marketing, is to deliver useful information, which a targeted group of people will find valuable enough to subscribe to and share. By continuing to earn their attention, you position yourself as an authority on your subject and make it easy for them to contact you, when they have a requirement for someone with your expertise.

Tilting the balance

If you are a service provider seeking to attract client inquiries online, your balance should be heavily tilted toward contribution. Remember, if your content is useful enough, people will subscribe to it, share it and return. Just make it easy for them to subscribe and share.

You don’t need to push sales messages at people about how awesome you are, just make it easy for them to contact you. A dedicated contact page with an address, phone number and email address is all you need. If you must use a contact form, remember that for every additional required field, you will lose X% of inquiries. If you’re OK about that, a form is fine.

That’s the balance I used in 2011, to generate almost £150,000 in client fees from my Marketing Blog.

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It’s easy to find a useful blog post, then just click the Facebook like button or give it a Google +1. However, this doesn’t tell anyone, anything about why you liked it. This is a bad move, if you genuinely want people to connect with you and get an insight into what you value and what you think.

Content Marketing and Digital Footprints

As you use the Internet, you leave Digital Footprints. This is an easy to find trail, which shows much of your online activity, to anyone who cares to look. As a business owner, the people likely to check out your Digital Footprint, include prospective clients and those looking for a tribe to join. If your Digital Footprint is a series of nondescript Likes, +1′s and retweets you are missing a massive opportunity.

If you find a blog post useful, certainly give it a Google +1, Like or retweet – But also take time whenever possible, to share it along with WHY you’re sharing it!

Here are 2 reasons why this should matter to you:

1. Context: You give those who don’t yet know you, an insight into what you value and why you find something either useful or entertaining. This helps them determine of you are like-minded.
2. Visibility: When you share a post, you get the attention of the blogger. We notice and value, those who share our work. By adding context to your share, we also get a handle on you and what you stand for. This alone has enormous value to you, as you seek to develop a wider network of great people.

Your visibility increases when you add context

When you take a moment to tell us why you wanted to share something or why you found it useful, you become visible. You stand apart from the masses. You allow us, your prospective clients and advocates, to learn more about who you are and what you think.

This context driven visibility is massively valuable for any service provider, seeking to grow their reach and influence.

Do you contribute?

I’d love to know what you think. Are you someone who comments on blogs or adds the why to your shares? Do you find it useful, when other people explain why they have shared a piece of content?

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I’ve heard a number of bloggers recently proclaim that they are not going to update their blog as regularly as before. A few well-known bloggers made the announcement and now, others have followed suit. Their reason or excuse? From now on, they say, they are only going to publish posts, which hit it out of the park – Home runs!

In other words: They will only publish posts when they know, in advance, the post will be a smash hit.

A word of warning before you do the same

Before more bloggers decide to follow this approach, I want to explain why this is a really bad move, if you want to grow a commercially successful blog. But first, I’d like to share what I believe is the more likely reason behind many of those Home Run Post announcements.

In my opinion, the announcements are unlikely to be driven by a sudden realization that most of their past work was mediocre, especially as many of these bloggers wrote consistently valuable content. Here’s what I see the announcements driven by in many cases:

• A change in the blogger’s circumstances.
• A drop in motivation.
• The realization that they are putting a lot of work in and getting too little back to maintain the time they were investing in their blogs. Those who publish posts several times a week or more and achieve all our blogging goals, wouldn’t suddenly, dramatically drop how often we publish, unless there was a serious problem.
• Or that they have hit a creative dip and are dry of ideas.

Home Run blog posts: A seriously flawed approach

The problem comes, when new bloggers are encouraged to adopt the same blogging strategy, wrongly thinking it’s the best way forward. There are a number of strong reasons, why the Home Run approach is toxic.

Perhaps the most serious problem with waiting for home runs, is that it encourages the perfectionist mindset. The perfectionist mindset is the enemy of creativity and productivity. In waiting for everything to be perfect before you hit publish, you will find your productivity tanks, because things are seldom perfect. The blogger who rarely publishes also finds it hard to remain relevant to his or her readers, making this a dangerous strategy to copy.

Another problem with this approach, is that it assumes the blogger knows in advance when a post will be a Home Run or not. As bloggers, we write as well as we can, but it’s our readers who judge how valuable the post is, not us. I’ve written thousands of posts and it’s seldom obvious, which posts the readers will value the most. I’ve written what I thought were amazing posts, which attracted little attention, and others that I thought were good posts, which were massively successful.

The thing is, most of my best posts would never have been written, had I decided to only publish posts that were guaranteed smash hits. For me, that’s enough of a reason in itself, to stop focusing on waiting for home runs.

Blogging and the Useful Post strategy

In my experience, the most successful bloggers are those who have the following, simple publishing guideline: The post must be useful.

It’s better to publish nothing, rather than publish a post, which you know has little value. When you think your readership (or a hefty subset of your readership) will find it useful, publish it. Shoot for useful.

Service providers like you and I, use Content Marketing as a way to attract the attention of prospective clients and position ourselves in their mind as an expert or authority in our field. We achieve this by regularly turning up, with useful information. Useful blog posts are valued more, shared more and they are more likely to inspire your readers (prospective clients) to see YOU as a valuable resource for their business.

Clever posts are fine, but useful posts will beat them every time. You see, it’s a win-win thing. The posts your readers find most useful, will go on to become home runs for you. That’s because you hit a home run every time you show up and make a positive impact in your marketplace!

The bottom line: The time to publish a blog post, is when you have something useful to share. That simple idea underpins every successful blog I know.

Photo credit

The foundation of your blogging factory

I was sent that photo after I wrote a post, explaining that it’s the content of our mind that’s responsible for our marketing success and not the content of our office. Your ability to think creatively is of far greater value to you, than any piece of tech equipment.  It’s all too easy to focus on the tools, when in reality, as bloggers, our factory requires just a few simple things:

• Some hosting.
• A copy of WordPress and a flexible, SEO friendly blog theme.  I use Headway (affiliate link.)
• A computer and Internet connection.
• Oh, and the determination to regularly turn up with blog posts that have something interesting to say; rather than echoing what every other blogger is saying!

The reason so many bloggers obsess about the exact configuration of their set-up, is that they haven’t yet figured out that it’s the final point on that list, which makes all the difference.  Our success is determined by our decision to regularly deliver useful, interesting posts and not the make of computer we use to write them with.  It’s the content our factory produces, which matters.

The bottom line: People read, share, talk about and buy great content. They couldn’t care less what kind of set-up that content was created with.

PS: I strongly recommend you take a look at Seth Godin’s blog.