Wedding Market Expo 2015

Wedding Market Expo 2015

Blogging

For

Authority

Wedding Market Expo 2015

San Antonio, TX.

Presented by

Shea & Cheryl Bailey

Wedding Industry Rescue

512-317-8571

What we will be covering:

  1. Should I Blog?
  2. Where do I start?
  3. The Foundation – Blog Structure
  4. Content Ideas
  5. Anatomy of a Blog for SEO
  6. Blog Distribution (Marketing)
  7. Tracking your Visitors (Google Analytics)
  8. Tools

Should I blog?

Absolutely, and here is why:

  1. You will be found organically on Google
  2. You will be seen as the Authority
  3. Increase your perceived value
  4. Answer questions your Ideal Client are asking
  5. Marketing is SEO and SEO is Marketing
  6. There is no longer just one 1st page of Google (Increase your online presence)
  7. Marketing is your first business

You really own a Marketing business that happens to offer a product or service in the Wedding Industry.

Blogging Statistics

  1. Leads generated through SEO close at around 14.6 percent while leads from other channels close at an average of 1.7 percent. (Hubspot)
  2. Companies that blog receive 97% more inbound links and 434% more indexed pages than businesses which do not blog (HubSpot)
  3. Small businesses that blog get 126% more lead growth than small businesses that do not blog (ThinkCreative)
  4. The average cost to generate a lead through inbound marketing techniques such as blogging is about half the average for traditional outbound marketing, such as cold calling. (Hightable)
  5. The #1 organic result gets nearly twice as many clicks as the #2 result. (Chitika/ Search Engine Land)
  6. 60% of all organic clicks go to the organic top 3 search results. (Business2Community)
  7. 62% of companies outsource their content marketing. (Iconsive)
  8. More than half (53%) of marketers rank content creation as the single most effective SEO tactic. (NewsCred)

Where do I start?

Before you start you need to know what your Blog is about!

What do you currently write about?

What would you like to write about?

What are you most passionate about?

Develop a clear objective and strategy.

Why did you start blogging?

Why don’t you currently blog?

Develop your voice

  1. Who am I?
  2. Be open & honest (transparent)
  3. Show your personality

Who are you blogging for (your Ideal Client)?

What do your Ideal Clients want to know? (Google wants you to answer the questions your Ideal Clients are asking)

The Foundation

Blog Structure

This exercise serves three purposes:

  1. It helps Google index your blog after it crawls your website by adding context to your blog.
  2. It improves the user experience for your visitors.
  3. It keeps you on track for writing content.

Here is an example:

  1. Name your Blog
  2. ABC Wedding Planner
  3. Pick one main theme
  4. Destination Wedding Planning
  5. 4-8 Sub-topics
  6. Mexico Wedding Venues
  7. 4-5 Categories
  8. Cancun Wedding Venues

Content Ideas

The #1 asked question is….

“What should I blog about?”

Examples of Blog post ideas:

  1. Lists
  2. How to’s
  3. Interviews
  4. Predictions
  5. Industry Secrets/Trends/Glossary of Terms
  6. Videos
  7. Infographics
  8. Cornerstone Content
  9. Guest Posts

Brainstorm Blog Ideas: Use your Blog Structure for ideas

11 ways to make your Blog post better.

  1. Choose onetopic that supports the purpose of your blog post.
  2. Create a great attention grabbing headline.
  3. Be specific as to why the reader will benefit from reading the post.
  4. Don’t use a clever headline. They are confusing and offer no benefit to the reader.
  5. Write a strong first paragraph.
  6. Use this to draw the reader further into the post.
  7. This sets the stage for the topic and must grab the reader’s attention.
  8. Use short paragraphs. They’re easier to read.
  9. Add heading to make the post visually scanable.
  10. Write like you are talking to your Ideal Client.
  11. Use small words and everyday language.
  12. Write for your readers, not for Google.
  13. Use bullet points and numbers.
  14. Add images.
  15. Make sure they support your topic.
  16. Link to other resources that will support your topic.
  17. Connect with the reader emotionally.
  18. Emotion – Logic – Emotion
  19. Summarize and give a strong Call to Action.

Create a Content Calendar

This will give you a schedule and keep you consistent.

To start with, you can use a simple spreadsheet or Word document to brainstorm new content ideas and then use a plugin to create the schedule.

  1. Editorial Calendar (WP) - Free
  2. CoSchedule (WP) - $10/mth

Content Calendar

Month:

Date:Blog Idea:

Anatomy of a Blog Post for SEO

Key elements that create a searchable Blog for Google

  1. One Main Keyword
  2. Pick one main keyword that your post is about. Everything will revolve around this keyword.
  3. Use it within the first 100 words
  4. Related Keywords
  5. Pick related keywords that support the main keyword.
  6. Synonyms – Wedding Coordinator
  7. Long Tail Keyword – “best wedding planner in St. Louis”
  8. URL
  9. Add the main keyword in the URL.
  10. Title
  11. Add the main keyword to the title of the blog.
  12. Make it an H1
  13. Headings
  14. These are the sub-sections of your post. They guide people as they scan your blog.
  15. Insert related keywords here.
  16. Make these an H2 and H3
  17. Images/Video
  18. Add images with captions* that support and add to your content.
  19. Optimize file name, ALT tags and descriptions with keywords
  20. Use exact sized images
  21. Reduce file size – EWWW Image Optimizer WP Plugin (Free)
  22. Internal/External Links
  23. Link to other pages that support and are relevant to what you are writing about.
  24. This will help build Page Authority (PA) and Domain Authority (DA).
  25. Link decay
  26. Anchor Text
  27. Create a variety of anchor text. Don’t over optimize the page with keywords.
  28. Write longer content (In-depth Articles)
  29. Call to Action (CTA)
  30. Meta Title & Description
  31. WordPress SEO by Yoast

This is what the WordPress SEO by Yoast plugin looks like when you are adding your blogs information.

This is how that page is displayed when I found it on Google.

This feature will automatically analyze the blog post and give you suggestions on what you need to do in order to have good basic on-page SEO.

Blog Distribution (Marketing)

You can create awesome content but it is useless unless you can get your Ideal Clients to consume it on your website!

  1. Social Media
  2. Facebook–Advetising
  3. Google +
  4. Pinterest
  5. Twitter
  6. Instagram
  7. LinkedIn
  8. YouTube
  9. Google AdWords
  10. E-mail
  11. Guest Blogging
  12. Repurposing
  13. Reciprocal Facebook Groups

Tracking Your Visitors

(Google Analytics)

Collecting data on your website visitors is one of the most important activity you can perform to help grow and improve your business. And it’s easy!

What can Google Analytics tell me?

  1. User Experience
  2. Bounce Rate
  3. Average time on site
  4. Average number of pages viewed
  5. How your visitors found your website
  6. Organic
  7. Direct
  8. Social Media
  9. Other websites (referral)
  10. Goals/conversions
  11. Most viewed pages/posts
  12. Most popular Landing Pages (where people entered your site)
  13. Pages where people exit your site

Tools

Google Analytics -

WP SEO by Yoast -

Editorial Calendar WP Plugin –

CoSchedule –

Google Keyword Planner –

EWWW Image Optimizer–

W3 Total Cache WP Plugin –

BuzzSumo –

Surveys/Polls –

Email Providers:

MailChimp -

Aweber -

Constant Contact -

Free Images:

Pixabay -

Kaboompics -

Magdeleine -

Free Range -

Free Images -

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