Talking about blogging is certainly nothing new, and in light of all the various social networks, changes and developments, blogging is sometimes forgotten. But, it’s actually THE most powerful tool in my opinion. Overwhelmed by the idea? Don’t be, I’m going to help you. Think it’s a lot of work? Well, I won’t lie, it is! But if you start with a clear plan and set your business up on a regular schedule it’s not as daunting as it may seem. The goal here is turn your organization into a mini-publishing house. Make is so you are pumping out so much relevant, useful, educational information that those who don’t even know you exist, but who have a need for what you offer, can you find you via a variety of indexed pages. What’s even more advantageous to those who blog regularly is that Google recently changed their algorithms to give greater weight to new content—so, it’s more important than ever to be putting out fresh content on a regular basis.

Turn your company into a content machine >

RSS symbol: Make sure there is clear “subscribe” button on your blog. More people than ever consume information via a reader on the go.

1. Identify Keywords

Brainstorm and come up with a list of keywords associated with your business. And, don’t forget to consider how people may look for your business rather than just the way you think of it—for example, if you are an organic skin care company you may consider not only “organic” and “skin care,” but also “natural,” “chemical-free,” “non-irritating,” and so on. Be sure to consider and balance these 3 aspects:

• Search Volume: how often a word is searched
• Relevance: how closely a word relates to the products/services your are offering
• Difficulty: how much competition you will be up against for a keyword

Once you have come up with a concise list, plug each into the Google Adwords Keyword Tool and make a note of how each ranks. You should also do a regular search and see what companies you are up against. Do you think you can rank higher than them? If so, go for it. If not, consider focusing on what sets your company apart from the leaders and generate content that highlights your company’s distinct qualities and advantages.

2. On-page SEO

Once you’ve identified the strongest keywords, start to develop and schedule content around those words and be sure to include them in the following:

• Page title
• URL
• Headings
• Body text
• Meta data
• Image title, file name and alt-text

3. Off-page SEO

Since search engines place a considerable amount of weight on pages with authority it’s important to devote some time to link building from other sites to yours. It’s essentially free advertising and it can be very powerful if a page with a high rank links to yours. The best kind are links that are in context and linked to the anchor text of that page.

• Networking: start to follow other blogs within your industry and engage bloggers and influencers on a variety of social media networks
• Directories: submit your website to the big search engines’ directories and consider using news sharing sites like StubleUpon and Digg
• Downloads: develop some free resources for your visitors such as how-to videos, ebooks reference guides, ect.

When you position your company as a thought leader within your industry you’ll be harnessing the amazing power of search marketing. Good luck.

More Info: 

Content Marketing & SEO 

Social Media 101

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