Blog Marketing - A Beginner's Guide
Blog Marketing - A Beginner's Guide
Blog Marketing - A Beginner's Guide
This guide for beginners blog marketing was written with a basketball coaching blog as an example, but can easily be substituted for any other niche. Hopefully you will learn a new way or two that can help you achieve your bloggin goals. Here are the simple steps to more blogger traffic:
1. Find similar blogs
You can start looking for related blogs by using the search engines. Search using relevant keywords + "blog". Use the singular and plural form of the keywords for each search.
For example "basketball blog", "basketball blogs", "basketball coaching blogs", "NBA blogs", "sports coaching blogs", "high school basketball blog", etc.
If you do these searches on multiple search engines (bing,google,ask.com, etc) you will come up with more options than if you were to only search on google.
Once you have found related, high quality blogs you should either bookmark them, put them in a spreadsheet, etc. Keeping track of everything can save headaches later on.
After finding and organizing your potential candidates you should subscribe to, or "follow" their blog. This normally involves submitting your email address and/or website with some simple personal information. After subscribing you will be updated (by email) of any new posts, & of replies to any of your own comments made on other people's blog.
*Note-It might be a good idea to make a new email address dedicated entirely to following others' blogs. This way you can separate your personal email and your blog related email.
2. Interact with the related blogs you have found
Most blog owners will post updates anywhere from 1-10 X per week. Considering the amount of related blogs you may have found, this can be an overwhelming amount of information to comment on or add to. As a result, it is wise to only interact with blog posts that you are either very knowledgeable on or feel strongly about. You have to be saying something important or enlightening to persuade other readers that you are an expert. After a few comments, regular readers of the related blogs will recognize your expertise, and in turn check out your own blog this will lead to more followers for you.
*Note you don't always have to disagree with a blog post to feel strongly about it. If a post is written particularly well and you find it informative, its not a bad idea to comment about why you enjoyed/agreed with the post and what specifically you liked about it. This can result in happy blog owners, who may eventually ask for you to write a guest blog post.
It is a good idea to mix-up the type of comments that you make. Some can be a debate if you disagree with something. Some can be made in agreement with a post. Others still may add on something that was stated. Its important to switch it up so that you don't look negative or like a yes-man. You want to stimulate thought with your posts.
The goal of commenting on other blogs is to gain backlinks to your own blog, as well as establish credibility in your community. When commenting on others' posts there is usually a spot for your own website, which will be hyperlinked through your name. It will look similar to this- Mauro Panaggio says: - The link should link to your blog (mauropanaggio.blogspot.com).
3. Comment on basketball related articles & news
The internet is filled with basketball articles and news. Start by doing a search for the different types of articles you would like to add to.
Use searches like "basketball articles", "basketball coaching articles", "basketball defense articles", "basketball offense articles", "free-throw articles", etc
Use any relevant keywords with the word "articles" or "article" at the end and you will know doubt find thousands of possible places to comment and add a link back to your blog. Get creative with your searches. You can be as specific or broad as you like. Things like "Orlando Magic articles" and "Orlando Magic strategy articles" will all yield different results. Focus on the highest ranking articles, as these will be seen more and result in more people reading your comments. The only exception is with broad searches like "basketball articles". In this case it is possible that the first 5-10 pages could all get enough traffic to justify a comment.
The second part of this step is to stay up with current basketball news. These get the most traffic, however there are usually many comments. This can make it easy for yours to get lost and overlooked. It is important to pay attention to the regulars commenting on these types of articles. They are usually leads to find new blogs and possible interaction/networking. When commenting on news articles, it is important to keep your responses shorter and to the point. Don't forget to add your website's hyperlink.
4. Submitting to relevant blog directories
In order to make it so that your blog is easily found, it can help to submit to multiple blog directories. This involves doing a number of searches. Use keywords followed by the word "blog(s)" + the words "directory" or "directories"
"Basketball blog directory", "Coaching bog directory", and "Sports blog directory" are all good starts. These may not return very many relevant results, though.
After this, try searching for and submitting to general blog directories.
"blog directory", "blog directories", and "free blog directory" are good searches to start with.
*Note do not spend too much time on this step It is much less important then the other steps and can be implemented when the others have already been done for the day. This process can be frustrating and time consuming.
5. Look for guest blogging opportunities
There are many websites dedicated to bringing together bloggers and people looking for guest blog spots. Start with some simple searches and elaborate as needed.
"Basketball guest blogging" "Guest blogging opportunities" etc
In most cases you will have to sign up as a member at these sites (its usually free). This step can help gain a lot of exposure for your blog as well as provide relevant backlinks.
6. Turn your blogs into articles
Many informative blog posts can be "spun" into articles and submitted to numerous article sites. If done correctly this can result in increased exposure and useful backlinks. Some of the most effective article websites are: Ezinearticles, ArticlesBase, Goarticles, and ArticleDashboard.
Spinning your blog posts into articles is an art. The key is to develop content that sounds very interesting (good title) and targets keywords with high search density.
*Note I can help you with this step. I will submit your articles and include links, titles, keyword research, etc. All you have to do is spin the blog post into something that is more news worthy. Example If you had an article about defense, it could be spun into "10 most forgotten basketball defensive strategies" or something like that.
7. Writing effective blog posts
While you should provide lots of fundamental and skill related content for your blog, it is important to spread this out among more light hearted blog posts. For example, in one week you may do a posts about "Motivating your team when they are losing", "5 coaches who should be fired", and "Why ____ could have helped the Magic beat the Jazz".
Some posts should be strictly informative, others opinions, some made as commentary about recent games or events, and others a combination of all 3.
It is important to keep the blog posts at a reasonable length, as attention spans are short nowadays. Also be aware of others who may be commenting on your posts, and be sure to respond if the situation requires it. Constructive interaction may lead more word of mouth followers. Just be sure to keep an open mind when dealing with others' opinions. You always get the occasional jerks or idiots who don't know what they are talking about.
Be sure to include any relevant pictures, links, or audio/video that may help your readers. This can make the difference between a good or bad post.
Remember to determine who your readers are (or who you want them to be) and cater to them.
8. Utilize existing channels and contacts
This one is a no brainer. After you have made a few posts and your blog is looking good, reach out to anyone you already know and that might be interested. Ex players, coaches, and anyone else who might pass along the word. Use emails, facebook, and even phone calls to inform others about your blog and encourage them to tell their friends.
This step will help you gain a good base of followers and is a great starting point. It is much harder to gain followers you don't know, especially if you currently have little no none to begin with. People tend to follow blogs that already have a lot of followers, so starting with the low hanging fruit is key.
There are many other, more advanced tactics to help increase your blog traffic. Since this is a beginners guide we will have to deal with them some other time. This should give you a firm grasp on some of the most basics stepsfor effectively promoting your blog.
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