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3 Useful Blogging Articles to Enjoy on Columbus Day

Looking for some light reading on Columbus Day? Here is a recap on some of the Blogging 101 tips from the last month. If you’re a Web Professional or part-time blogger you may benefit from these 3 fundamental articles.

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How long does SEO take to work?

A quick case study of how fast your SEO can turn around with little effort.

Don’t Force Your Content

A post that discusses the drawback on posting content based on volume. Discover a more committed audience through passionate blog posts.

What’s your timeline for drafting featured posts?

A behind the scenes look into developing featured content for your blog or website.

[Photo Credit]
October 11, 2010 Matt 2

Blogging 101: How long does SEO take to work?

Just how long does it normally take you to see your SEO results? I saw results in about a month. Remember this post? If not, let me give you a recap.

A little more than 30 days ago, I got back into the game of blogging. Exiting from my stale and neglected Drupal blog and back to WordPress. In the aforementioned post, I provided screen shots of what was happening to my SEO keywords in regards to Google search results.

Well a few blog posts later and the good SEO is starting to take shape.

<!–more–>The image below represents how Google is interpreting my site now. As you can see, in a little over a month’s time, things have improved greatly.

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Big difference right? Let’s take a look.

The Problem: I Didn’t Maintain the Blog

I was running a Drupal based blog that was a bear to keep up with. It’s very important when running web applications like Drupal or WordPress that you keep the core files updated. Applying recent security patches insures your keeping yourself and audience safe from malicious activity. My last blog fell off my list of priorities and eventually became over written with spam.

You may think comment spam is just annoying for readers and your moderation efforts – but it actually changes how search engines define what your blog is about. Hence the reason why I was referred to as a Swedish trading post.

The Fix: I Ran For The Hills (And I Wrote Along The Way)

Aside from totally uprooting the the technology I ran my blog on, I started writing again. More posts, more content and more keywords shapes your identity. As you can see, it took a little over a month to start forming some relevant keywords to define my site. Now when people are searching for the terms I’m connected with – I will show up more often in their search results.

Conclusion

If you’re new to blogging or SEO, it’s not instant. It’s not passive. You have to work at it. You also need to be passionate about it. It’s not easy to create content if you don’t like to talk about it. On the flip side, if you’re not talking at all, your presence could take a shape onto itself.

As a Web Professional, we need to take into account for the entire ecosystem. Chose your technology, maintain it, support it, and by all means utilize it.

In the long run it benefits you, your clients, and the community that follows you.

[Photo credit: MGCamacho Blog]
October 9, 2010 Matt 3

Blogging 101: Don’t Force Your Content

I’ve been blogging consistently for a little over a month now. It’s my first major effort aside from tweeting to followers or tracking and responding to certain Web Professional topics on Twitter. I’ve been trying to post at least 2 – 3 times a week. One “full blog post”, one “half blog post”, and a quick post series I call “Thinking for the Weekend” on Friday’s.

There I was, sitting on my sofa watching the New England Patriots special teams beat the Miami Dolphins. I’m mentally planning out the rest of my week and thinking about tomorrow morning’s meeting. Then I almost did something very dangerous.

Force a blog post.

Continue Reading

October 5, 2010 Matt 3

Thinking For The Weekend: Building a Quality Team

According to investors and business leaders, building a quality team is the most important part of a start-up.

This week Techcrunch held their Techcrunch Disrupt in San Francisco. This is a gathering of our industries leading Venture Capitalists and Angel Investors. It is also an opportunity for unknown startups to take the stage and impress these potential investors.

Disrupt was broadcast live over Ustream and it was a joy to watch. One of the most prominent messages and advice from investors, CEO’s and start-up advisers was to build a strong team. To them it is the fundamental element to success in any industry.

Over the weekend, think of how you built your team. Think of how you may attract more talent. Also, reflect on how you can nurture and retain that talent.

Share your thoughts below!

October 2, 2010 Matt 1

Demand Does Not Always Lead To Need

Seth Godin just published a blog article, Needs don’t always lead to demands. This was perfect timing to a post I was crafting about quite the opposite.

Demand does not always lead to need.

At Slocum Design Studio, many of our clients are after promoting their business, message, or product. They come to us because they want to increase sales and get better results. They want to show the world who they are and what they have to offer. We accomplish this with great web design, compelling photography and high definition video production.

Every now and again you run across a unique client. They have a ton of content, a great following and the some truly moving stories. As a Web Professional or design studio it’s an opportunity to create something great. The entire team is energized and full of ideas to promote them.

And then it hits. The client doesn’t want to.

<!–more–>Not because of cost or time, but because they are uncertain their topic or story would be appealing. We try and explain the demand for HD Video and unique and compelling photography is key for a successful web presence. We show them example websites and competitors that do not have half the achievement of their team. Lackluster stories or very few recommendations our client received.

“Everyone is doing it!” we say. “Everyone wants to promote themselves!” we shout. “You need this!” we beg.

“Not us.” responds the client.

The original topic of this post was going to be, how do you inspire your clients to promote themselves. The problem is, I haven’t figured that out yet. Seth’s recent post was a Godsend that triggered me to rethink and rework this article.

When Web Professionals or entrepreneurs are passionate about something, they want to see it succeed. It’s a hard pill to swallow when you see the potential in someone and they are afraid to make the leap.

So, the demand for something does not mean that everyone will want it. Agree or disagree? Let me know below.

September 30, 2010 Matt 3