The Maine SEO Blog

I’ve begun been participating in the GuestBlogging.com Apprenticeship Program, run by one of Copyblogger’s associate editors, Jon Morrow. In one of the first offerings of the workshop, Jon teamed up with Sonia Simone of Remarkable Communication to create The 7 Most Common Reasons Guest Blogposts Get Rejected at Copyblogger.

In the most recent session, Jon talked about cultivating connections. He’s not talking about connections with other bloggers – yet – but about other niches, categories, and industries.

Jon starts by saying: Your content is only as valuable as the connections it allows you to make.

Guest blogging is so powerful because of the connections it allows you to make. The bloggers who make it big don’t necessarily have the best content, but they do have the best connections.

Jon suggests creating dozens of little channels to get people to your blog – don’t just focus on the big highways. How do you do that, you may ask? Good question.

Ditch your niche.

Seems kind of crazy, doesn’t it? Hold tight, you’ll soon see why.

Jon suggests that you don’t get trapped in your niche. Every niche or topic interconnects with other topics, and by focusing on just one, you’re losing out on a ton of opportunity. That’s what the Internet is, afterall: an interconnected community.

But…my industry is huge

It doesn’t matter how big or small your niche is, if you focus only on your industry, your blog will eventually suffocate from a lack of new connections. Like a goldfish, it can only grow to the size of its tank…err, community.

Now what?

In order to continue to grow, stop thinking of yourself in a tiny niche. Realize your blog is a tiny piece of a huge network. Then we start the fun stuff.

Start by brainstorming. Think about what your potential audience might be searching for. What topics would bring in new – but still applicable - audiences?

For example

Let’s say I own a cupcake shop in a small town. I’ll certainly post things about latest designs and flavors, recipes, and updates on small town goings-on; but I’ll also post things about:

• Running a small business
• DIY baking that looks professional
• Cooking (not just baking) tips, tricks, and secrets
• Healthy baking and cooking
• Alternate and non-traditional cupcake uses (birthdays, weddings, company events, etc.)

Once you start brainstorming how your industry can play into other niches, the sky is the limit!

Nicki Hicks
Ready to ditch your niche?

If you have a blog, you know about comment spam. The moment you have an even remotely popular blog, you’ll be doused with every “SEO India” commenter out there. You might be asking yourself how to tell the spam from the non-spam. Here’s how.

Start with a clean slate

If you use WordPress or another content management system, you’ll want to take a look at your comment settings and make sure they are as high as you want them to be. For example, in my own settings, I’m alerted whenever a comment is approved or held for moderation, and comments with a link or more is held for moderation.

Stay on top of your comment spam

A comment link doesn’t give the linkee any added search engine benefit. It does, however, appear on your blog and clog up the legitimate comments. I’m not sure about you, but I’d rather not link to a Viagra scheming spammer.

Comments will typically in three forms: obvious spam, semi-obvious spam, and rock star comments.

1. Obvious spam

If you use WordPress or another CMS, your spam filter is pretty robust. It will pick up painfully obvious spam like this:

Obvious spam is pretty easy to spot:

• The comment itself will typically have nothing to do with your blog, and in many cases include a ton of links to an entirely bogus website.
• You’ll normally find an attempt at a keyword stuffed name (in this example, the commenter’s name and the message don’t even apply to one another).
• The website and/or email address will have signs of spam.

2. Semi-obvious spam

These are tricky, as they are often a compliment to the blog/blogger. The semi-obvious spam will usually sneak right through your spam filter and either be marked as needing approval or – yikes – be approved altogether!

Never fear. Here are some tips to spot the semi-obvious spam:

• Always check the name. Garden Canopies might have given me a self-esteem boost, but I can also count on the fact that they aren’t a real person.
• Do the website/email address look bogus? Often, the website will point to a deep page on a spammy website. No need to visit the site to confirm…unless you want to chance a computer virus.

When the spammer uses their real name, that makes these steps that much harder. However, there’s one question you can ask to solve any question of “to approve a comment or to not approve”: does the comment add value? The amount of value is up to you – but answering this question will quickly help you decide whether or not to approve the comment.

3. Rock star comments

These comments, hands down, add value. The commenter is committed to adding the conversation.

There you have it, folks. Now head over to your blog and start cleaning up that comment spam!

Nicki Hicks
Spot the Spam

A while back, I wrote about what to do when you can’t think of anything to blog about. This post goes a step further. Do you feel like you’ve been keeping up with your blog pretty well, but your posts are always a similar flavor? Let’s spice it up a little…

1. What’s your competition up to?

Use Google’s blog search to search for blogposts in your industry. You’ll have to sort the junk, but I bet you’ll quickly feel inspired with some new and different posts.

2. Write more about what people are already finding

Check out your Google Analytics Traffic Sources section, then in your keywords. Scroll to the bottom of the list – deep down in the long tail. Only a few people found you with these keywords, but perhaps there’s opportunity to expand on some posts you’ve already written by incorporating some of that long tail language.

3. What’s hot in your industry right now?

Have a favorite blog(s)? Follow what’s happening in your industry right now and blog about it. Sure, you won’t be the news source where people find out what happened first; but you’ll certainly be able to put your own, unique spin on it. Or, if you don’t have many other favorite blogs, you could always use one of these cool tools.

4. IRL (In Real Life)

Does something ever happen in your day-to-day life that makes you think “Man, I could relate this to something in my blog!” Grab a piece of scrap paper, a voice recorder, or your phone and jot your idea down! You’d be surprised how you can relate something completely unrelated to your industry.

5. Use what you already know

Tips and tricks you use every day may be common place to you, but not your audience. Write a quick tutorial blogpost or, better yet, create a video how-to!

6. Incorporate FAQs

Are your customers constantly asking you the same questions? Chances are, it’s probably more than just your customer base asking those questions. Make sure you write those questions down when you’re on the phone with a client.

What are your tricks for spicing up your blogposts?

Photo credit: recycle this

Nicki Hicks
Don’t get stale

This morning I attended my second Social Media Breakfast Maine (#SMBME), and this time I was lucky enough to be invited as a presenter. Today’s event was split into two sections:

• What is SEO and Real Time Search? (by the brilliant Kasi Gajtkowski)
• How to Use SEO to Optimize Your Blog and Social Media Updates (by moi)

As far as my portion of the presentation, you can view the full slideshow below, but here are some of the biggest things to take away:

• SEO Goals
  • Short-term:
    • Rank better
    • Drive traffic
  • Long-term
    • Sell more products/services
    • Have more email signups
    • Make more conversions
• There should be a balance between please the search engines (SEO) and pleasing your audience (personability).

For tips on how to optimize your blog/social profiles, you’ll just have to view the slideshow

Who doesn’t want more hours in the day? We all do.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the secret that will add minutes to your day; but I do have some that will help you use your time more wisely.

Blogging

1. Have go-to blogpost ideas ready for a rainy day. Try some of these easy tips to get started.
2. Repurpose your content by guest blogging or article marketing. Take an existing blogpost you already have and put a different spin on it, or elaborate on a certain point.

Social Media

1. Use services to send out mass status messages to all of your social media profiles. My favorite is ping.fm.
2. Spend your time where your audience is at. If they’re on Twitter, be on Twitter. If they’re on LinkedIn, make sure you’re answering questions on LinkedIn. If your audience isn’t in a particular social space – and you’re pressed for time – I would argue it’s not worth being there.
3. Use Networked Blogs for Facebook, and skip having to worry about posting every blogpost to your fan page. Use a service like Twitterfeed to have blogposts auto-tweeted.

What about you? What are your tips for saving time blogging/social media success?

Nicki Hicks
Let’s work smarter, not harder

Photo credit: tonivc