By Beth Graddon-Hodgson

In last week’s post, I gave you a little bit of insight to help you use your intuition and determine how to respond you comments on your business blog, based on what you think each commenter wants to hear. This week, we’re delving a bit deeper into the really juicy stuff; writing blog posts that are sure to get people commenting and I’ll reveal one of my big secrets about handling comments. (more…)

By Beth Graddon-Hodgson

A great blog should attract regular feedback from readers. Any subject that provokes thought, whether it’s because visitors love or hate what you wrote, entices them to leave a comment. They might ask for further clarification, leave an opinion of their own, or thank you for the information. Sometimes if your opinion or perspective in an article really irks them, they’ll even bash you on a personal level. Comments are comments and they’re all fantastic, because you know you made an impression on your readers.

You might think that the only reason to answer comments is for courtesy, like the obligation to return a phone call when a voice mail has been left. It is the polite thing to do, indeed, but you can also use comments to keep your readers talking. (more…)

by Beth Graddon-Hodgson

Last week’s post was all about why you should do a little bit of guest blogging to improve business and traffic to your blog. This week, it’s time to switch things up a little and focus on why you should host guest bloggers on your own site.

There are a number of things to consider, and a lot of it stems back to the idea of good blogging karma that we’re so fond of around here. “Trading” guest posts creates a bit of a give and take with other bloggers, demonstrating you’re not just taking advantage of the exposure that they can give you when you guest blog for them; but that you’re willing to offer them the same. It’s only an indirect self-serving method since it helps your reputation, but there are other reasons as well to host guest bloggers that will bring quick benefits, and all for little to no effort of your own. (more…)

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Whenever I’m discussing the prospect of blogging for a new client, one of the first questions I’m asked by those who don’t already have a blog setup is “should it be on my website?” My answer is always “yes, of course!” That isn’t because I offer blog setup or design services (well, I do coordinate them, when necessary) so that’s not my answer because it means a greater profit for me; it’s because I want my clients to get the best results possible from their blog. Usually, that’s where the discussion about it ends, and since I never get to share the “why”; now seems like a good time.

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Over the past few weeks, I’ve provided you with what I hope is some valuable insight into avoiding plagiarism and crediting sources. This week’s post should address any questions you have about how to physically credit sources that you use to develop your blog content. For the most part, there is no right and wrong. These are some simple strategies I find help keep people on your blog longer and ensure you don’t run into any issues where someone believes they were not properly credited. (more…)

One struggle I have with my clients at times is convincing them that they need to credit sources. Their opposition isn’t because they don’t want to credit the sources that they use, it’s because they’re afraid they’re sending traffic away from their website. It’s a common fear, but that isn’t the reality, at least not exactly. (more…)

Photo from fOTOGLIF

By Beth Graddon-Hodgson

In last week’s post about writing headlines we touched a little bit upon keyword usage and the tools that are available to determine the right terms to incorporate. Relevant keywords must appear in your blog content as well as in your headlines in order to fare well with search engine results. To use them, you’ve got to learn how to determine what relevant keywords are with regards to your blog and each individual topic you choose to focus on. The term SEO tends to scare many new bloggers, but it’s not necessary to get all technical in order to get the right results. (more…)

I started to write a post about pitching bloggers, but then I found an excellent piece by Darren Rowse at ProBlogger.net. Why reinvent the wheel? Although this was written in 2007, the advice is still 100% sound. I’ve included the first paragraph and a link to the rest of the article. Read the comments too – they’re a treasure trove of information as well!

by Beth Graddon-Hodgson

For some businesses, choosing a topic isn’t quite as easy. It’s always important to write with your target demographic in mind, but with a business that caters to a broad range of people like a catch-all online retail website; who are they and what do they care about? There are a number of questions that you can ask yourself when establishing a blog for your business. They are the ones that I go through to hone in on a specific topic area for a client who can go in any direction with their blog. (more…)