As a Denver Marketing company we work to market companies in the most efficient ways possible.  A key part of marketing online is done through Search Engine Optimization.  We talk a lot about SEO here at our company because we believe in it, we blog about it, and we use it.  SEO can never be minimized and there are constantly being new ways added in which online marketers can increase SEO for their clients.  This week we will look at SEO inside of blog articles specifically.

Links

If you travel back and read our series on Search Engine Optimization (or simply download the e-book at the bottom of the page) you will see some great information about links.  The short of it is, it’s extremely helpful to have at least one, if not multiple links inside a blog post.  Typically we only link to other articles on our site.  Though this doesn’t quite increase the rankings like an inbound link to from site would, it still increases the overall SEO because search engines are searching out and reading each individual post to determine the inter-related aspects.

Categories

The automatic default post category for articles built in WordPress is to be “Uncategorized.” Creating a keyword specific category 0r categories for your blog posts not only help keep it organized but it also gives a category for search engines to place your post under.  Though it may not weigh heavily as a single SEO aspect, using the categories function is one of a many options within WordPress to help increase the visibility of a post, thus making it easier to be picked up by a search engine.

Tags

It is beneficial within WordPress to tag your posts (this is different from the myth of meta tags, which we discuss in our e-book below).  We have pulled in an image of our most-used tags from one of our personal blogs.  It is key when branding a blog to make sure that you are using tags and keywords that are relevant to your brand.  Even though these tags carry very little SEO rankings, they do help search engines determine what categories to place the posts in.  They also do carry weight in how WordPress presents the blog through their site.  It is definitely worth the time it takes to lay out the tags.

Keywords

Most of the time a meta tag denotes a keyword.  This is something that is key for building SEO into a blog post.  The more a keyword is presented in a blog post the higher a search engine will rank that post related to the keyword.  So making use of keywords should be top priority for any blog post.

Excerpt Function

A script is used to write a small synopsis about the blog post.  This is what will appear when the link is shared on Facebook and other social media platforms.  This is another place to type keywords to help catch the eye of both readers and the search engines.  An image of the script box has been attached below.

Image SEO

Finally, Preparing your images for SEO is extremely helpful.  Whenever someone goes to search for images, due to the lack of SEO built into the images of many sites right now, your site could be the one the person finds.  All that you have to do is enter some text related to the subject of the image as the alternate text of the image.  The other benefit for a blog of placing images in the post is that people are more likely to click through and read a blog post that has an image than they are one without.

Learn about SEO

We told you we’d offer it. Here it is.  Our e-book about SEO Fundamentals.  This is key for any company looking to build their Search Engine reach.

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As a Denver Marketing company we are blogging every week.  Many of the reasons why we blog coincides well with the public relations side of a company.  This week we will conclude our look at Public Relations Principles for Small Businesses Online.  We have looked at what we feel are the key aspects of public relations online for any small business.  If you want take the time to read about how public relations relates to: Digital Press Releases, PR 2.0, Micro Media & VNR and Community Management.

If a person takes the time to think about it, public relations and blogging go hand in hand.  A blog can act as the front line through which all information about the company can be released in a cyber mode making easier access for both consumers and media.  There are many facets of a traditional public relations practitioners job that can be carried out through a blog.  It’s truly up to the business on how far they go in using a blog for public relations purposes.

A company wanting to engage in public relations practices will use a blog as a way to engage clients.  This is the main aspect of using a blog for public relations purposes and has many different modes.  A company can use the blog to simply harbor conversation (something we covered in depth last week when we talked about community management).  A company can also use the blog to post new information about company changes or new products.  This can come in the form of a press release or in-depth article lining out specific outcomes, plans, and product specifications.  Blogs can also be used as an opinion research tool, using the companies followers to determine areas of improvement and potential growth.

The web site implications for a blog should be covered but are always secondary when looking at public relations.  There are Search Engine Optimization implications that always come with a blog.  This is compounded for public relations because if a company has major news that they are releasing, if they are up to date on their SEO when they release their information, people searching for it will be automatically directed to the host site instead of any secondary sites.  This ensures that the company’s information is being received straight from their mouths.  This should go without mentioning but a blog should be professional looking.  It should carry over any theme that the company has on their web site and should be appealing to the eye.  When a consumer comes to the site and sees this, the credibility of the company is boosted.

Most of this stuff is very simple for companies to embrace.  Some may already be implemented.  However, it is a great reminder that things can come together to do wonders for a company in the field of public relations.  If you have any thoughts about how public relations relates to blogs feel free to leave them in a comment below!

Why not add typography?

Really looking to take it up to the next level? Add some typography to your blog.  Our e-book will show you how web fonts make for great typography.

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Most of the time we can be found working away anxiously on the current or upcoming marketing plan for a client.  Other times we can be found designing and developing websites for our clients.  After all, as a Denver marketing company, this is what we do.  However, public relations should be a part of a businesses strategy as well.  Since we currently don’t offer much on the side of public relations, we figured the helpful thing to do would be to post a blog series about easy PR practices that companies can do online.  This week we focus on the press release or news release whichever is preferred by the reader.

We know that public relations is evolving.  Everyone is making the switch online, it would make sense that press releases would follow suit.  How should a company translate their traditional press release into a digital form?

There are two things that we see are key for businesses posting press releases.

1. Set up a page dedicated to the release
2. Transmit the release into a micro form based off of social media platforms

In relation to #1; just because it’s online doesn’t mean that the press release has to be done away with.  Potentially a blogger wants to write on the issue.  They weren’t on the mailing list to receive it.  If the release is accessible then it saves the company time of compiling and sending the information again if a person can simply find it linked on the company page.  This also helps with SEO implications as well.  By breaking the news on the company site first, people are more likely to come directly to the source for information.

#2 takes the focus directly to social media platforms.  If the company is in crisis, releasing a new product, hosting an event or any other thing; people are coming to their social media sites.  When a news release is posted through these sites the consumers are able to get all of the information in one easy to navigate place.  People may want just short news as well, so try and focus the message down into micro-blog form.  This helps the company to convey what has happened in a succinct way that consumers can read and move on.

The main thing that companies should realize is that public relations online is not the same as traditional PR.  This is actually what we will be looking at in the next part of the series.  In relation to news releases though, in the online world people don’t want to just have press releases shoved down their throats.  The online world is a social world, thats why platforms where people gather are called social media.  We must remember to cultivate relationships so that when we have a press release that needs to be seen we can get them into the right hands.  Next week we will take a more direct look at how we should cultivate these relationships.  What we must take from this post though is that press releases are still viable, we just need to look at them from a different perspective.

Get news out fast

There is an online function that allows for direct connection to a press release.  It’s definitely great for getting out information.  It is the QR Code.  We have a great e-book about the basics of QR Codes.

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As a Denver marketing firm, using social media for marketing is key.  Currently one of our team members is embracing the opportunity to take a Social Media class offered at his local university.  This is a senior and graduate level course meant to give students a better understand of social media and how to use it from a public relations standpoint.

We have decided to analyze how the Social Media class is going to be taught, and ways that we believe a college social media class could be improved beyond what this one college is teaching.

The course that our team member is taking has required reading of the book Putting the PR back in Public Relations. This book looks specifically at the social media revolution and how public relations practitioners should embrace the revolution.  It talks of how the old model of public relations is overused and annoying at times.  The book encourages readers to embrace social media and understand that it is taking the place of traditional public relations.

The second part of the class involves practical social media experience.  The class is split into teams and assigned local businesses.  These businesses have agreed to partner with the class in order to develop a social media plan and see it implemented.  This allows for students to have a hands-on experience in social media.  They are encouraged to promote across multiple social media platforms, however they are also encouraged to do only what the client wishes.  Students will be graded based off of reasonable quantitative and qualitative goals set by the professor.

Due to the structure of the class, the professor also offered up the floor to topics that students would like to see covered in the course. Students asked for things such as Landing Pages, QR Codes, Location based Services, Google +, and YouTube.  Our team member suggested Inbound Marketing, Video Optimization (with SEO), and will be teaching the part on Twitter.  This is unique because it’s fulfilling what students know they need to know more about in order to succeed in social media.

All of these things are well and good, however what should students really be taught about social media?

For public relations and journalism students, the required reading for the class fits with the practical application.  However if this course were tilted towards marketing students, it would need to be taught differently.  Inbound Marketing would need to be a focal point.  A good course would involve a focus on inbound marketing techniques coupled with practical application.  These are the things that students need to know for the future.  Understanding how to use each platform strategically for inbound marketing and creatively starting meaningful conversations with consumers are the two keys to using social media as a marketing tool.

As the world begins to shift its focus online, the need for an understanding of social media for business will be crucial.  Universities that embrace this and begin to prepare their students for this shift will benefit greatly in the future.

What are your thoughts? What do you think should be taught in a college social media course?

Free Social Media Ebook!

All this talk about college is good, but if a person is already graduated then what’s the use? We have an ebook that will help.  Spend time reading our “Social Media for Business” ebook — it’s like reading spark notes for a college class!

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As a Denver WordPress Developer we are advocates of blogs.  We view blogs as useful above and beyond just being the traditional outlet for thoughts and pages of learning.  We believe that blogs can be used for several other benefits.  Recently one of our team members had the opportunity to have a featured article on a prominent blog lining out how he came to join the team.   This has us thinking about the benefits of guest blogging and why companies should use this as a viable way to promote both their business and blog.

1. Networking

First, to have a featured post there must be some networking involved.  The key here though is to keep those networks alive and cultivate them after the post.  Submit a good guest post and it could open up the door to other guest posts.  A good guest post could also lead to the host site suggesting the company to another individual for a future project.

2. Lead Generation

Having guest posts can help with lead generation.  A guest post allows a company’s name to be in front of fresh faces.  Fresh faces means new leads.  One key is to monitor comments on the guest post.  This helps to continue with networking and potential lead generation.  Guest posts can also be used in lead generation as showing that articles written by the company have been published in places besides the company’s own blog.  Thus showing potential clients that a company is knowledgeable and recognized for their expertise.

3. SEO

Anytime a link for a company’s website is generated it helps with SEO.  The unique thing about having a featured guest post on another website’s blog is that is oftentimes leads to inbound links to your site from that blog.  The larger the site a company guest-posts on, the better the SEO benefits that comes from its posting.

4. Industry Rapport

This final benefit may have the best ROI out of them all.  This can be said because it incorporates the previous three benefits over a longer amount of time.  Being a featured writer shows that people in the industry recognize the company as an industry expert.  People within the industry then begin to look to the company as an authority.  This will in turn help the company build its network, cultivate new leads, and see a growth in SEO from additional inbound links.

At first glance the idea of presenting a blog post for free to another organization may seem insignificant.  It may even seem not worth the time.  However, once a company weighs the benefits of networking, lead generation, SEO, and industry rapport that comes from a guest post, they will see the overwhelming benefits of guest blogging.  Taking the time as a company to look for places to guest post is worth the extra work.  In the end it could help grow the company in ways that traditional marketing might not be able to reach.

RSS feeds build blog awareness

RSS feeds are another great way for people to view a blog.  Understanding how these work can maximize a companies blogging capabilities.  We have compiled an e-book specifically lining out how RSS feeds work.

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