Our clients at DBC Digital in Denver occasionally ask us what they can do to attract more people to their business blogs. First, we congratulate them for understanding the importance of business blogging as part of their inbound marketing strategy.
We usually discover that problems occur in two primary areas. Their blogs tend to be either too SEO-heavy or else they’re devoid of any SEO cognizance whatsoever. Let’s take a look at these issues after first defining what SEO means to the business blogger.
SEO
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Its purpose is to increase your blog’s visibility to the various search engines (Google, Yahoo!, Bing, etc.). In its simplest form, the basis of SEO is through your choice of keywords. Those are identifiers which establish your blog as a possible solution to someone’s search. There are 3 basic forms of keyword structure:
1. Primary keyword: Usually, this is only one word that broadly conveys the area of interest being covered in a blog. In this article for example, SEO would be a good choice as a primary keyword.
2. Secondary keywords: These are two or three words that are more specific to the topic being covered. Someone searching for SEO might find thousands of articles about the subject. In our article, we might want to use “SEO business blog” as a way to narrow the search, to make this blog more relevant to the searcher’s question.
3. Long Tail Keywords: These are longer descriptions which are not so commonly used in a typical search. However, when they are, it’s a gold mine. That means the searcher is looking for exactly what you’re offering. Think you can take it from there? In the example again of this article, we might use something like “in Denver attract more people to business blog.”
All of these are vital to the success of your business blog’s reach. However, some bloggers become obsessed with them. They forget the fact that they are trying to generate leads from potential customers. What they remember is that the optimization of their websites through keywords will rank them higher in a search engine. The people factor is neglected. They may as well be writing only for the “bots” that comb the Internet seeking keywords.
Remember, if your blog isn’t eminently readable and relatable to a prospect, they’re going to be turned off quickly.
Don’t Obsess
On the other hand, sometimes a blogger can be so enthusiastic about his business that the essential SEO strategy is neglected. Unless you have absolutely no business competition, you can be assured that there are others practicing the sound inbound marketing technique of Search Engine Optimization.
No matter how incredible your products and services may be, no one is really going to know unless you get extraordinarily lucky. When was the last time you won Powerball?
It’s a balancing act
Optimizing your business blog with keywords is a bit of a balancing act. It’s important to write valuable content for the people you would like to serve. It’s also critical that you research and utilize the keyword structures that will drive readers to your site. There are a variety of services that can help (including DBCdigital) if you don’t have the expertise yourself.
Here at DBC Digital, we encourage you to take an objective look at your business blog. How is it successful? Where does it require some authoritative tweaking? Please let us know in the comments section below.
Upcoming Workshop July 17, 2012
Do you live or work in the south Metro-Denver area?
Register for our upcoming live workshop on how to improve your marketing “mojo” and leverage your current marketing activities with inbound marketing’s advantages.
