Online Marketing for Local Business
Posts tagged Blogging
More On The Future Of Web Content
13 years
by jhaynes
in Uncategorized
Building upon our last post, I wanted to further expand the conversation re: the future of web content and the trends that will get us there.
I recently read that there will be 30 Billion smart devices in the year 2030. Yes, Billion with a “B”. This is a staggering number, which equates to an average of 7 devices per person. By then we will be living in what I (and others) have called the Age of Ubiquitous Internet – a time when individuals are constantly “plugged in” to the web via one device or another, no matter the situation, usually via multiple ones.
In fact, this is already becoming a reality for many. With iPads and other tablet computers, smart phones, Internet TV and gaming systems, and of course home computers and laptops, etc. there are lots of individuals who spend the vast majority of their day online. Ubiquitous Internet takes it one step further. Imagine an entire platform devices interconnected, all with access to the same data. At this stage, all data will be available to you in the “cloud”, making for seamless transition between one device and another. The cloud makes this all possible, since you don’t need much (or any) computing power within the device itself, other than some basic processor and memory to keep the device powered and connected, though stand-alone memory will probably still be an option.
The cloud will contain all the computing power that you will ever need, allowing devices to shrink even further in size. Think of having a large monitor on your desktop, with nothing else but the keyboard and mouse. Backup of your data and files will be automatic.
What does web content look like in this world? Probably different than it does now, though exactly how remains to be seen. One thing is sure – your website must be able to connect to all sorts of devices, with different functionality, sizes and operating systems. The content you share will almost exclusively be interactive and multi-media, much more so than now. Static content will be a thing of the past, replaced by personalized content, directed just at you. Updates to devices that relate to your current environment will be instantaneous. Use imagination again, and think of having all your preferences stored within your mobile devices. When walking down an aisle, a small device attached to the shelf automatically prints a coupon based on your previous purchase history, or shares relevant information that might help you make your purchase decision.
The vast majority of content in this world will probably be concise, allowing for the limitations of smaller screens and displays. Long form information or data would probably be available on an on-demand basis only, meaning that many of today’s websites will change, some drastically. This will actually increase the need for content creators as well, since as any professional writer will tell you – the shorter the piece, the better the content must be written, since every single word takes on added significance. And the fact that content will be individual or group specific will only increase the overall volume of content that must be produced, even when taking into account the shorter it will be. Which once again makes me happy in my chosen profession!
All of this means that business owners and marketers must be even more flexible and well versed in current trends and best practices.
What are your thoughts on the future of web content and the Internet itself?
SEO for Blogs Part III – Post Early, And Often
14 years
by jhaynes
in Uncategorized
The more often you post new blog entries, the more “food” you give to the spiders, or the programs that crawl the web and index content for the search engines. It’s hard to over-estimate the importance of having lots of new and updated content on your site, and often. Great SEO for blogs depends on it.
If you have enough new content, the spider may even react by splitting up its indexing into more than one visit, when you may even have more web content, and so on and on. At this point the search engine(s) may simply decide to visit your website and index more frequently – a very welcome development for SEO. So keeping LOTS of FRESH, new web content on your site is critical, not just blog posts but also new webpages, social content, recorded webinars and video, everything. The more updated, the better. More content basically means that your pages get indexed more often and new pages or other content will show up more quickly, and be deemed more important by the engines as well.
And while you don’t need to post multiple, long-form blog posts every single day, if you cannot keep up with a regular publishing schedule, then find some assistance to help you…because this is an absolutely vital element of top rankings in Google, Bing, Yahoo and others, behind only high ranking, one-way backlinks and also using the proper tagging for everything on your site.
The bottom line is, with the right strategy, and help from a professional in the right places when you need it, you can and will draw more attention to your blog, and thus your website…and with well written and persuasive copy, you can increase your conversion rate and your online revenues and profit. You can always contact us when you are ready to take the next step, to create a plan that will accomplish your goals for not only your blog, but for your entire online promotion strategy as well.
SEO For Blogs Part II – Length of Search Query
14 years
by jhaynes
in Uncategorized
Part II of our discussion on SEO for blogs focuses on the phrases and keywords you should use to attract the most visitors to your site.
Recent research suggests that the highest conversion rates from search engine traffic actually comes from people who use a specific number of words in their search queries. The first question is: Do you know how many words you should be using? And the second more important question is, If you don’t know the answer to this question, how are optimizing your site for SEO?
The great thing is that your blog can become so well-indexed with the proper promotion that you have potential to show up for a large number of these phrases relevant to your industry with that knowledge.
Targeting your blog discussion to shorter phases is another strategy to potentially yield high traffic to your website and blog, once again by choosing appropriate keywords that may have less competition than others, and even less so since they aren’t what some consider the “optimal” length.
And think of it this way: Would you rather be the 20th result for a very competitive query, with loads of competition vying to win it, or be the 2nd or 3rd result for a relevant, but less common phrase or query?
Which do you think could generate more visits, and thus more attention, awareness and revenue for your company?
Also, some believe that since Google and other engines have been around for so long, and recognized the “big” players in most keyword and query categories, that competition is far too intense for any of the “good” keywords or phrases.
In one sense this is true for most general keywords and phrases, or the specific ones that are absolutely the most profitable – the ones that major corporations and other large institutions are willing to spend big money to “win” – or terms which many other larger organizations may simply be more relevant in regards to. They have spent large amounts of resources for lengthy periods of time with the engines to ensure they rank very highly for their target keywords and search phrases.
But many of the “most popular” queries currently conducted in search engines right now have come into existence in just the last couple of years…and of course as technology (and everything else!) continually advance, there will always be opportunities to “win” newer, profitable queries – if you know how to discover them. (This is one of the subjects that we focus on here at Hat Trick Associates.)
You can also set up your blog to repeat the keywords that you want to target just enough times to establish a theme that search engines can identify. You can take full advantage of this in your post titles, your category names, the pages URL names, or even a combination of Technorati tags and the text of your permanent links that appear after each post.
Up Next: The Importance of Timely Posting and Getting Linked with Your Blog