TIP: Creating a good blog, a short list of things to remember

TIP: Creating a good blog, a short list of things to remember

Okay.. If you are anything like me .. writing a good blog seems to be an overwhelming challenge.  In my head I question "did I say that right?", "what could be really interesting?", "How do I make this SEO correct?".  The purpose of this post is to keep me focused on the things I need to remember to do.  I'll be definitely bookmarking this in my web browser so I can pull it up on the side while I am blogging away.

Short list of things to remember

This is borrowed from Steve Graham, my new ActiveRain guru and SEO soothsayer. Thanks SO much Steve for your time on the phone.

A. The 8 Commandments of Blogging SEO

1. Thou shalt make thy blog between 300-500 words in length.  (too short, not enough content, too long, Google and people lose interest.
2. Thou Shalt REPEAT THY KEYWORDS!  Keyword density is a major player in your content's SEO.  2-4% of your content should be your keyword or key phrase.
3. Thou shalt have 2-4 pictures in your blog content.  Click on the insert/edit image button on the toolbar to upload images. People like having visual stimulation!  We are like 3rd graders with ADD when we are surfing the web, if we don't see pictures, we usually back out and go on to the next website.  Your potential audience will too!  Make your Blog stand out!
4. Have at least 2-5 links to your website.  Doing this will naturally raise your websites ranking, as well as your blog.
5. Thou Must Bold and Underline your Keywords or Key phrases.  This will help with your ranking.
6. Make sure your Title is Geographically as well as property Specific (if possible), Short, Concise, and State your Keywords. Remember to title your post what you think someone would type into google.
7. Make sure your Title and Content compliment each other.  (i.e.  Your keywords in your title are maplewood condos,  repeat and re-enforce maplewood condos throughout your blog.  Stay on topic, and keep it local.)
8. Must Write Hyper-Local Content!  Not your city, but your neighborhoods and communities!  A good example would be instead of Seattle, write about Ballard.  Google Ballard, you will see it's a neighborhood area in the greater Seattle area.  Read this recent blog Bob wrote to get a better idea of Hyper-local content.

B. Tags

I.               Make a standard tag list for Active Rain

a.     Listings: Area, Subdivision, City, County, Zip, Number Bedrooms, Number Bathrooms

b.     Things to Do: Area, Subdivision, City, County, Zip, Activity, Name of Place, Owner

c.      Places: Area, Subdivision, City, County, Zip, Name of Place

II.             Make a standard tag list for personal blog

a.     Listings: BlogName, Area, Subdivision, City, County, Zip, Number Bedrooms, Number Bathrooms

b.     Things to Do: BlogName, Area, Subdivision, City, County, Zip, Activity, Name of Place, Owner

c.      Places: BlogName, Area, Subdivision, City, County, Zip, Name of Place

C. Resources (Thanks Steve!)

Previous Class: download a pre-recorded class in windows media viewer format

5 sites for free stock photos

I.               Photos Bank

II.              Stock Vault

III.            OpenPhoto

IV.           TurboPhoto  

V.            FreeDigitalPhotos

• free website creation and hosting
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• word count tool
• free online photo editing
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• hit router blog
• referral network blog
• cCube call me button
• Blog explaining how to use RSS
• 101 blog topics

Using scribefire:

1 download and install firefox

2 download and install scribefire

3 now read this post by Brad Andersohn 

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