This presentation was done at Republic Polytechnic, Singapore, for the participants of The Media Challenge 2014. The topic of this talk/workshop was Blogging and these slides go through a macro view of blogging - from selecting a niche, keyword research, target audience identification - to a micro level of writing a blog post and how to use analytics effectively for blogging. Start building a popular blog today with our comprehensive list of resources - http://bit.ly/tmc2014 Have further questions? Sign up and ask at our forums - http://2stallions.com/forums

1. Are You Blogging Effectively?
(Tips To Blog Your Way To Victory)
by Dhawal Shah

2. Today’s Talk
• Introduction
• The Big Picture
• Blog Post Breakdown
• The Most Important Item
• Time for M&Ms
• Questions
Purple Boxes are sharing Industry Secrets of Blogging

3. Introduction

4. About Me
• Started programming at age of 8
• First blogs on ‘Friendster’ at age of 17
• Worked in Silicon Valley [2008]
• Worked in Defense Industry [2010]
• Started Hucklebury (Fashion Label) [2012]
– Art of Style Blog (100K Monthly PageViews)
• Started 2Stallions (Digital Agency) [2012]

5. What is a blog?
• Wikipedia:
“A blog (full form: web log)[1] is a discussion or
informational site published on the World
Wide Web and consisting of discrete entries
("posts") typically displayed in reverse
chronological order (the most recent post
appears first)”

6. Platforms

7. The Big Picture

8. The Big Picture
• Step 1:
Your Niche
(Specific Theme)

9. Example (Art of Style)
Fashion
Men’s
Fashion
Fashion & Style for
the Everyday Man

10. The Big Picture
• Step 2:
Identify Your Audience
(Age / Sex / Location )

11. Example (Art of Style)
• Age: Working Professionals (25 – 55)
• Sex: Male
• Location: United States

12. The Big Picture
• Step 3:
Content Strategy Part 1
(Keywords)

13. Example (Art of Style)
• Keywords:
Dress Shirts: Fit, Back Darts, Sleeves, Collars, Cuffs,
Style, Shirt Length, Body Type, etc.
Pants, Suits, Vests, Ties, Shoes, Brands, etc.
Find out how many people are looking for your keywords
using Google Keyword Planner

14. The Big Picture
• Step 4:
Content Strategy Part 2
(Actual Topics & Scheduling)

15. Example (Art of Style)
• Once a Week
– Articles based on keyword research, reader
feedback & popular topics
Use Google Calendar or Content Scheduler Plugin for Wordpress to plan your topics
and maintain your schedule, especially if working in a team.

16. The Big Picture
• Step 5:
Find & Engage Influencers & Networks
(bloggers, personalities, fb/g+ groups, forums)

17. Example (Art of Style)
• Joined groups in Google+ around Fashion and
fashion for men
• Reached out to fashion bloggers for interviews

18. Example (Cat Welfare)
• Find a relevant group to engage with
• Reach out to FB Page owners via messages/posts

19. Meet New People (video)
YouTube: Social Triggers - Meet New People

20. Blog Post Breakdown

21. Creating A Blog Post

22. Blog Post Breakdown: Title
• 70 Characters Long (Including Blog Title)
• Your ‘hook’ for your readers

23. Catchy Titles That ‘Hook’
• Ask a Question
– Are You Practicing Energy Savings Correctly?
– Undershirts – Yeay or Nay?
• Use Lists & Numbers
– 7 Steps to Write Killer Blog Post Titles
– Top 5 Luxury Watch Brands Today
• Insider Info
– Ultimate Guide to Removing Your Carbon Footprint
• Provide ‘Takeaway’ Value
– How I Grew My Blog To 30K Readers With $0

24. Examples
Bad Example That ‘Works’:

25. Blog Post Breakdown: Content I
• Minimum 400 words (for SEO)
• Your ‘reel’ is the first paragraph

26. Blog Post Breakdown: Content II
• Use different media to keep posts fresh
– Use video posts, infographics etc.

27. Blog Post Breakdown: Content III
• Use sub-headings
– Allow readers to glance through
• Use Images with each sub-heading
– Pictures speak a thousand words
– Reinforce sub-headings
• Maintain constant ‘voice’ of blog
– Loyal readers know what to expect

28. Example

29. The Most Important Item

30. The Most Important Item…
ATTRACTING READERS!!

31. Reach An Audience
• Social Sharing on Site
– on your own networks
– get friends/family to share

32. Reach An Audience
• Start & Respond To Discussions
– Comments on blog and on social media networks
We recommend Disqus Plugin for Wordpress to engage readers – it
allows login via different social media platforms and shares
your posts across other sites using their service.

33. Reach An Audience
• Influencer Sharing
– Reach a targeted audience that is more engaged
Influencer
(41 shares / 2 reshares)
vs.
ME
(0 shares / 0 reshares)

34. Reach An Audience
• Organic Readers Through SEO
– Search Engine Optimization

35. SEO Basics
• Include keyword in blog post title
• Include keyword in blog post first paragraph
• Add a meta description
We recommend Wordpress SEO Plugin for Wordpress to meet the basic SEO needs
for your blog posts. Also, read up on Google Authorship to get your profile image to
appear.

36. Know Your Audience
• Website Analytics
WHO is reading your blog (demographic)
WHERE they came from (referrals)
WHEN they left your blog (time spent onsite)
HOW they left your blog (visitor path)

37. How To Use Analytics
• Set Goals
– e.g. signup to email list
• Improve Content
– See what searches brought users to your site
• Improve Website
– Find out where readers are leaving from
– Improve page-loading time
We recommend Google Analytics Dashboard Plugin for Wordpress to view your
analytics directly within Wordpress. Sign up for a Google Analytics account first.

38. Time for M&Ms
Q&A

39. Questions?
Register in our forum -
http://2stallions.com/forums
Our team will answer all of your questions
during The Media Challenge period.
To access these slides –
http://slideshare.net/2stallions
List of Resources Mentioned –
http://bit.ly/tmc2014