Breaking Down Barriers in Your Niche Blog
One of the best ways to reach your online brand marketing goals is to create and maintain a niche blog related to your product or service. But the explosion of blogs in the blogosphere has made it more difficult to ensure that readers notice your blog amid a sea of millions, or even billions, f blogs. We will be offering a number of tips in the coming weeks to help you set your blog apart from the others and attract notice on the search engines.
Today’s tip for creating a more noticeable blog is this: Be Significant.
Those two words can bring your blog to the forefront of the blogosphere and increase your chances of drawing attention. Now here’s how you can make your blog significant:
• Generate a reaction among the readers
Reactions lead to comments. And comments lead to interaction between you and the readers. Comments also increase visits because readers who make comments will often return to see if anybody has replied to their comments.
• Be concise
New readers lose patience if they see a lot of long paragraphs. In fact, some will skip a blog altogether if it looks wordy. Say what you need to say in as few words as possible. If it turns into a longer blog, create some breaks so it appears easier to read at a glance.
• Sound passionate
If you don’t believe what you’re saying or you’re simply uneducated about it, your readers will know. Blog readers are looking for new information when they come to a blog. And they want somebody to be passionate about the topic.
• Build links
Search engines favor blogs that have inbound and outbound links. Create links to other articles and blogs in your post (see below) to have a better chance of getting noticed.
According to the blogger Skellie, there are also four ways to tell if your blog is at risk of getting lost in the midst of the millions of others:
• It doesn’t get submitted to social media websites like Digg, StumbleUpon or others.
• Visitors don’t usually comment.
• Few, if any, other blogs link to your blog.
• Few people subscribe to your blog.
Facebook Versus Myspace: Comparing and Contrasting
With Facebook becoming an increasingly popular method for social networking and connecting with other people, many Internet users have compared it to the popular Myspace website. But that’s not a fair comparison because there are distinct differences between the sites that set them apart from each other. First, let’s look at some of the similarities between the two sites:
• Both sites are ideal for networking and finding people with similar interests and hobbies as well as people in the same geographic area.
• Facebook and Myspace are proven ways to connect with old friends.
• Both websites allow users to exhibit their personalities in a variety of ways.
• You can find users in a wide range of ages, interests and locations across both social media sites.
• The two sites continue to attract new visitors and users every day.
And now, some differences:
• Facebook is more business-friendly. Many companies are currently testing its effectiveness as a social marketing tool. One Canada-based retailer was recently shocked at the widespread effect of its advertising campaign on the website.
• Myspace still accounts for more than 75 percent of the social network traffic in the United States. The website attracted over 60 million visitors in December of last year. Facebook only drew less than 23 million visitors during the same period.
• Facebook users are generally from an older demographic that is more focused on marketing strategies. Very few businesses go to Myspace for online marketing.
• Myspace is geared more towards the younger crowd. You’ll find a larger number of teens and “tweens” on that site than you will on Facebook.
Whichever one you choose for online brand marketing campaigns for your business, it’s best to have a goal in mind when you create an account. After that, you can begin networking through either of these social media sites.
Online Newspapers: The Future of Advertising
You probably know that North Americans and Europeans are increasingly turning to the Internet to get all of their news and information. And you can even find online versions of your favorite newspapers and magazines. But did you know that this move towards a paperless medium is occurring all over the world?
A recent article on ChinaView.cn reported that more readers are visiting U.S.-based newspapers via the Internet. In 2007, there was an increase of six percent of online users, causing a sharp decline in the print medium’s advertising revenue.
The article went on to say that 60 million unique visitors logged on to U.S. newspaper websites last year, an increase of more than 3.5 million from the figures in 2006. The article also cited the Newspaper Association of America (NAA), stating that 39 percent of Internet users logged on to newspaper websites and the average visit lasted nearly 45 minutes each month.
One of the reasons for the large increase in visits is that many newspapers are adding user-friendly tools to their websites, according to Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Newspaper websites now have links to blogs, videos and other sources that enrich the online newspaper-reading experience. That’s just something you can’t get from reading the actual print media.
Newspapers are also seeing increased revenue from online advertising. But they still haven’t been able to replace the revenue gathered from the original printed product.
If your company depends on online marketing, these figures are exciting. It gives you more of an idea as to where to concentrate your advertising dollars and the return you can expect on your investment. Hop on the wagon while it’s hot and competition is less fierce!
