A Complete Guide to Business blogging

A Complete Guide to
Learn every tool and trick necessary
for getting found by your future customers.
InboundMarketingAgents.com
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BUSINESS BLOGGING
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It’s a fact that 44% of online shoppers begin researching products with the help
of a major search engine1. Achieving a high search ranking is critical to being
noticed by your future customers and leads:
75% of search users never scroll past the
first page of results
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, and 60% of traffic
goes to one of the top three web pages
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.
Google is now the consumers’ main vehicle for performing product research
and making purchase decisions.
If search engines can’t find you, neither can your leads. The best way to achieve
and maintain a high search ranking is by starting a business blog.
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The average company with a business blog
earns 55% More Website Visitors
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, 97% More
Inbound Links, and 434% More Indexed Pages
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.

Writing a business blog that delivers unique, high-quality
content on a regular basis will result in a higher search
ranking, a surge of website traffic and fresh leads.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Why You Need a Business Blog 6
2. Performing Keyword Research 12
3. Developing a Content Calendar 25
4. Writing Keyword-Optimized Content 35
5. Efficient Content Creation 43
6. Drafting Powerful Blog Titles 52
7. Styling Your Blog Posts 58
8. Incorporating CTAs for Lead Generation 67
9. Driving Traffic to Your Blog 72
10. Basic Blog Analytics 80
11. Getting Started With Social Media Promotion 88
12. About Inbound Marketing Agents 97
13. Citations 98
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Why You Need
a Business Blog
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66% of Blogs That Post Weekly Have Gained
a Customer Through Content
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If you’re still not sold on starting a blog, you’ll be amazed to learn that driving
business through content is much easier than you think.
While blogging daily will yield the best results, 2/3 of companies that only blog
once a week have still gained at least one customer.
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The more often you blog, the better your chances of acquiring a customer
through content. Many small business owners mistakenly believe that even if they
start business blogging, no one will read.
Blogs are a major source of information and entertainment for
consumers worldwide. In fact, nearly half of all businesses have started blogging!
It’s a fact that 40% of your customers have
adopted business blogging as a real tool for
connecting with their leads
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. Are you going to
get on board, or will you be left behind?
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Break it Down:
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The average blog post only takes an hour to write

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66% of these bloggers have acquired a customer via their blog

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Starting a blog costs me $0.00
Why would you not start a

blog with these stats?
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1. Pick a Template
Starting a blog is fairly easy, even for those not in the know. There are a wide
array of free and low-cost templates that take away the need to have a CSS
developer on staff. Head to Wordpress.com and select a template that matches
your current website. Starting a business blog should take you less than 30
minutes to get up and running.
2. Remember Search Engine Optimization
For SEO purposes, you need to create a subdomain attached to your business
website for hosting your blog. Do not host on WordPress or any other free
Blogging site or you will not get the SEO help you are looking for. You may need
a little help from your webmaster to set up the subdomain if it is your first time
business blogging.
Real Tips: Getting Started With Business Blogging
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Performing
Keyword Research
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Keyword research is one of the most
important, valuable, and high return
activities in the search marketing field.
Ranking for the “right” keywords can
make or break your website. - SEOMoz
Keyword analysis should be the first step in any
marketing campaign.

If you don’t know what’s important to your audience, how do expect to
make them happy? The first step towards writing content that matters
to your customers is learning which keywords are driving search in
your industry.
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Engage Your Audience!
The starting ground for producing relevant content is understanding
what keywords are driving traffic to your site. Performing keyword
research is the best tool for learning what your audience is
interested in.
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Keyword analysis can offer you insights into marketing trends
and consumer behavior. Know what’s important and popular to
your audience and use this information to stay relevant.
Trends are constantly changing and learning what is about
to be the next big thing will be a prime opportunity for your
business to stay a step ahead of competitors.
• PRIORITIZE YOUR TIME
Identifying which keywords can ultimately improve your
bottom line gives your business the best chances of using
content for profit.
Are you spending your time creating content on the most
important keywords? Doing keyword research can allow you
to have a real impact on your bottom line through content.
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• GO LONG TAIL
Long tail keywords are simply defined as key phrases consisting
of three words or more.
Instead of optimizing business blog content around the phrase
“bicycles,” you could use the term “women’s 10-speed bicycles,”
or other specific phrases that likely resemble common search
queries for products and services.
Long tail keywords may have a lower search volume but they’re
easier to break into.
In fact, long tail search is the most
popular type of search.
Long tail search comprises 70%
of search traffic
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• WHY SHOULD I USE LONG TAIL KEYWORDS?
Long tail search results reflect what people are actually looking
for when they begin product research. People use major search
engines to find real-life solutions to their needs and problems, and
search users are smart.
They often have a pretty good idea of what they want when they
begin product research, so delivering content to match specific
needs requires long tail keywords for SEO results.
73% of Americans Use Search
Engines Today.
52% of Americans
Used Search Engines in 2002.
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Ranking for short, general keywords is tough in the current era of
content saturation. Writing a single, fantastic piece of content about
a general term like “carpeting” or “sandals” almost certainly won’t
get you first-page results.
You have a much better chance of connecting
with qualified leads on the first page of search if
you write about “organic women’s sandals.”

Your content will have fewer competitors on Google,
and has a better chance of being read by someone in
need of a product or service solution.
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Long tail keywords for SEO results make the most sense for
small businesses. You need to deliver specific content on your
business blogs to achieve and maintain a high search engine
ranking, so choose long tail keywords for SEO results.
84% of Internet Users Don’t Click Ads.
Keyword research is the way to go.
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Real Tips: Getting Started With Business BloggingReal Tips: Getting Started With Business Blogging
1. Pick your Tool
One of the most effective tools for performing keyword research is the HubSpot
module which provides up-to-date information on how many people are
searching for terms and how difficult it will be to achieve a high ranking for each
term. The iPhone app Keywords by Affportal can also let users search keywords

and gain intelligence on difficulty and search volume.
Real Tips: Getting Started with Keyword Research
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2. Don’t Google
Some people recommend using Google search suggestions as a tool for
keyword research, though we caution against this method because it offers
extremely limited intelligence.
By typing a basic keyword such as “Portland Chocolate” into Google, the
suggestions box is populated with long tail keywords:
Real Tips: Getting Started With Business Blogging
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2. Don’t Google
The main problem with this method is that even though search suggestions
meet the definition of long tail phrases by containing at least three words, you
have no way of finding out whether they are popular among your consumers or
difficult to rank for.
While the term “London Olympics 2012” is technically a long tail phrase, it
is exceedingly difficult for your average small or medium-sized business to
rank in search over news giants like CNN or BBC who’ve spun thousands of
words and hundreds of inbound links on the same phrase.
Real Tips: Getting Started With Business Blogging
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The only smart use for Google search suggestions is to come up with ideas to
get started on keyword research. Don’t set yourself up for failure by blogging
about topics that are either impossible to rank for or that no one is searching for.
3. Make it Easy

Don’t shoot for difficult long tail keywords. As a general rule, the lower the
difficulty and the higher the number of searches, the better your chances are
that people will find and read your content.
Real Tips: Getting Started With Business Blogging
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Developing a
Content Calendar
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