In an age where social media and Internet use continue to grow at blinding rates, many businesses are asking, “Should we start a blog?” It is no surprise that blogs have become more and more popular. In the last two years alone, RSS feed subscriptions have increased from 5% to 7%. (1). Not only that, but blogs are now used by 24% of Internet users, which is up from 13% in 2005, a number which is said to be continuously on the rise.

Prior to logging on and creating your business’ online journal, there are a few things to consider. This is especially true if you are looking to appeal to your customers and generate a good flow of online traffic. Here are some tips, blogging best practices, if you will, that will help you to create a strong foundation for your blog and build buzz for your business.

Be relevant:
Make sure the content ties into your business. The last thing anyone who follows your company wants to read about are topics that are unrelated to your business and its workings.

Find your voice/message:
Do not try and be someone you are not; use your personality, but remain professional. And, when choosing content, be brief and to the point, and include visuals when necessary.

Blog regularly:
In order to keep visitors coming back, it is important to blog regularly. That does not mean you need to blog everyday, which could become exhausting. Blog two to three times per week. An even better idea is to create a blogging schedule by blogging on the same days each week. Your blog’s update frequency will play a major role in the audience following.

Allow for comments:
Blogging is a conversation; it is meant to be two-sided. Be sure to enable comments on your blog. And, if you are worried about spam comments or negative ones, most blog platforms have built-in controls to help you to prevent spam and monitor your comments.

Optimize for search engines:
So, you want to increase traffic? Use relevant keywords in your post titles; link throughout the post when necessary; and write about what your target market will be searching for… use search-friendly keywords.

Get social:
Use social networks, when appropriate to market your blog. Sites like Twitter and Facebook can help to increase traffic flow. Also, link up with other blogs and sites in the same industry as your business. This helps to increase the credibility of your blog.

What’s the next step? Begin to research topics, join social networks and start blogging. The first step in marketing your blog is to start one.

(1) Ketchum and USC Annenberg Strategic Public Relations Center

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With over 76% of web searchers using Google, everyone wants a #1 ranking. The reality is there are no guarantees for that top spot but there are many factors that you can control (free of charge) to optimize your site and set yourself up for success.

With the search engine landscape changing continually, the strategy for improving rankings is constantly in flux. Welcome to the beauty of organic search.

Let’s start by answering the basics.

Wikipedia provides a convenient definition for SEO as the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via “natural” or un-paid (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results.

An “optimized” site is when the content and HTML increase relevance to keywords and remove barriers to the indexing activities for engines. The site code is “SEO compliant” in order for the search engine crawlers to easily read the site, understand the most important content and rank you accordingly.

Here’s what you can do to “optimize” your site for positive search engine rankings.

Content – Update relevant content to build authority.
In the SEO realm, content reigns supreme and remains the number one factor to improving rankings. Fresh, original content helps to build authority and trust with the engines and proves that the site is legitimate and knowledgeable.

Meta Tags: Keywords & Descriptions – Put yourself in the searcher’s shoes.
Carefully consider the keywords and key phrases that users will search to find you. Hint: The average web user is not searching by industry jargon. Add these keywords in your site’s page content, meta tag descriptions, alt tags and page title tags.

Keywords and descriptions are implemented both site-wide and per page to help crawlers index the site. Recent research indicates that only the first 10-20 keywords are relevant, so keep it targeted.

Page Title Tags – Improve rankings one page at a time.
Page title tags appear at the very top of the browser window and provide the opportunity to introduce more keywords for crawlers to index. Analyze each page of your site to extract keywords specific to that page and create unique, page-specific title tags.

Bad Example: ESPN – home
Good Example: ESPN – World Leader in Sports

Linking: Internal & External – Link it and the crawlers will come.

Internal Lateral Links
Crawlers are attracted to sites with multiple lateral links. It’s best practice to have at least one link on every page of your site link to another page of the site. Always utilize descriptive words and phrases for links within content to better lead the reader and avoid cryptic conventions such as “click here”.

External Reciprocal Links
Crawlers quickly and easily index sites that have multiple external reciprocal links. The more legitimate sites you link to and have linking to you, the greater relevance you will have with site crawlers.

Alt Tags – Describe your media.
Crawlers cannot read media files. Thus, an alt tag provides a written description of the media on your site (i.e. – videos, documents, images, etc.). This is another way to implement keywords and phrases and enrich site content to improve rankings. Alt tags may also be employed to provide greater descriptions to site links (for buttons, menu items, content text, etc.)

Search Engine Friendly URLs – Keep it simple and logical.
According to Google, friendly URLs should be created with descriptive categories and filenames for the documents on the site in order to keep the site better organized and it could also lead to better crawling of your documents by search engines.

Social Linking & Social Bookmarking – Go social and get seen.
Social media is changing the SEO landscape with networking sites continually popping up in search results. Your presence on these sites strengthens your validity and drives traffic to your site.

Make it easy for users to share your site with their friends in their own way. With relevant content, social bookmarking your site will be a no-brainer.

XML Sitemap – Make your site an open book with no page unturned.
Implement an XML Sitemap in the code (behind the scenes) and allow crawlers to access every page of your site, especially pages that aren’t discoverable by automatically following links.

With a little bit of luck and these simple methods, you are on your way to site optimization. As search engine sites continue to evolve, we will continue to provide tips to get you closer to the coveted #1 ranking on Google.

Even if you live in an underground lair, you have at least heard of Facebook.  Not only are your favorite sports team and primetime show asking for a fan request, but so are your local grocer, your dentist and your financial advisor.  Whereas Facebook began as a way to connect students, Facebook is now literally connecting the world, with no industry stone left unturned.

Facebook is not for young college students anymore as that signature blue box now shines light upon the faces of a much wider audience.  Today, Facebook is a powerful presence that provides marketing opportunities galore.  As the average age of the Facebook community continues to rise, so do the number of companies, both B2C and B2B, making Facebook an integral and newer element of their marketing plan.

And it is costing them, essentially nothing.  With the exception of pay-per-click and pay-per-impression ads, Facebook is friendly to sales and marketing budgets and requires only time, and perhaps a little bit of creativity and finesse.

So how do you cater for a party of 250 million Facebook users?  You don’t.  Instead, be smart in how you join the world of Facebook and make the right connections, seek out your appropriate audiences, and mingle.  Challenge.  Flirt.  Push.  Pull.  And join the conversation that may now be going on without you.

First, get started and create a Facebook Page.  It’s so easy a caveman can do it.

Your page will be the home base of your Facebook marketing presence.  Through it, Facebook users can become your fan.  When they do, your name and logo will appear on their profile page and you will be in their feed, visible to everyone in their networks.  You will be viral, in a good way.  Don’t fight it.

Then, explore other marketing uses of Facebook:

• Promote your events and occasions.  Facebook evites are a cake walk.  If you are a law firm, invite young law talent to your recruitment event…if you are a restaurant, promote your happy hour specials.

• Engage your audience with contests and polls.  Let your audiences interact with you.  Ask them questions, and listen to their responses.  Build a game for them to play with you online.  If they feel you are allowing them to impact your decisions as a company or organization, they will continue to share how they feel with you.

• Create Discussion Boards to solicit user feedback and generate brainstorms.

• Keep it exciting and new.  Make sure your Facebook page is equipped with fresh photos, videos and updates.  Would you go to CNN.com or STLToday.com if the information never changed?

• Sync up your Twitter updates with your Facebook account.  Take advantage of one data entry point so you still have time to stop and smell the flowers from time to time.  Need to learn more about Twitter?… read our article.

• Integrate Facebook with your web site.  Inspire your existing site visitors to become a fan of your organization on Facebook.  Perhaps let them see a different side or you, or simply use Facebook to push out information that they would otherwise have to seek out themselves on your site.  Add Facebook Share links on your site as well to help your fans talk to their friends about you.

• Implement the Fan Box widget on your website to gain more fans and share your Facebook updates.  This implementation requires pasting only 4 lines of code.

• Or add a Comment Box to your site, allowing Facebook users on your site to comment on your content, post those comments to their profiles, and share them with their friends on Facebook.  Kick up your feet and let your fans promote you.

• Try out paid social ads.  Target your ads to your audience.  Determine age, gender, geographic, interests, marital status, etc.  Cast your net as small, or as big as you would like and pay only for performance.

• Capture your vanity URL.  Make your Facebook page easily accessible: http://facebook.com/yourcompanynamehere.

• Set up Facebook Insights to track your fans and their activity on your page.  Understand who is in your Facebook network and how often they are checking out your page.  Explore metrics of gender & age, page views, weekly trending, etc.

• And be sure to talk.  That’s right, get out there.  Converse.  Give them something to talk about.  Be clever.  Be personable.  Be professional.  Spell everything right.

• Finally, reap search engine optimization (SEO) benefits.  Facebook pages have proven to rank very highly in Google search results, so enjoy the boost of your SEO rankings.

With that, you are off!  See you on Facebook. (Visit Paradigm’s fan page on Facebook!)

They say you can only make a first impression once. Positive, or negative, this first encounter sticks with people forever. The same is true for your web site.

The purpose of your web site’s home page is to:

• greet site users
• say who you are
• and communicate what you offer and how it’s useful to them

A successful home page incorporates research, effective design and clear, intuitive usability. Developing a strategy for success requires a critical understanding of your site visitors and an experienced design team.

First, explain yourself. Always address the newcomer by answering the question “What is this place, and what is it about?” If the site does not immediately address this question, the user will feel frustrated and leave, most likely never returning to your site. To prevent this, consider visual hierarchy. This is how it should work:

• draw the user’s eye to your logo
• present a clear introductory paragraph and relatable image
• highlight the main navigational system
• recede less important elements
• use bold colors, big typography and high impact photography in moderation

Show ‘em what’s new. A repeat visitor will become bored with your home page if it never changes. By telling them what’s new, or displaying fresh messages, images or flash rotations, you can help keep them informed and eager to return.

Keep it clean. Decide what’s really important. Allow your site message to breathe, as well as your site audience. Clean, simple home pages should showcase the most important information, and call users to action. Consider a subtractive process. Remove any home page elements that are not absolutely necessary.

Steer clear of generic. Blah photography can sink a home page in seconds. With photography options abound, the perfect image to tell your story is out there. High-impact photography may very well be the link between your site and the visitor.

Control your color palette. Color sets the mood for your home page. Just as you want the message of your site to be clear and concise, color should abide by the same rules. Consider contrast. Choose colors with varying hues and intensities, as this allows for messaging to pop. Users read text to get more information about you, so make it easy for them.

And lastly, say no to cheesy. Home pages can look cheesy, amateur, disorganized and out of sorts. Multiple animations, animated GIFs, anything that blinks, splash pages, default blue links, and standard beveled bordered tables, for example, are not your friends. “Under Construction” landing pages with little men working are your worst enemy.

By not diluting your core message, the home page has done its job in representing your organization.

Have a nice home page.