id33b1: 10 New Social Articles on Business 2 Community

sâmbătă, 15 decembrie 2012

10 New Social Articles on Business 2 Community

10 New Social Articles on Business 2 Community


3 Golden Rules of SEO Project Planning

Posted: 15 Dec 2012 02:30 PM PST

Whenever you take on an SEO campaign for a new client, there are a number of items to be considered, and it's almost a given that no matter how much thought goes into the process or how careful you are with your client communication and documentation, something will go wrong.

That's okay, though…. it goes with the territory. You try to cover as many bases as you can, and be prepared with contingency plans to handle the hiccups, and you move on.

German Field Marshal Helmuth Karl Bernhard Graf von Moltke, in the 19th century, said "no plan survives contact with the enemy". While an SEO campaign may not (normally) be as bloody as a battlefield, we can still draw a good parallel to Moltke's adage. The gist of it is, plans need to be flexible, because things will happen to render them less effective. It never fails.

And in this business, less effective isn't acceptable.

So, we do our audit, establish a benchmark, do our KW and competitor research, while our new client provides us with a tidy discovery package… what else is there to do before we start building our campaign plan?

You're kidding, right? Tell me you're not going to forget this very important step!

1. Set up your Communications

This is critical, and the earlier it's done, the better for everyone. Both you and your client need to establish your respective responsibilities, expectations, communications chain and contingency plans. Assume that something will go wrong, someone will drop the ball or something will change the game -then identify all the what-ifs up front. If-then arguments work very well in real life, too.

Then, if the client's developer fails to deliver something on-time or as specified, or if some new intern suddenly decides to accidentally wipe out the analytics data, or even if a competitor suddenly unleashes a blitzkrieg marketing campaign, there may be surprises, but there won't be disasters, because you considered those possibilities beforehand. Maybe not precisely those things, but hiccups in those general areas.

And when something happens, and you're cool and confident as you implement your Plan B, the customer will be impressed and the impact will be mitigated.3 Golden Rules

That's how stars are made, my child! Things go wrong for everyone, now and then… stars plan for it and have their bases covered. Their plan survives contact with the enemy.

2. Don't Fly by the Seat of your Pants

As long as I'm tossing around old sayings, how about this one?

Failing to plan is planning to fail.

Some of us like to play things off the cuff, trusting our instincts to quickly and smoothly handle whatever happens. If we're really good (and more than a little lucky), it may work out fine, most days. But eventually, our own failure to plan will be our downfall. If you fall into that category, it's time to change the way you do things.

Don't fall into the all-too-common trap of studiously preparing a plan and then just as studiously ignoring it.

3. Keep a Record of EVERYTHING

One of the best things you can do to save wasted time and make your efforts more effective is to keep detailed records of absolutely everything that has to do with the project. That means all communications, task lists, as well as all changes to the plan, schedule or the website.

When something happens, that is not the best time to have to lose a couple of hours or more trying to figure out who did or said what. Having that information at your fingertips can not only be a lifesaver, it makes you look more professional.

Most importantly, you may have to educate your client in this regard. If they do something that has an effect on your plan, whether beneficial or detrimental, it's critical to know precisely what it was. Making them understand this and adhere to a strict documentation of any and all actions taken will benefit both of you.

Putting it to Use Later

Depending upon how much detail you like to put in your reports to your clients, meticulous records can be a mighty handy resource. As a minimum, I like to be able to detail all the actions that were taken, so I lean heavily on my actions log.

I've also found that keeping detailed records has another great benefit. Eventually, I'm probably going to have a similar situation repeat itself with another client. Since some of my contingency plans work like a champ, and others don't turn out as well as I'd hoped, being able to refer back to those and use what worked and refine what didn't has saved me a lot of time (and time is money) on other jobs.

So there you go… my three Golden Rules. They've helped me out numerous times – I hope they do the same for you. If you have any others that you'd suggest, I'm all ears!

Doc Sheldon retired from his business management consultancy in 2008 and became a perpetual student of all things SEO. He began providing professional webcopy to a worldwide array of clients, and has been actively involved in SEO for over five years, and writing professionally for nearly forty.

Engage Social with Your Sales Process

Posted: 15 Dec 2012 10:00 AM PST

While social media is becoming part of the fabric of our personal lives, it is far from mainstream when it comes to mainstream businesses.

You may be surprised to learn that percentage of businesses NOT using social media is much greater than those that are.

Actively using social media does not mean you have a LinkedIn account, rather, that you are using it using it to connect the dots to new business. If you are honest, you know that you aren't.

We can all do more.

The power of the social networks is their ability to make connections that give your business enormous potential. What happens after that is up to you and your sales skills.

That's the opportunity with LinkedIn, and the same holds true for Facebook, Twitter, and so on.

The Essential Sales Component

When I graduated with my MBA the top marketing jobs were on Wall Street and Madison Avenue – and they were available mostly to graduates from top tier schools like Harvard. That was the picture here in the United States.

The rest of us were suddenly thrust into a related profession we had little experience with – sales. Selling is not something that is taught in most business programs, and certainly not in most MBA programs. It is traditionally considered beneath marketing.

Fortunately, Zig Ziglar changed that. His contribution to the world of selling is immeasurable, because he made it honorable and respected.

Sales skills are essential for getting results from social media. Those that practice selling know it requires organization and effort – at least in the mainstream "brick and mortar" world.

In a digital world, effective marketing is becoming indistinguishable from selling. Yet, in a brick and mortar world, selling is selling. Without it, your social media marketing will fall short of completing the social marketing process if it does not engage your sales process.

Relationship Selling in the Trust Economy

The process of social marketing should ultimately convert attention and engagement into profitable outcomes. That means there has to be a way to translate trust into sales — and hopefully relationships that lead to repeat business and referrals.

To be clear, the one thing that stands between your social media engagement and cashing checks is the integration of basic selling principles within your social marketing process.

A lot of experts may tell you it is easy to use social media to grow your business — which is why so many small businesses give up just as they are about to achieve what they have rightfully earned.

The state of social media for small business is one of two options.

Either learn to engage it with your sales process – or abandon it completely.

How about you – are you ready to sell?

Leave a comment below – and please share with your social networks.

Overview of Changes to YouTube Layout: Magnet Minute [video]

Posted: 15 Dec 2012 09:15 AM PST

This week on the Magnet Minute, Amy reviews all the layout changes that came with YouTube's most recent platform update.

The front page always seems to get major tweaking when a revamp occurs and one of the first things you'll notice is even more emphasis on other content that you would prefer. There are a lot of social media ties to see what friends are watching and sharing. Your subscriptions' latest videos is front and center for you to explore, as well as content that they "like" or "favorite." The recommendations section, where YouTube helps you find even more videos to watch based on your activity, is also more prominent than ever.

If you're looking for trending and popular videos on the front page that are outside of your recommendations, they are now on an official YouTube channel to be discovered. Subscribe to stay on top of what's hot on YouTube.

One-click subscribing is a new change making video creators very happy. Now, when you're looking through channels, you will not only see the avatar but a "Subscribe" button underneath along with the number of subscribers there are for that channel. This is making it really easy for viewers to find new content, and for creators to easily reach a new audience.

Another big change is the placement of the video on the viewing page. It now automatically appears larger and in the middle of the screen so the experience is more like watching television, keeping viewers focused on watching more and more video.

To the left of the video is that same panel from the front page that has personalized options, in addition to a ticker of "videos from this creator." This is great for channels that want people who stumble on their content to view more and more of it.

The "Subscribe" button at the top of videos also received a little makeover. Gone is the big yellow button we are used to; it's been replaced by a button more in line with the red YouTube branding. It's in the same area as liking and commenting, so don't miss it if you want to keep coming back to someone's channel.

What do you think of the new layout? Let us know in the comments and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn.

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Is Follow-for-a-Follow a Bad Practice?

Posted: 15 Dec 2012 08:30 AM PST

A follow-for-a-follow is, well, about like it sounds. In short, you ask someone to follow your blog, and you do the same for theirs in return. A similar one is a like-for-a-like, for Facebook pages.

But the question is, should you participate in this?

Some will ask what's the harm? And others will it's like panhandling for followers.

My answer isn't quite that simple, though.

The important aspect to keep in mind is not every blogger has the same goal. Many of us simply want to make like-minded connections. For that, the blog can grow organically or with only simple marketing activities. But there are two other particular groups to consider.

Monetizers. Some people actually make money directly off their blogs. For example, using Google Ads or paid advertising. While I don't discuss the aspects of running those types of blogs, they do exist. And what drives in the moolah for them? Clicks, of course. They don't necessarily need a steady list of followers, unless those followers are going to click more than once. They need fresh eyes, and sometimes a follow-for-a-follow or other "check out my blog" activities drives that.

Monetizers are known for coming up with annoying habits, and even spam. But as long as they are honest about the fact they are making money from your click, don't try to trick you into anything (like changing the introduction to a link to make you think it's a new article), or overload their site with banners, there's really no harm from it.

But this isn't our niche, so let's move on.

Platform. Oh, now we're back in familiar territory. Good to be home. Platform is that evil little word all you aspiring overlords and writers should know by now. Whether you self-publish or go through the daunting task of scoring a New York agent, a platform is a must in the handbag of writer's tools. And yes, it is best if your platform actually reads your blog. But sometimes it takes a little encouragement to get people to click over to see if they will even like what you've written. Follow-for-a-follow and such practices are one way to encourage that.

Now, the details:

GFC. When people are asking for followers, they usually mean Google Friend Connect. It would be wise for these bloggers to realize not everyone uses GFC. Some follow via Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or newsletter. So asking your newsletter to add you on GFC can be considered redundant. Choir preaching and such.

Large Blog Follows. If someone has a large list of blogs they follow, does that mean they're "one of them" and not legit? Not necessarily. First off, just because you follow a blog doesn't mean you have to read every post. If you use a tool like RSS or GFC to see the latest updates, it's easy to just select the ones with topics which interest you.

Also, not everyone is a TV fanatic or sports enthusiast. Instead of watching Dexter, they're reading blog posts. Instead of cheering for their home team, they're reading blog posts. Let's not forget devices which handle RSS, so now they can be waiting in the check out line—and reading blog posts. Not everyone who follow a lot of blogs are a scam.

Follow-for-a-Follow Groups. On the surface, this can seem spammy. And it could be. But lets also consider where this request is aimed. If you go to a social network forum and ask for follow-for-a-follow, you are likely to turn up people playing the numbers game. I tried it once, saw the results, did not like. This isn't genuine, and I don't advise it.

But what if you ask a writing group to follow-for-a-follow? Now we're onto something. Since you keep a blog about your writing activities, and they keep one about theirs, you just might have a common ground. This is yet another reason why knowing your blog niche, and being able to sell it in 140 characters is important.

Blog hops. Simply put, a blog hop encourages bloggers to share a widget will display all the participating bloggers on each blog. Certain "rules" must be followed, like commenting on a number of those blogs. One practice that sometimes occurs is making following the other blogs mandatory. This is one of those panhandling techniques I don't think is in good taste. Asking them to comment is one thing; it encourages you to click over and see if you might like any of those blogs instead of just using it as another directory. But if you like the blog, you will subscribe to it on your own.

Back Linking. This normally refers to links search engines will pick up, and GFC follow lists doesn't do much for that. But we'll use this term to also describe links that readers will see. If someone views the profile for a blog author they enjoy, they also see the blogs the author is following. And they might click on them. I don't even use GFC, and I do this.

I don't think follow-for-a-follow tactics are any different than insisting on a Twitter follow back. Some people will diss that, too. But I look at this way: time is limited, and I would rather spend time on the people who also spend time with me. This builds friendships instead of readers. Same with follow-for-follow. There are countless blogs out there, so I'd rather read the ones from people who are reading mine.

I absolutely do not believe in driving up your numbers with unscrupulous activities such as following without ever reading. Neither do I believe in using the #followback hashtag on Twitter, because you wind up with numbers, not people. It's best to keep these activities within your niche, so the interest has hope at being genuine.

In the end, it's really up to the blogger. If they want to amass numbers, than they can. I, however, prefer real people.

Do you ever participate in follow-for-follow? What "regulations" do you keep?

Star Movies India Premieres Breaking Dawn For New Year’s Eve

Posted: 15 Dec 2012 08:00 AM PST

Come New Year's Eve and every television channel worth its total TRPs has an exciting marketing strategy up its sleeve. As pointed out by the folks from Star Movies, there has been a shift in viewers' preferences, with people favouring the idea of celebrating New Year's Eve at home with their loved ones rather than being a part of crowded parties.

In a bid to attract the home celebrators and to follow the tradition of having big Hollywood premieres every New Year's Eve, Star Movies is all set to premiere the movie 'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1' on December 31, 2012 in the 9PM time slot.(1)

Star_Movies_breaking_dawn

The English movie channel has planned a 360 degree marketing campaign comprising print, on-ground as well as digital mediums, to maximise visibility across its target viewers. The channel's Facebook and Twitter pages have been promoting the premiere quite regularly too, considering that the younger target segment is active on social networking sites.

The Star Movies Facebook page, which has nearly 1.5 million fans, has had regular updates about the movie premiere, beginning December. Most of the updates have received a massive response from the community – posts have more than 5k likes and 200+ comments on an average.

Interestingly, the channel had conducted a Facebook poll in the later part of November asking fans to vote for the best couple amongst Kristen Stewart & Robert Pattinson, Kate Winslet & Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie and many more. The lead pair of Breaking Dawn – Kristen & Robert won the poll hands down!

The Star Movies Twitter page, with more than 10k followers, is also promoting the premiere quite actively. Interesting and personalised tweets like "We invite you to Edward & Bella's wedding this New Year's Eve @ 9PM. Come, be a part of a new chapter in their love story" is sure to work in their favour.

Be it for a new television series or a world television premiere, many brands are now indulging in social media promotions. This year seems to have stretched budget allocations in the digital space.

  1. Article Source

7 Non-Sketchy Ways to Build Scores of Inbound Links

Posted: 15 Dec 2012 07:00 AM PST

7 SEO tipsSEO is mostly dead. There’s no question that SEO can’t replace a comprehensive inbound marketing strategy. The world’s most effective content marketing is written for humans – but it’s formatted in a way that Google loves, too. While the algorithms of major search algorithms have shifted from quantity to quality, inbound links and social shares are used as a measure for Google to identify whether your blog is great or mediocre. If you’re looking for some tactics to boost your ranking that won’t get your website in hot water, we’ve compiled the following:

1. Submit Your Website to Directories

The only way you ethically can and should build inbound links back to your website is through submitting to web directories. To be clear, not all inbound links are created equal. A link from a high-authority website like CNN or the HubSpot blog will matter much more than being indexed in a free website directory. Is submitting your blog URL still worth it? Absolutely.

2. Write Link Bait

If you want to generate inbound links, you should write things that people want to reference and share on their own websites. Easier said than done, right? We can’t promise you’ll earn links from the following, but they have a history of working out well for SEO:

  • Original data and research – Case studies and experiments. Fresh data from reliable sources like eMarketer, Factbrowser, Scarborough, HubSpot or Marketo could also work.
  • Infographics – the original link bait, the best are virally shared, re-posted and pinned.
  • Videos – Original videos that speak directly to your buyer personas‘ senses of humor work bet. No time or budget? Analyze a viral video.

3. Guest Posting

Sure, guest posting is a long, arduous process that involves writing a whole piece of content and giving it away for free, but it’s also an exceptional way to build relationships and inbound links. As an added bonus, you could notice a jump in your blog’s readership thanks to the fact your writing was exposed to a whole new network of readers.

4. Just Asking

I’m sure there’s a way to connect who are willing to trade links for pure SEO benefit, but there are at least a dozen really smart Google employees working right now to make sure they get zero credit. We’re not suggesting you find people to trade links with deliberately, but we’re saying you should be able to ask for some credit if you feel it’s due.

Did you respond to a reporter’s query or stumble across a mention of your name, company, website or research that conspicuously lacked a link? You’ve got every right to shoot an email and even suggest a blog post you’d like a link to. They might be perfectly happy to pass the SEO juice.

5. Buy Some Links

Yes, we just told you to go buy some links. As Rand Fishkin indicated at HubSpot’s Inbound 12 conference way back in August, it’s not always a sketchy tactic, especially for geo-targeted marketers. Can you offer some contribution to a sports team, charity event or non-profit in your area, with the idea that you’d be mentioned on the website as a sponsor? Everyone benefits from these kinds of exchanges.

6. Networking

Are you in the habit of maintaining a high engagement rate on Twitter and commenting on dozens of other blogs each day? If not, it’s time to start. Some experts recommend you approach connecting with people with digital influence strategically. Make a Twitter list, interact, comment on their blog posts and pass links in your own blog. Send them a Tweet when you’re referenced. If you’re on their radar and write outstanding content, it stands to reason that they may give you a link or two.

7. Sharing Freely

Encourage reciprocity. SEO blogger Harry Gold advises that you make it clear to other website owners that they can take any user-generated visual content from your website they want – graphs, images, videos or infographics. Just ask for a link in return. While you’re at it, ensure that all high-value content on your site - including images, charts, graphs, white papers, and videos are socially enabled, because exposure never hurt anyone.

What SEO tactics have you found effective?

6 Things to Consider When Adding Social to Your Crisis Plan

Posted: 14 Dec 2012 08:00 PM PST

Whilst marketers are increasingly taking responsibility for social media as part of a multi-channel marketing (MCM) strategy, issues and crisis management is often left with the Comms or PR teams. Unless the Marketing team and the Comms team are completely integrated and fully aware of what each other are doing in the online space there is a very good chance that when a crisis occurs, confusion over channel ownership and responsibilities will almost certainly follow. Having to deal with internal politics is not something you want to have to deal with in the middle of a crisis. So how can you prevent such confusion and ensure that in a crisis you can respond effectively and protect the investment you have made in the reputation of your brand.

1. Develop a Crisis Plan. Don't write a crisis plan in isolation from other departments – don't forget Customer Services, Community Management, colleagues running B2B channels, HR, your legal team and the owners of other brands within the business (spill over or contamination danger). Establishing a Social Media Steering Committee is a great start.

2. Clear Communication. Establish what every stakeholder means by responsibility, ownership and authority when it comes to management of social media channels and ensure that the person or team who will respond to the crisis have Delegation of Authority and access to use all channels needed to address the crisis.

3. Social Media never sleeps. Monitor the environment 24/7 – you may have to decide if you have the resources in-house or whether you are going to outsource? Ensure alerts in place for silent hours – SMS and email

4. Social Media Monitoring tool. Establish clarity of the situation so when a crisis breaks and Twitter goes ballistic you can effectively manage this. Stakeholders expectations from brands and the response times demanding are increasing, Is a dashboard your best bet or a more visual based tool that collates all tweets in a single live pane like CrisisVu?

5. Tracking and changing Keywords. Are all your teams monitoring for the same key words? Can you all get access?

6. Channel Ownership. If you don't own some channels (perhaps managed by Marketing), can you reach the manager in a crisis or do you have the log in details, admin rights and DoA to use it in a crisis.

Whatever your Crisis plan is, try to be proactive as this is the only way to protect your brand.

B2B Hashtags – How To Find The Best Twitter Hashtag

Posted: 14 Dec 2012 06:07 PM PST

How can you use Twitter hashtags to create a better message? Well, this past March I had a wonderful vacation in Mexico. We were enjoying the resort's pool when my significant other and I finished our cervezas. I tried teaching her the key Spanish words to use in Mexico, so SHE tried to order this round of cervezas – "dos cervezas con lime". The bartender returned with "dos cervezas con limon?" and her response was "no, lime" … and so round and round it went like a 3 Stooges skit! She tried her hardest to get the message across, but just was not using the right language or term.

Here are four considerations when trying to find the best hashtag for your B2B Twitter messaging.

1. Reach An Expanded Audience With Hashtags. Such is using a hashtag on Twitter, if you want to reach the right target with the right message, you need to use the right "language" or terms. Hashtag definition – a hashtag is simply a word or set of characters preceded by the "#" symbol. It helps Twitter users to sort, search and find information on their terms. When we use it to communicate, it helps us find and communicate with those interested in niche subjects. The better our choice of hashtags, the wider our reach will be.

2. Reach The Right Audience With The Right Hashtag. This inclusion is a CRITICAL point with B2B social media messaging. Without the right keywords and hashtags, you are leaving opportunity on the table – awareness, registration and pipeline. It's interesting to note that WeFollow.com registrants are out following #cloud with #cloudcomputing – i.e., 1140 #cloudcomputing follows vs. 347 #cloud follows, which should make us consider and always reevaluate the selection of key words and hashtags to use for your messaging if you were messaging about cloud computing. On the other hand, HashtagBattle.com provides another way to analyze hashtag use (vs. following). In fact, #cloud significantly outperforms #cloudcomputing use! So, it makes sense to use several tools and inform your decision. In this case you need to make the decision to use a hashtag that's followed more or used more. Hmmmm.

3. Use Twitter Hashtags That People Follow. That Conversely, if one decided to use an brand-specific tag like #SAPCloud that no one follows, it would be similar to forcing a customer into a following situation (doesn't sound very pull marketing does it?) then the reach is likely capped at the channel's follower count! I have to say that I do see many hashtags that don't work as hard as they should for us. This poor use of hashtags is quite easy to change!

4. Use Hashtags With High Usage And High Relevance. The key question is, what hashtags should you use vs. how do you find a hashtag to use. After you have found a selection of hashtags use a simple 2×2 chart we look to choose hashtags that have high relevancy and high followers. This 2×2 chart is a handy, back-pocket resource. It will also help guide you to pair a niche and a generic hashtag to drive even more reach (e.g., #mobile #analytics).

In case you are wondering, we ended up solving the lime vs. limon situation, helping us reach the right audience with the right message … which made us all very happy in the end!" Escupe, dos #cerveza con #limon, por favor! If you have questions on how you can reach the right audience with the right hashtag, please leave a comment below.

How to Become a Wedding Planner? [Infographic]

Posted: 14 Dec 2012 05:09 PM PST

Wedding planners help walk couples through the biggest day of their lives. From the time a bride says "yes" to a groom's wedding proposal until after the last bottle of champagne is popped, a good wedding planner will work tirelessly to ensure the big day is a total success. That could include everything from arranging wedding photography and food to scrutinizing fabric swatches and finding a last minute solution for a lost earring or missing best man.

While some married couples pop into the local justice of the peace or head to Las Vegas for a quickie wedding, there are plenty of brides and grooms who pull out all the stops to ensure their wedding day is a day they—and their guests—will never forget. And they're spending money to make it happen. According to a survey by TheKnot.com and Wedding Channel.com, the average wedding budget in 2011 was $27,021.

Wedding planners must expect the best but be prepared for the worst. Most likely things will go smoothly during a couple's big day, but during those times when they don't, wedding planners are kind of like triage surgeons and airline pilots rolled into one. They are there to ensure a smooth ride but when things go off course, they need to be able to assess and fix any unplanned situations that arise. Of course they aren't engaged in a life-or-death struggle, but try telling that to an anxious bride.

Learn more about what it takes to become a wedding planner in our infographic.

How to Become a Wedding Planner
Courtesy of: Schools.com

How to Determine Your Blog Schedule

Posted: 14 Dec 2012 03:30 PM PST

There is conflicting advice all over the internet about blog schedules. Some bloggers insist you write on a published blog schedule. Some say you should throw the blogging schedule out the window in favor of a more free-form, creative approach.

However, maintaining a blog schedule keeps you focused and helps you get stuff done when things come up. We have meetings. We run late. We have shifting priorities and new deadlines creeping up left and right.

All of these will get in the way of regular blogging unless we have a schedule. Over time, successful bloggers identify patterns in their writing and their weekly output and create a blogging schedule that works for them.

What is a Blog Schedule?

A blog schedule, sometimes called an editorial calendar, is a weekly or monthly outline of what blog content you publish and when. Schedules are often as granular as categories and keywords. In the beginning, create a blogging schedule that determines timing and categories. You can get more granular over time.

Making Blog Scheduling Easy

The challenge in creating a blogging schedule or editorial calendar is that most of us, especially new bloggers, have never learned to find their patterns. No one has shown them the basic techniques to create a schedule that sustains a successful blog! There a few things to think about when you create your blog schedule.

Consider the categories you want to use in your editorial calendar. How many posts do you want to include from each category? Are your categories broad enough to support long term blogging? Ideally, you should rotate through each category every month.

Think about your personal goals. Your goals can build momentum and keep you moving. When your writing has an element of personal satisfaction, in addition to building your audience, it will be easier on the days you don't want to blog. Some writers have a goal to hit 750 words per day. Others have a goal to write for a number of consecutive days.

Your niche and focus will factor in to your blogging schedule. How often of others in your industry publish? High-tech blogs, for example, publish frequently, often several times a day. In contract, blogs with a coaching or emotional focus publish only once a week or less.

What Does the Research Say About Blog Schedules?

It turns out that there are some tried and true times and dates for blogging that can help you find an optimal posting schedule.

Research done by Hubspot's social media scientist, Dan Zarella suggests publishing early in the day is the way to go. Hubspot conducted a survey of over 1,400 blog readers asking them what time of day they read blogs. Morning was the most popular, while the rest of the day decreased in popularity.

There is more science behind the suggestion to post early in the day. According to Kissmetrics:

  • The highest percentage of users read blogs in the morning.
  • A higher percentage of men read blogs in the evening and at night.
  • The average blog gets the most traffic on Monday.
  • The average blog gets the most traffic around 11am Eastern Time.
  • The average blog gets the most comments on Saturday.
  • The average blog gets the most inbound links on Monday and Thursday.
  • The average blog gets the most inbound links at 7am Eastern Time

Although it is tempting to throw caution to the wind and publish your blog in a free-form way, the science is in favor of following a regular blogging schedule. Pay attention to your patterns and learn your best times to write then schedule your posts to publish in the morning hours for the most traffic. How often you post will be based on your goals and your industry.

Image Credit: jan-willem

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