The Value of Blogging
Blogging is becoming increasingly important for self-published authors. Developing and maintaining an online presence is an integral part of self-marketing; it offers a way to get noticed by showcasing your writing, a chance to get feedback on your work before you invest in self-publishing, and an opportunity to make contacts that can help you publish and market your book.
Blogging for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is one way to get noticed; this is the process of increasing traffic to your blog by having it appear earlier in search engine results listings. SEO is a slow process that requires consistent, regular effort, so don’t wait to start your blog until after you’ve published. To blog for SEO, you’ll need to produce a minimum of two articles with a minimum of 500 words each per week. Posting to your blog on a regular basis also helps maintain subscriber interest. Most writers have no trouble coming up with potential topics, but if you’re having trouble finding the time to write and publish blogs, hiring a professional blogger can help. This usually becomes a more attractive option as a blog increases in popularity, because maintaining the blog becomes proportionately more time-consuming and technical. A professional blogger can also assist with link building, a necessary part of SEO.
Receiving feedback on their work is a frightening prospect for many authors because they are emotionally invested in their writing, but the opportunity to learn from constructive criticism prior to publishing is invaluable. You can consider reader response to your grammar skills, concepts, and style when writing on any topic. Even if you hire a professional blogger at some point, you can “guest-write” on your blog to test new ideas, themes, and techniques. The expense of self-publishing makes blogging an excellent marketing value.
If well-managed, your blog will attract the attention not just of casual readers, but of other authors, editors, publishers, and reviewers. No matter how well-managed it is, it will also attract a fair number of spammers and online hawkers of get-rich-quick schemes. However, these tend to decrease proportionately over time; if you’re maintaining your own blog, you’ll also become adept at quickly recognizing and deleting them. The value of the networking opportunities gained by blogging far outweighs this annoyance. Online communities tend to be close-knit and people often form online friendships faster than they would face-to-face. If you intend to self-publish, those who have traveled this path before you can offer advice and support. You might also locate resources that are scarce or more expensive in your geographic area. To connect with these individuals, you’ll need to subscribe to and comment on other blogs, participate in discussion groups, and post links to your blog in online groups. Though this also requires an investment of time, it’s important for SEO as well as networking.
Starting a blog can be intimidating, but it’s a worthwhile effort for writers, especially those who intend to or have self-published. Don’t wait; start your blog today! (Click here to see how PPG can help you with that!)
Rachaelle Lynn
Organic SEO Campaign Manager, Content Writer, and Editor
PPG is a Canadian book publisher dedicated to serving Canadian authors. Visit our book publishing website to learn how you can publish your book today.
Categories: The Book Business, Sales and Marketing, Writing, PPG Guest Bloggers
Great article. Posting regularly is a good idea. Three or more times a week is ideal. Plus, adding media to your blog is a good idea. Google loves content!
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Hi Rebecca,
Can you confirm what you mean by "adding media to your blog" for our readers?
Thanks,
Kim
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What I mean by "media" is podcasts, videos, and graphics. Adding various media to your blog depends on the blogging platform. Most platforms allow you to add YouTube videos with ease. You can find free podcasting software on the internet such as Audacity. Once you record your podcast, you can upload it to your blog using the tools/plugins your blogging platform provides.
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As stated by the author, blogging certainly helps you maintain an oline presence, enables you to get noticed, helps you network and hones your writing skills to self publish.
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The value of blogging is underscored by the fact that even some of the world's best-known CEOs are now blogging.
I wrote about the trend in this blog posting...
http://www.mikeconsol.com/index.php/blog/comments/blogging-with-cisco-systems-ceo-john-chambers/
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10 Ways on How You can Gain Viewers to Your Blog
By: Jo-Anne Vandermeulen
1.) Produce amazing comment replies – In your niche or area of expertise, visit other blogs and leave well written comments that contain valuable content. Leave your signature. Follow the discussion.
2.) Providing a solution goes a long way – Get out to other social media sites and prove you’re an expert. Scan the discussions for questions you can simply answer. Contribute by sharing similar experiences and sympathize with the participants.
3.) Publicize your articles – Gain Author Expert Status by submitting excellent articles from your blog. Ezine.com is one of many examples of recognized published postings (article directory) that not only attracts viewers; but also, is another method to get your name and niche out there.
4.) Guest post or contribute articles on other blogs – Each stream comes with its own readers. Many streams turn into a flow of traffic back to your site.
5.) Build your list of followers – Reach out into various social media networks and gather friends. Interact to form trusting relationships.
6.) Vary your source of posts by incorporating audio and visual podcasts – Presentation is everything. Create catchy titles with eye-drawing photographs. Supply the captions and posts with links back to your site. Include long-tailed tags/keywords.
7.) Target the 3 largest media sites – YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter are the going fad today. Leave your signature with your site link. Update your profile within the joined media site. Interested participants will want to know more about you, so make you and your site accessible through simple navigation.
8.) Educate your followers – Provide simple guidelines or reminders. Encourage your followers to subscribe and tell them exactly how. Request your followers to promote you to others (their friends). “Spread the word” or “Tell a friend”.
9.) Find new potential followers – Know who you want to attract and where to find them. Choose sites with major traffic and take note where these secondary sites are linked to. Vary your targeting audience—don’t always pitch to the same viewers.
10) Activate the webcrawlers and social bookmark each post – Register your blog in Google, Yahoo, and MSN. After each post, ping the article (Digg, Delicious, Stumbleupon, etc.). SEO – Optimize your ranking in the search engines so your potential viewers can find you.
With flowing traffic comes a greater chance to sell your book.
To read more valuable marketing tips: “Premium Promotional Tips for Writers” By: Jo-Anne Vandermeulen – Purchase book: http://vandermeulen.laurusbooks.com/Order.html or anywhere online.
Jo-Anne Vandermeulen
Prolific Writer & Professional Marketeer
*FREE Marketing Tips for Writers*
http://www.joconquerobstacles.com
Owner and Marketeer of Premium Promotional Services *You Write- We Promote* http://www.premiumpromotions.biz
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