The Google Panda update ranks websites that publish crappy content lower than sites that offer detailed, meaningful content. That’s good news for you because you want to create content that makes the web better, right? But how do you create that kind of content?
Well, over at Google, Amit Singhal suggests that you think like a Google engineer. So in that spirit, I’ve come up with 13 questions that are designed to help you do that so you can create quality articles that your readers and search engines love. [click to continue…]
About a month ago I broke down my process to writing popular blog posts. Incase you missed it, here’s how I write a blog post:
- Use simple words – don’t try to use fancy vocabulary as it makes blog posts harder to read and understand. As a general rule of thumb, use vocabulary that a 5th grader can understand.
- Use the word “you” – instead of using the word “we” or “them” in your blog posts, use the word “you”. By doing this, what I’m doing is trying to make you feel like it’s just you and me, as if we were sitting down at a café for a cup of coffee.
- Write how-to posts – people like posts that can teach them something. How-to posts are the perfect way of doing this. My first blog was a top 100 blog on the Internet according to Technorati; I was able to do this because I wrote a lot of how-to posts.
- Write detailed posts – when I first started Quick Sprout my blog posts weren’t too detailed and the blog wasn’t growing in traffic. Once I started to write more detailed blog posts my traffic started to go through the roof.
- Hook your readers – from using creative headlines to creating a sense of urgency you need to hook your readers if you want them to read your blog posts. One thing I learned from Copyblogger and Problogger is that using stats in your headlines is a great way to hook readers.
- Create a conversation – if you’ve noticed, I have a tendency to italicize words within my blog posts and I tend to ask questions at the end. This helps create a conversation with your readers, which will help you get more comments per blog post.
- Prove your points – if you don’t use stats to back up your points you’ll start to lose credibility with your readers. So start using stats.
- Show your authority – people have tons of options when it comes to reading blogs, so why should they read yours? If you can show that you are an authority without bragging it can help you win over readers. Just like how I mentioned I was a Technorati 100 blogger above.
- Care about your readers – the most important aspect of blogging is to care about your readers. Don’t just blog for the sake of it, do it because you want to help people out. From responding to people’s comments to responding to your readers emails, care about them.
Now that you are up to speed on how I write blog posts, here is my guide to blogging: [click to continue…]
When was the last time you watched The Simpsons? Probably when you were a kid, right? I know what you’re thinking… it’s a show for children. Although you are right, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t watch it because I’ll bet it will teach you a lot about marketing.
Over the last 15 years or so of my life, I’ve probably watched a few hundred episodes and I’ve learned a ton. Here are 7 marketing lessons that the have Simpsons have taught me: [click to continue…]
Do you know what separates good entrepreneurs from great ones? Some say it’s the ability to learn from mistakes, but I think it’s the ability to handle the truth.
It doesn’t matter how smart you are or how good you are at executing, if you can’t handle the truth you’re in for a treat. At the end of the day, would you rather have someone sugar coat things to you…
or… [click to continue…]
Do you ever dream of owning a business that makes money even while you sleep or go on vacation? That’s a dream a lot of business owners have.
Unfortunately it’s not as easy as just getting more clients. There are in fact four major issues you have to deal with before you can create that business that runs without you.
I’ll explain exactly what those four issues are, and how you handle those issues, but first let’s define this kind of business I’m talking about. [click to continue…]
Look over my shoulder while I share: 
