Stumped for new blog post topic ideas? Struggling to increase blog traffic? Want more comments? Higher search position? Better results from social media? Younger looking skin in just three days?
Can't help you with that last goal, but excluding that one you've come to the right place. Learn how to make your blog the center of your social media efforts, build traffic, write great posts and more here in some of the best tips, tactics and guidance for blogging of 2010 so far.
100+ SMB Blogging Ideas to Kick Start 2010 by Small Business Trends
Running low on inspiration? Muse taking a break? Lisa Barone offers 100 topic ideas to kick start your blog posts, divided into various categories such as Go Social, Highlight Your Customers and Get Personal.
How to Never Run Out of Blog Topics to Write About by Internet Marketing for Business Owners
If, somehow, you're still scratching your head for blog topics after reading Lisa's list, Jarom Adair supplies about 30 more ideas here, from tips and survey follow-ups to customer testimonials and scaring your readers with horror stories of business decisions gone wrong.
Ten Must Read Tips to Start a Small Business Blog by TopRank Online Marketing Blog
Lee Odden writes that "there's a litany of things you COULD do with setting up a blog. Even if...filtered it down to what one SHOULD do, the list (is) amazingly long." So, in the interest of helping out new business owners (or business owners new to marketing on the web) without overwhelming them, Lee "decided to create...a short list of what a small businesses CAN do when starting a blog."
Marketing Your Blog: 10 Essential Tips You Should Know by Hongkiat
To make your blog stand out from the crowd, Edward Khoo provides 10 tips including using controversy (carefully), simplifying the subscription process and this gem: "Create different profiles for each social media site. On LinkedIn, you want to be all about business. On Facebook, show a little of your personality - the carbon-based life form behind the blog. On Twitter, shine the spotlight on your blog. Each profile should be designed to show a different facet of you and your expertise."
Blogging Tips: How to Promote and Publicize by Spin Sucks
Gini Dietrich lays out a six-step, eight-minute process to use social media to promote blog posts. Some of the tools take a bit of time to set up initially, but it's a quick process from there on out.
SEO's Magic Bullet by PR 20/20
Based on the top ranking factors for SEO, Keith Moehring explains how one key tool, still overlooked by many companies, may be the silver bullet for SEO success.
7 Days to Turn Your Blog Into a Social Media Hub - Day 1: Defining Your Hub by Danny Brown
Danny Brown explains why your blog belongs at the center of your social media efforts (just as it's positioned in the web presence optimization model) and how to use it to keep all of your social media marketing efforts aligned.
Why a Blog Improves Social Media for B2B by My Venture Pad
Still not convinced that a blog should be the center of your social media strategy? The brilliant Ardath Albee lays out a dozen more reasons to make it so, such as "The Internet moves fast. Publishing a new article once a month on your website isn't enough to keep up a consistent dialogue." "Blogs are a kind of 'natural nurturing' - the more often you touch your prospects, the more your ideas are top of mind for them. (hence, your company)" and "Blogs allow comments longer than 140 characters."
Submit Your Blog to 50+ Free Blog Directories by Kittu K
Links are vital to SEO success, and one way to accelerate link-building for a blog is to use this helpful list of 50+ free blog diretories sorted by PageRank.
5 Sure Fire Tactics to Promote a Business Blog by TopRank Online Marketing Blog
Michelle Bowles provides some high-impact tactics to build traffic for a business blog, somewhat similar to the recommendations for successfully launching a new blog presented here a while back.
12 ways to Increase comments on your Blog by Technshare
A dozen great tips for generating more comments on your blog, from do-following comment links and thanking commentors to asking for feedback and moderating comments promptly.
Search Optimization Tips for Bloggers by SEO Wizardry
Pete Hollier offers tips for search optimizing a blog, some of which also apply to standard websites (keyword research) and some unique to blogs (using SEO plugins).