Infographic: The Anatomy of a Successful Blog

ANATOMY of a SUCCESSFUL BLOG The Stats MOST COMMON PLATFORMS ) ESTIMATED 31 MILLION BLOGGERS IN THE UNITED STATES Wordpress 43% 35% Tumblr, Posterous & Typepad 16% Blogger Others 6% BLOGGING INCOME m 81% 9% BUSINESSES WITH BLOGS GENERATE 67% MORE LEADS PER MONTH 121 Make enough to supplement other income Never make $100 8% 2% OF BUSINESSES 60% HAVE A BLOG Make enough to support a family Make $150,000 or more HIGHEST EARNING BLOG 13) The Huffington Post, Arianna Huffington O $2,330,000/MONTH Mashable, Pete Cashmor $560,000/MONTH Perez Hilton, Mario Lavandeira $450,000/MONTH TechCrunch, Michael Arrington $400,000/MONTH Smashing Magazine, Vitaly Friedman $190,000/MONTH The Elements A SUBSTANCE IMAGES - People spend 100% more time on pages that have videos D1 - Posts withimages get 94% more views CONTENT (41 | HEADING Facebook engagement rates481 Good content topics include these features BODY COPY • 0.37% with images • 0.31% with videos . 0.27% text only - Narrow focus - Relevant to industry or audience's taste - Unique - not a carbon copy of someone - Best posts have oneimage for every 350 words (9) else's content - Useful or interesting - something people - Optimization nol want to know - Provide answers to questions people ask RECENT POSTS STRUCTURE 16) · Ensure pages load within 3 seconds or viewers - East to ready - no prose or flowery language will leave Solution: Get (results) in [time frame/number of steps) - 38% of people scan only the title and opening paragraph - Compelling intro sentence and paragraph - Well-cited sources for facts and figures • Smaller image size means faster page loads Person or Product: 5 Things You Didn't Know About (X), The Shocking Truth About (X) • File name should include keyword(s) - Most people scan/read about 60% of the text • Use alt tags to associate keywords with your images X Lies About (Topic] - Only 16% read every word [Threat): 3 Facts That Will [Avoid Threat/Solve Problem) - Tomake a post scannable, use: (Social Proof) (Ask Question] HEADLINE (5) • Bullet lists • Headings and subheadings I Bold Italics Underlining CAPITAL LETTERS Example: Hundreds of Dollars Saved: Do You Know Where to Find the Best Coupons? . Images Promise Something - Short paragraphs (3-5 sentences) Pose a Threat - White space [#] Easy Tricks To (Make Life Easier/Solve Problem) Y Provide Social Proof · Bold, italics, underlining & capital letters - but sparingly to emphasize a point Example: Top 10 Honeymoon Resorts For Newlyweds On a Budget Numbers - Address Skepticism This (Unproven Product) . is Loved by (People with Authority] Block quotes SEO - Search engines look at URLS to see what a post is about - Make sure URL includes the post title/keywords URL META DESCRIPTION AUTHORITATIVE LINKS LINK 1 - 155 characters or less - Gives brief summary of the post LINK 2 - Sets your blog apart and increases click-throughs - Should include primary long-tail keyword LINK 3 1 71.33% of users click on one of the first ten search results [11] LINK 4 LINK 5 KEYWORDS - Tell search engines what your page is about - Inbound links are links to your site from other authoritative websites - Should be natural and grammatically correct - Quality links help increase search engine results - Long-tail keywords (3 or more words): • 70% of search traffic comes via long-tail keywords [12] • Help you avoid search engine penalties caused by keyword stuffing • Search engines will also search for synonyms (how to fix/repair) - Guest blogging helps for branding, exposure, and community, but not for SEO TOPIC TAGS SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS - Make it easier for people to find content in specific categories · Each topic tag creates a new page with content tagged for that topic * Too many similar topics - duplicate content penalty * Example: Garden, gardening, and indoor gardening are too similar - Strong social media profiles give your blog credibility - Strong social media presence = higher search engine results * Limit yourself to 15-25 unique topic tags ACTIONS CALL TO ACTION CONSISTENCY · An image, button or line of text that asks viewers to take an action · Effective CTAS: • Catch the eye · Have excellent copy (actionable verbs & clear, short phrases) • Offer something of value - 1-3 times per week is optimal • Posting too frequently leads to reader burnout - 70% of small business B2BS don't use CTAS (13] - Well-optimized CTAS increase conversions by 20-95% [14] • Longer than 2 weeks between posts makes it hard to build a following RESPONSIVE DESIGN " Responsive design is when wesite pages automatically scale - 61% of mobile users will leave a website if it isn't easy to read [15] MARKETING IDENTIFY YOUR TARGET MARKET FIND YOUR MARKET ON 8* - Age I Marital Status • Gender · Ethnicity in . Income • Pick two "core markers" - the chief characteristics of your market · Education • Choose 1-3 secondary markers to draw a more complete picture • Occupation • Location AND ALSO BY BEST TIME TO POST 161 * Networking on social media * Guest posting • Submitting your blog to Facebook Thursday- Friday 1-3 PM RSS feeds Twitter B2B Monday-Friday, B2C Saturday & Sunday 12-6 PM • Running Google Ads • Commenting on other blogs • Developing an email list and sending newsletters Linkedin Tuesday-Thursday 7-8 AM, 5-6 PM Pinterest Saturday, 2-4 AM, 8-11 PM Google+ Monday-Friday 9-11 AM Instagram Monday 3-4 PM allo METRICS ANALYTICS WHAT TO TRACK (17) - How many views - Social media activity - Which pages are viewed most - Inbound links - Where traffic is coming from - Subscriber and comment counts - CTA click-through rates Making use of big data – which includes analytics and webmaster tools - can increase marketing ROI by 15-20% [18] - Conversion rates - Bounce rates WEBMASTER TOOLS CRAZY EGG 3crazyegg SERVICE BY GOOGLE OR BING THAT LETS YOU MONITOR AND OPTIMIZE YOUR BLOG'S SEARCH RESULTS (19) HEAT MAPPING, SCROLL MAPPING TOOLS, IMPROVED VISUALIZATION OF GOOGLE ANALYTICS TRACK (20) • Shows you who links to your site • Provides most common keywords used in search engine queries • Where people click . How far they scroll • Where people are looking • Ad clicks - Lists your site's internal links - Gives you site diagnostics - Displays page load times I bluehost Incia SOURCES [1] Blogging Statistics, Facts and Figures in 2012 [11] A New Click Through Rate Study for Google Organic Results [2] Generate More Leads with B2B Social Media [12] The Ultimate Guide for Mastering Long Tail Search [3] The Blog Economy [13] 70% of Small Business B2B Websites Lack a Call To Action [4] What Makes a Good Blog Post: 10 Tips for Corporate Bloggers [14] 6 Proven Ways to Boost the Conversion Rates of Your Call-to-Action Buttons [5] 7 Proven Headline Formulas that Convert [15] How to Make Your Blog Posts SEO-Friendly [6] You Won't Finish This Article [16] What are the Best Times to Post on Social Media [7] 19 Reasons You Should Include Visual Content in Your Marketing [17] 10 Amazing Blogging Insights Your Analytics can Tell You [8] 6 Powerful Reasons Why You Should Include Images in Your Marketing [18] Big Data, Analytics and the Future of Marketing and Sales [9] What Makes the Perfect Blog Post? [19] Beginner's Guide to Google Webmaster Tools [10] 10 Must Know Image Optimization Tips [20] Crazy Egg Overview