Hobo Subscribers in 2009
I get asked what’s a blog and how to blog all the time, as if I know. I have been‚ blogging since 2006 after Andy Beard’s blog influenced me to stop spamming them and make one. I thought it would be cool if in some way, one day, I could have a blog like my seo hero lol US based link builder Jim Boykin (who in fact was the first seo I ever ended up meeting as a result of blogging).
I do treat this blog as virtually a personal blog, but I always have someone looking over my shoulder these making sure I don’t get us sued (unsuccessful move as it was :) ) again so I need to remember Hobo is sort of a corporate blog.
On a simple level blogging just about adding content to your site. The more content you have, the more traffic you’ll get, the more links you’ll attract, the more domain authority you’ll build, and around you go again.
We got over 650,000 visitors to our site, most from blogging in 2009. There’s no single way to blog and here’s what I learned and how I did it if you are totally new to blogging.
Every time I blog I have some simple aim in mind, and on a post by post basis, none are really that clever, but together as a whole, I hope to create, well, a resource of sorts that drives traffic.
- Some blog posts are for attracting links from other sites
- Some posts are for growing a reputation and influence in social media
- Some posts are for giving back, helping those who have helped you, and linking out
- Some posts are about the company, but not many
- Some posts are about the company’s products, but not many
- A lot of posts are about unlocking domain authority and ranking in search engines
- Some posts are about connecting with industry or niche players
- Some posts are about conversation
- Some posts are about traffic
- Some posts are about increasing subscribers (and losing them)
- Some posts I do because I have an affiliate link
- Some posts are just to test how Google works
- Some posts I do because I like writing and putting ideas down
- Some blog posts are for fun – (dumb posts can often do really well in social media circles)
- Some blog posts are a bit more serious
Blogging is pretty easy – and it looks as though you get better (or at least it gets easier) the more you do it especially if you copy how others do certain elements of it.
I learned (and still learn) how to blog at:
- Andy Beard
- Daily Blog Tips
- Pro Blogger
- Copy Blogger
- and I like the stuff Outspoken Media pump out these days
These people do it better than me, and/or make more money blogging. Of course everybody loves seo book and seomoz for the way they’ve presented seo to the masses, and I like SEO a bit more geeky these days so I like reading Sebastian’s Pamphlets, SEO Consultants, Huomah and SEO By The Sea to name a few.
My single aim when I started this blog was to add content to my site which, because of the way blogging works, pages appear immediately in Google results.
What I’ve learned in simple terms is most people don’t care about your boring company or products (leave that for the search engine visitors who are looking for your stuff) and most people connect with the individual if the voice behind the blog is at least honest.
Helping others out when you can, seems to be a good way of getting on in the blogging world.
Some savvy marketers might say the biggest mistake I made (probably) was running the blog for 3 years with virtually no ads of any kind, but I’ll introduce some sort of limited advertising on the site in 2010. I don’t want that stuff to get in the way.
Actually, I think my bigest mistake was blogging for nearly two years not giving a damn about subscriber counts, which is actually my most important metric now even above traffic and search engine positions for this site at least. (Compare your feed with others here and learn how to increase subscriber counts here)
We’ve got well over 6,000 email subscribers when at the start of the year i thought I’d set myself a target of 2,000 so, cool, it has seemed to work out just by blindly pushing on.
I think the biggest mistake you will probably make is you’ll be scared to link out to other blogs and send traffic to other blogs (even those in the same industry as your company).
And that is a mistake.
If you’re not even a bit generous with your links in articles, and all your links are to internal pages, you’re making it much harder for yourself. I see blogs do this all the time – being stingy with links – it’s so narrow-minded.
I blog about what I want to blog about and I link to wherever relevent. I don’t care if it’s newsworthy or not and I don’t want to turn into anything like a seo news blog, but at the beginning, tracking industry news stories is always a good way to go.
I prefer to add content which might be of help to folk, and might get me a link at some point. That’s my blogging strategy at the moment lol and I would rather do that than scour Twitter all night for the latest news story.
The benefit of blogging for us is simple: we’ve never had to pay anybody for advertising, ever, or had to ask anybody for work, ever. Because of it, the phone goes every day. It takes about an hour a day (usually at night) to do. Not that hard to understand.
It’s by no means the end, but I thought I would share some random thoughts about what I’ve learned about corporate blogging to date.
One last tip? I think blogging should be at the centre of any social media marketing you employ and I don’t think it’s too late to start – ever.
If you’ve got any blogging tips, experiences or nightmares you’re willing to share, you could drop them in the comments.
And i have also started as well for the same reason and can highly recommend you linklove plugin. http://www.hobo-web.co.uk/hobo-custom-link-love-for-wordpress/ Any updates in the pipeline for that? Thanks Matthew
Shaun, timely post I’ll be starting a blog in the new year and am looking forward to checking out your resources for building subs and traffic. Is linking out important because it raises visibility and familiarity or just a form of relationship marketing?
Terry I think the benefits of linking out is a post in itself… what you said included. Here’s an example – you got to a seo blog, and all the links point to thier own content. What do you immediately think? I think it’s usually self serving bollocks…. lol :) I think you miss out on an opportunity to gain trust by introducing the reader to other trusted sources…. for instance.
Matthew i do want to do something with it but just not had the time. Maybe in 2010.
To add to Shaun’s suggestion to Terry, I think linking out is important to get the attention of those who you link to. Shaun linked to me in this post and I found it through the trackback to my blog post. Not only is the trackback placed on my blog post (in the comments section), but upon approving the trackback to be posted on my blog I was able to find Shauns great post here (which prompted me to share it with others). The trust factor on linking out, as Shaun discusses, is extremely valuable as well. Great post Shaun, enjoyed the read and agree that Andy Beard and the ladies at Outspoken Media help on learning how to blog. :)
I agree with everything you say (at least the areas I know anything about). I was astonished at the difference simply setting up a blog and posting regularly made to my site stats. They are now 90% of my visitors. One internet marketing guy I read caught my attention by suggesting that that you treat twitter – and I think it’s just as relevant to blogs – like a party. Start up a conversation and make connections. Say something interesting and/or useful rather than walking in and immediately beginning to sell your stuff in a loud voice. I’m still learning a lot, like if you put lolcats on your blog you might get a sudden spike [does this still work?] but it’s from the wrong people and you lose credibility so the downside is bigger than the fun upside. I think you really have to acknowledge the people who’ve helped you or who provide information that you use. People appreciate you, too, for linking them to new and useful information and they’ll come back for more – you’re an authority. For example, thanks for the link to the subscriber ideas. It’s a big help.
You have almost caught me up, I will have to start taking things seriously again. In fact in real numbers as Friendfeed is fluff you overtook me months ago, and you are building an almost real email list. Next step is CRO and a real autoresponder ;)
Can you explain (to tech savvy SEO newbie) what this means: “Did you know when you link to a Hobo SEO post we have search engine friendly links back to your site if approved?” Also, do you know your site creaks in my narrower than most FF3.5.6 browser (and probably others)? See http://www.markhughes.eu/tmp/hobo.png Various elements overflow/clipped to the right. Loving your blog and beginning my own. So much to read, but lots of fun. Thanks, Mark Counsellor/IT Web Services in London
My browser bookmark has never been as busy as it has been since I started blogging. Because I only just started with blogging, it still take me a couple of hours to create a ‘proper’ blog post, so time is an issue. In the new year I will turn a static site I have into a blog to see the progression in visitors. Re the ads, I like the way GrayWolf has his (which is the way I’m going with the new blog). No adwords all over the place. No 5 lines articles sandwiched by ads etc… Quality content (yours) is the way to go!
@Kaila nice point @Roger “One internet marketing guy I read caught my attention by suggesting that that you treat twitter – and I think it’s just as relevant to blogs – like a party.” yeah but I think that guy got put in Jail lol but nonetheless a great analogy I think about all the time. @Andy What there’s more to this s*&^? :)
Oh Well. A very timely post. Something to keep in mind for New Year Resolution. Hopefully the company blog won’t suffer the same fate as what some of my other pet projects are suffering due to time constraint.