Reverb for Publishers Blog

Warning: not-so-humblebragging up ahead.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about 1920s’ language for our sister blog, Wordnik. While I spent more time than I usually do researching and writing it, and I personally was proud of the piece, I didn’t expect it to be received any differently than our other posts.

However, the next thing we knew the piece had been written up by The Milwaukee Sentinel; mentioned by The Visual Thesaurus; and republished in Salon.com (through our content partner The Week).

Did I do anything differently? Yes and no. I followed the steps I usually take when writing a blog post but approached the actual writing a little differently.

Here are some tips and take-aways for writing a post to be proud of.

Be timely. With the premiere of Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby, everyone seemed to be talking about the 1920s. Since Wordnik.com is a dictionary and the blog is all about words, it seemed logical to write about the language from that time.

I scheduled the post for the Wednesday before the nationwide premiere of the movie. Wednesday was a good choice because it was two days before the film came out and was at a time in the week when people have had the chance to catch up with work but before they’ve checked out for the weekend.

Take-away: Leverage the popularity of news and culture trends, and publish and promote your post in advance of something like a movie premiere or TV series finale, but not so far in advance that people forget about it.

Find a unique angle. From what I had been reading, people equated the 1920s with four things: flappers, the Prohibition, jazz, and slang like the bee’s knees and the cat’s pajamas.

OxfordWords already had great posts on both the language of the speakeasy and jazz, and Jen Doll had a wonderful piece on 1920s slang. I thought about focusing on flappers and women, or crime and the underworld, or relationships. However, each on their own, I thought, gave an incomplete picture of that decade.

Finally, after finding this helpful summary from History.com, I decided to pick a few words from a variety of areas to try and give a thorough historical overview.

Take-away: Do your research! There’s always a chance your “brilliant idea” has already been done. If you can’t do it better, you’re better off doing something different.

Use the right tools. How would I find these words? I relied on a few of my favorite sites: the Online Etymology Dictionary, the Oxford English Dictionary, and of course Wordnik.com.

I also used Wikipedia if the articles were without issues and had good primary sources; Google News archives for historical newspaper articles that were in the public domain; and sites with .org, .edu, or .gov domains. These types of sites typically have less of an ulterior motive than sites with ads or that are concerned about page views or number of clicks.

Take-away: Double check your facts. Just because something is stated on a website doesn’t mean it’s true. Crosscheck facts against sites and sources you know are reliable. If the facts don’t check out, ax them, no matter how interesting they are.

Know your limits. I had done a ton of research, and as a result had a wealth of material. I envisioned writing five blog posts, one a day for a work week. However, I simply didn’t have time. Disappointed in myself, I stalled for a couple of days. It was only when I accepted that I had time for just one post that I was finally able to write.

Take-away: While you may not like compromising your ideal, producing not-so-ideal content is better than producing nothing.

Write anything . . . at first. Even after I found an angle, I still wasn’t satisfied. But the deadline was looming and I had to write something.

At first I followed our tried and true Word Soup format, a list of interesting words with quotes to show the words in context and a short definition and etymology.

For words like flapper, blind date, and petting, I expected to find fun quotes about carefree young women relishing their new-found freedom. What I found was more complex: women working, women trying to get the right to vote, a tension between the New Woman and old expectations.

Although the Word Soup format was simpler and had been successful in the past, I couldn’t let go of the idea of trying something different. But how would I start it? What was the structure? What would I have to leave out? How would the post be received?

Luckily for me, my boss is very open-minded so I knew I could take a chance. I followed my own advice and started writing about what I most interested in at that moment – flappers and women – and the other sections fell into place.

Take-away: Be open to change. If you find your research takes you in a different and more interesting direction, follow it. Chances are what you find interesting, others will find interesting too.

In the end I had the post I wanted: a historical overview of the 1920s through the words that were coined at that time. And I can’t wait to try writing something like this again.

What’s your experience writing a successful blog post? What difficulties did you face? How did you overcome them? Let us know in the comments!

[Photo: CC BY 2.0 by Adikos]

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It’s easy to think that the conversations about your blog take place on your site, your social media channels, or in emails addressed to you, but the fact is that people share, discuss, and talk about your content all over the Web.

It’s important to know what people are saying, regardless of whether it’s positive or not. These discussions can serve as constructive feedback or even present an opportunity for you to expand your readership by engaging in the conversation.

Here are 3 simple ways you can find where people are talking about you or your blog on the Web.

Analytics

There are a lot of choices when it comes to selecting an analytics tool (Google Analytics, Kissmetrics, Chartbeat, etc.), and all of them track referral sources. A referral source is another site that links to your own. It’s good practice to routinely look at your referral sources to see if there are any new sites that are linking to your blog. Some may be expected, like Twitter or Facebook, but often if you dig a little deeper, you’ll find some other Web sites referring to your content and sending you traffic.

If you see any spikes in referral traffic that you weren’t expecting or any sources that you aren’t familiar with, chances are there is somebody talking about your content and linking to your site. Check out the site and, if appropriate, join the conversation. Engaging in these conversations is a great way to partner with other bloggers or create guest blogging opportunities to increase your readership.

Alerts

One of the limitations of Analytics tools is that they only track sites that actually link to your post or site. If people just mention you or your site by name, your analytics software won’t pick up on it because it isn’t sending traffic through a referral link. Finding these conversations is still easy, but requires using an Alert tool. We’ve found that Google Alerts is the most robust.

Google Alerts will scan the entire Internet, news sites, blogs, or discussions boards for specific words or phrases that you select. It can then send you alerts as they happen, on a daily basis, or once a week in an email. Bloggers, at the bare minimum, should have alerts for their name and their site. You aren’t limited by the number of alert queries so you can be quite extensive – just don’t overload your inbox!

Using Google Alerts really takes the power of Google Search and turns it into a monitoring tool. You can find other sites, blogs, or communities talking about you, your site, or any specific topic that you’ve selected.

Twitter Monitoring

Google Alerts is one of the best tools for monitoring the Web, but monitoring conversations on Twitter is another great way to track community engagement.

While there are many social monitoring tools out there, one of the simplest and affordable (it’s free) is Topsy. Just like you would with Google Alerts, enter a word or phrase into the search engine and you’ll get a complete digest of the conversations about that topic. Monitor yourself, your blog, and your articles’ titles. This process will help you catch conversations you might have missed because they didn’t include your Twitter handle in the tweet.

Engagement is core to building a readership for your blog. By monitoring conversations beyond your own domain, you show commitment to your topics of interest and dedication to your readers.

Have a favorite monitoring tool or analytics tool that you think will help other bloggers engage in conversations across the Web? Share them in the comment section below.

[Photo: CC BY 2.0 by Tsahi Levent-Levi]

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Welcome to the Blogger News Roundup, in which we bring you our favorite tech news stories and social media tips of the week.

LinkedIn turned 10 this week and rolled out LinkedIn Channels, which allows users to customize news stories based on their interests.

Facebook cracked the Fortune 500 list for the first time. Twitter is looking for someone to run their news operation.

Like to browse Twitter while watching TV but hate spoilers? Now there’s Twivo, a program that allows users to block mentions of shows and characters for a set duration. Twivo was developed by 17-year old Jennie Lamere, who won the grand prize in a national hacking competition.

Google may be “pushing for an ad-free YouTube subscription service to be tied in with its planned Spotify-like audio service.” Is Google Now, a predictive information service, Siri on steroids? Some think so.

Google Translate for Android added 16 new languages. Google Timelapse shows earth’s changes over the last 28 years, and SNL gave Google Glass a try.

In augmented reality news, Twitter tested a toolkit that “puts the internet in things,” and Dekko may be Google Glass without the glass. Meanwhile, you can get your 3D printer from Staples.

In writing tips, check out this helpful roundup of five online style guides; try kaizen writing; use fear to improve your writing; or blog for the smallest audience. If none of those work, take a break.

This week we learned the best way to accept, and decline, job offers, and how nicknames may help our careers.

The Blogger News Roundup will be going on hiatus for the next couple of weeks. However, we’ll be back on Friday, May 31.

Happy blogging!

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In Part 1, we explored how to build your email list; the next step is when to send mailers, what to say, and how to say it in an effective and memorable way.

The people on your email list represent your most connected readers. They’ve taken the time to subscribe to your blog, so they’re clearly interested in your content. Reaching out on a regular basis is a great way to keep them engaged, but remember to be strategic about timing.

Here are a few tips on developing your email outreach strategy.

Set a schedule and stick to it.

Aim to send out your mailers at least once a month. If you reach out less often, people may forget about your blog or that they shared their email address with you. But beware of going too far the other way: if you’re sending out updates three times a week, you run the risk of seeming spammy or becoming a nuisance.

Your goal is to engage your audience, not annoy or overwhelm them. Set your mailing schedule based on what you know about your readers: how often they look at your blog and engage with you on social channels. And once you’ve decided on a schedule, stay consistent so your readers know when to expect email updates from you, and get into a rhythm with your content.

Additionally, the day and time you send your email can have a significant impact on the success of your mailers. Your goal should be to send mail when your readers are checking their email and after they have cleared their inbox.

As a general rule of thumb, send mailers on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays between 10-11am PST for audiences based in the United States. Choosing these days helps you avoid people who may be having a case of the Mondays, those excited to start their weekend, or those in the full swing of weekend activities. The time gives West Coasters a chance to clear their inbox before you send your email and gives you the opportunity to catch East Coasters in their post-lunch lull.

There are definitely exceptions to these recommendations, but be sure to tailor your mailing times to your audience’s needs.

Promote your top content, news, social channels, and calls to action.

When you’re deciding what to include in your mailer, prioritize the following:

• Your top content. This consists of the posts you most want your readers to see, as well as recent posts that garnered the most views or comments
• Your social channels. Don’t assume that people check your site every day. Remind your readers that they can find you not only on your blog but also on social platforms across the Web.
• News. This could the start of a new series, the introduction of a guest blogger, a new event you’re attending, or even a promotion.
• Any surveys or other calls to action. Your email subscribers have already answered one call to action by signing up for your mailer, so chances are they’ll be willing to give you further feedback.

Be clear, concise and creative.

Your ultimate goal with your mailers is to get people to read your email and then visit your site or social channels. That means your mailers must be instantly engaging and easily digestible for your readers, from the subject line to the last word. Here’s how to be clear, concise and creative in your emails:

• Make your subject line short and compelling. Use questions, lists, and keywords that preview your content in 10 words or fewer and make people want to read more. (See our post on writing compelling titles for more tips.)
• Tease your content in clear and concise paragraphs. Communicate your content’s key themes to your readers in a few short sentences, and don’t give it all away in the email. Give your readers a reason to visit your blog by sparking their curiosity. Get creative. Just be aware: the longer your email is, the less likely people are to read it or interact with it.
• Present clear takeaways and calls to action for your readers. Don’t overload a short paragraph with three separate hyperlinks. Instead, have one obvious call to action per paragraph.

Test and refine your strategy.

Once you’ve got your email marketing program up and running, it’s important to evaluate its effectiveness. Try different subject lines and sender names (your name vs. admin@yourblog.com) to see which works best. Use an Email Service Provider (ESP), like MailChimp, which can help you A/B test, track open and click-through rates, and help you build a strategy that will keep readers coming back to your blog and social sites.

If you’ve used email to promote your blog in the past or even if you’re just getting started, share your experience in the comment section below. What were your biggest challenges and accomplishments?

[Photo: CC BY 2.0 by Colourful.Threads]

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Welcome to the Blogger News Roundup, in which we bring you our favorite tech news stories and social media tips of the week.

While Yahoo has banned working from home, it has expanded its maternity and paternity leave. Avast, an antivirus software company, acquired Secure.me, a startup that boosts security on Facebook and connected apps.

Twitter Music apparently has a hidden instant playlist feature which makes suggestions based on the artists you choose. Retwact, a web-based service, helps users write and share corrections on Twitter.

Sean Clark discussed the damage that fake Twitter followers can cause, while Mike Allton at Social Media Today told us how to take out the Twitter trash and unfollow when necessary.

Those with Google Glass can now take photos by winking. John Pavlus at MIT Technology Review thinks this is weird.

Inmates are reviewing prisons on Yelp, Americans are texting less, and this guy returned to the Internet after being offline for a year.

Mom bloggers at Babble and Erin McKean gave some advice about going to conferences. (Check out our post on how to get yourself to a conference.) The Huffington Post gave some tips on author websites.

We loved this roundup of coding schools just for girls. We’re a little scared of these robot bees and a lot freaked out by the idea of robots having skin.

Finally start your weekend early by clinking the Budweiser Buddy Cup with someone to became instant Facebook friends.

That’s it for this week!

[Photo: "TRASH," CC BY 2.0 by Al Muya]

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It’s the first of the month and you know what that means: time for another Blogger Goal.

So far you’ve started using an editorial calendar, planned to attend or have attended a conference, started a regular series, and installed a new plugin. This month we’ll take a look at how you can guest post on a blog or site.

Why guest blog?

Author Jeff Goins has a great post outlining the reasons it’s important to guest blog: it builds relationships with other bloggers, helps with SEO (check out our post on how to effectively write for SEO), and introduces you to new communities.

But how do you go about getting that guest blogging gig? Here are a few steps that can help.

1) Find a blog to guest post on

Pretty obvious, right? What we mean is find the right blog or site for you, not one that is simply popular. You might want to guest post on:

• A blog or site that you already like. You probably like the site because it’s about something you’re already interested in. Writing about something you’re genuinely interested in will improve the quality of the post: your interest and passion will shine through.

• A blog from someone you already have a relationship with. Whether you regularly leave comments on each other’s blogs or are actively engaged on Twitter, Facebook, or another social media platform, chances are someone you’re “friends” with online will be more likely to accept your guest post. And be sure to return the favor (a goal you’ll be tackling next month).

• A blog that specifically calls for guest bloggers. Some bloggers regularly put out a call for guest bloggers, sometimes on a specific topic. They see it as an effective way to meet challenges of constantly providing fresh content to their readers and making new connections.

2) Get to know the blog

Now that you’ve decided where you’d like to guest post, get to know that blog or site. Neil Patel at Quick Sprout has an excellent write-up about how to get your guest post published, the first step of which is to “do your homework.” Patel’s steps include:

• Check if the site accepts guest posts. As Patel says, you can do this by simply looking through the site and seeing if there are posts by guest writers.

• Find the submission guidelines. You may have to do a little digging for this. A popular site with a high volume of submissions may want to weed out the less dedicated. Check the About and Contact pages, and do a search of for “submission guidelines” or “submissions.” If you have no luck, at least find the name of the blog owner or an editor.

• Read the damned thing. “Don’t just read their last few blog posts,” Patel says, “read at least 10 of them.” We couldn’t agree more. This way you get to know the blog’s content, tone, and style, and see if your idea fits, or adjust your idea to fit. You may also get some inspiration.

3) Write the pitch

While Patel suggests writing a complete guest post and then pitching it to the blog, we suggest the opposite: writing the pitch and completing the post only upon acceptance of your idea. Writing even a short blog post takes time, and we hate the idea of putting all that time and effort into something only to have it rejected.

Of course if a site calls for full posts as submissions, follow those guidelines. Otherwise keep these points in mind as you craft the perfect pitch.

• Personalize. As Patel states, if he gets an email starting “Dear Site Owner,” he knows he won’t accept it. A pitch with a generic greeting shows that the pitcher didn’t bother taking the time to get to know the site or its writers/editors.

• Flatter a little. Chances are you’re writing to a site that you already admire. Tell the blog or site owner that you’re a fan and longtime reader. Even better, mention specific posts that you really liked.

• Get to the point. As with with titles, concise pitches are better. Especially for a short piece, a pitch shouldn’t be more than two or three lines. For what goes into a good pitch, check out this article from Forbes writer, Robert Wynne; these five crucial tips from the Bad Pitch Blog; and six things to include in your pitch from MediaGraph.

• Sell yourself – briefly. In one or two lines mention other guest posts or any published articles. Include personal details only if they relate directly to what you’re writing. And unless you’re applying for a job, don’t list your academic degrees. No one cares.

• Include your contact information. This means your email address, website, and even phone number (you never know), all of which can go under your sign-off and name.

• Be error-free. Make sure your grammar and spelling are correct. Have a friend take a look at your pitch and/or read your pitch aloud. You may catch mistakes and improve the flow of language.

• Be thankful. Thank the the blog owner for their time but don’t go overboard. “Thank you for your time” should suffice.

Keep in mind that writing a good pitch can be challenge, sometimes more difficult than writing the post itself. You may want to try pitching your idea aloud and see your listeners’ reactions.

4) Follow-up

Hopefully you’ve received an answer right away, but if you haven’t, wait a couple of weeks before following up. If the blog or site owner doesn’t answer you after more than four weeks, let it go. Sending an irate email will only succeed in alienating the blog owner and give them even more reason not to accept your next pitch.

What are some positive guest blogging experiences that you’ve had? How did you score that guest blogging gig? Tell us in the comments.

[Photo Credit: "I have an idea @ home," CC BY 2.0 by Julian Santacruz]

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As bloggers, we often feel that our main tools for marketing and promotion are our blog and social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.). However, many bloggers overlook what is arguably the most important tool for connecting with readers and distributing content – email.

In part one of this two-part series we’ll explain why email is the foundation of communication on the Internet and how to begin building an email list. Next week we’ll discuss the best practices in proactively engaging your readers, covering everything from what content should be included in the mailers to when you should message your readers. In the end, you’ll see that email marketing is a huge opportunity and needs to be a primary focus for bloggers.

The Case for Embracing Email

Email deserves extra consideration from bloggers because it’s the most ubiquitous form of communication on the Web. Yes, many of your readers use social media, but they’re split across multiple networks. Email is the one thing each of your readers has in common. Virtually every single person who will ever visit your blog has an email address, which is why it’s the ideal way to connect with your site’s traffic.

And, unlike many of the social networking sites, email is one of the most visible forms of communication. It just isn’t realistic to expect that Facebook and Twitter users will see every piece of content that appears on their feeds. The opposite is true for email.

Most people spend time each day checking their email, clearing their inbox, and making sure nothing important falls through the cracks. Getting your content in a reader’s inbox drastically increases the chance of return visits to your blog and a stronger connection.

Getting Started – Collecting Email Addresses

I’ve drawn a lot of comparisons between email and social media so far, but there’s one more distinction that’s important to note: email is a direct form of communication. This means that you have to specify who exactly your emails are sent to, and that requires that you know the email addresses of interested readers.

The first step in creating a successful email marketing campaign for your blog is to build a list of email addresses. There are several ways to get started, but the best approach is to let your readers opt-in to sharing their email address with you (you never want to be considered spam!).

Here are a few tried and true ways to start building an email list.

1) Provide Email Subscriptions

Every blogger should consider allowing their readers to subscribe to their blog via email. Whenever you publish a new post, it’s sent directly to readers who have subscribed. Google’s Feedburner, for example, is a free service that provides this feature and can be used on any blog.

In addition to providing subscribers with new content via email as it’s published on your site, Feedburner also compiles a fully exportable list of your subscriber’s email addresses. These users already expect communication from you and are great to connect with over email.

2) Use Opt-In Widgets & Plugins

WordPress and other blogging platforms have various opt-in plugins that lets readers submit their contact information. If your blogging platform doesn’t make an opt-in plugin, most email service providers have widgets that can be embedded on practically any site.

Position your opt-in widget as a way to “subscribe to the blog’s newsletter” or “gain access to exclusive content.” You’d be surprised at how many of your readers would prefer to receive your information via email instead of visiting your site. After all, email is already part of their daily routine. Can you say that about your blog?

3) Surveys and Contests

Surveys and contests are great ways to engage with your readers, and they can also help build a more robust email list. Finding an entry form plugin or using a site like SurveyMonkey is all you need to get started.

Require that an email address be provided to enter the contest or respond to the survey. This keeps entries legitimate and gives you a chance to add more addresses to your mailing list. Very quickly, you’ll see respondents change from mere statistics on your site into people you can connect with through email.

Every blogger from across the Web can implement these tactics to start building their email list. What are ways that you use to build email lists for your blog? Share your thoughts in the comment section below – even if they are unique to you or your Web site.

Now that we understand the importance of email communication and how to gather email addresses, when is the best time to send out a mailer? And, more importantly, what do we say? Great questions! Come back next week for Part 2: Proactive Outreach.

[Photo: CC BY 2.0 by Jonathan Narvey]

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Welcome to the Blogger News Roundup, in which we bring you our favorite tech news stories and social media tips of the week.

This week Facebook announced its purchase of Parse, a mobile-backend-as-a-service startup (say that five times fast), for a reported $85 million. Meanwhile, Google closed the deal on Wavii, a natural language processing startup, for more than $30 million.

Foursquare has redesigned their web listings to meet new and sudden high demand. BitTorrent’s Dropbox alternative went public. YouTube will be livestreaming its first comedy week this May.

The New York Times launched a Google Glass app, which includes breaking-news alerts, hourly news updates, and head movement navigation.

Last week we mentioned that Google Plus introduced a new commenting system for Blogger. A week later a developer has managed to bring the commenting system to any WordPress blog.

This week we found out what publishers can learn from Google’s news article rankings algorithm and that some people really hate manual retweeting.

That’s it for this week!

[Photo: CC BY 2.0 by NS Newsflash]

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One of the most powerful ways for a blogger to get their content discovered is through online searches. The goal, of course, is to have your article rank at the top of the search results for relevant queries. The process of improving your article’s search rank is known as search engine optimization (SEO), and there are several things bloggers can do to rank higher by the way they write and publish their blog posts.

Strategically approaching each of your blog posts with SEO best practices in mind can greatly improve your search ranking and increase the amount of traffic search engines will direct to your site while also not letting keywords dominate your content. The following tips are 6 effective ways bloggers can directly affect their search engine optimization:

1) Know your keywords. Before you even begin writing an article, ask yourself, “What are the relevant keywords for this post?” It’s important to know what words or phrases you want people to enter into a Google search to find your article.

If you’re new to SEO, one tip is to write out this list of keywords – this step helps organize your thoughts and keep you focused on what language to use throughout your article.

2) Follow a theme. Each blog post should have a main theme and each paragraph should support that theme. Use your list of keywords and synonyms of those keywords in your article, but stay focused. If every paragraph follows a single theme, search engines rank your blog post higher than one that contains rogue, off-topic paragraphs that don’t follow a core message.

3) Don’t overuse keywords. Use your terms throughout the post but be sure not to repeat them multiple times in close proximity. It reads poorly, and really doesn’t help your SEO efforts. Using synonyms to share your broad vocabulary can impress your readers and search engines alike.

Here’s an example of keyword overuse: “One of my favorite things about [keyword] is that using [keyword] is much more efficient than not using [keyword].”

4) Strategically place your keywords. Using target keywords and phrases in your title and in the first sentence of each paragraph can greatly improve your SEO. Additionally, using permalinks (the specific URL of your blog post) will help your posts index at a higher ranking. Most blogging platforms let you customize a permalink in the settings tab.

Bad permalink: www.yourblog.com/post123

Good permalink: www.yourblog.com/title-of-your-post

5) Use Categories and Tags. Most blogging platforms allow you to categorize and add tags to your blog posts. The primary reason for categories and tags is to help your readers sort and navigate your content, but search engines also see this information. If your categories and tags follow your theme and support your keywords, they can actually improve your search ranking.

6) Use anchor text. Most blog posts can include hyperlinks to other posts, blogs or Web sites. Even if you’re hyperlinking to Web properties you don’t manage, it’s a best practice to use anchor text (descriptive words that are hyperlinked). Also, if you participate in cross-promotion with other blogs, encourage them to use descriptive anchor text when hyperlinking to your articles or site.

The more detailed your inbound and outbound anchor text is, the more search engines will learn about your content and know where your post should be indexed.

Bad anchor text: “Read my post about writing blog titles by clicking here.”

Good anchor text: “Learn how to write better blog titles.”

Remember, while it’s best to use these tactics as you publish new content, you can always go back and make edits to old posts to help improve their search rankings.

What strategies or tools do you use to improve the SEO of your blog posts? Share in the comment section below!

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