Recommended Reading for Blog Content Writers – Part D

My “bloggers’ recommended reading list” is something I’ve been putting together for a decade. My most recent three Say It For You blog posts focused on books about writing, about tidbit treasures, and about selling techniques. In this final post of the series, let’s talk about the nitty-gritty of writing content geared towards online readers. I have three books to recommend as resources for blog content writers:

I still go back to one of the early additions (2010) to my resource library, Corporate Blogging for Dummies, by Douglas Karr and Chantelle Flannery, for guidance on best practices. Many of the authors’ “tips and tricks to maximize your impact” will never go out of style.  Here are just three examples:

• Businesses that serve other businesses tend to see a drop in traffic over weekends and during typical vacation periods and holidays…Take advantage of other companies not publishing content and continue to schedule or publish posts on weekends and holidays.”
• Use alt tags effectively for image searches and keyword placement.
• Blogs typically rank well for a keyword if that keyword is in the domain name..

Understanding what types of searchers your business is likely to attract can be very important in keyword selection, Matt Bailey explains in Internet Marketing an Hour a Day.  “Is your website an ‘impulse’ site, where you can get a quick sale? Or, is it a content-based website where searchers can learn more, leading them gradually to the decision-making point?” he asks. The book offers step-by-step instructions and action plans for website optimization, and integrating social media and blogs.

The newest addition to be resource library is the book Success Secrets of the Online Marketing Superstars, a collection  Mitch Meyerson has put together of articles from many different only marketing experts.

• From John Janitch of Duct Tape marketing:  “Your blog is the absolute starting point for your content strategy because it makes content production, syndication, and sharing so easy.”
• From Ian Cleary of Razor Social: “Use Ahrefs (www.ahrefs.com) or similar tools to find out which on their (your competitor’s) website have the most links pointing to them.”
• From Bob Barker (Guerilla Music Marketing Handbook): The three E’s of communication are to educate, to entertain, and to enlighten.

Hiring the extra “brain” relieves the “drain” on the business owner’s (or the professional practitioner’s) resources of times and energy. And what relieves the drain on the blog content writer?  A constant supply of ideas. But where do you get ideas – day after day, month after month, year after year – for blog posts? My answer is – everywhere! One aspect of the “everywhere” is books. In these last four Say It For You blog posts, I’ve provided links so that you can take a look for yourself at some of the wonderful books I’ve been collecting.

I don’t know about the ‘rithmetic part, but reading and blog ’riting definitely go together!.