Monthly Archives: August 2015

Facebook Wants You to Blog

The world’s largest social media network has revamped its online services to cater towards the ever-growing demographic of bloggers. First spotted by app developer David Winer, Facebook Notes now functions like a typical blogging platform. All posts made on the network’s Notes have a prominent cover image, along with a wider content section, headlines and clean text.

If you want to see the new Facebook Notes in action, check out this page created by John Biesnecker. It’s a relatively short post in which Biesnecker describes his personal thoughts on traveling from Austin to San Fransisco. While I wouldn’t say the post is phenomenal by any means (as a blogger, I’m biased towards my own work), it clearly resembles a typical blog post. There are no distracting ads or navigation links; the title is fixed directly below a relevant image of the Bay Bridge; and the content is written in first-person, which is usually the preferred choice among seasoned bloggers.

“Loving the look of this — hoping to get it soon so I can take it for a whirl for blogging stuff directly here,” commented one Facebook user.

“Can’t wait for the new Notes,” another user said.

While the vast majority of reviews and comments regarding the new Notes are positive, not everyone is thrilled with it. Some users have said that Facebook is a social media network and not a blogging platform, and therefore it doesn’t need to introduce a blogging platform.

So, why is Facebook pushing its Notes service as a blogging platform?

Well, the social media network has remained tight-lipped about the revamp, revealing very few details about its motives. In a response to Verge, a spokesperson for Facebook claimed the network was testing an update to make it easier for users to create and read longer stories. The spokesperson goes on to say that the test is only available to a small group of users, at least for the time being. It’s unclear when or even if the new blogging-style Notes will roll out to all Facebook users.

Each time a new post is created in the new blogging-style Notes, they are automatically presented on Facebook’s mobile app, much like Facebook’s Instant Articles. This move signals a growing trend for the social media network to establish itself as a leading source of original content. Granted, most of the content published on Notes isn’t created by Facebook, but rather Facebook users are creating it.

Why is content so important for Facebook? Being the #1 social media network means you have to stay on top of the latest trends, including content creation. Google has said time and time again that publishing high-quality content is the single most important thing a website can do. Without content, there’s really no reason for people to visit a site, including Facebook.

What do you think of Facebook’s new blogging tool? Let us know in the comments section below!

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Helpful Resources for Bloggers

As a blogger, you should always be on the lookout for new tools to make your life easier. That’s why today we’re going to reveal some of the top resources and tools for blogging.

Google Trends

If you aren’t using Google Trends, you are missing out on one of the best ways to uncover trending topics for your blog. When a topic is “hot,” you want to capitalize on it by publishing a new blog post about it. Doing so can yield huge traffic gains while promoting higher search rankings in the process. The problem is that many bloggers simply don’t know which topics are trending and which ones aren’t. This is where Google Trends comes into play: using this resource, you can view trending stories/searches, as well as trend data for any keyword.

Topsy

Another resource that bloggers shouldn’t overlook is Topsy. Just head over to the site, enter a keyword that’s relevant to your blog’s niche, and it will reveal tweets containing the keyword. You can then browse through some of the tweets to discover new topics for your blog. You obviously shouldn’t copy others’ work, but there’s nothing wrong with drawing inspiration from tweets. Topsy will allow you to uncover new topics for your blog that you may have overlooked, so be sure to check out this resource!

FeedBurner

Originally launched by Dick Costolo, Eric Lunt, Steve Olechowski, and Matt Shobe, FeedBurner is an RSS management tool. While many websites use RSS to syndicate their content, tools like Feedburner are particularly useful for bloggers. Once you’ve added your blog’s RSS URL to FeedBurner, it will allow you to customize a wide variety of elements. So instead of forcing visitors to read a generic feed from your blog, you can optimize it so it’s more functional and/or appealing. FeedBurner is owned by Google, and it is completely free to use with no strings attached.

Facebook

Yes, even Facebook can be considered a “blogging resource.” Whether you’re brainstorming new topic ideas for your blog or promoting your new blog posts, the social media network can help. Keep in mind, however, that you should create a dedicated page — not a profile — for your blog. Many bloggers simply use their personal Facebook profile to promote their blog, limiting the effectiveness of this tool. To create a Facebook page, visit https://www.facebook.com/pages/create and follow the on-screen instructions. It will walk you through the steps of creating a Facebook page for your blog.

Fiverr

There are dozens of websites on which you can purchase digital products and services, but one of my personal favorites is Fiverr. It lives up to its namesake by requiring most (not all) sales to be a flat $5. As a blogger, this means you can buy banners, logos, blog posts, marketing packages and more, all for $5 bucks a piece. Don’t assume the quality is sub-par, either. Some of my best designs have been acquired through Fiverr service providers.

What other resources do you use when blogging? Let us know in the comments section below!

Image attribution: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stitch/

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Optimizing Your Blog for Higher Search Rankings

Still struggling to achieve a top search ranking for your blog? Conventional wisdom should lead you to believe that the higher your blog ranks, the more traffic it will receive. But how exactly do you increase your blog’s search ranking?

Use an SEO-Friendly Blogging Platform

The platform on which you build your blog will directly affect its search rankings. Some content management systems (CMS) contain messy code that’s difficult for search engines to properly crawl, which subsequently harms the site’s search rankings. You can avoid this problem, however, by using an SEO-friendly CMS for your blog like WordPress. Powering tens of millions of blogs and websites, WordPress is the world’s most popular CMS. It’s cleanly coded, patched with new updates in a timely manner, and features a plethora of plugins and themes.

Beware of Duplicate Content!

When blogging, use caution to ensure that your content isn’t being published in multiple locations. It’s not uncommon for blogging platforms to place new content in two or more locations, such as the original URL, authors, tags, categories, and archives. Just because you “think” your blog post is being published in a single location doesn’t necessarily mean that it is. Double-check your blog’s settings to ensure all new posts and pages are not being published in multiple locations. And if they are, use the noindex attribute to discourage search engines from crawling them.

Allow Visitor Comments

How can allowing visitor comments boost your blog’s search ranking? It’s no secret that content is a ranking factor used by Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines. Websites that are updated with fresh content on a regular basis will reap the benefits of higher search rankings. While you can always create new content by hand, a supplemental method of content creation is to enable visitor commenting. Each time a visitor leaves a comment, whether it’s positive or negative, creates new content for your blog. Search engines will notice this content, taking into account when determining where and how to rank your blog.

Social Sharing

Don’t underestimate the importance of social media when optimizing your blog for higher search rankings. All of the major search engines place an emphasis on social signals like Facebook likes and Twitter tweets. Assuming you are able to attract social signals like this, you can expect your blog to rise in the SERPs.

But how do you encourage readers to share your blog posts on their social media accounts? One helpful tip is to place social media buttons directly on your blog. Instead of forcing readers to leave your blog and login to their Facebook/Twitter accounts to share a post, they can do so directly from your blog. This alone can make a huge difference in your social media marketing efforts.

Have any other SEO tips for blogs that you would like to share with our readers? Let us know in the comments section below!

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