Although the sound was a bit troubling at times (which really was my only complaint) , we gained some valuable insight we wanted to share with you

Value of content – I really liked Lorelle VanFossen’s mindset when it comes to blogging with a purpose and bringing back the human element into blog posts. So often I’ve seen blog posts written just as a promotion vs focusing on your readers.  I’ve often wondered if people understood the true purpose of blogging – that yes, it can help you promote your ideas, products, services… but if your blog only contains PR … is that really going to hold the attention of your reader? It was so nice to hear another professional blogger state that blogging should be personal, thoughtful and focused towards your readers… not just what you want to promote.

Quick easy ways to blog -  Lorrella also discussed how WordPress has the capability of “scheduled” posting. A light bulb came on and realized how effective this can really be. Often times as bloggers, we run out of ideas or we don’t feel like writing. Then inspiration hits us and we feel like writing 2-3 blogs. With scheduled posting, this makes it easy as you can write several articles at a time, but leave them for future posts. This way you still get a chronological stream of content for your readers, but you write when the mood hits you.

Social Media Overkill - Merlin Mann kept me rolling with his quirky sense of humor about the internet.  In his presentation Something Something Social Media: The Overdue Minority Report …  he discusses how social media can be used in some not so good ways.  According to him social media is about describing our relationships with others in public, specifically on the internet.  Where social media can be cool in many ways, the downside is it can be overwhelming and even disrespectful at times.

I totally agree. Often I’ve seen companies and individuals create tons of profiles on various social medial profiles. Although this may sound ideal, I don’t see the point.  I  believed social media is only as effect as the effort you apply. What is the point of a profile with no personal activities? Would you ignore your customers if they walked into your restaurant? So why do you ignore them if they post on your profile?  Kind of like blogging – if the only post on your Facebook profile your specials and discounts without engaging your time with your friends…then it’s not social media. It’s self promotion.  People will see right through it. They know they are just being promoted.  I think it’s insulting for the visitor.

So you have to ask yourself the question…how much time do you have to spend to engage yourself? Between Twitter, Myspace, Facebook, LinkedIn… managing social media can take alot of effort. It’s enough to make you go mental.  In my personal opinion, before you dive into the world of social media… ask yourself  are you committed? Are you willing to reply to comments and actually LISTEN to your customers?   Are you willing to share with the world your personal message about your organization that’s outside of what is on sale for the day? Do you know your voice? You need to define yourself first, apply yourself,  be honest, respectful to others  and keep it going.

Global IP:  During our break we chatted with Jim Christian, lead SEO expert at Godaddy.com. Curious on how to obtain rankings in the US market for one of our clients, he mentioned how from what he understood Google is looking at the global IP. Some things you need to factor in is the location of the server. In addition,   there is a setting in Google Webmasters tools where you can select your Geo targeting. Although he did mention he was not sure about the reliability of this – it was another option.

1. Go to Google Webmasters Tools

2. Under Site Configuration—> Settings, find the Geo Target area.

3. To learn more about Geo Targeting visit Google Webmaster’s Geo Targeting information page.

Changes in Google: During our conversation with Jim, he did mention he’s heard Google will make some alterations in their servers which may impact rankings around Nov/Dec/ Jan……more to come about this topic…

These were tid bits of what we gained from this conference. Useful and absolutely worth the $30.00  You can watch hi-lights at WordCamp 2009 hilights sponsored by Godaddy.com

I’ve seen those little orange buttons, but what the heck is RSS? RSS or Rich Site Summary is a method to publish your current content in a stream of information. Originated in 1999 for netscape.com, it has gained widespread use in news related websites and web blogs. Created using XML coding, RSS gives users the ability to publish ongoing content which in turn can build loyalty.

So how do I manage all these feeds? There are many different software applications called RSS readers. An RSS reader is a method you can use to subscribe and orgnize your RSS feeds.  I’m a big fan of FeedDemon for the ease of management and functionality.

Pros:

• PC based application that will give me notifications of new feeds in a small pop up box.
• Internet browser contained in the application is the best. I can comment on blogs, reply to comments, check out new links all within the application.
• Real Time Watches to keep informed of different keyword type topics. For example, I have several watches in the areas of design, SEO, social media and of course my favorite gardening. I find this function really helpful to discover what people are saying on the web.
• In Feed Demon 3.0, there is an ability to configure your twitter account to keep informed of your friends postings. You can also reply using Feed Demon.
• I use the clipping folder often to save specific articles I want to research, comment, or blog about. This saves me lots of time as  i am able to check my feeds and file them when the time is right.
• New Integration with Google Reader: Since I’m not always at home to read my feeds, I like the fact I can also log into Google Reader, check my feeds and it still be updated in FeedDemon.

Cons:

• I have not found many cons about FeedDemon. The free version  of 3.0 does have annoying ads. But for $10.00 I could remove them. Right now they haven’t bothered me enough to make me want to purchase a licensed.

So who’s on my list? Here’s a list of some of my all time favorites.

Blogging:

• Copyblogger
• Men with Pens
• Problogger
• WordPress Development Blog

SEO

• SEO Book
• SEOmoz
• Search Engine Journal
• Search Engine Land

Google – I follow all the google blogs as who better to go to then the source!

• Google Analytics Blog
• Google Chrome
• Google Code
• Google Webmasters Central
• Google Website Optimizer
• The Official Google Blog

Social Media

• All Facebook
• Chris Brogen
• Facebook Blog
• Mashable
• Sociable Blog
• Twittip
• Twitter Blog

Design

• Design Reviver
• Smashing Magazine
• A List Apart
• CSS Beauty

So get subscribing and follow along with your favorite industry trends.

Kimberly at www.greenseedwebdesign.com

My first step was knowing what topic I could write about daily, an entity that would keep me stimulated and encourage me to network. You also have to ask if you have a level of expertise on a subject matter and the foundation of good original content. If you are tying your blog into your business (which you should) it should be relatively easy to write about your line of work. If you are lucky enough to be doing something you love it’s easier than that, it will be a passion you are happy to share.

Creating a blog that can generate both good traffic and relevant visitors comes down to three things: Planning, planning and planning. You have to formulate a strategy before you start – and we can help with that incidentally.

Let’s say for example your business sells bicycles. Who is your market? What do they probably want to read? What keywords might lead them to your blog? How can you network to initiate interest? How can you tie your blog (and your expertise) into the fact that you sell bicycles?

You then have to ask yourself about your site layout and design. What’s easy to navigate? What categories should you use? How important are images and video? How can you interface the blog with your website? How strong is your branding?

With a strategy decided upon and a design in mind you then have to ask yourself how often will you blog? 3 posts a week with original content is more valuable than seven unoriginal ideas per week. A ‘how-to’ or informational post is more valuable than a simple opinion. An exclusive and interesting post is the most valuable of all.

Next I’ll explain how to start the blog running and gaining traffic once these key planning issues are addressed.

At Green Seed Web Design we are able offer superb web development and coaching – we’ll be happy to help.

Tim at greenseedwebdesign.com

Putting together 300-600 cohesive words on a regular basis is obviously as important to blogging as wind is to to a kite. However 2 years ago I had the wind but no string for the kite and it was night time.

I tried, I really did, but back then I felt I was writing to the goldfish we have, opening a word document and typing would have felt as worthwhile. Sure I got the occasional traffic and even now some of those posts are still online getting a few visits here and there. I wasn’t quite sure where I was going and my efforts dried up.

Four months ago the idea of blogging again raised it’s head as I felt I had a topic to write about that has been a part of my life now for 30 years. I also was now changing career paths and fully understanding the true value of a blog was becoming more apparent every day. Four months ago I made some excuses and put it on the ‘to-do’ pile, a habit I have to break. Spring turned to Summer and the more I learned about blogging the more my idea was making me itch.

Part 2 tomorrow, I’ll explain how a start up blog has gone from zero to 1,000 page views per day in just 24 days. It wasn’t a ponzi scheme – it was subject expertise, networking and creativity. It also helped so much that the blog looks amazing.

For Green Seed Web Design to be able offer superb web development and coaching it was crucial that I had been my own guinea pig. Twitch Twitch, til tomorrow.

Tim at greenseedwebdesign.com

There are of course a mountain of ways to tackle the issue of blog traffic, I’ve found that WPscoop might be on it’s way to rivalling Digg for getting your blog appreciated and ‘out there’. The concept of the site is similar to Digg, the twist being that the site is very much aimed toward bloggers on the WordPress platform.

You can submit your content to WPscoop and exisiting member will be able to vote (scoop) or comment on your articles. When a certain threshold of scoops has been reached your blog entry will be placed on the Upcoming page on WPscoop and gain further exposure.  The diversity of options for someone searching the site is as broad as you might expect with views ranging from 24 hrs / 7 days / 30 days and so on.

With the WP firefox plugin an article can be submitted to scoop with a simple right click. Videos are also able to be submitted.

The membership profiles are also a nice feature allowing you both promote your own blog but in turn reciprocate with 3rd party reviews you have submitted. For blogging to grow takes both commitment and a marketing strategy. Scoop should be a part of your approach.

Tim at greenseedwebdesign.com

I’m consistently impressed with the range and scope of plug-ins and custom themes that are being developed. From the simplest theme to ever increasingly difficult applications the WordPress platform can be a strong solution to get you up and running. We offer the ability to then develop the theme to give it the branding you seek. Please contact us for additional information.

I’ve fallen in love with this gallery and if you feel especially bold there’s always this one. The navigation (especially on the former) is lovely and doesn’t detract from the images being the focal point.

A holiday weekend beckons, hope you all enjoy it.

Tim at greenseedwebdesign

According to surveys one of the biggest reasons a person departs a website is due to ‘weak content/copy’. Lack of well written quality content can result in a bounce rate (people leaving your site with no exploration) being higher than the norm. After working on SEO and design it seems rather a pity to lose a potential client due to the written content within the site.

Dependent on the amount of content/type of site you need we would suggest you either hire a content writer (we can assist). There are certain ways to present information within a website that create the best results.

At the very least ensure at least 3 different people (the author being one) examine the content literally sentence by sentence.

Common mistakes include:

• Poor grammar and spelling errors
• Repetition
• Incomplete thoughts
• A presumed existing understanding of the subject matter by the reader
• Lack of a natural flow and focal point to verbiage
• Rambling explanations and inconclusive detail as to what you can provide
• Too much detail on the home page
• Insufficient detail on inner pages
• Contradictions within the same website

The list goes on but the outcome will be the same. Cutting corners on content can mean a site far from optimal.

Tim at greenseedwebdesign

Today I read a really interesting article about blogging and momentum. Pro Blogger explained how one blogger uses a “point system” to hit his daily goal for while working a full time job. He strives to reach a 50 point goal by attributing values to different tasks. For example:

• 2 points for emailing another blogger with a link to a relevant post
• 3 points for an IM conversation with a blogger in your niche
• 2 points for answering a reader’s question via email
• 10 points for a long blog post
• 5 for a short one
• 2 points for a comment on a blog I’ve commented on before
• 5 points for commenting on a site I’ve never commented on before
• 1 point per comment on my own blog
• 10 points for installing a new module/plug-in, etc.

For the past few weeks I’ve struggled with keeping up with regular postings. I know I can come up with a array of reasons why I haven’t…. from moving my office to working on current projects. Although I am not proud to admit it, I KNOW I have neglected my biggest marketing asset… my blog! Implementing this type of system would make it easier for days I don’t have time or have a mental writer’s block. It also would isolate the other areas you can complete that don’t include article writing.

So for me – here are some of my ideas i would add to the list of points:

• 10 points for a tutorial post
• 5 points for an article that references a client
• 15 points for a press release
• 5 points for a blog post
• 5 points for a blog directory submission
• 2 points for a “News Flash”

So, I’ll keep the momentum, try this point system and strive to reach my daily blogging goal.