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Welcome to the ineedhits Search Engine Marketing blog, where we share the latest search engine and online marketing news, releases, industry trends and great DIY tips and advice.

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Tuesday, February 6

Making Your Blog Better

Among the online catchphrases of 2007 you'll undoubtedly find Web 2.0, user generated communities, social media sites and blogging. Developing marketing plans that incorporates these elements will be critical to both online, and traditional business. Here is our guide on how to do just one of them right...Blogging!

About Me / About Us Section
It's all about transparency! People tend to trust what, and who, they can see as opposed to the hidden or secret. There doesn't have to be a mission statement or individual timeline but let people know who you are and what you are doing - it promotes trust (and most people love being nosey!)

Clear & Concise Titles
You can write a blog and keep it SEO friendly. Keep titles keyword rich and clear. Writing an entire blog entry about Google and titling it "What's Up" is bordering on ridiculous. If you want readers then let them know specifically what you are writing about, it'll also help search engine spiders find you in the Blogosphere!

Don't Alienate Visitors
I have visited blogs where the blogger has randomly referred to Dave or John and I am clueless. Who are Dave and John? Why are they relevant? Why should I want to read about them? If you are hoping to reach a wider audience then provide enough information about whom, and what you are referring to, so you don't people.

Categorise archives (not calendarise!)
Categories, or tags, are a great way to archive your articles. A calendar date means nothing to people searching for articles of a specific nature, relevant or interesting news. Tag or categorise articles, as well as including 'relevant / related articles' links at the bottom of each of your postings. Promote browsing around your blog!

Sporadic Publishing
If you want to use your blog to generate interest, ranking and traffic then you must keep the postings coming! Online users are quick to lose interest if there is no new news. Blog as often as you can, daily if necessary (but please keep it entertaining).

Blog What You Know
Have an interest in what you post. Reading a piece from an enthusiastic author can transform even the most mundane subject into something worth reading. Want loyal readers? Then keep the subjects you blog about along the same vein, people are more likely to flock to sites that celebrate their interests than those that ramble on about everything.

Writer's Regret
Everything you write and post is available for the taking, to be archived, redisplayed and perused by anyone browsing online. Rule - Don't write anything you'll regret! Post publicly and you will never be able to take it all back. People viewing your blogs can be future partners, employers, family, exes and children (and more!) so be careful about your choice of words, subject and tone.

Linking Issues
Randomly hyper-linking every second word is annoying and unnecessary. Link only when it's important, and even then tell the viewer where you're sending the link.

There is huge potential to increase ranking and traffic, audience diversity and readership by blogging clever. If you are serious, then branch out and get your own domain, differentiate yourself from 'packaged' blogs (such as Blogger or Facebook). Blogging may be a whole new world but old world smarts and marketing still apply, just make them work for you!