How to use articles effectively in a blog.
-
I wanted to start a blog so I could get some longer tail search term results. I am a knowledge expert in my area but am very busy as an entrepreneur so I had been putting it off for some time. It occurred to me that I might be able to outsource the article writing and I have started doing that. I have either come up with or have approved the topics. I am a very critical editor and demand high quality writing. The articles are all original. We are proofreading everything to make sure the articles are of high quality and inform readers about the subject. I plan to only put external links in the articles that link out to the sources for the information that was used to write the articles. We are also using pictures info graphics and video where possible. I plan to close the comments because, while we have had a website for some time and get some visitors (2500 per month) we are new to blogging and do not have a following that would post comments. My questions is this.......will these be viewed negatively by Google? I think this will be good content but I don't want to do anything to negatively affect us.
-
Thanks for your comments, I will keep that in mind.
-
Thank you for your comments. I do hope to someday be able to write full time instead of running the business. Operations, compliance, payroll, taxes, strategic planning and other daily tasks now dominate my time and compete with the demands of raising a family. Right now it is more feasible for me to farm out this task than any other. I am using my knowledge to come up with the relevant subjects then to review the works to ensure they are on point and making necessary adjustments. It is my highest goal to put up great content, but I do understand your position. I will write a few, and am working on a couple that I cannot farm out. But for now it is a solution I wanted to try as opposed to pushing off making the move in this direction. I don't know that it is always possible for the most knowledgable person to do everything, but I do understand and appreciate that I am responsible for everything. I will be careful. Thanks.
-
Self-serving content is when the author thumps the corporate chest by using their brand name in every sentence, surrounding it by superlatives. A step lower is using possessive pronouns such as "our product" accompanied by hyperbole.
If you offer generous, genuinely altruistic, informative content without inserting yourself, your brand or marketing then you don't have to worry about being commercial or self-serving.
A good goal would to build the "go to" place for information about your niche where your internal links provide a self-contained Bible about your topic niche.
One thing that surprised me about your post is that you are "a knowledge expert in your area" yet you are farming out the writing. That's like a race horse letting a donkey take his place at the Kentucky Derby.
Competition on the web is usually won by creating the very best content anywhere rather than turning the content into a commodity.
If you really want your site to succeed, consider doing this important batting yourself and making the site the best it can possibly be.
I know you are busy... but if you don't have time to do this right then your sharp edge as a content expert is made dull.
====================
As for using the content in a blog... you could do that if you don't have the ability to build a custom website. However, a blog is a way to publish mass produced content. Departing from that to create a format with custom pages where you can cross-promote other content exactly at the point where it will be most effecttive.
It will also enable you to create custom topic pages to organize the site for visitors who arrive through search instead of arriving through subscription. These can be done with a blog but it takes extra effort and planning.
-
The best piece of advice I would give with a blog is dont sit back and hope it happens and generates traffic. Be proactive and make it happen.
Create lists of people that would be interested in the particular postings and form relationships with people.
Once you have a good stock of contacts you can move on to other contacts via RSS subscription, social sites (facebook fan pages etc)
-
Thanks for the tip. I want to use internal links but I want to avoid making the content of the articles seem commercial, self serving, or not genuine. The blog is the same URL as my main site. Can you suggest some way to use internal linking without appearing to be a self serving sales article?
-
No it won’t be seen as negative assuming they are relative to your main content.
But what do you want to achieve with your blog, you may get some long tails but how do you intend to convert them to sales.
I ask because you say you will only have external links. I would assume you would be attracting traffic, therefore you need to get them to click a link to your main content, or attract links, there for you would want to funnel that link juice to your main pages, either way you need to think about internal linking.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Blockquote, q, cite, when to use it all?
I'm asking this question with the full recognition that the issue may be a little contentious and possibly unresolved, but I would like the opinions of those here anyway. When I quote another article in mine I always use either blockquote or q. (q is an inline version of blockquote). But I recently learned you can add a cite attribution to those tags. Like so: I have a dream... or
Content Development | | eglove
<q cite="www.example.com">He who doesn't ask himself...</q> But these links don't show up anywhere, only in the code. To be as ethical as possible, I also put in an anchor link. That also is my first concern. Can putting the same link twice essentially right next to one another cause issues? To add to the complexity, I've also been researching the <cite>tag. And it's history is a little... well... rocky. It seems as though the current standard is to use either blockquote or q and then add in cite as a footer to it. Like this:</cite> They seemed to think that the greatness of their masters was transferable to themselves. It was considered as being bad enough to be a slave; but to be a poor man's slave was deemed a disgrace indeed! <footer>Douglass, F. (1999). <cite>[The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass]([link to book (or article where appropriate)])</cite>. Oxford: Oxford University Press,</footer> Notice the cite tag is only around the link to the item in question. Not the entire footer. Also note that the footer is inside the blockquote, thus it is not meant to be at the bottom of the page. So IF this is the standard way to do things, it answers my first question. But is it? And can the use of the footer tag confuse search engines? Ugh, crazy all over the place question, I know. But I'm struggling to find the right way to handle quotations in a way that is both academic, and SEO friendly. Start from the beginning if you must. 🙂1 -
What's a good way to find recent blog posts about a given topic?
Let's say I want to find blog posts posted in the past week or so about "key west". These posts could be on a personal blog, travel blog, etc. Google News is mostly news sites (not blogs) and Google blog search doesn't work any more. What other good options are there? So far Open site Explorer Just Discovered is the best option I've found, but there is a lot of other stuff mixed in with a few blog posts.
Content Development | | AdamThompson1 -
Blog Frequency
Hi, We have a new blog, we write 4 blogs per month and have been posting all 4 in one go at the same time per month. Would it be more beneficial to post the blogs 1 per week or does it not matter? Also, is 4 blog 250 word blogs per month enough or should we be doing more? Thanks Andrew
Content Development | | Studio330 -
Blog on domain or sub-domain
Hi, I am looking to incorporate a blog that currently sits on another domain into my site. I am not sure whether to do this as part of my domain or as a sub-domain e.g. mydomain.com.au/blog blog.mydomain.com.au I can see the benefits from an SEO perspective for both but just wanted some advice on the best way to go.
Content Development | | landonkahn0 -
Is it important to stick to a schedule when posting blogs?
I was watching the Mozinar titled: "From Nothing to Expert: How to Blog like You Mean It" and Tanner mentions that he does not stick to a schedule when posting blogs. There will be days or even a week go by where he does not post anything because he has not found a topic worth writing about. I was under the impression that it was important to post blogs at the same time everyday, or on the same day every week. Does sticking to a regimented schedule not have benefits anymore? Are there any negative or positive effects of sticking to a schedule?
Content Development | | djlittman0 -
Blog question
If i attempt to split the blog and main site, how can Google recognize they are both owned by the same person.
Content Development | | seoug_20050 -
Blog content practices for e-commerce sites
What is the best practice in regards to content for e-commerce blogs on the same domain as the web-store (blog.storename.com)? What balance of content should be on the blog vs. the item & section pages or doesn't it matter?
Content Development | | MEldridge0