1. Set Up a Blog
A Blog (contraction of the term "web log") is specific type of website, kind of like a diary, with stories, editorial, descriptions of events or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are normally displayed in reverse-chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb. For instance to blog is to write on your blog. Wordpress is the most popular blogging software.
E Blogger for the budget minded, some nice existing templates or get Blossom to customise and set up for you. You could also use a Wordpress® installation your own site, and this is completely customisable and flexible as well as easy to use. (We regularly install and design wordpress sites).
Post on your blog regularly (daily, weekly or monthly) on general interest stories within your industry, a brand and philosophy and trends in industry. Use to keep clients up to date.
Blossom's Style Blog is our virtual pin board online offering visual inspiration for designers and small businesses looking to re brand or grow. We regularly pop up little tid bits of beautiful design, interiors, furniture, package or whatever takes our fancy. It's also useful for our clients to get an idea of design that is beyond what they have seen before.
For a blog to be successful it needs to offer something unique, on a regular basis in a legible and generous way. If you simply use a blog to sell yourself then it's one big ad, and frankly, not that interesting. If you use it to offer your knowledge and experiences, without selling, it's more like a conversation and generally more genuine.
2. Use Good SEO Practices With Your Blog
Ensure when you upload images that you add tags to your blog and a "tag cloud" for SEO using widgets.
Have links to your website on your blog, and add "share buttons" so other people can use social networking to spread the word about your articles and blog's. You can also set up automated Twitter and Facebook® sharing through your blogging software, so it adds a link and title each time you a blog a new entry onto your Facebook® or Twitter Page.
3. Social Networking Must Haves
Make time and never underestimate. Social netwroking is the way of the future for marketing, and regardless of which one is the interface du jour, you must have it going on. Keep up to date on the popular ones and set up automated tweets, status updates and so on to keep clients and friends informed as to your business and activities, as well as inspirational comments and generally contributing to the online community.
There is no such thing as a free lunch. In order for Social Networking to work, you have to invest your time and energy into generous online contributions of wisdom, experience and friendship. Generosity is the key, and sharing images, information and news is far more effective than simply spruking your wares.
Must haves: Twitter and Facebook
Twitter: a free social networking and "micro blogging" service, allowing you to send "tweets" which are basically posts limited to 140 characters. You can receive and send updates to and from Twitter using a short message service (text), RSS, instant message, email or through a third party application.
Facebook: a social networking website that is operated and privately on which users may add friends, send them messages and update their personal profiles.
4. Use Tweets Wisely
Twitter multiple times a day, not spamming but just generally regarding your business and thoughts (obviously remember everyone in the world can read it so keep it light). Make "friends" with celebrities and watch how they use it to boost their profile and for PR. @ParisHilton, @TheEllenShow, @Alyssa_Milano, @ashleytisdale, @jamie_oliver, @peaches_g, @PerezHilton, @johncmayer, are all very shrewdwith their PR.
Try not to use it for personal therapy or vendettas like @katyprice or @lindsaylohan. It's tragic and doesn't need to be in the public domain. Yes, it gets attention, but at what cost? It's a short term strategy and not very classy.
5. Make Friends On Twitter
Always have more people following you that the other way around. Make"friends" on Twitter by following people and posting hellos publicly. Make sure that you RT (re-tweet) relevant and good posts, as this will encourage more followers and friends and is good karma.Use #FF or #followfriday tag to encourage people to follow your friends, and post links to great sites and images.
To get an idea of who to follow, look at who trend leaders follow. It's a great place to start watching.
6. Use Good Tweeting Software
Blossom likes Hoot Suite for Twitter. Make sure you have a Twitter App on your phone so you can tweet on the go. Blossom uses Echophon Lite with an iphone.
Facebook update regularly, daily is fine, on personal and work with high privacy settings. Get the Facebook® App for your phone so you can Facebook randomly.
7. Add Alt Tags
Add your "Alt Tags" or (alternative text embedded in the code) for your images when you upload them into an e-commerce site or through a content management system (CMS). When Blossom build a site we try to do this on all images and titles, but if you are managing your own site, you will need to do this yourself.
The reason for this is that search engines can't read images, so you need to give the search engine enough information on that image, within the code, so it can "read" the image (and it's a great chance to use those keywords to great effect). It also means that if the image doesn't load the visitor can read what the image is supposed to be.
8. Write Keyword Rich Copy
Write keyword rich copy/text on your site, but ensure that it still reads well and isn't "over optimised". If your boutique website text uses the same word over and over Google and the other search engines, such as Yahoo and Bing, won't like this, but if it is grammatically correct, with punctuation, and correct sentence structure, then Google and the other search engines, such as Yahoo and Bing, will love it, especially if it is done in a logical and interesting way that is relevant to the topic/industry.
For keywords to be effective, they need to be in the keyword metadata (if you want, we can add this during the building of the pages), the meta description (we can also add this during the build) as well as the page copy itself, preferably in relevant linking text and headings.
9. Link Up
Add hyperlinks within keywords within text to other parts of the site that are relevant to that keyword so that Google and the other search engines, such as Yahoo and Bing, can easily see the structure and pages of your site.
Ensure websites with higher rankings are linking to you from "good neighbourhoods" in the same industry. Avoid having anything to do with "link farms" or directories created for the sole purpose of link exchanging. Write comments and add your link on other peoples blog's, but don't overdo it. No one likes spam.
10. Create a Newsletter
Set up a email newsletter database, with an email capture form on your site (we can help you set this up with a 30 day trial period). Add your existing database and get permission from them to opt in Add an opt in form to your website Don't just "sell" in it, send relevant industry info as well, special offers from related businesses.
You can build the newsletter in the easy to use editor, and send out to your clients, friends, followers and potential customers. Offer stories, tips and "give" your read a reason to click, in other words a "call to action". Make them feel good with an article, encourage them with support and tell them how your business is just what they need in their life.
Send on a regular basic consistently but not too often. I don't love weekly ones. Once a month is nice, and not overdone. Super keen people can always visit your blog.
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