blog post sandy mcdonald answers your questions on how to blog for business

8/13/2019 Blog Post Sandy Mcdonald Answers Your Questions on How to Blog for Business

1/8

Sandy McDonald Answers Your Questions On HowTo Blog For BusinessSandy McDonald, from www.whyyoumustblog.com , joined me for a live interview in our privateFacebook group for the co-authors and readers of my book !t"s #hat $asy % &nline Marketing '.()on September *+th. #he uestions being asked were incredibly valuable so we decided to share it asa blog post.

Ludwina Dautovic: Hi Sandy. Thanks so much for sharing your time with us today.

Sandy McDonald: Absolute pleasure!

Ludwina Dautovic: Im really excited about this topic today because a little while ago you and I hada session where you helped me with my blogging. It s made a massi e difference to my approach and Iknow that will happen for others reading this too.
http://www.whyyoumustblog.com/http://ludwina.com/sandy-mcdonald-answers-your-questions-on-how-to-blog-for-business/http://ludwina.com/http://www.whyyoumustblog.com/


2/8

Sandy McDonald: Thank you udwina. It really is essential to be clear on your purpose for bloggingand what you are positioning" so I am ery happy that I was able to help you. #udging by your greatcontent" you are really going great guns!

Ludwina Dautovic: Thanks Sandy. ets get started. $irstly" if anyone would like to ask Sandy a%uestion" &ust type it in this thread and well get to it.

Sandy" lets assume that the followers already ha e a blog" but their blog isnt doing much for them.'hat might be the reason or reasons for that(

Sandy McDonald: )kay" thats a big %uestion" I am going to do some dot points and that will take asecond" okay(

Mark Bowness: udwina * my %uestion is this+ 'hen we are building a clan" we ha e to pro idecontent that is rele ant to that clan. Howe er" when blogging we also need to be mindful of key wordsfor S,) benefit in order to attract a rele ant audience and increase our clan. Sandy -c onald" what

are your thoughts on balancing both re%uirements to ensure strong blog content(

Sandy McDonald: $irstly" ery often people dont correctly position their intent for blogging. Sofolks who &ust pop a blog on the back of their business website" for example" are not taking ad antageof what a blog can do to position themsel es" their business" their industry niche or their offer. -oreto follow!

Ludwina Dautovic: /reat %uestion -ark 0owness. 'ell get to yours next.

Sandy McDonald: Second point to your %uestion" udwina" and then I will answer your %uestion-ark.

Secondly" they ha ent structured their sites correctly. $or example" if you were positioning your offer"or your theory" then you might ha e a process or framework. 'hate er the steps in that process ortheory should then be matched to an appropriate keyword and the content on those pages optimisedfor that keyword. Then /oogle knows what your site is about and as you fill up those 1pillars with richassociated aluable content" you are ser ing both isitors" human and spiders!

Ludwina Dautovic: Hey Sandy" were going to ha e to clarify some of your wording here. 'hat do

you mean by 1 if you were positioning your offer" or your theory then you might ha e a process orframework(

Sandy McDonald: -ark" okay I think my second point abo e goes someway to answering your%uestion. -y ad ice is to structure your site correctly in the first instance using appropriate keywordsand then when you are first blogging" do your best to optimise your posts using keywords too. The keyto writing content with keywords in it is that it is natural. 2othing is worse than reading content that iscontri ed to fit around a keyword.


3/8

Ludwina Dautovic: Sandy" do the keywords tie in with the categories that we put our blog postsunder(

Sandy McDonald: -att 3utts 4/oogle spokesperson5 says that /oogle looks at the headline andthen at the opening paragraph" and if it picks up a similar word or phrase in those two" it will index itfor that term. 0ut the time it comes to the third mention" it has almost 1lost interest. So the keyword

stuffing days" thank hea ens" are long gone -ark.

Sandy McDonald: It really is about alue first. Also key to this is that /oogle is reading social signalsmore. So the more likes" links and shares you ha e" the better for your potential ranking. Still" youwant to ensure that you are ranking for something rele ant to what you writing about.

Ludwina Dautovic: )k. ets mo e on. Sandy" Id like to know how you decide what topics youregoing to blog about(

Sandy McDonald: Hi udwina. )kay. et me explain a bit more. #ust popped this in from my 0rilliant0logging" 6owerful 3lans whitepaper7

-r. Smith has a company manufacturing green widgets and a website Smithandco.com.au. He bolts ablog onto the back of his website" smithandco.com.au8blog.

He could be the leading world expert on the manufacture of green widgets" so how has he helped hiscause by doing this(

'ell" it depends on what his purpose is and what he is positioning.

If his green widgets ha e the potential to seriously change the way we use energy and his purpose isto reduce the use of fossil fuels" then perhaps he is an educational oice in the field.

He would be better ser ed with a website that can talk to influencers around the world about sa ingenergy" as in sa ingenergy.com.

If he is one of se eral green widget manufacturers and he wants to position his business as TH, greenwidget manufacturer" then perhaps he would do his best work from greenwidget.com.

If -r. Smith was a known expert in the field already and a speaker" author and authority on thesub&ect" then he may well &ust position himself as TH, expert" as in #ohnsmith.com.

Sandy McDonald: udwina" re7 keywords tying in with your categories" yes. Ideally" what is on yourtop le el na igation bar should be mirrored in your categories.


4/8

Ludwina Dautovic: In your blog posts" should the keywords in each mirror the categories for yourblogs(

Sandy McDonald: 9our main na igation pages and categories usually use keywords that areumbrella terms and likely to be ery competiti e" so you wouldnt expect to rank for them. Then" yourposts use related keywords that are much more niched and likely to ha e fewer isitors but lower

competition. So o er time you may be depending on the other acti ities you are in ol ed in onlinethat are ranking you.

Sandy McDonald: The point of using keywords is not that they will rank you in and of themsel es"but that they pro ide the best platform from which you 3A2 rank.

0ut you really need to be in ol ed in other acti ities like you are udwina * podcasting" 9ou Tube"$acebook /roups" Slideshare" etc.

Ludwina Dautovic: /reat. Thanks. 2ow+ its one thing to ha e a blog and e en better if people

read it" but how do you get them to engage by subscribing A2 commenting(

Sandy McDonald: Third reason for your original %uestion" udwina. Another reason to structureyour blog properly is that it helps in writing focused" directed content. ) er time" if it is pro idinggreat alue to your isitors" this will build your influence and connect you with people who areinterested in what you ha e to offer.

Ludwina Dautovic: Since you ad ised me on my blog" can you tell me your thoughts on the topics Iha e been writing on and do they sit well within the 1authority aspect for my website(

Sandy McDonald: In my iew udwina" its increasingly difficult" but not impossible these days. 'eare all so stretched in the online world. 3onstancy and alue are the key.

If you are really acti e" e en if people dont comment" they are listening and reading and yourinfluence continues to grow.

I ha e teamed up with a bunch of world:wide bloggers and we ha e formed a strong community. 'eblog together and comment and share each others posts and as such" we are keeping oursel es in theeye of the search engines. 0ut also our combined isitors" which is a substantial number. Its a goodstrategy.

Sandy McDonald: udwina" regarding the topics. I ha e two approaches. )ne is that I blogconsistently to the framework that is in my book" the ;3 3lan to 6lan" building on that knowledge bankif you like.


5/8

Sandy McDonald: Secondly" because I am part of the this blogging group" we elect a topic for smallbusiness e ery month. This week it was


6/8

Ludwina Dautovic: 'ell be wrapping up in ten minutes. Im sure there are some points youd liketo add" Sandy" that ha ent been asked yet.

Sandy McDonald: Second reason is that /oogle likes deep linking" although that may well bechanging too. 'ho knows with /oogle these days. They are so clearly mo ing e erything toward paidmarketing rather than organic searches" but at this stage e erything I read suggests that it is still best

practice to use keywords and internal linking. 2othing has changed in my research either" to suggestthat you shouldnt continue to aim for good %uality backlinks. Those are reputable websites who arelinking back to your site. /oogle still lo es those.

Lesley Dewar: 0ecause so many bloggers are acti e on So-o" how do we get comments on blogsthese days( Any tips to make it easier(

Ludwina Dautovic: 3an you please clarify what So-o is esley ewar(

Lesley Dewar: Socially -obile $0" Twitter" inkedIn" etc.

Sandy McDonald: esley" a bit earlier in this thread I posted about this regarding comments onblogs.

Hope that helps. It is not as it was &ust a few years ago" that is for sure.

Ludwina Dautovic: That group sounds great Sandy. Any way I can &oin it(

Sandy McDonald: 0ut I think communities are coming together in different ways. So I am amember of a few $0 pri ate groups like this one and udwina sets a good example of how to get acommunity acti e and engaged. Then" from time to time" when it is rele ant" I post a link. That usuallygets commentary. And I am constantly surprised when meeting people to hear that they are readingmy posts" e en if they arent commenting.

Sandy McDonald: /oogle 6lus seems to be a place in which people are commenting more on linksthan in $0 too.

Lesley Dewar: Sandy * about the point of people reading and listening * thats ery true.

Ludwina Dautovic: Im starting to get more acti e in /oogle 6lus so Ill keep that in mind. I think weshould be encouraging our group to post their blog posts here too. I think thats a good place to start.Sandy" were going to wrap this up now.

Sandy McDonald: Absolutely udwina. /reat idea. If I may be so bold" can I suggest that peoplegi e a one line statement as to the alue of the blog" so that in our busy worlds we can determine it ispertinent to us. That way" we are ser ing e eryone in here.


7/8

Ludwina Dautovic: /reat idea Sandy. -ay I suggest" since youre the blog %ueen" perhaps we couldha e a day where you instigate the posting of our blogs that week. 'hat do you think(

Sandy McDonald: )ne last comment about blogging. espite the difficulty in getting engagementthese days" e ery offer I ha e now" speaking" presenting and also coaching is as a direct result of myblogging. So I know that it is a greatly aluable way to position what you do and your influence in your

field. , en if it feels sometimes like no one is reading+ as esley says" they are!

Sandy McDonald: )h" I like the idea of playing ringmaster!

Ludwina Dautovic: Then lets consider it done. 9ou are now the ringmaster of blogging. How aboutyou share some regular tips on blogging" encourage us to share our blog posts and perhaps e entcriti%ue them if re%uested. How does that sound(

Sandy McDonald: o e it. 'ill gi e it the right thought o er the weekend and get going as soon asyou say 1crack the whip! Thanks e eryone who asked %uestions today. I hope I was able to bring some

inspiration and clarity to the topic.

Ludwina Dautovic: 9ou certainly did! I will look forward to hearing your ideas" Sandy" and how wecan help the members become better global bloggers! 3iao e eryone! xxx

If youd like to participate in our li e $acebook chats in our pri ate group" all you need to do is grab acopy of my book . )nce you ha e" there is an in itation to &oin the group around the fourth page in.'ed lo e to ha e you.

Ludwina Dautovic

This blog post was written by Ludwina Dautovic. To subscribe to her blog, ClickHere . There you'll find free resources, podcast interviews, video tutorials and

business insights on how to better connect and engage with your market online.

You can email Ludwina at: [email protected]
http://www.itsthateasy.com.au/http://www.itsthateasy.com.au/http://ludwina.com/http://ludwina.com/free-online-resources-tools/http://ludwina.com/free-online-resources-tools/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.itsthateasy.com.au/http://www.itsthateasy.com.au/http://ludwina.com/http://ludwina.com/free-online-resources-tools/http://ludwina.com/free-online-resources-tools/http://ludwina.com/free-online-resources-tools/mailto:[email protected]


8/8

Read More From Ludwina: Ludwina.com/blog

http788ludwina.com8sandy:mcdonald:answers:your:%uestions:on:how:to:blog:for:business8
http://ludwina.com/blog/http://ludwina.com/sandy-mcdonald-answers-your-questions-on-how-to-blog-for-business/http://ludwina.com/free-online-resources-tools/http://ludwina.com/blog/http://ludwina.com/sandy-mcdonald-answers-your-questions-on-how-to-blog-for-business/

blog post sandy mcdonald answers your questions on how to blog for business

Documents