Follow these tips for repurposing content.

Trying to market your business online? The best digital marketing strategies include updating social media accounts daily, writing blog posts once a week, distributing e-newsletters once a month and more. Feeling overwhelmed? Good news: there’s a way to make creating all that content easier; it comes down to repurposing what you’ve already got.

Repurposing content is an important part of your digital marketing strategy. In addition to making you more efficient, it can help you keep your company’s branding and messages consistent.

3 Tips for Repurposing Content

Here are 3 tips for repurposing your various types of content.

1. Share what you’ve already created. Sharing your blog posts on your social media channels and in your e-newsletter is a great way to save you time. Plus, repurposing your posts in this way will remind followers about helpful articles you’ve written and drive more traffic to your website.
2. Add your commentary. Did you recently share an interesting article on your company’s social media channels? Think about turning it into a blog post or e-newsletter article by adding your own thoughts. Tell readers why you agree with the author, or what you would have changed had you written it yourself.
3. Recycle old content. We live in a world overrun with information, so as long as it’s still relevant it’s perfectly fine to turn to share the same news again. Share an old blog post on Facebook for Throwback Thursday or give it a fresh perspective on your blog. Depending on the social media network (like Twitter), you can even share the same post multiple times – just introduce it differently so your followers don’t start to think of you like a broken record.

Is repurposing content part of your digital marketing strategy? What other tips would you add to my list?

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Three Girls Media, Inc. is a public relations and social media management agency founded in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley with a team in the Seattle area. We love working with small and emerging companies across the nation to raise their brand awareness and name recognition. We offer a complimentary 30-minute phone consultation with our CEO and can answer your questions and discuss your specific marketing needs.

Call 408-218-2391 or Contact us today to arrange yours!

Photo Credit: adamr via freedigitalphotos.net

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Blogging for your small business can be one of the best ways to directly share news and information with your target audience and current customers. Follow these three easy steps to create a blog using one of the best blog sites and you can easily boost your business’ online marketing in no time!

Blogging: 3 Easy Steps to Get Started

1. Select a Name: Choosing the perfect name is one of the most creative aspects of a new blogging venture. The name should be catchy and easy to remember so readers can easily return to read new content in the future. Think about your target audience and how they might relate to your content to select a blog name that is witty, captivating and engaging.
2. Select a Platform: In order to create a blog that is user-friendly, be sure to use platforms that are among the best blog sites available. WordPress is great platform that offers terrific free features in addition to paid-membership benefits for the ultimate freedom in customizing your blog. In addition to WordPress, other sites such as Blogger and Squarespace offer user-friendly designs and can be set up in just a few minutes!
3. Create a Post: Now that you’ve selected the perfect name and platform for your blog, the next step is to fill it with useful and engaging content for your audience. Be sure to mix up the content to include text, images and videos to keep the content diverse and captivating to ensure long-term loyalty from your readers.

Whether your small business offers innovative services or groundbreaking products, blogging can be one of the best ways to share news about your business in way that can be easily sent through email, posted on social media and more. Be sure to visit the Three Girls Media blog every week for the latest tips and advice in all things public relations and marketing!

Special Offer: Complimentary Consultation

Three Girls Media, Inc. is a public relations and social media management agency founded in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley with a team in the Seattle area. We love working with small and emerging companies across the nation to raise their brand awareness and name recognition. We offer a complimentary 30-minute phone consultation with our CEO and can answer your questions and discuss your specific marketing needs.

Call 408-218-2391 or Contact us today to arrange yours!

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Is raising your search engine optimization (SEO) part of your marketing strategy? If it is, then it’s important you know about Google Panda! Whether you’re blogging for your business on a regular basis or writing and distributing press releases online, it’s important you understand what Panda is and how it affects your company.

What is Google Panda?

Google Panda affects how visible your company is online.

As ereleases.com explains, “Panda is an algorithm used by Google that puts higher quality websites at the top of the search results list, while lower quality websites are forced to the bottom of the search pile.”

Or, to put it another way, Google uses Panda to sort its search results based on the quality of the content. It was designed to combat SEO tricks (such as “keyword-stuffing“) to help users find the articles, videos and pictures they’re actually interested in.

How does Google Panda affect your marketing strategy?

The truth is, it actually shouldn’t! Google Panda is designed to help users see better content, so the key is to create helpful, informative articles, videos and photos. Of course it’s still important to write with keywords in mind, but be smart about how you use them. Sprinkle them throughout your content in natural ways, and remember that they’re secondary to your ultimate goal – sharing your insight with current and potential customers!

Want to know more about how creating quality content can help your business’ marketing strategy? Contact us for a complimentary 30-minute consultation where we can discuss your company’s specifics. Be sure to keep reading our blog and following us on our social media channels for helpful do-it-yourself PR tips & tricks, too!

Special Offer: Complimentary Consultation

Three Girls Media, Inc. is a public relations and social media management agency founded in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley with a team in the Seattle area. We love working with small and emerging companies across the nation to raise their brand awareness and name recognition. We offer a complimentary 30-minute phone consultation with our CEO and can answer your questions and discuss your specific marketing needs.

Call 408-218-2391 or Contact us today to arrange yours!

Photo Credit: dbking

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Do you want your company’s website to be easier to find online? Blogging for SEO (search engine optimization) is one way to increase your visibility, but it takes more than just posting an article now and then. The best way to increase SEO for blogs is to be strategic. Keep reading for 7 tips.

7 Tips for Blogging for SEO

Follow these 7 tips when blogging for SEO.

1. Post as often as possible. Updating your blog regularly – down to the same time of day and day of the week – is vital. Statistics show websites that post daily receive 5 times more traffic and 4 times more sales leads than those that update weekly or less.

2. Keep posting. Research shows that once you accumulate 51 blog posts, website traffic goes up by 53%, and then up by 3 times after 100 posts and 4.5 times after 200 posts.

3. Add a photo. In addition to looking better for visitors, it’s important when blogging for SEO. Articles with more visuals also attract more backlinks.

4. Get social. Statistics show, “41.67% of people measure the social influence of a blog by the number of social media shares it gets.” In addition to writing quality content, make sure your blog includes social share buttons so it’s easy for your readers to post on their social media channels. Plus, blogs with more social media followers are shown to have both higher traffic and more backlinks.

5. Make it good. Make high quality content and professional design a priority; they’re the top two factors that add credibility to a blog.

6. Pick publishing days carefully. Posts on Mondays and Thursdays get the highest traffic, and most social shares, respectively. If you’re not able to publish daily, make sure your posts go live Mondays and Thursdays.

7. Share the load. Nearly 63% of visitors think multiple authors make a blog more credible, so have multiple people on your team take turns blogging and/or try to encourage guest posts.

Is blogging for SEO part of your business’ marketing strategy? Share practices that have worked well for you in the comments below!

Special Offer: Complimentary Consultation

Three Girls Media, Inc. is a public relations and social media management agency founded in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley with a team in the Seattle area. We love working with small and emerging companies across the nation to raise their brand awareness and name recognition. We offer a complimentary 30-minute phone consultation with our CEO and can answer your questions and discuss your specific marketing needs.

Call 408-218-2391 or Contact us today to arrange yours!

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What social media sites are you on?

Mastering the science of social media can be a daunting task. There are many elements to consider when creating perfect posts, scheduling content and engaging with fans. From The Art of Social Media here are five tips to help your different accounts.

5 Lessons for Social Media Sites

1. Optimize Your Profiles

When deciding on a profile picture, make sure it is professional. It doesn’t have to be the company logo or your CEO dressed to the nines, it just shouldn’t be something tasteless or too personal. Also take the time to write a brief, but thorough, “About me” section.

2. Be Consistent

Don’t make it impossible for your fans and customers to find you. Use the same username across all social media sites so they can follow and mention you easily.

3. Feed the Content Monster

Create and share content that is relevant to your industry and post it to your followers. This will allow people to learn more about your trade and see what they can expect from your site.

4. Be A Multi-Faceted Jewel

Don’t bore readers by only posting news related to your business. Follow the 80/20 rule and post information that is relevant to the needs of your customers for 80% of your content, while still scheduling news highlighting your business 20% of the time.

5. Be Positive

Studies have shown that user engagement increases with positive posts. Use memes, infographics and news articles as a tool to spread good thoughts to your followers.

Hopefully these five social media lessons will be enough to get you started in perfecting your different profiles. Come back next week to discover five additional tips for your social media success.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Special Offer: Complimentary Consultation

Three Girls Media, Inc. is a public relations and social media management agency founded in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley with a team in the Seattle area. We love working with small and emerging companies across the nation to raise their brand awareness and name recognition. We offer a complimentary 30-minute phone consultation with our CEO and can answer your questions and discuss your specific marketing needs.

Call 408-218-2391 or Contact us today to arrange yours!

The post 5 Lessons in Social Media: Part 1 appeared first on Three Girls Media.

We’ve discussed the importance of social media marketing and blogging for SEO before, but just how vital is it to your digital marketing strategy? Very! If you want to be found online, it’s important you understand a few basic steps to raise your search engine ranking on Google. Keep reading for 6 helpful tips.

Google’s Factors to Consider

AudienceBloom analyzed two popular correlation studies to determine key factors that correlate to higher rankings in Google (see the full infographic below). Here are their main findings:

• Google gives more authority to websites that end with .com
• Google+ updates increase search rank more than any other social media network
• Google ranks short URLs higher than long ones
• Faster websites are ranked higher than slower ones
• Higher ranking is given to domain names without dashes that exactly match the user’s search
• From 2013 to 2014, more weight was given to keywords in internal and external links as well as in the body
• From 2013 to 2014, less weight was given to keywords in the title and meta description
• More content seems to be better than less content

6 Digital Marketing Tips

What does all of this mean for your social media marketing and blogging for SEO practices? Integrate these 6 tips into your digital marketing strategy:

1. Make sure your website ends with .com.
2. Host your blog in a subdirectory of your website (i.e. threegirlsmedia.com/blog).
3. Include Google+ in your social media marketing strategy.
4. Keep your website’s URLs short.
5. Use links to your advantage – don’t be afraid to link to other websites from your blog.
6. When blogging for SEO, sprinkle keywords throughout your links and the body of your text.

Here’s the full infographic for your convenience:

Via: AudienceBloom.com

Your resources spent investing in social media marketing and blogging for SEO are wasted if you aren’t smart about it. Set up your website with a .com address, utilize Google+ for your business and take advantage of links to make sure your digital marketing is as strong as it can be. Make sure you contact us if you have any questions or want help managing these activities for your company, too!

Special Offer: Complimentary Consultation

Three Girls Media, Inc. is a public relations and social media management agency founded in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley with a team in the Seattle area. We love working with small and emerging companies across the nation to raise their brand awareness and name recognition. We offer a complimentary 30-minute phone consultation with our CEO and can answer your questions and discuss your specific marketing needs.

Call 408-218-2391 or Contact us today to arrange yours!

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How effective is your company’s content marketing?

Is content marketing part of your public relations plan? If you blog for your business, manage your company’s social media accounts (such as Facebook or Google+) or send out an e-newsletter, then the answer is yes!

How can you be sure each piece of content you create for your company is high quality? SEMrush recently hosted a Twitter chat about just this subject, and I thought several of their points were especially helpful!

7 Content Marketing Tips & Tricks

1. First, define measurable goals. What’s the purpose of this specific content? Is it to drive traffic to your website? To build a relationship with your social media followers? To inform current and potential customers of a new product or service? Make sure that you have a way to measure your goal so you know if your strategy was successful in 6 months or a year.
2. Develop a strategy. Once you know your goals, think about how you plan to achieve them.
3. Listen to your audience! Pay attention to questions they ask and take a look at the analytics to see which content seems to be most popular. Although you don’t want to rewrite the same post over and over again, if you notice one article has a lot more viewers than the others, think about related information or insight you can provide.
4. Write well. Content marketing success hinges on your ability to share your brand through the written word, so make sure you spell everything correctly, use proper language and write clearly.
5. Use formatting to your advantage. When it’s appropriate, use clear headings, make paragraphs short and use bullet points and/or numbered lists.
6. Spend time on the headline. The headline will attract readers, so you want to pique their interest quickly. Be timely and use numbers when possible. In fact, one strategy is to write the headline last so that it will naturally form based on your content.
7. Remember the conclusion. Make sure you include a strong call to action, too.

With these 7 tips and tricks – defining goals, developing a strategy, listening to your audience, writing well, formatting to your advantage, spending time on the headline and remembering the conclusion – your content marketing can really help your business stand out.

Want to know more about public relations tactics like content marketing? Connect with us on social media! Of course, if you’d like more personalized advice, please to contact us for a complimentary consultation, too!

Special Offer: Complimentary Consultation

Three Girls Media, Inc. is a public relations and social media management agency founded in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley with a team in the Seattle area. We love working with small and emerging companies across the nation to raise their brand awareness and name recognition. We offer a complimentary 30-minute phone consultation with our CEO and can answer your questions and discuss your specific marketing needs.

Call 408-218-2391 or Contact us today to arrange yours!

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Are you blogging for SEO effectively?

Blogging for SEO is vital to raising your company’s visibility online. But to be successful, it takes more than just writing random thoughts on your blog. Here’s the anatomy of an effective blog post:

1. Keywords. Blogging for SEO is both a science and an art. In addition to providing helpful, easy-to-read information, it’s important to sprinkle keywords throughout your post. Make sure you include them in your title, too!

2. Title. An effective title is vital to your blog post’s success. Yes, you want to include your keyword(s), but you also want it to catch your readers’ attention and be descriptive.

3. Introduction. When blogging for SEO, your introduction needs to include the following elements: at least one keyword in the first sentence, a brief summary of what readers can expect and motivation for them to keep reading.

4. Body. It’s important the body of your blog post is easy to read. Share helpful or interesting information and keep it clear and concise. One great way to make it easy for your readers to read is to break up hefty paragraphs with numbered lists/bullet points and/or bold text. Or, if your post doesn’t lend itself to a list, use sub-titles to split it into smaller chunks. Also, make sure you include a few inbound and outbound hyperlinks to help with SEO.

5. Conclusion. When you wrap up your post, make sure you include a brief summary of your main points and a call to action. Think about what you want to inspire your readers to do and ask them!

6. Image & Caption. Although you may think words are what make blogging for SEO important, visuals have a very important role, too. Think about what your article is about and use a related clean, crisp image (make sure you have the right to use it too!). Save it with a keyword in the file name and, when you upload and insert it into your post, add a compelling caption that includes a keyword.

Are you blogging for SEO effectively? From your keywords, title and introduction to the body, conclusion and image/caption, this guide will help you craft strong, compelling posts your readers are sure to appreciate!

Special Offer: Complimentary Consultation

Three Girls Media, Inc. is a public relations and social media management agency founded in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley with a team in the Seattle area. We love working with small and emerging companies across the nation to raise their brand awareness and name recognition. We offer a complimentary 30-minute phone consultation with our CEO and can answer your questions and discuss your specific marketing needs.

Call 408-218-2391 or Contact us today to arrange yours!

The post Blogging for SEO: The Anatomy of a Blog Post appeared first on Three Girls Media.

Are you blogging for SEO? Here’s why you should be!

Are you blogging for your business? Blogging for SEO (search engine optimization) continues to be one of the best ways to make your company’s website more visible online. We’ve seen it work well for countless clients, as well as for Three Girls itself.

But we’re not alone! As the infographic below shows, blogging for SEO has immense value. Here are just 8 of the fascinating statistics:

1. Small businesses with blogs generate 126% more leads than those without.
2. 82% of customers enjoy reading relevant content from brands.
3. 81% of US customers trust advice and information from blogs.
4. Companies that blog have 80% more new visits than those that don’t.
5. 70% of customers learn about a company through articles rather than ads.
6. 61% of US consumers have made a purchase based on a blog post.
7. 57% of companies with a blog have acquired a customer from their blog.
8. Businesses with over 200 total blog articles got 4.6 times more traffic than those with under 20 blog posts.

How can you use blogging effectively?

One of the main reasons blogging for SEO doesn’t work is because of poor execution. As the infographic explains, your top priority is to provide value for your audience; otherwise why would they read your post? As you write, take the time to make your articles high quality. Follow this guide to create an effective blog post.

Also, remember a few important best practices:

1. Frequency matters. If you can’t post daily, at least post weekly. Scheduling your posts to go live the same day of the week and time of day makes a big difference for SEO!
2. Incorporate keywords. Sprinkle terms throughout the post, as well as in the headline, to make the article easier to find online.
3. But remember your readers. As I explained above, the purpose is to provide value to your readers; make sure your post is easy for them to read and digest.
4. Give it time. Blogging for SEO isn’t an overnight strategy. The more you do it, the more effective it will be.
5. Add an image. Research shows that consumers respond well to visuals, so make sure each post has a clear, crisp image to attract their attention.

As you incorporate blogging into your business’ strategy, remember we’re here to help! If you have any questions or want help, please contact us for a complimentary consultation for advice specific to your company.

Special Offer: Complimentary Consultation

Three Girls Media, Inc. is a public relations and social media management agency founded in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley with a team in the Seattle area. We love working with small and emerging companies across the nation to raise their brand awareness and name recognition. We offer a complimentary 30-minute phone consultation with our CEO and can answer your questions and discuss your specific marketing needs.

Call 408-218-2391 or Contact us today to arrange yours!

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Write a blog for your business with these topic ideas!

Last week we explained why it’s important to write a blog for your business, but what do you do if you have trouble coming up with topic ideas? Fortunately, we came across the below infographic (from DigitalMarketer) as a fantastic source of inspiration.

How to Write a Blog: Coming up with Topics

As the infographic explains, think about ways you can:

• Be Useful
• Be Generous
• Be Entertaining
• Be Timely
• Be Human
• Be Promotional
• Be Controversial
• Be Engaging

It breaks it down even more than that by offering suggestions for each of these categories, like writing about the holidays, sharing a helpful checklist or telling a story. Check it out:

Want to know more about how to write a blog? Keep reading our posts for advice, or contact us for a complimentary 30-minute consultation!

Special Offer: Complimentary Consultation

Three Girls Media, Inc. is a public relations and social media management agency founded in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley with a team in the Seattle area. We love working with small and emerging companies across the nation to raise their brand awareness and name recognition. We offer a complimentary 30-minute phone consultation with our CEO and can answer your questions and discuss your specific marketing needs.

Call 408-218-2391 or Contact us today to arrange yours!

The post How Write a Blog: Brainstorming Topics [Guide] appeared first on Three Girls Media.

What’s in your editorial calendar?

Writing relevant and timely social media posts is essential for having a rich and lively business page. When customers and fans see an update that they like and have an opinion about, they are more likely to comment and share. One way to stay current on trends is to create an editorial calendar. If you’re not sure what an editorial calendar is or what you should include, here is everything you need to know.

What is an Editorial Calendar?

On social media, an editorial calendar is used by bloggers and social media managers to create a plan for their posts and updates. These calendars include notable events of the upcoming weeks and months that they want to include. Creating an editorial calendar is a great way stay organized and help you to not forget an important date.

What Should You Include?

• Weekly Trends

Participating in weekly trends on social media has become one of the most effective ways to connect with your audience. Some of the most popular trends are #ManicMonday, #ThrowBackThursday and #SelfieSunday. Make a note in your calendar to include a picture of a crazy Monday morning or an image of what your business looked like a few years ago for #ThrowBackThursday. Forgetting about #SelfieSunday doesn’t do you any good when you remember on Monday. Writing it in your calendar can help you stay on top of trends.

• Holiday Information

For even the busiest small business owners, it can be difficult to forget about major holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. These celebrations are easy to remember to schedule a festive post to your customers, but what about the more subtle holidays? For a current and interesting social media page, try writing about odd or interesting events that could be fun to share. For example, today, July 17 is “Peach Ice Cream Day.” Make a special post to inform your readers about the delicious day and ask them to share pictures of them getting a scoop of the treat. They will appreciate the post and have fun sharing a picture celebrating the delicious day. Use sites like Days of the Year to help you keep track of each and every unique day.

• Business News

Have you ever been so busy at work preparing for an event or product launch that you forgot to tell people about it? Don’t make this mistake again! Making a note in your calendar to schedule updates and product information will help keep your audience aware of any news they may want to know. If they can’t wait for a new product or event, they will share, like and comment on your post. Writing updates is important to both the small business owner and the customer.

How do you keep track of everything you need to post on social media? If you find yourself missing and forgetting important days, create an editorial calendar to help you stay organized. Include weekly trends, holiday information and business news on your calendar to stay on top of fun and important posts for audience interaction. What else do you like to post on social media?

Special Offer: Complimentary Consultation

Three Girls Media, Inc. is a public relations and social media management agency founded in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley with a team in the Seattle area. We love working with small and emerging companies across the nation to raise their brand awareness and name recognition. We offer a complimentary 30-minute phone consultation with our CEO and can answer your questions and discuss your specific marketing needs.

Call 408-218-2391 or Contact us today to arrange yours!

The post Social Media: How to Create an Editorial Calendar appeared first on Three Girls Media.

If you run a blog for your business, you know generating blog topics can be one of the biggest hurdles to disseminating information about your company. To give your customers valuable and relevant content, try these four tips to find inspiration.

How do you generate topics for your blog?

Generating Blog Topics [4 Tips for Finding Inspiration]

1. Answer Commonly Asked Questions

Are there any questions customers ask you time and again? Writing the answers in a blog post can help clear up confusion and allow you to point clients in the right direction for answers. When generating blog topics for this, try writing down questions you’re asked every day for a week, then answer them in an in-depth article.

2. Teach Your Audience Something

A “how-to” or do-it-yourself article can be an excellent asset to your business blog. Generating blog topics for this is easy when you think about common problems your customers have and walk them step by step through the process. Content that is relevant and helpful to consumers is more likely to get shared and talked about.

3. Read Other Industry Blogs

It can be easier to generate blog topics for your site if you know what others are writing about. Take some time to read other industry blogs and websites to find out what kind of content people are reading. You can write similar posts, publish follow up pieces or offer your point of view on the matter.

4. Write a Guest Post

If you find yourself short on time or inspiration, try publishing a guest post! Enlist one of your top team members to share their skills, write about their daily experience on the job or answer questions. Guest posts help establish credibility on your site, making you look more like an industry expert.

Answering common questions, reading other business’ sites or guest posting can all be great tips when seeking inspiration for generating blog topics. Blogging helps to add a personal touch to your business website and allows you to showcase your skills in action. For more tips on maintaining a blog, check out more articles on ours today!

Special Offer: Complimentary Consultation

Three Girls Media, Inc. is a public relations and social media management agency founded in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley with a team in the Seattle area. We love working with small and emerging companies across the nation to raise their brand awareness and name recognition. We offer a complimentary 30-minute phone consultation with our CEO and can answer your questions and discuss your specific marketing needs.

Call 408-218-2391 or Contact us today to arrange yours!

The post Generating Blog Topics [4 Tips for Finding Inspiration] appeared first on Three Girls Media.

We recently shared four great places to look for inspiration when generating blog topics, which included answering commonly asked questions, writing a how-to article or guest post and reading other industry publications. If you’ve exhausted these avenues, luckily there are countless other places to turn when seeking new topics. Here are four more of them.

How do you generate blog topics?

Generating Blog Topics: 4 More Places to Find Inspiration

1. Company News

While you should always be helpful and informative when writing blog posts, it’s perfectly alright to toot your own horn every once in a while. If your company just won an award, you hired a great new team member or gotten a recent media mention, share it with your readers! It can help you look more like an industry leader and reminds clients you’re at the top of your field.

2. Client News

In addition to the occasional bragging about yourself, feel free to share positive news about your clients on your blog as well! It’s great to showcase a customer of the week or a smart new way someone has been using your product. Sharing your clients’ recent wins can also help you gain prospects and show people what you can do for them.

3. Showcase Specific Products

A great self-promotional blog post topic is an explanation of a popular product or service. Give your readers information about the history of the item, its uses, specs and some commentary on why you love it. This gives your customers a chance to get a sneak peak of your offerings.

4. Pick of the Week

Another method for generating blog topics is to create a “Pick of the Week” series. Use this to share your favorite new tip, article or some industry news. This is also a great way to build relationships with other companies in your industry, who will appreciate the link and mention.

Your readers will love posts about client and company news, great new products and your favorite articles of the week. Where do you look for inspiration?

Special Offer: Complimentary Consultation

Three Girls Media, Inc. is a public relations and social media management agency founded in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley with a team in the Seattle area. We love working with small and emerging companies across the nation to raise their brand awareness and name recognition. We offer a complimentary 30-minute phone consultation with our CEO and can answer your questions and discuss your specific marketing needs.

Call 408-218-2391 or Contact us today to arrange yours!

The post Generating Blog Topics: 4 More Places to Find Inspiration appeared first on Three Girls Media.

Is blogging part of your company’s digital marketing strategy? As we’ve shared before, updating your business’ blog on a regular basis is incredibly valuable for making your organization visible online (see the statistics in this blog post). Still, are you blogging effectively?

[Digital Marketing] 7 Common Blogging Mistakes

Are you blogging effectively? It could be affecting the success of your digital marketing strategy!

The infographic below shares 7 common blogging mistakes that may be sabotaging your hard digital marketing efforts! Are you guilty of any of these missteps? I’ve shared some of the main points and added my own commentary. Read the full infographic below for more details!

1. Blogging Every Day. Even with a staff that can help you write blog posts, updating your website seven days requires a LOT of content creation. It’s better to only upload one post per week if you’re consistent – down to the same day and time.
2. Search Engine (Over) Optimization. SEO is important! But it’s also vital that you write your blog posts with people in mind, not Google’s algorithms.
3. Thinking If You Write It, They Will Come. You’ve uploaded a post to your blog. Great! Now what? Share the post on your social media pages, too. Depending on which networks you use, add a few relevant hashtags to make it more visible as well.
4. Thinking No Ones Uses Email Lists. Yes, social media is a great way to share your blog posts, but so is your email newsletter! Your email lists are made up of readers that have opted-in to hear from you, so use it to your advantage. One idea the infographic shares is to allow your readers to access your blog posts before they’re live on your main website.
5. Believing Words are the Only Part of a Post That Matters. As important as words are, the overall appearance of your website and the blog posts on it make a difference. Use high-res images, think about formatting and consider how your site appears to new visitors.

Source: WhoIsHostingThis.com

Are you effectively using blogging as part of your digital marketing strategy? Did any of the common mistakes above surprise you? Share in the comments below!

Special Offer: Complimentary Consultation

Three Girls Media, Inc. is a public relations and social media management agency founded in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley with a team in the Seattle area. We love working with small and emerging companies across the nation to raise their brand awareness and name recognition. We offer a complimentary 30-minute phone consultation with our CEO and can answer your questions and discuss your specific marketing needs.

Call 408-218-2391 or Contact us today to arrange yours!

The post [Digital Marketing] 7 Common Blogging Mistakes appeared first on Three Girls Media.

Are you including images in your digital marketing efforts?

Are you using images in your digital marketing? From your company’s blog to its social media networks, it’s vital that you include high-quality photos to capture consumers’ attention. As the statistics show:

1. 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual, and visuals are processed 60,000 times faster in the brain than text.
2. 40% of people respond better to visual information than plain text.
3. Publishers who use infographics grow in traffic an average of 12% more than those who don’t.
4. On Facebook, photos perform best for likes, comments and shares as compared to text, video and links.

How can you wrap more visuals into your digital marketing efforts?

When posting images in articles you publish, such as on your blog, you want to make sure you’re only using visuals you have the right to use. Otherwise you could be forced to pay hefty copyright infringement fines!

Here are a few cost-effective ways to share images legally:

1. Take your own photos. Give your followers a look into behind the scenes at your business, or go for a walk outside and take pictures of anything relevant to your industry. Make sure you keep a camera on you all the time so you can snap a picture whenever inspiration hits.
2. Create custom visuals. You don’t have to have special software or be a designer to create graphics anymore. Websites like Canva are easy to use and allow the flexibility to design all sorts of images for your digital marketing channels, including your blog, social media networks and e-newsletter. Plus, they have an extensive library of images you can purchase for $1 each, making it affordable to create high-quality visuals you would have a hard time recreating on your own.
3. Share – but carefully. Some visuals, like infographics and memes, are meant to be shared. In fact, it’s common to find an embed code along with the graphic to make it easier to share. This is an easy way to tell that it’s okay to share the image along with your blog post. The best rule of thumb, however, is caution. If in doubt, ask the image’s owner or just don’t post it.
4. Invest in photos. Depending on how many new visuals you need on a regular basis for your digital marketing strategy, sometimes it’s worth it to invest in a stock photo site membership. Some allow you to buy credits and purchase per photo that you need whereas others have subscription plans that allow you to download a certain number of pictures a month. There are websites out there that offer high quality photos for free, but it generally takes more time and effort to search through their images, so ask yourself how much your time is really worth as you make that decision.

Are images part of your digital marketing strategy? If so, what other suggestions would you recommend? Share them in the comments below!

Special Offer: Complimentary Consultation

Three Girls Media, Inc. is a public relations and social media management agency founded in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley with a team in the Seattle area. We love working with small and emerging companies across the nation to raise their brand awareness and name recognition. We offer a complimentary 30-minute phone consultation with our CEO and can answer your questions and discuss your specific marketing needs.

Call 408-218-2391 or Contact us today to arrange yours!

The post Using Images in Digital Marketing appeared first on Three Girls Media.

How do you reuse your blog posts?

Writing a blog post is one of the best ways to reach your customer base and provide them with helpful, useful information. Posting regularly not only benefits your SEO results, but is appreciated by fans who can rely on you to have new content when they return to your site each week (or whenever your established schedule is).

For most blog writers, a post isn’t just something that they create in a minute and move on from. Each article requires research and time to create content that will be of value to their readers. With all that hard work, why just upload the post and move on? And how do you keep coming up with ideas? Here are three tips to make your blog posts stronger and more visible.

Blog Content: 3 Tips for Your Posts

1. Create A Series

If coming up with blog topics is not your strong suit and you struggle for new ideas each week, consider creating a series. Find a topic that has a lot of interesting sections and break them off into individual blog posts. Instead of writing one giant article, you’ll be able to get a few weeks’ worth of posts from one topic. This will also help your readers who may not have the time to read pages and pages of information; breaking it up will keep readers coming back for parts 2, 3, 4 etc.

2. Create an Infographic

If your blog posts are filled with interesting facts, statistics and figures, you have the perfect ingredients for an infographic. Charts and graphs are ideal for displaying information is a new and visually pleasing way. If you are interested in making your own, here is a list of sites that are great for creating infographics.

3. Share on Social Media

After your newest blog post is published, you want everyone to read your new piece of work. You may have an established readership, but what about those on social media? Use the link and create an intriguing social media post about your latest blog article to get those fans to your website. Cross promoting your work is essential to turning readers into social media fans and vice versa.

After you finish writing a blog post, uploading it is not the last you’ll see of it. Use your information and content as a platform to create a blog series, create an infographic and share it on social media. How else would you recommend making your blog stronger? Comment below!

Special Offer: Complimentary Consultation

Three Girls Media, Inc. is a public relations and social media management agency founded in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley with a team in the Seattle area. We love working with small and emerging companies across the nation to raise their brand awareness and name recognition. We offer a complimentary 30-minute phone consultation with our CEO and can answer your questions and discuss your specific marketing needs.

Call 408-218-2391 or Contact us today to arrange yours!

The post [Blog Content] 3 Tips for Your Posts appeared first on Three Girls Media.

If you own a company, you should take advantage of business blogging, an inbound marketing tactic designed to help increase consumer and online visibility. While these sites are a popular option for individuals wanting to share their story, they are also a great platform for companies to spread the news about their products and services. There are many free or inexpensive options to start a blog; here are four benefits of posting regularly to your business’ website.

Does your business have a blog?

4 Benefits of Business Blogging

1. Establish Industry Credibility

By publishing blog posts regularly, you’ll establish yourself as the go-to expert in your field. Some simple ways to do this are to share how-to posts, tips and tricks, industry best practices or answer frequently asked questions. By providing free information to your customers, you’ll show them you are on top of your game and can offer something of value.

2. Increase Website Traffic

Business blogging can help drive traffic toward your website, resulting in increased readership. In addition to helping improve your search engine ranking, you can also use the blog posts to help market yourself via social media. Regularly share your recent posts on social profiles and include a link to your blog (just remember to follow the 80/20 rule).

3. Test New Ideas

Your business blog can be a great staging area to test ideas and get a feel for how your customers will react. If you have a new product or seasonal promotion, posting it on your blog can help you understand how readers will react and create buzz about the offering.

4. Involve Your Whole Team

Business blogging can also be a great way to make your employees feel more included! Try creating a section of your blog called “Insights” and have team members post about their thoughts on the industry, tips and tricks and workplace commentary regularly.

Business blogging helps position your company as an industry leader, drive traffic to your website, test new ideas and get your whole team involved. Are you using a blog to promote your business? What other benefits have you seen?

Special Offer: Complimentary Consultation

Three Girls Media, Inc. is a public relations and social media management agency founded in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley with a team in the Seattle area. We love working with small and emerging companies across the nation to raise their brand awareness and name recognition. We offer a complimentary 30-minute phone consultation with our CEO and can answer your questions and discuss your specific marketing needs.

Call 408-218-2391 or Contact us today to arrange yours!

The post [Business Blogging] 4 Reasons to Blog for Your Company appeared first on Three Girls Media.

Want to know how to write a blog post that stands out from the crowd? I found a helpful infographic that gives some terrific advice; keep reading for three steps that really resonated with me as well as the full graphic below.

How to Write a Blog: 3 Steps to Craft an Effective Post

Do you know how to write a blog post that stands out from the crowd?

1. Spend time on your title. Your blog post’s title needs to capture your readers’ attention. Add urgency, provide “how-to” advice, use a numbered list, write something quirky or ask a question.

It’s also important your title has a few key elements:

• One of your keywords (this helps with SEO).
• It teases your readers by telling them why they should read it without giving too much away.
• It directly relates to the actual blog content.
• It’s clear, clever and not confusing.

In terms of length, it’s best to aim for about 8 words or 70 characters.

2. Make your blog post strong from the beginning. Right away, draw your readers in. As you can see in my first sentence above, I started my article by asking if you wanted to know how to write a blog post that stands out. In addition to asking a question, consider:

• Making a strong claim that you can back up in the body of the post.
• Telling your readers exactly what they’ll learn from your article.
• Sharing a compelling statistic.
• Beginning with a thoughtful quote.
• Using an analogy, metaphor or simile.

3. Keep your readers’ attention. Once your reader has clicked on your link and started reading, how will you keep them interested? Above all else, it’s important you provide them with value such as helpful information, a heartwarming story or fascinating facts and figures.

In addition to providing them with value, avoid using confusing language and jargon; make your point clear and easy to understand. Make sure you back up any claims you make so they’re more credible, and use specific details rather than providing a general overview.

Want to know more about how to write a blog post that stands out? Check out the full infographic below.

Special Offer: Complimentary Consultation

Three Girls Media, Inc. is a public relations and social media management agency founded in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley with a team in the Seattle area. We love working with small and emerging companies across the nation to raise their brand awareness and name recognition. We offer a complimentary 30-minute phone consultation with our CEO and can answer your questions and discuss your specific marketing needs.

Call 408-218-2391 or Contact us today to arrange yours!

The post [How to Write a Blog] 3 Steps to Craft an Effective Post appeared first on Three Girls Media.

What do you do after you write a blog post?

Writing a blog post takes time and effort to start and complete. From topic generation to proofreading, a blog post is a piece of work that you should be proud of and want people to see. It can be challenging to build a readership if no one knows you wrote anything. This infographic explains the next steps that must be done after you’re done writing.

6 Ways to Promote a Blog Post

1. Keyword Optimize Your Post

Go through your post and pick out the main points and terms. Add these phrases to programs like Google Adwords to find the most popular search topics and beef up your post with them; these terms will help your blog post appear higher in search engines.

2. Syndicate Your Content

Have you ever noticed the RSS button, but wasn’t sure what it is for? This feature is a great way automatically update your readers to your new post, it even sends it directly to their social media pages!

3. Shorten Your Post’s URL

By shortening the URL you are saving valuable character space, especially on sites like Twitter that only allow you 140! Services like bitly and ow.ly are perfect for just this step.

4. Tailor Your Status Updates

When posting your blog article on social media, it can be tempting to just use your headline for each site. Think about each platform and create a post just for that group of followers. Consider phrasing a question or asking for followers’ thoughts and opinions on what you wrote; use this as an opportunity to engage with your fans. It is also a good idea to review when the best time to post on social media are for optimal interaction.

5. Post Teasers on the Other Sites

Continue to promote your blog on social media sites by creating a dialog in a forum. Sites like LinkedIn that have discussion groups are great for sharing content and asking connections and fans to get involved with your work. Just make sure the group you share the post in is open to self-promotional posts! Some don’t want you to link to your own website.

6. Bookmark Your Content

Become a part of the online community by bookmarking your work on popular sites like Reddit and StumbleUpon. Use this as an opportunity to like and comment on the work of others; social networking is a two way street after all!

Don’t let your hard work fall in the black hole of the Internet by not working a little more to promote it. Come back next week to read about even more ways to share a blog post and receive the fan interaction you’ve always wanted.

Special Offer: Complimentary Consultation

Three Girls Media, Inc. is a public relations and social media management agency founded in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley with a team in the Seattle area. We love working with small and emerging companies across the nation to raise their brand awareness and name recognition. We offer a complimentary 30-minute phone consultation with our CEO and can answer your questions and discuss your specific marketing needs.

Call 408-218-2391 or Contact us today to arrange yours!

The post 6 Ways to Promote a Blog Post appeared first on Three Girls Media.

Here are 6 ways to promote your blog post.

Blog posts are a great way to share information with readers and present yourself as an industry leader. Whether you’re writing how-to articles or providing insight into a topic, getting readers to your page is just as important. Last week I gave you 6 ways to promote your blog post and today I am here to give you 6 more.

6 Tips to Promoting a Blog Post

1. Comment On Other Blogs

Writing comments and contributing to the conversation is a great way build relationships with customers and get eyes back to your site. Don’t forget about the social component of social media.

2. Seek and Assist On Twitter

Do a simple search in Twitter on your blog topic and see if others are struggling with it. If you can reply, share your post and help them out, you are sure to get a new reader and follower. They may also share your post and username with their followers and the circle goes round and round.

3. Add To Email Signature

Apps are great aren’t they? Wisestamp for Gmail adds the headline of your latest blog post straight to your email signature. This is an effective and simple way to share your work with others just by sending out emails you would have anyway!

4. Share Your Blog Post With Target Customers

If you think your blog post is perfect for certain customers, send it to them directly. Add a personal message and make them feel important to you.

5. Add Your Blog Post To Your Next Newsletter

Dedicate a portion of your newsletter to your blog posts. Introduce them in a new and interesting way to catch the eye of your readers; don’t forget to include an image, too!

6. Ask Other Bloggers To Mention Your Post

Expand your reach by asking others to mention you and your blog on social media. Start by participating in #FollowFriday on Twitter to get and share the love.

Blogging for your business is one of the best things you can do to share information and spread the word about your company. Don’t be afraid to brag about and promote your post on social media to increase your readership and traffic back to your site. How else do you like to promote your blog?

Special Offer: Complimentary Consultation

Three Girls Media, Inc. is a public relations and social media management agency founded in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley with a team in the Seattle area. We love working with small and emerging companies across the nation to raise their brand awareness and name recognition. We offer a complimentary 30-minute phone consultation with our CEO and can answer your questions and discuss your specific marketing needs.

Call 408-218-2391 or Contact us today to arrange yours!

The post 6 More Promotional Tips for a Blog Post appeared first on Three Girls Media.