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Basic SEO

2 August 2020

Search Engine Optimization is the practice of getting your custom website on the front page of Google or Bing (or whichever service you use) for a given search term. SEO is an essential part of having your own website, and although this relatively new industry has a lot of strange twists and turns, today we're going to help you understand why it's vital, and where to start.

How It Works

According to Google, this behemoth Internet consists of roughly 60 trillion web pages, and is growing by the minute. The job of a search engine is to crawl from page to page using what are called spiders: these are simply the parts of the program that gather relevant information from the text and meta data of each page.

All of the gathered information is stored in an enormous database, where it is categorized. Then, whenever an Internet user makes a search, the search engine combs the vast database and, using a complex algorithm, presents the Internet user with the most relevant and useful information, based on the crawling and categorization of the spiders.

Now, this can all get a little confusing, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. We could go on and on about the ins and outs of search engine technology, but today, we're just trying to provide you with the basic information you'll need to get started. There are a number of fantastic books written on the topic, and Google has actually provided a lot of information recently on how they do what they do. If you're interested, a little research will go a long way.

Having said that, here's the main take-away as we proceed: it's all about keywords and links.

The Power of Keywords

It all begins with keywords. Essentially, you should think of your keywords as industry-relevant search terms. Place yourself in the shoes of potential visitors to your site. What will they type into the search engine in order for your page to come up?

Although you should initially conjure as many as you can think of, research will reveal a select few that are worth focusing on (you certainly don't want to spread yourself too thin among too many words). This first step is the most important in the process, as it will influence all subsequent action. From here on out, you must have a keyword-oriented mindset.

As you begin your campaign, after you've done your research and selected your keywords, you're going to want to commit to them for a while. At least until you've had time to plant your roots in some different places over the web. True, your SEO campaign will inevitably shift over the course of months, and you may discover new and better keywords. You can always go back and make modifications later.

However, being that your SEO campaign is going to grow from this foundation of keywords, it's best to choose wisely, and then commit. If the text has already been crafted for your site, we will not ask you to rewrite it, we will simply build your basic SEO structure around the already-existing content. However, for more intense efforts, it may be necessary to rework the copy to contain more strategically placed keywords.

The Bare Essentials

When you get yourself a website, there is a list of basic things you'll need. For example, you need a landing page: this will usually be your Home page, where you'll also need text or images that gives the visitor an overview of your business. You'll also need a Contact page where those who are interested in your products and services can shoot you an email and get a hold of you. This is all pretty straight-forward. But, an often overlooked, yet equally necessary part of this list of essentials is meta data.

When people discuss meta data, they may be referring to a number of things. Meta data exists in the source code of a website, which can be viewed by pressing ctrl+U on any page. In terms of SEO, the big three are: keywords, titles, and descriptions.

Your keywords meta data tag will contain your comprehensive list of keywords, created from your speculation and research. There should be a handful of primary keywords within this list that you've chosen to focus on. These primary keywords will play heavily into your title tags and description tags. All three of these meta data tags (keywords, titles, and descriptions) must be manually inserted into the source code of every page of your custom website. The spiders will give weight to these as they categorize and index.

While the keywords meta data tag is primarily for the spiders, the title and description tags manifest on the front end of your site, and serve a secondary purpose for potential visitors as well. Whenever you make a search on Google, you'll see a long list of sites.

For any one of them, the words in the actual link being presented are taken from the title tag. This is also what you'll see at the very top of the browser (Home | Custom Web Design | Hilton Head). Beneath the link, there is a brief paragraph explaining the site: this text is taken from the description tag.

So, although your titles and descriptions should be jam-packed with keywords, it is also wise to make them articulate and cohesive for the visitors who may see them on the pages of Google.

These three meta data tags are considered the bare essentials for any custom website. Once they have been crafted and manually inserted into each page, you must submit your site to Google (and any other search engines you deem appropriate), so that their spiders know your pages are there, waiting to be indexed. Of course, submitting your site is no guarantee that it will be indexed, but as far as basic SEO efforts are concerned, it's a great start.

Everything discussed up to this point is what you will receive when you build a custom website with HDM. Next, we're going to talk about some more basic actions you can take to give your site a little extra push.

The Power of Links

As you continue to explore SEO, you will find that links are your best friends. Link building is often compared to a candidate collecting votes. The more links you have going back to the pages of your site, whether internal or external, the more search engines will tend to notice. According to Google:

Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B … Google looks at considerably more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; for example, it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves “important” weigh more heavily and help to make other pages “important.”

You'll want to begin with internal links. As you develop your custom website, keep an eye out for absolutely any opportunity you can find to drop a link going to back to another one of your pages. Direct your visitors to your contact page, your services page, your portfolio, and use keyword-rich links to do it.

For example, let's say you design jewelry. Your link could say, For more information on custom jewelry, contact me. Or, See my portfolio of custom jewelry designs. Keywords within links carry quite a good deal of weight.

Eventually, you'll want to start to try to get other people to link to your site. Link Building, in this sense, is an entirely separate discipline of SEO, and goes beyond the scope of the basics that we're covering today. But if it's something you're considering, just remember that the quality of the page linking back to you matters. There's such a thing as link farms, and they could get you in trouble with Google.

You'll also eventually want to implement social media into your SEO efforts. Recently, Facebook and Twitter have become variables in the SEO game, and the search engines are responding. And then, of course, there's always Pay-Per-Click, a marketing effort in which you receive prime real estate on the front page, and then pay a small fee whenever someone clicks your link. These are the Sponsored Ads you'll see at the top of the search results, and sometimes at the side of the page.

There's much to say to that end, but for today, it simply bears repeating that links are good for your ranking, especially when they contain keywords.

Next, let's look some of the other places on your website where you can drop keywords.

Nooks & Crannies

For an ideally optimized site, you will have done your keyword research prior to naming your pages and writing your text. In many cases (many, but not all) the names of your pages could contain industry-relevant, keyword-rich search terms. The search engines give a lot of weight to keywords found in headers and navigation buttons.

You should also be naming your images. Any words that appear on the actual image cannot be picked up by spiders. However, as you, or your web designer, places images throughout your site, each one can be given an ALT tag. This will show visitors the name of the image if they hover over it, and it will allow spiders to find more of those sweet, sweet keywords. And then to top it off, you can put a unique caption beneath the picture.

In addition, your custom website ought to have a couple sitemaps, especially if the names of your pages contain keywords. There's actually two kinds of sitemaps. The first is a page on your website, like any of the others, that gives a comprehensive overview of your site's layout. Not only is this helpful for visitors navigating through your pages, it's an extra opportunity for your site to be associated with these search terms.

The second kind of sitemap is an xml file, which is inserted into the backend of your site. This is one of the first things that will be crawled by the search engine spiders. Almost all of the custom websites we create at HDM will contain this as well.

An Important Note on Spamming

Good SEO at the basic level is all about doing a lot of little things. As we've seen, this mostly boils down to placing keywords into all of the crevices your custom website possesses. However, you must not underestimate the search engines. They know the difference between legitimate content and keyword-stuffing.

For example, if you copy and paste the same list of keywords over and over again, putting them where they may not be relevant, the spiders will know you're trying to pull a fast one. SEO takes time and care. Every time you see an opportunity for keywords, it will always benefit you in the end to write something unique.

The Power of New Content

As a final word on search engine optimization, we'd like to stress the importance of new content.

As a part of your custom website, we'll get the SEO machine up and running for you. If you'd like to pursue it further, we can help. By consistently pushing out new content, you are able to stay relevant; you'll have even more keyword-rich pages to be indexed, and link building will ultimately be a lot easier.

To talk more about SEO, setting up a blog, or anything else you can think of, call or Contact Us today.

Email Marketing, Pt. 5: Making Use of Open Rates & Click-Through Rates

1 July 2020

By now, you've scoured the Internet, collecting the best practices and tactics for your Email Marketing Campaign; you've written the perfect message for the perfect audience, and you've sent your work out into cyberspace. Now it's time to see just how fruitful the product of your labor is, using the in-depth Analytics & Reports toolbelt that came with your HDM custom website.

Faustian Analytics

When you build a custom website with Hazel Digital Media, you are also getting your hands on the latest and greatest analytics technology. After you've delivered your mighty campaign to the masses, you will be able to see an overview of its performance, including the following:

-The number of customers who did and did not open the email.

-The number of “bounced” emails (meaning the email was never received).

-The specific action the viewer took after opening the email.

-The different email clients used to view the message.

+ For a more in-depth look at the most popular email clients, and how that relates to your campaign efforts, be sure to check out the previous post in this series: The Most Popular Platforms For Viewing Email Campaigns.

Let's take a look at some of these different results, and what that means for you and your campaign.

The Raw Data

First off, we're going to tell you how to monitor viewer actions from an email campaign.

From your dashboard, refer to the long list of buttons on the left side of the screen. Click Email Marketing, and then click Email Campaigns.

Once a particular email campaign has been completed, you will see the statistics page, where all of the results for that campaign will be presented. First, you'll see:

-The number of total recipients, to whom you sent the email.

-The number of recipients who then opened that email.

-The number of viewers who took action after opening the email.

+This includes viewers who clicked on a certain link within the message; examples include: making an online purchase, filling out a web form, sharing to social media, and more.

-The percentage of bounced emails.

+A “hard bounce” means the message is permanently undeliverable due to an invalid email address.

+A “soft bounce” means the email address was valid, but the message was still not delivered, due most likely to either a full inbox or a server error on the side of the email client.

+After each campaign is completed, it's a good idea to go through and clean up the bounced email list. Unsubscribe invalid addresses or check for misspellings. Too many bounced emails over too long of a time-span can have some nasty repercussions down the road.

-The number of recipients who ultimately unsubscribed after opening the email.

All of these statistics will ultimately prove to be invaluable. The more campaigns you send out, the better you will get at understanding these numbers, and taking proper action based on them. After each campaign, it is imperative to make use of these tools.

Let's take a look at just how these numbers can help inform your future decisions.

Analytics & You

At the end of the day, your goal with analytics is to find out:

-How many of your emails were delivered (Delivery Rate)?

-How many of your emails were opened (Open Rate)?

-How many of those openers actually clicked (Click-Through Rate)?

Here's a good way to break down the numbers.

For Delivery Rate, take the number of emails delivered and subtract the number of bounced emails. If you want, you can then divide that figure by the original number of emails delivered to gain a percentage of your efficacy.

For Open Rate, divide the number of emails opened by the number of emails delivered. This part of the analytics process is important for a lot of reasons, but mainly because it allows you to gauge the effectiveness of your Subject Line. Crafting the perfect subject line is a delicate art form, and deserves a pretty good deal of attention. For a more in-depth look at the almighty subject line, check out the first two parts in this series: The Subject Line and Subject Line Research.

And now for the big one.

For Click-Through Rate, divide the number of clicks by the number of delivered emails. This is the figure that will inform you more than any in the bunch. Over time, you can use this figure to experiment with different tactics and demographics to find out what works and what doesn't, where it's working and where it's not.

You may find that plain text emails are getting more clicks than your fancy, dressed-up emails; you may find that people in Texas have the itchy click-fingers, while people in California do not; you may find that getting people to share your message to Facebook is a more effective call-to-action than asking people to click to your site.

As always, the bottom line with email marketing is: trial, error, and great persistence. When you design a custom website with HDM, you'll find you have all the tools you need to dissect and measure your email marketing operation.

Hopefully this post will make it easier for you to crunch the numbers, and will give you some idea of how those numbers will influence the next phase of your grand experimentation. Email Marketing isn't easy, but if you keep trying, you will find that emails have the power to build your client base like no social media ever could.

For more information, take a look at the other posts in this series, and stay tuned as we continue to explore this layered topic.

Pt.1: The Subject Line

Pt.2: Subject Line Research

Pt.3: The Top 10 Things You Need To Know About Email Marketing

Pt.4: The Most Popular Email Clients For Opening Email Campaigns

And when it comes to crunching numbers and brainstorming new experiments, we've got at least a couple cents to contribute.

Contact Us Today.

The Official HDM Color Guide

1 June 2020

Do you ever notice how when people are sad, they say they're feeling blue? Or when they're angry, they say that they're seeing red? When it comes to visuals, colors are never random. Going back through the history of painting, cinema, and of course, marketing, you better believe that every single pigment is given a great deal of consideration.

If it's something people have to look at, and it's related to your business (i.e. your website), colors should be chosen very deliberately. In fact, you should look at your colors as another weapon in your arsenal as you establish your Marketing Persona, and ultimately win the hearts and dollars of your targeted traffic.

Although color associations may seem mostly subjective, different colors evoke different meanings and emotions. And you will notice that there is a surprising consistency in how people react to certain hues and tones. Below, we've listed some of the greatest hits.

And before we begin, perhaps we should note just how many varying schools of thought center around this subject. Of course, a psychologist may tell you something slightly different that a painter, and someone from the U.S. probably has a different perspective than someone from an eastern continent. Colors do mean different things to different cultures. As website designers, we'll be giving you an opinion that leads toward the context of western visual art and marketing.

Cool? Alright, let's dive in.

Warm Colors

The three colors listed below would all be considered warm colors. Ultimately, these are best reserved for those moments when you want to incite action. They are energetic and a little in-your-face. You may not want to use them at all times, lest you overwhelm the eyes of your viewers. But a few well-placed accents can prove to be pretty effective.

Red

You can dress this one up in a lot of different synonyms, but essentially, the color red equates to great passion. Whether it's a fierce anger, an uncontrollable excitement, or a deep love, red represents all things intense. The color of both blood and roses, the poets and the painters have been using this in unison over the years to translate the same meaning.

Red is an in-your-face color – it demands attention. If you are thinking of integrating this color into your business persona, it should be paired with passionate text and images. I don't mean you have to write a sonnet, but make your words heartfelt and true. The nonchalant phrases and the witty zingers do not belong here. We'll get to those.

Also note that red as a stand-alone color has the potential to be a tad aggressive. If you are going to use red as your primary color (pun intended), we recommend having a good accent color to balance things out.

Pink

Are you man enough to wear pink?

Well, perhaps, but as it stands, pink is strongly associated with femininity. It is the color of romance and tenderness, and we've found that this color works well for businesses like the these:

Salon Karma

This color is most commonly reserved for products like cosmetics and jewelry. Paired with pink, the tone of your text should be soft and gentle.

Having said that, don't ever feel pigeon-holed. If you're a tailor that makes leather vests for biker gangs and you love the color pink, we can find a way to make it work for your custom website.

Yellow

As a species that derives much of our energy from that great big sun up there, we automatically tend to associate the color yellow with sunshine. Consequently, the color yellow has been known to evoke feelings of happiness, hope, and of course, energy.

Those witty zingers I mentioned before would be well-paired with this color. That is to say, if the persona of your business is light-hearted and feel-good, then yellow is for you. It will naturally, and perhaps subconsciously, imbue your readers with a sense of optimism. Like the sun to our species, yellow will give zest and energy to your message.

Cool Colors

The colors listed below have a soothing and calming effect. It's not a coincidence that interior decorators use a lot of cool colors in spas, bathrooms, and other quiet environments. While the use of warm colors grabs attention and incites action, cool colors can be used when providing more in-depth information.

Blue

Obviously, the coolest of them all. Blue imbues feelings of security and trust. Not surprisingly then, it is statistically ranked as the most favored color of our culture. It also seems to be the go-to color for authoritative figures (like police officers, and oftentimes, the President). Therefore, while this is ultimately a relaxing and friendly color, it still altogether radiates professionalism.

It should be noted, however, that an excess can lead to, well... The blues. Too much, and you'll leave your viewers with a cold and disengaged feeling. Like the color red, and its mighty, concentrated power, blue is best used in moderation, with aid from accent colors.

Calm your viewers, but not so much that they lose that call-to-action spirit.

Green

Throughout history, the color green has always been associated with nature, and that trend continues today. Many businesses who focus on going green will obviously make use of this. And if your business has anything at all to do with the outdoors, you can be sure it's a safe bet. A lot of people will also tell you that green is easiest on the eyes, and can therefore be used to create balance with your design.

Furthermore, green is also used worldwide as a traffic symbol. No matter where you live, green means go, most likely, and this is worth considering. As a cool color, it is undeniably soothing, and it brings many positive meanings along with it.

Use green as a way to inspire possibility among your viewers.

Purple

Back in the day... I mean, way back in the day, dying your clothes a certain color was a bit of a luxury. It often required plants and roots that may have been hard to come by. As it happens, the materials needed for purple dye were rather exclusive, and expensive to obtain. Therefore, only the wealthiest folks (the kings and queens) could afford purple clothing.

As a by-product of this fun fact, purple is still strongly associated with royalty and luxury. You can integrate this color into your design to give it a more grandiose and opulent feel.

It also said that lighter shades of purple have a serene effect. Like the color pink, light purple is best used in conjunction with gentle tones, and is often seen accompanying beauty products. Furthermore, lavender is believed to incite feelings of creativity in your viewers. You can use this to your advantage as you map out your persona.

Neutral Colors

This collection of colors includes black, white, tan, and gray. They are easy on the eyes, and they make for perfect backgrounds. It's easy to use any one of these as a foundation to build upon with brighter colors.

Black has a mysterious and intriguing power, but is also associated with sophistication (Black-Tie Event, much?).

White has the power of purity and sterility. Apple is a good example of a company who has made great use of that power in their business persona. It's the classic backdrop color, and can make brighter shades truly pop if used as an accent.

Conclusion

So many good choices. Each color inevitably evokes it's own meaning, so any one that you consider is naturally going to have its own set of pros and cons. Narrowing down the list to find the perfect combination of colors that suits you is no easy ask.

But, it is an imperative task nonetheless. According to research, more than 90% of consumers place importance on visual factors when purchasing products. It is also said that color can increase brand recognition by 80%, compared to black and white counterparts.

Before asking yourself, which color is right for my business persona? you should be asking yourself: how do I want my target market to feel when they catch a glimpse of my website?

Regarding this here HDM custom website, the dominant black background with it's varying textures and subtle color compliments were weighty decisions that we arrived at after much deliberation. Over the years, we have refined the process that we use to effectively integrate the right color schemes into a particular business persona.

What do the colors of your website say about your business?

Contact Us today to find out.

Email Marketing, Pt. 4: The Most Popular Platforms For Viewing Email Campaigns

6 May 2020

You may not realize it at first, but the way in which people view your Email Campaign can greatly impact what your message needs to look like to be effective.

Today, we're going to take a look at some of the most popular email clients & platforms being used to view Email Marketing Campaigns from around the Internet. We're also going to look at some different methods in which you may capitalize on this information. Some of these truths may be what you were expecting, but we're going to throw a few factual curve balls at you too, so get ready!

Marketing To Mobile Users

Studies show that in the last year and a half, mobile devices became the primary method for users to view their emails. In 2011, there were more smartphones purchased than PC's. As you continue to hone your campaigning craft, this is the most important revelation you need to be aware of, as this can have a rather drastic impact on the look and feel of your messages.

Given this truth, you must craft your campaigns to suit the desktop user as well as the mobile user. In fact, research shows that the majority of people who read their emails now, do so either in bed, directly before or after a night of sleep, or in a public place like the bus stop or at the coffeeshop. What do you think attention spans are like in this state?

As mentioned earlier in this series, it is almost always preferable to ere on the side of less is more, and this information validates that. With so many emails constantly pouring into an individual's inbox, you may not have much time. Personal and business emails are almost always filtered into the same area, which means the pockets of your targets are constantly buzzing.

This isn't to say that you should do away with sleek designs and good-looking graphics if you can get away with it. But you absolutely must not focus or rely on this too heavily. It all comes back to content. Polish your words as much as you can – make the body of your text engaging, informative, and fun.

What's more, it seems that people who view emails on their mobile devices like to share things they find interesting. A lot of folks will forward emails to their friends, or they may even post it to their Twitter or Facebook. Encouraging them to share is always a good idea.

Desktop Clients

Despite the influx of smartphones into the marketplace, there are still a good handful of people who do the bulk of their messaging from their desk at the office. For some industries, this might be the majority of the target market. If that's the case, you should be aware that Outlook is the second leading email client.

Note that this is different from web-based clients like Yahoo! And Gmail (which we'll get to) – Outlook is its own application that plays by its own set of rules. Keep this in mind as you design your emails. The sleek look and feel of a well-crafted HTML design can absolutely be effective if done properly. But building an HTML email for Outlook isn't like building something for the web. Microsoft has shaken things up a bit, and the rules for what will look good have changed.

By all means, take advantage of this if you need to. You can reach a lot of people by specifically targeting those who use Outlook. Just remember that doing so requires patience and persistence. You will need to frequently check these messages using Outlook, making sure that everything looks as it ought to; you may not be able to get away with some of the fancier HTML capabilities.

Test your designs regularly.

Web-Based Platforms

Finally, coming in third place, are the myriad of web-based platforms out there. The three most popular of these are Apple Mail, Yahoo!, and Gmail.

There are a lot of small mistakes to be made when utilizing this platform. One of the most common oopsy-daisies is making forwarding lists, or CC'ing a single message to the entire client base. This can cause some problems. If one person replies to the message, your entire client base will see it. This is to say nothing of how unprofessional and impersonal it looks.

Luckily, when you craft your Email Marketing Campaign through your HDM custom website, it will send out a single, unique message to every one of your clients individually.

Conclusion

It can be challenging to try to appease all of these platforms simultaneously. Your best bet is to let your Email Campaign reflect your target market. Who are you trying to reach out to, and how do they most likely view their emails? The design will change from one email client to the next. Having said that, always remember: content is king.

If you're thinking of beginning a campaign, and looking for a good place to start, we recommend checking out the earlier posts in this series.

Part 1: The Subject Line

>Part 2: Subject Line Research

Part 3: Ten Things You Need To Know About Email Marketing

Or, if you have any specific questions or queries, please call or Contact Us today. We've been designing Email Marketing Campaigns for years, and have seen all of the different trends come and go. We can not only help you discover your target market, we can help you craft the perfect campaign for it. We look forward to hearing from you.

How To Write A Good Blog, Pt. 3: Promoting Your Posts

1 May 2020

“When you write and publish awesome content on your blog, good things will come your way.” – Nicholas Whitmore

Who Are You Writing For?

It always comes back to content, first and foremost.

It's imperative to clearly define your target market from the onset, and then let the content of your blog organically revolve around their needs and tastes. The best way to get people to your blog is to write compelling and relevant material. If you build it, they will come.

Certainly, that may be a little bit of an over-simplification. But, it still remains that determining exactly what your target market of readership resembles is the starting place for promoting your blog. Eventually (or ideally from the get-go), you should think of content creation and promotion as two sides of the same coin. Let your content naturally manifest as a reaction to the type of people you are trying to get involved.

As we'll see in the next paragraphs, promoting your blog must be done so in a sincere manner, no exceptions. So if a conversation about your blog happens, whether in real life or online, it is inevitably going to be among people with whom you have something in common. Therefore, write for those with shared interests. If you accomplish this, your blog will practically promote itself.

Build Your Presence

Let's use an enormous city as a metaphor for the Internet. Out there, among the labyrinth of cyber streets, your perfect community of target readers is just waiting to be found. There are a lot of roads to scour, but scour you must, and you're going to want to pop your head into many an online hangout spot to determine just where these coveted folks may be congregating.

It shouldn't be terribly difficult – Internet culture is all connected, so put yourself in the shoes of your readers, and think about potential shared interests. There are other blogs, and there are also message boards and forums on a myriad of topics that are probably closely related to the core subject of your blog. Go to where the people are talking, and once you find them, join the conversation.

This point cannot be stressed enough. It seems the knee-jerk reaction for most folks trying to build their following is to shove advertisement-style verbiage in the faces of everyone they can. Instead, involve yourself in the discussion by offering worthwhile opinions and useful contributions.

If it's genuine, people will respond.

Then of course, with each contribution you make, leave a link going back to your blog. In this way, you are indirectly promoting yourself while establishing credibility. Explore as many online communities as you see fit, and sew your seeds where it seems appropriate to. Get people's attention with genuine contributions, and the type of readers you're writing for will find you.

And before we move on to the next bullet point, there's a thought that bears reiterating. Always remember, with whatever you do: if your writing sounds even remotely like an advertisement, you are guaranteed to alienate a lot of potential followers. Like I said in Pt. 1: when it comes to your blog, and all things relating, you must keep it real, and say it with feeling!

Word-of-Mouth

Being that the practice of blogging is a relatively new innovation, it is quite the hot topic among... Well, a lot of people. From grass-roots entrepreneurial start-ups to philosophers to rock stars, great amounts of people are blogging these days, and what's better, an even greater amount of people are constantly discussing it – in the real world, using their real voices.

Most likely, there are gatherings related to your niche. Industry conferences and networking events are perfect opportunities to incite a conversation about the blogosphere. Perhaps you'll find yourself at a friendly social gathering, or even if you're just talking to your waiter: whenever someone asks you what you do, have the elevator pitch for your blog locked and loaded.

You'll be surprised at the people of today's culture, and just how eager they are to discuss blogging. And if yours is something that you've put a lot of love into, you should have no problem speaking candidly and passionately about your writing.

Conclusion

It suffices to say that the absolute best way to promote your blog is to join the conversation, both online and off. You can talk about blogging, or you can talk about your niche. But when you're done talking, leave some time for listening, and then respond appropriately. Promoting yourself on the Internet is a delicate art form, but one that anyone can master with a little practice. Just remember, in order to capitalize on the almighty community, they must trust you. Sincerity and insight builds trust – advertisements do not.

We've spent a lot of time pacing the metaphorical streets of the enormous Internet, and we've managed to join in more than a few conversations over the years. If you'd like to learn more about this delicate art form, or if you'd like to know how to get started building your blog, we can help. Contact us today.

If you missed it, don't forget to check out the earlier posts in this series on How To Write A Good Blog.

How To Write A Good Blog, Pt. 1: A Few Basic Guidelines

How To Write A Good Blog, Pt. 2: Generating Quality Ideas Over Time

If you have any questions or comments, we look forward to hearing from you. Till then, see you on the blogosphere.