Sorry, I don’t speak jargon

Have you ever sat through a work meeting (or a dinner with friends for that matter) and felt at a loss when acronyms or phrases that mean absolutely nothing to you are flung around with abandon?

What about when the words sound familiar, but the context is way off – like when your IT expert talks about hosting something and clusters of clouds. Is she planning a party and worried about the weather?

Ok, that was a bit OTT or, over the top – just in case that’s one of those pesky acronyms that troubles you.

Most of us would follow a conversation that talked about web hosting and a cluster of servers, but could you explain the cloud, flesh our SEO or weigh up the pros and cons of server and hosted email if you were put on the spot?

Meet netspeak

That’s right we’re talking about jargon, or industry specific language. In particular, the jargon that relates to our online world and the marketing that goes along with it.

Netspeak is just one name for the words, phrases and acronyms we use when talking tech. You can also call it blargon, cyberslang, e-lingo or geekspeak.

These are often words you hear all the time – and quite possibly use with confidence – but would be hard pressed to define…well…definitively.

Your go to list of online jargon

Domain name: The name of your website. Usually the same as your business name. It’s important to have full control and ownership of your domain name. Learn more about domain names here

www: World Wide Web. Did you know that most times it’s not necessary to type www before a website name?

 URL: The unique address of a web page, for example: https://onlineinfluence.com.au/penrith-web-designer/

Did you notice? No www.

Web Hosting: A Web Hosting service provides the technologies and services needed for your website to be viewed on the Internet. Websites are hosted, or stored, on special computers called servers.

Cloud Web Hosting: When your website uses the resources of several servers to accommodate all the aspects of hosting your site. The load is balanced, security is taken care of, and hardware resources are available “virtually” so they can be accessed wherever you are, so long as you have internet access. The cluster of servers is “the cloud”. Learn more about the cloud here.

SSL Certificate: Secure Socket Layer certificate. A website that has an SSL certificate is one where website traffic between your web server and the user’s browser is secure and cannot be read. When your website has an active SSL certificate the prefix to your URL changes from HTTP to HTTPS. Learn more about SSL here.

Server Email:  Email that is hosted on your own website server. I don’t recommended this as it’s not particularly secure and can fill up your server. It can also be expensive or cause your website to fail. And, if your website goes down, so does your email.

Hosted Email: A service like GSuite (Google) or Office 365 (Microsoft). This option is more secure. It means your email is hosted separately to your website so, if for some reason your website goes down, your email won’t.

Browser: A web browser is a software application for accessing information on the World Wide Web.  The most popular browsers are Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, and Edge.

Apps: An app is a modern term for a software application. It is most often used when talking about mobile phones and tablets. On a website or a browser, an app is a small piece of software that allows different functions (sometimes called an add-on). App is often used to describe anything that isn’t a fully-fledged software program.

Marketing jargon

Marketing jargon (or should that be margon?) is a special subset of online jargon.

Here’s a few pieces of marketing e-lingo that I’m particularly guilty of trotting out and that are often met with blank stares.

SEM: Or Search Engine Marketing. This refers to paid marketing you may undertake with various providers. In Australia the most popular provider is Google, but elsewhere Bing and Yahoo are also popular. Learn more about Google advertising here.

SEO: Search Engine Optimisation. The practice of improving your chances of ranking well in search engines including Google, Bing, Yahoo etc. Learn more about SEO here

EDM & Email Marketing:  EDM is Electronic Direct Mail. EDM’s is much, much more than email marketing. Email marketing most usually means an electronic marketing campaign in which email send-outs are used to help build an email database or list.  An EDM, on the other hand, is a lengthy process and involves more than just email communication. It utilises multiple forms of communication to relay and reinforce a campaign message.

Content Marketing: A type of marketing that involves the creation and sharing of online material (such as videos, blogs, and social media posts) that does not explicitly promote your brand, but is intended to stimulate interest in your products or services. Learn more about Content Marketing here.

Blogging: Blog is short for “web-log”. And blogging is the virtual equivalent of writing a regular column in your local paper. Blogging for business is an effective way to boost your online visibility and build relationships with your ideal audience. By consistently adding quality content on your blog, you are able to provide more value for potential customers, which can lead to more conversions, more sales, and better customer retention.  Learn more about blogging here (part one) and here (part two).

Are you confused by online or marketing jargon?

Of course, I’ve only just scratched the surface here. There’s a whole world of industry specific language out there to explore. At Online Influence we live and breathe this jargon and our team is more than happy to turn it into plain English for you and your team.

And, best of all, we don’t just know what it all means, we can harness the power behind the geekspeak to lift your business to another level. Contact us today to find out how our friendly team can help.

In this post I want to tackle  what makes a good blog from a technical point of view and from a less techie perspective. If you want to have your blog read, shared and commented on it’s important to make it relevant and interesting.

So, how do you actually write a good blog post?

Two ways to blog

There are two main types of blogs:

• The original classic style blogging, as seen in  the movie Julie & Julia (with Meryl Streep), Julie Powell blogged about cooking and her struggles as a writer – she decided to cook and blog her way through Julia Child’s iconic cookbook, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”. She cooked and blogged about all 524 recipes over 365 days. It’s a true story!  Julie’s blog became so popular that it caught the attention of a Hollywood producer and the rest is history. If you want to know what makes a good blog I highly recommend you watch this movie. Julie’s blog was the classic style of blogging, it’s like recording a log – web-log – blog. You have probably also read many blogs just like this.
• Blogging for your business is different to Julie’s blogging. Blogging for business is also known as “Content Management”.  This is the type of blogging I’m referring to in this post.

Why should you blog about your business?

• Google loves blogs because they deliver readers fresh, new, relevant content.
• Since the arrival of Panda, Penguin and Hummingbird (the names Google gave their updates), it’s getting harder for us SEO providers to get your business on the front page of Google.
• Providing new and interesting content for your blog, not only pleases Google but it pleases your readers, and this in turn pleases Google.

Where do you start?

Writing doesn’t come naturally to most of us and many of us are just procrastinators, but trust me once you give it a go you will feel very pleased with yourself. Blogging is a great way to step out of your comfort zone and try something new.

‘Where do I start?’ I hear you say. Consider these simple tips on what makes a good blogging experience. First of all you need to get back to basics. You need to know who your readers are and what they want. To get you started, try this exercise:

• Start with a fresh sheet of paper
• Create an avatar of your ideal client
  • Are they male or female? (or both)
  • What age bracket are they?
  • What income bracket are they?
  • Do they have children? If so, how old are they?
  • What keeps them awake at night?
  • What problem/s can you solve for them?
  • Keep expanding on this list, you need as much info as possible
  • Make sure you have a clear solution to their problem
  • Make sure this solution is very obvious on your website – in fact it should be the basis of your website. Everything on your website and blog should be telling the reader that you can solve this problem.
  • Knowing this and delivering this is what makes a good blog.

What to actually blog about 

This where you need to be strategic. There is no benefit in blogging just for the sake of blogging. You need a plan and it needs to be relevant. So grab another piece of paper or open a spread-sheet.

Start by listing all of the things you do in your business that you could blog about. For example some of the things we do in my business is:

• Getting leads for your website
• Optimising your website
• Website creation
• Fixing badly structured websites
• SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
• Google Advertising
• Facebook Advertising
• Blogging for Business

From this list of 8 blog posts; create at least 4 sub-topics for each one. So far we have 32 potential blog posts.
From each sub-topic, create at least 2 more sub-topics. Now we have 104 possible blog post topics.
Next think about the media –

• You could also make some videos about these topics.? An iPhone and a good mic is all you need.
• You could also interview someone else (another expert in your field) about these topics.? Again an iPhone and a good mic is all you need. These could then be turned into a podcast and/or a video series.
• Each of these videos and interviews could be transcribed and turned into written blog posts.

So from an initial list of 8 business components we now have a massive 728 potential blog posts.

The next post will be part two of – What makes a good blog – part two

If you need help with your content management (blogging) – give me a call and I’m happy to have a chat.

Let’s talk tech – SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)

So now you know what to blog about, let’s get into the technical side of blogging.

• A golden rule – “One keyword per post/page”
• When I say keyword I don’t just mean one word – very rarely will it be one word. A good keyword can sometimes be 4 -5 words long, but usually it’s 2– 4 words long.
• Over time, your pages or posts will probably rank for other words in the copy too.
• Organise your blog by using categories and tags. Think of categories like isles in the supermarket e.g. the cooking isle, and tags as items in the isle e.g. spices and sauces. Finally keywords are the specific item e.g. “Uncle Bob’s sauce”.
• Use the keyword in the blog/page title – it can have other words either side, but don’t break up the keyword/s here.
• Use the keyword in the first paragraph
• Use it every 300-500 words, but make it natural.
• Use sub-headings using variations of the keyword/s.
• Always use an image and re-name the image using the keyword.
• Use alt-tags for images – this is the name that pops up when you hover on an image. Google reads this and can often rank these images in the search results (try it now – hover over the image in this post, you will see What makes a good blog.)
• Create links between other relevant pages/posts and use keywords as the anchor text. This tells Google and the reader, that you have other posts about this topic, and points to where it is.
• There are other more Geekie things that should be part of your blog structure. If you are not sure what these are, get in touch with me and I will be happy to review your blog.

How to actually write a good blog post…

Okay, so we’ve covered why you should blog, what you should blog about and the technical (SEO) part of what makes a good blog. Now let’s dig into how to actually write the blog posts.

• Write so that an eleven-year-old child can read it. This doesn’t mean you have to “dumb it down” but make it very easy for anyone to read it and don’t use Jargon.
• I like to use this simple acronym P O W E R
  • Pick a topic – use a “think sheet” to write down ideas.
  • Organise- group your ideas, number them in the order you want to write them and cross out ideas you won’t use.
  • Write – put the facts into sentences, adding bullet points, headings and paragraphs.
  • Edit – read your work out loud or to a friend.
  • Re-write until you are happy that your blog post delivers enough valuable information that your readers will share it and comment on it.

• Now read it one last time to make sure you haven’t “over used” the keyword. Use the search bar in MSWord to check how often you have used it (3% is a good rule of thumb). Anymore and Google will consider it “keyword stuffing” and sites that do this are “frowned upon” by Google.
• Just have a go.

I hope this helps you navigate the confusing world of blogging and I hope it helps you understand what makes a good blog. The most important point is the last one above – “Just have a go”. The first blog is always the hardest but it’s a rewarding journey if you persevere.

This is part two of a two part blog post – Read What makes a good Blog – part one

How do you like to write? I’d love you to share your hints and tips. 

Blogging for Business

 

Learn the How, What & Why of Blogging for Business.
Increase the quantity & quality of your website leads

 

• Are you confused about Blogging for Business? What to blog about & Why you should blog?
• Do you want to promote your brand and build your authority online?

• Do you want to increase the quantity & quality of leads to your business?

 

Come along to my 5hr hands on Blogging for Business workshop and learn how blogging can;

 

• Boost your web traffic
• Increase your lead quantity & quality
• Expand your brand awareness and
• Promote your own personal brand
• Start building the “Know, Like & Trust” factor

 

Facts about Blogging

 

• B2B companies that blog generate 67% more leads
• Companies that blog have 97% more inbound links
• 90% of customers find custom content useful
• Interesting content is one of the top 3 reasons why people follow brands
• 78% of consumers feel that organisations behind the content are interested in building good relationships.
• 58% of consumers trust editorial content
• 70% of consumers learn about a company through articles rather than ads

 

NEXT BLOGGING WORKSHOP: Coming Soon

Date Tuesday 26th July 2016

 

REGISTER YOUR INTEREST HERE

 

Online Influence
Level 1, 331 High St, Penrith