A How-To Guide for Getting Your Online Content Found More Often

Do you want a fast and easy way to improve your search engine rankings so that your website and content marketing gets found more often?  Having fresh content that is rich with keywords and phrases is a must, but you also need to make sure that the search engines know about your site and make regular visits to see what’s new.

While we’re all familiar with search engines thanks to our friends at Google and Microsoft, people are generally less familiar with web directories.  Web directories are huge libraries of websites on the internet.  Unlike search engines that use “spiders” to automatically crawl through the different pages on a website and catalog the results, most directories are manually compiled by volunteer editors.  Search engines crawl through web directories so appearing in web directories will help your search engine performance.

While the reasons to be favoured by search engines and web directories are well documented, let’s quickly review why you want to let them know that you exist rather than waiting for them to happen upon you by chance:

• Improved search engine ranking – If the search engines don’t know about your site, you’re not going to rank in search results.  The search engine “spiders” will probably encounter your content sooner or later, but why wait?
• More inbound links – Registering your site with web directories means increasing the inbound links to your site, and that’s good for directing more traffic to your site but also for increasing the credibility of your pages.  Search engines keep a close eye on the web directories so showing up in the web directories will also help your search engine performance.  Also, web directories are searchable and some people use them to find companies that they’re looking for.
• Keywords and key phrase targeting – When you register with search engines and web directories you get to specify your keywords and phrases.  By selecting the keywords and phrases that are in your sweet spot and are consistent with your content marketing platform you’re going to show up in the searches that you want to show up in.

Here are the top search engines and web directories and a brief note on how to sign up:

1. Google – With 85% of the search engine market share, this is a must.  Go to www.google.com/submityourcontent and there are four options that you can choose from.  You’ll want to start by clicking on the ‘Website Owner’ tab and then the ‘Add your URL’ link but you should look at the other three options on the page.  You should also submit a sitemap so Google knows how to index your site – http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/ is a great site that will build your sitemap.xml file, for free, that you can submit to Google.
2. Bing – While Yahoo has the second largest search engine market share, Bing provides the organic search results for Yahoo so by registering with Bing you’re also registering with Yahoo.  Go to http://www.bing.com/toolbox/submit-site-url, enter your URL and you’re on your way.  You can also submit your sitemap to Bing through their Webmaster Tools to make it easier for Bing to crawl your site.
3. DMOZ.org – This is the biggest directory on the web.  To submit your site, go to www.dmoz.org and drill down to your business category.  Drill down as deep as you can and when you’re in a deep as you can get click the ‘Suggest URL’ link near the top of the page.  Enter your URL, title and site description and you’re on your way.  Be careful in submitting: these entries are supposed to be objective and are reviewed before they are accepted so don’t use the site description part as a selling platform.  Simply state what your business does and include your keywords and phrases.

If you submit your site to Google, Bing and Yahoo you’ll have more than 96% of the search engine market covered, but if you want to go for the full 100% you should also register with Baidu, Ask, AOL, Excite and Lycos.  There are other directories that you can find through various search engines – see what other directories are available and appropriate for you particular business.

Conclusion

A strong content marketing platform is vital for many small businesses.  Creating fresh and engaging content that will resonate with your target audience is great, but you can boost its effectiveness by submitting your site to the major search engines and web directories.  By doing the minimum of submitting your website to two search engines and one directory you can significantly improve your online visibility and get more traffic to your marketing content.

Got something to say? Leave a comment below, we’d love to hear from you! Got a question that we can address in our blog? Contact us through our website or email me directly and we’ll put our crack team to work and let you know when we post a reply.  Follow us on Twitter and ‘Like’ us on Facebook to join the conversation.

Other Blog Posts

If you liked this blog post, here are some other blog posts that you might also like:

• Five Great Sources for Blogging Topics
• Social Media and Content Marketing: In-house or Outsource?
• Do Your Sales Quotations Leave a Positive and Lasting Impression?

Steve Hartley, Managing Partner

Fering Communications Inc.

Website: www.feringcommunications.com
Email: steve.hartley@feringcommunications.com

Five Great Sources for Blogging Topics

Coming up with interesting and relevant topics is one of the most challenging aspects about maintaining a blog.  If you don’t provide blog posts that resonate with your readers then they’ll stop reading and the number of engaged readers is one of the key metrics in measuring the effectiveness of your blog.

Here are some of the top places that we turn to for inspirations when setting out on a blog post: 

1. Real-Life Stories – Real-life stories are awesome because of their originality.  The tricky part to real-life stories is making them relevant.  Take for example our last blog post about the bird that hopped onto my hand in a client’s parking lot.  Yeah, it’s interesting but my readers don’t really care about just that.  I had to put a spin on it that made it relevant so I used it to put a human touch on me and my company.  What stories serve as a good basis for blog posts?  Anything you’d tell your spouse over dinner or a buddy over a beer.
2. Life Lessons – Life lessons that you learn from mistakes serve as great blog material because you can show your readership a sense of humility, modesty or vulnerability that they will respect.  To err is human and openly discussing your life lessons will add an element of honesty and trustworthiness to you and your company.  Also, as well as describing the mistake that you made you can also brag a little bit about how well you rose to the occasion, innovated to correct a mistake or went that extra mile to save the day.  Be careful about being too honest, though: you don’t want to give your readers the impression that you’re clumsy, incapable or incompetent.
3. Current Events – News headlines are a great source of blog inspiration but again only if you can make it relevant to your readership.  How many articles did you see this past summer about how we can learn something to do with our businesses from Olympic athletes like Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt or Ryan Lochte?  How many articles did you see about how we can apply strategies from Angry Birds to our everyday jobs?  Apparently everyone from instructional designers to environmentalists to enterprise software firms could all learn a thing or two from Angry Birds.
4. LinkedIn Groups – Two particular LinkedIn features are rich with ideas about things to blog about.  First, the “LinkedIn Today” section, which shows near the top of the page when you log in, lists top stories of interest.  Our favourite source, though, is LinkedIn’s Groups.  Join a handful of groups that are related to your business and keep an eye on what is being discussed and you’ll likely find a bountiful supply of blog topics.
5. Competitors Blogs – Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?  In a pinch, head over to your competitors blogs and see what they are blogging about.  A couple of things to keep in mind, though:  First, you should only use their topics as inspiration for your own, so don’t steal their content, that’s plagiarism and generally frowned upon.  Second, don’t go to this well too often.  If you do you risk them – and potentially some of your prospects or clients – finding out.  If you are going to do this, make it less obvious by looking at their archives and seeing what they’ve blogged about in the past, it might seem too coincidental if you use their current posts as inspiration.

Conclusion

A well-written blog can be the cornerstone for establishing an online presence that can help your business grow through showcasing your expertise, building credibility with prospects and keeping your clients up-to-date on your latest offerings.  However, keeping fresh and relevant content flowing can be tough.  There are many sources close at hand that we can draw inspiration from, including real-life stories, life lessons and current events to name but a few.  And, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that if you need help starting a new blog or continuing an existing one then we’d love to help.  Check out our website and visit our Contact Us page to find out how to get in touch and get started!

Other Blog Posts

If you liked this blog post, here are some other blog posts that you might also like:

• Six Great Ways to Dissolve Your Writer's Block
• Social Media and Content Marketing:  In-House or Outsource?
• The Importance of Tone in Business Writing

Steve Hartley, Managing Partner

Fering Communications Inc.

Website: www.feringcommunications.com

Email: steve.hartley@feringcommunications.com

What Tweeting Looked Like Before Twitter

I know, I know, boo @ the cheesy title!  I thought I’d use this platform to share a neat story that happened to me as I left a client’s office last week.  As I headed through the parking lot toward my car, I noticed what I originally thought was a large stone a few yards ahead.  As I got closer, I saw that not only did the large stone have eyes but it was moving its head.  The large stone was actually a bird sitting in the parking lot watching the world go by.  As I got closer, I thought that this little guy might be injured so stooped down and gently put my hand on the ground beside him.  He hopped onto my hand and I snapped the above picture while I pondered how one determines if a bird is injured or not.  While I thought about this he flew away, making the conclusion a moot point.

So how can I tie this into professional writing and presentation services?  Well, I’m not sure if I can directly.  However, I can offer that one of the goals of your company blog might be to make you and your company human and likeable.
In the story above, I’m hoping that people see me as a kind, caring possibly-hurt-animal-loving kind of guy.  And I’m also hoping that I hit a soft spot with some of the readers of this blog and maybe they’ll like me and my company just that little bit more.  And if they like me that little bit more and have professional business writing and presentation needs, maybe they’ll decide to visit our Contact Us page and connect with us.

Conclusion

Your company blog can be used to achieve a great many goals: increasing traffic to your website, showcasing industry expertise and thought leadership, converting blog or website visitors into leads.  But your blog can also provide softer benefits, including adding a personal touch to your business and letting your prospects and customers know that there are human beings behind your corporate machine, which may differentiate you from your competition and give you the winning edge.


Got something to say? Leave a comment below, we’d love to hear from you! Got a question that we can address in our blog? Contact us through our website or email me directly and we’ll put our crack team to work and let you know when we post a reply.


Steve Hartley, Managing Partner
Fering Communications Inc.
Website: www.feringcommunications.com
Email: steve.hartley@feringcommunications.com

The Importance of Tone in Business Writing

Writing is one of the most common tasks that you’ll find yourself doing during a regular workday.  In 2011 the average corporate user sent and received an average of 112 emails every day.  And that’s just email, it doesn’t include the sales proposals, technical documentation, business letters and other documents that you’ll work on.

Just as important as the content of business writing is the tone – the writer’s opinion and emotion toward the reader and subject matter.  Just like your tone of voice in a spoken conversation, the tone of a written conversation is as – and sometimes more – important as the actual content.

When crafting a piece of business writing – a quick email before you dash off to a meeting or a hundred page sales proposal that you and your team slaved over for weeks – you certainly have to make sure that the content is appropriate but you have to make sure the tone is, too.  You can’t take chances when you’re communicating through writing – you can’t read facial expressions or body language and you might not get a second chance if your content and tone miss the mark.

Not Good:  Joe, get me the final specs quick or you’ll cause us to deliver late.

Better:  Joe, we really need the final specifications before we can finalize delivery.  Would you be able to send them over at your earliest convenience to avoid delays?

One of the most important considerations in establishing the tone of your writing is to be honest, authentic and sincere.  Most readers will pick up if you’re not being true and you might lose your credibility.  If the reader doesn’t trust you there isn’t much of a chance that they’ll be convinced by your writing.

Your state of mind plays a large role in your tone: if you’re in a bad mood, if you’re feeling playful, if you’re feeling happy – all of these emotions will come out in your writing.  If you are in a bad mood or feeling stressed, you might want to stay away from your keyboard – those grumpy feelings will seep into your writing whether you like it or not.

At all times, you should maintain a professional tone, even if you are very comfortable or have a friendly relationship with the recipient.  Talking about the baseball game you went to, how your kids are doing in school or your kitchen renovations might be appropriate for the person that you’re writing to directly but not for those that the recipient could forward it on to and you can’t count on them deleting the friendly chit chat before they do.

Finally, you should favour a concise and precise tone in business communication over a verbose and flowery one.  The person reading your writing doesn’t have time to wade through linguistic pyrotechnics fancy words and filter out your message.  Also, there’s a good chance that instead of coming off sounding eloquent you’ll end up sounding pretentious.

Not Good:  We would like to inquire about your upcoming availability to arrange a mutually convenient brief conference call, if possible on next Wednesday morning, so we might gain some additional insight into your requirements for the upcoming project.

Better:  Are you available for a short call next Wednesday at 10:00am?  We have some questions about the project that we’d like to ask.

Conclusion

The tone of a piece of business writing is just as important as the content.  If you’re in a positive frame of mind, are honest and sincere and keep your message concise then you’ll infuse a positive tone in your writing and generate a readable and convincing piece.  And if you decide that you need help with any sales and marketing, technical or business writing projects that you’re working on, we’re only an email or phone call away.

Got something to say? Leave a comment below, we’d love to hear from you! Got a question that we can address in our blog? Contact us through our website or email me directly and we’ll put our crack team to work and let you know when we post a reply.


Amanda Hartley, Managing Partner
Fering Communications Inc.
Website: www.feringcommunications.com
Email: amanda.hartley@feringcommunications.com

Six Great Ways to Dissolve Your Writer’s Block

Have you ever found yourself staring at the blinking cursor on your blank computer screen as it ticks away the seconds toward your looming deadline, but still can’t think of anything to write?  You’re not alone:  Writers block affects almost everyone from time to time, whether you’re young or old, an inexperienced newbie or an old pro.  Luckily, writer’s block has affected enough writers that people have come up with a number of different things that you can try to overcome it.  Some might not be what you would expect but when you’ve got a deadline looming you’re probably willing to give anything a try.  Here are some tips that we resort to when we just can’t seem to get things going.

1. Arrange an Impromptu Brainstorming Session:  Gather a small handful of your colleagues and start throwing ideas around.  They don’t have to be good ideas; the aim is to give you a shove in the right direction and the spontaneity of an impromptu group brainstorming session might just do the trick.
2. Just Start Writing:  Write about anything - what you had for breakfast, a conversation you had with a colleague, a list of groceries that you need to pick up on the way home or a to-do list for the weekend.  William Stafford, a poet, once wrote, “There is no such thing as writer’s block for writers whose standards are low enough.”  This is not to suggest that you should aim to lower your standards but if drivel is what it takes to get you going then bring it on!  A page of drivel can be shaped into something brilliant, but a blank sheet of paper will remain blank until you get over yourself and write something.
3. Stop Writing:  OK, didn’t we just tell you to start writing?  Now we’re suggesting you stop writing?  Do you wish we’d make up our minds?  At the other end of the spectrum is to not try and force the issue but to do something else that is totally unrelated to your writing assignment.  This takes a bit of guts – you’ve got a pressing deadline and we’re suggesting that you ignore the task at hand.  Actually, we’re confident in your subconscious’ ability to work on something while you’re focusing on something else.  Have you ever tried so hard to remember the name of an actor in a movie but you just can’t, and then while you’re brushing your teeth that night it comes to you?  That’s your subconscious at work.  Your subconscious is very powerful and if you leave it to wrestle with your writing assignment while you’re concentrating on something else you might be surprised with what you come up with.
4. Look for Fresh Surroundings:  Being stuck at the same desk in the same office looking at the same faces might not be the best way to stoke your creativity.  So change things up a bit by packing up and heading somewhere different.  Coffee shops are great places and many offer free Wi-Fi if you don’t want to totally be out of contact or if you need to look something up.  This article describes a recent study that concluded that the moderate ambient noise of a coffee shop enhanced subjects’ performance on a creative task.  Alternately, head to a park and watch the world go by - you just might find that your writer’s block starts to dissolve.
5. Jump Right Into the Middle:  If you’ve got an idea of the overall flow of what you have to produce, start somewhere apart from the beginning and just get going.  Chances are the pieces will start falling into place one at a time and once you’ve got some momentum revisiting that part that was stumping you won’t seem so helpless.  When we’re writing sales proposals, for example, we often start with the pricing section, one of the last sections of the proposal, and then work backwards.  Often the Executive Summary is one of the last pieces that we write even though it’s the first page of the document.
6. Get Moving:  As goes the body so goes the mind.  If you’re sitting at your computer screen and your brain is stalled, jump up and get active.  Go for a walk around the block, do some stretching, or throw a foam stress ball around with a couple of colleagues.  (Disclaimer: you didn’t get the idea here if you break something!)  Moving your body, particularly in a repetitive way, often gets your mind in action as well.

Writer’s block affects us all at one time or another and the more you try and pressure yourself into powering past it the more strangling it can become.  The points above will hopefully help motivate, energize and even distract you enough to make your writer’s block a thing of the past.

Got something to say? Leave a comment below, we’d love to hear from you! Got a question that we can address in our blog? Contact us through our website or email me directly and we’ll put our crack team to work and let you know when we post a reply.


Amanda Hartley, Managing Partner
Fering Communications Inc.
Website: www.feringcommunications.com
Email: amanda.hartley@feringcommunications.com

Social Media and Content Marketing: In-house or Outsource?

There are lots of different opinions on whether you should use in-house resources to quarterback your social media and content marketing presence or whether it’s better to use an outside company.  At Fering Communications, we humbly submit that using an external company gives you the best advantage.  Here are five good reasons why:

1. You’ve Got Better Things to Do:  Honestly, you do.  If you’re like most people I know, you’ve got a million things to do and that’s when you’re not busy.  Setting up and implementing a social media strategy is seldom going to make it to the top of your to-do list.  Luckily, if you work with an external company they’ll give you a content calendar with 30, 60 or 90 days of content activity and all you have to do is make sure that they do as they say they will.
   
   
2. You’re So Close You Might Miss the Obvious:  Sometimes, people are so passionate about their businesses that they suffer from tunnel vision and only focus on what is most near and dear to them.  In the meantime, all sorts of good and marketable stuff can be going on that you might not notice or might neglect to recognize the significance of.  By keeping in reasonably close contact with your social media and content marketing company they will pick up on things that should be spun into new content and broadcast across the social media spectrum.
   
   
3. Don't Overwork Yourself:  One of the first things an outside company will establish is your content marketing and social media strategy and activity calendar.  This will contain a schedule for when you can expect premium content pieces, blog posts, Facebook posts and tweets.  But what happens if something unexpected happens in your company that should be shouted from the rooftops?  If you’re managing your own content in-house you have to find time to incorporate this on top of everything else that you’re working on.  If we’re doing it we can reorganize our resources and priorities to fit you in.
   
   
4. Benefit From A Fresh Perspective:  We spend a considerable amount of my day talking about, thinking about and doing social media and content marketing.  On any given day we can touch any number of people who have different ideas and perspectives and where appropriate we can bring apply these ideas and perspectives to work for you.  Your internal resource is so tied to one strategy (yours) and is going to see the same set of faces (your team) day in and day out that the chances of fresh ideas or new perspectives creeping into the picture is smaller.
   
   
5. This Writing Thing Isn't As Easy As It Looks:  Sure, we all learned how to write when we were young, but I learned to swing a hammer when I was little and as my wonderful wife can attest, being able to swing a hammer doesn't mean I know how to finish a basement.  You rock at what you do and that’s why your customers buy from you but unless you’re into social media and content marketing (and I’m puzzled by why you would hire us if you are) then we’re probably better.  When I want a computer I buy a Dell laptop running Windows 7 because those are the best tools available for my needs.  When we’re hungry we head out to the local Pita Pit and grab a pita.  You could probably do a decent job yourself, but who shoots for decent when great is just a phone call away?

Social media and content marketing is a low-cost-high-return way to market your business.  Like anything else, doing it poorly can do more damage than good and can be worse than doing nothing at all.  Involving an outside company to create a consistent stream of content and social media activity will help establish you as an expert in your field, engage your customers and keep them coming back for more, and boost your lead generation.  Fering Communications provides social media and content marketing services so if you are convinced that an outside company might be right for you give us a call, we’d love to talk to you.

Got something to say? Leave a comment below, we’d love to hear from you! Got a question that we can address in our blog? Contact us through our website or email me directly and we’ll put our crack team to work and let you know when we post a reply.

Steve Hartley, Managing Partner

Fering Communications Inc.

Website: www.feringcommunications.com

Email: steve.hartley@feringcommunications.com

Don't End Up Like Killface: 5 Grammatical Errors to Avoid

In the series premiere of Frisky Dingo, Killface wanted to use a direct mailing campaign featuring the following postcard to publicize his plans to annihilate mankind.

Unfortunately, several episodes later he was mocked on national TV because of the grammatical errors on his postcard.  This probably wasn’t the publicity he was looking for.  Luckily, you’ve found Fering Communications to make sure you don’t make similar types of errors that will make you look less than professional.  Here are five common grammatical errors explained so you can avoid the “DOOM!” making them will surely bring.

1. Your vs. You’re – “You’re” is a contraction of “you are” and is used to describe the person you’re talking to, as in:  You’re so wonderful because you’re reading our blog!  A quick way to check if you're using “you’re” correctly is to replace it with “you are” and your sentence should still read correctly.  “Your” is a possessive adjective and is used to describe something that is yours, as in: Your postcard mailer has grammatical errors, Killface.  If you want to get tricky:  You’re probably reading this blog on your computer.  If your not sure what’s wrong with this sentence you should call you’re friends for help.
2. They’re, Their and There – “They’re” is a contraction of “they are”, so you should be able to replace “they’re” with “they are” and your sentence should still make sense.  Remember those kids who jaywalked in front of you today?  They’re going to get themselves hurt!  “Their” is a possessive adjective and is used to refer to something that belongs to them, so you might have thought about telling their parents.  “There” refers to a location (real or abstract), like over here or over there.  “There” is also used with the verb “be” (is, am, are, was, were), as in:  There was a crosswalk a little further down they could have used!
3. Its & It’s – Starting with the easier of the two, “it’s” is a contraction of “it is” or less commonly “it has” or “it was”.  As above, replace “it’s” with its longer forms and see if the sentence makes sense still and if it does you’re (as in “you are”) in good shape.  It’s (as in “It is”) really quite easy!  “Its” is a possessive noun and describes something that belongs to “it”, where “it” is a previously defined object.  Remember that funny video you saw where the dog chased its tail around and around?  The dog is the previously defined object and the tail belonged to the dog.
4. Dangling Participles – No, this has nothing to do with the punch line of a raunchy joke, it’s what happens when you order your sentence in a confusing way.  Try this one actually taken from a newspaper article:  The burglar was about 30 years old, white, 5’10”, with wavy hair weighing about 150 pounds.  That’s some heavy hair!  Maybe they were trying to describe a burglar who was about 30 years old, white, stood 5’10” tall, weighed about 150 pounds and had wavy hair.  Cancel the APB on the white male with incredibly heavy hair.
5. Me and I – If you’re describing what you and someone else will be doing, when do you use “me” and when do you use “I”?  Take the other person out of the sentence and see if it still makes sense.  For example, “Bob or me will call you next week” is wrong because if you take Bob out of the sentence you’re left with “me will call you next week”.  This might have been acceptable tens of thousands of years ago but isn't not today.  Alternately, “Freddy told me and Jim that he’d send the order across tomorrow” still reads properly if you take Jim out of the sentence.

The English language is a cruel and unforgiving language full of weird rules and nuances.  Making grammatical errors in a business environment can confuse your audience, dilute your message and make you and your company look sloppy.  Being able to write and communicate effectively are so important that taking a little time to re-read what you’ve written to ensure that you’re clearly and concisely communicating your message is a worthwhile exercise.  If you find that you’re having difficulty crafting or refining your message then give us a call, we’d be glad to help.

Got something to say? Leave a comment below, we’d love to hear from you! Got a question that we can address in our blog? Contact us through our website or email me directly and we’ll put our crack team to work and let you know when we post a reply.

Steve Hartley, Managing Partner
Fering Communications Inc.
Website:www.feringcommunications.com
Email: steve.hartley@feringcommunications.com

P.S.  For something a little more risqué, check out this link.