DMA Search Engine Marketing Council Blog

Guide to Optimizing and Marketing with Blogs

Post by Lee Odden, TopRank Online Marketing

One of the hottest topics amongst direct marketers is how to use blogs as tools for marketing online and specifically, for search engine marketing. Below is an excerpt of an up coming advanced training module from the DMA Search Engine Marketing Certification program covering "Blogs as Search Marketing Tools".

Why blog? - There are 122 million blogs tracked by Technorati, yet only 2600 of them have over 1000 inbound links. Link building savvy search engine optimization professionals have opportunity to leverage their sills at linking along with content optimization to realize blogging's full marketing potential.

Types of blogs - Depending how you categorize them, there are many, many different types of blogs. Some people segment them by format or media type, such as Vlogs, Moblogs and Linkblogs. It's also pretty common to distinguish blogs by subject matter: music, politics, cooking, reviews, etc. Yet another way to understand the different types of blogs is through their purpose: persona, corporate, branding, sales or content monetization.

Blogging basics - There five general rules we typically give: Set Goals, Know the Audience, Content is King, Socialize and Measure. To be sure, we could drill down deep on each one of these but the main idea is to have an objective and then let that goal along with analytics guide your content decisions.

Blogging tools - WordPress, Blogger, Feedburner, Google Analytics, the list goes on and on when it comes to blogging tools and helper applications.

Interview with Amanda Watlington

The web and blogosphere is awash with buzz about social media and networking. Marketers and companies alike are trying to figure out how these channels might fit into their overall marketing strategies.

Search Engine Marketing Council opcom member Amanda Watlington is in the thick of the web 2.0 movement and recently agreed to an interview. We discussed topics ranging from her entre into the search marketing business, to marketing with Second Life, blogs, social media and the DMA Search Engine Marketing Certification program.

A few sample questions:

What do you think are some of the biggest mistakes marketers have made so far in Second Life and what do you think marketing on Second Life will look like in 3 years?

The biggest mistake that marketers can make and are making is of trying to jump in without understanding the social mores of Second Life. It is a community and success is based on networking and building credibility. Just because a business is well accepted in the real world, it is a false assumption to expect it to transcend to Second Life. Join the community and take part in its life before launching a business effort. We’ve been active in Second Life for sometime now, and we are just moving forward with a business/marketing effort that is directed at this community. Go slowly to go fast.

You’ve been charged as the architect for the DMA’s Search Engine Marketing Certification program. Please share your thoughts on the DMA’s motivations and the industry’s need for such a program.

Search marketing has enjoyed explosive growth in the past five years. Today, there is an absolute need for marketers at all levels to know the principles and the best practices of search marketing. It has become a core marketing skill. There is a need for talent at the strategic and tactical levels, and this is the need that the DMA is addressing.

Where can people turn to learn what they need to know about the discipline? How can they evaluate what has been learned? Yes! There are programs available or they can send staff to conferences with a list of sessions to attend, but there must be a framework to set the valuable tactics within. You don’t jump into a novel writing workshop if you have never written a paragraph.

With its broad experience in direct marketing and large constituency of direct marketers, the DMA is a natural fit for developing training in search marketing.

You can read the entire Amanda Watlington interview here.   Find out more about Amanda Watlington on her blog, “Blogs and Feeds” or her company web site.