I Blog to Differ

Chelle Honiker Yarbrough, CTCTravelWebMarketing.com

877-442-1975

A Little Web History & Future

Web 1.0 Compuserve, AOL

Web 1.5 Websites, Search Engines

Web 2.0 Social Networking, Blogs,

Microblogging Beyond?

What is a Blog?

Duh. Short for Web-Log. Diary Announcement Insight Human Connection/Face to Business Interaction OPPORTUNITY

How a Blog Can Help Business

Absolutely the most reliable way to get your information into the search engines, period.

Blogs are the key to the home page of Google and others via RSS RSS=Really Simple Syndication

RSS Subscriptions

Adding a Feed to Google

Google’s Home Page

Options for Your Own Blog

Web Service (Developer Hosted) Wordpress.com Blogger (Google) Typepad Moveable Type

Benefits: Quicker roll-out of new features,

support

My Suggestion: DIY Wordpress

Good Web Hosts Offer 1-Click Installation & Upgrades Shameless Plug: (gemtravelsites.com)

Hosted together with website or as separate URL

Point and Click Design & Configuration

Deciding on Designs Branding

Colors, logo & layout same as website Differentiation

Niche-based blog to market to certain segment Free Wordpress Design Themes

http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/ Premium Wordpress Design Themes Wordpress Design Customization/Creation

Wordpress Advantages

Open Source – Free & Innovative Thousands of Themes Thousands of Plug-Ins

Small programs designed to perform specific task within Wordpress like:

SEO, Pinging, SiteMapping, Spam Filtering, Post by Email, Google Analytics, Flickr (Photos) Integration, Adsense, tags, Bulletin Boards…

Setting It Up Right Posts vs. Pages

Pages are “permanent” – about the author, contact forms, etc.

Posts are “date sensitive” – offers, new information and can be dated in past or future

Decide how often to post. Don’t be a copycat. Tag Everything

Content is King – Keywords are Queen. Smoosh Them. Don’t write for search engines –

write for people, but look for opportunities.

Collaborate with everyone in office Outsource to professional writers

http://travelwriters.com http://travelwebmarketing.com

Guest Bloggers DSM’s?

Under the Hood

4SpaInfo.com Separately managed Niche Based

HollandAmerica.net Integrated with Site Design Highly Successful

Q & A Chelle Honiker Yarbrough, CTC TravelWebMarketing.com GemTravelSites.com 877-442-1975 – Toll-Free Chelle@travelwebmarketing.com Twitter:chelleyarbrough Blog: http://mentalgaragesale.com