The purpose of this type of blog is to discuss topics that attract readers from your target audience. A well-written business blog would NEVER be written in a manner that your readers feel you are writing to increase sales to your website.
It is written with one thing in mind - providing information that your target audience would likely have interest in.
If I happened to sell baby diapers, my blog would likely be focused on topics of interest for pregnant women and young mothers. That gives me a wide range of things that they absolutely love to talk about.
If I sell motorcycle parts, guess what my blog is going to be about? Yup! You guessed it! It is going to cover some awesome motorcycle maintenance tips and step by step help for common motorcycle repairs! I bet I will even have some articles about bike shows and tips for new riders. The opportunity for topics of interest for bikers is really unlimited.
I could go on and on, but I think you are starting to get the point.
Now, this does not mean that you will not link to your website, or blend in GENTLE advertising now and then, but it is done in a very natural manner when it just happens to works in with the topic at hand.
If you ever read through my primary blogs, you will find that quite often I can use effective anchor text links to other articles on my various sites and other blogs, but that is definitely not the only sites that I link to. When linking to other folks better serves the information I am giving them, then that is what I do.
Remember Zig Ziglar's old saying, "People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care." Another favorite of mine is, "You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want."
Folks are pretty smart. They can figure out in about five seconds flat when you are just trying to give them some fancy sales talk to get them to visit your site and they will run the other way as fast as they can.
Count on your blog for just one thing - a means to increase anchor text links to your site NATURALLY, and let everything else be icing on the cake. When you blog in this manner, only focused on the needs of the target audience, things just have a way of working out way better than you could have ever expected.
Ok, we talked about this Cricket, and we did not see eye to eye. Now this is what I have to say, and I shall summarize to spare you the page long reply.
I agree, to an extent that anchor text is important, it is very important sometimes, but it's not, in my opinion, a crucial part in getting people to visit your site and buy your product. Direct marketing has always worked for me.
You may not agree, but in my opinion, and from experience, I think direct blogs related to the product at hand, with one link to it is more than enough. No need to beat around the bush and get people reading about things that they 'maybe' interested in, I mean, you want those that are looking for you product, simple.
Ok, we talked about this Cricket, and we did not see eye to eye. Now this is what I have to say, and I shall summarize to spare you the page long reply.
I agree, to an extent that anchor text is important, it is very important sometimes, but it's not, in my opinion, a crucial part in getting people to visit your site and buy your product. Direct marketing has always worked for me.
You may not agree, but in my opinion, and from experience, I think direct blogs related to the product at hand, with one link to it is more than enough. No need to beat around the bush and get people reading about things that they 'maybe' interested in, I mean, you want those that are looking for you product, simple.
My website draws my primary traffic. My blog draws extra traffic (from my target audience) that might not have otherwise found my site. Life would be so boring if we agreed on everything. At least we agree that your Detroit Lions suck!
<sarcasm>You make SUCH a strong argument there I can't argue with you </sarcasm> As for your funny remark about the Detroit Lions, have you been watching them lately?
Pfffftttt...
I am gonna tell the bannable offense you were mean and you made me cry.
I think different situations call for different blogging plans. This just happens to be one that has been very effective for me, but I am always learning new things and making adjustments as I go.
My WEBSITE is already drawing the people specifically LOOKING for my services - I am already using ALL those types of key phrases on my WEBSITE. My blog is drawing DIFFERENT people who had no idea they were looking for me. The blogs is set up in a manner to make them want to know more, to want to explore my main site.
As an example, look up next Google update in your Google search bar. At or very near the top for that search phrase, you will find an article on my blog.
The type of people that are LOOKING for information about the next Google update, are exactly the type of people (my target audience) that I want to visit my website. That page (and many others on the blog) draws a lot of EXTRA traffic that I would not have otherwise seen.
Again, I think we all have different ways of approaching things. Right or wrong, this has just been a method that has worked well for me. That doesn't mean though that I am not interested in improving the method, or learning new methods all together. I am constantly looking for ways to improve what I do.
Like I said before, Direct Marketing for a small business, home or otherwise, using a blog is the way to go. You really don't want your visitors coming to buy diapers (as per your first example), only to have them read about breast cream products. Yes you're still on topic, somewhat, and your aim is to give the reader something they will be interested in, but for 25%+ of your blog readers, that is providing info they don't have time or patience to read.
Most users want in and out with what they initially came for. They want good, to the point information, using your blog as another powerful marketing tool is a great idea, but using it to entertain your potential client/customer, in my opinion, is not, especially if you're an average Joe selling diapers
Short to the point blogs only related to your product will give the said customer reassurance, that you know what it is you're talking about, you know the market you specialize in.
See in your above post, you make my point for me. So great, you're getting extra traffic to your blog for other keywords, but in your first post, you were all about how to write content in your blog, and how to place anchor text, by stemming away from the topic at hand and giving your users something they 'may or may not' be interested in. A woman looking for diapers might not give a rats ass about boob products, know what I mean? So that said user wont stick around long enough to click those 'impenatrable' well placed anchor text links IMO.
So like I said before, there is NO reason to not fill your blog with constructive anchor text worthy content, and stick to specific topics about the product your selling.
Response to Mikey's reaching into thin air for a response ....
There are no right or wrong answers here. If what you are doing is working for ya, heck, don't even think of changing a single thing. But, for those people struggling to see the results they had hoped for, my thoughts might be something to keep in mind.
Well I would go on but you're too stubborn to see the point I'm trying to make, so, i bowed out, because i'm that great.
I say, the second a user hints that you are doing something for keywords and not THEIR benefit, actually the second you start to think that way, and add a ton of content revolving around a topic, instead of your product then you loose. I am a designer, and will not boast about knowing a great deal about SEO, but I have blogged for a long time, on PR7 blogs that get a load of traffic, and I have posted, PRODUCT related content rather than TOPIC related content with anchor text, and this always worked fine for me. That's all I have been saying.
Why talk about fish hooks when you're trying to sell caviar.
Well I would go on but you're too stubborn to see the point I'm trying to make, so, i bowed out, because i'm that great.
I say, the second a user hints that you are doing something for keywords and not THEIR benefit, actually the second you start to think that way, and add a ton of content revolving around a topic, instead of your product then you loose. I am a designer, and will not boast about knowing a great deal about SEO, but I have blogged for a long time, on PR7 blogs that get a load of traffic, and I have posted, PRODUCT related content rather than TOPIC related content with anchor text, and this always worked fine for me. That's all I have been saying.
Why talk about fish hooks when you're trying to sell caviar.
Because my WEBSITE is already doing an awesome job selling caviar to those people who are looking for caviar. My BLOG is designed to find those people who had no clue that caviar is the solution to the problem they are trying to solve, so they were off in search of fish hooks.
So let me get this straight, in getting someone to buy your caviar you go off to talk about Salmon, fish hooks, and the best ways of how to get the fish smell off of someones hands after having gutted a fish, without those glove things on, while answering why salmon are best for making Fillet meals, and hope, that some how, some way, someone reading all of this will click one of your well placed anchor links and land on your website that is selling the caviar.
Yeah, i see your point, makes a lot of sense now. Ok Cricket, good point.
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