The vitals of success for online marketing should be a three pronged strategy. What are they? I am talking about (1) well-written and relevant content, (2) in-bound links, and (3) fans, friends, and/or subscribers. The first two figures are largely covered by SEO, but once you throw blogging and social media marketing into the mix you open up a whole new realm of possibilities.

One prong, Social media, isn’t really the next big thing anymore, but it’s not too late. Like with all good things it’s best to get started later in the game than not at all. What is new, however, is the way that it’s being used in conjunction with the tried and true search engine marketing practices. I highly recommend using social networks like stumblepon.com, twitter.com, linkedin.com, facebook.com, etc, which allow you to become more engaged with others in your community, keep up to date on trends, manage your company branding and so much more.

Ever curious about what people are saying about you or your business? Through Twitter’s search application you can actually see and monitor what people are saying about you or your business, and then you can subscribe to a feed for your query so you can continue to monitor what is being said. When you become part of larger networking communities like this you’ll start to get more of a sense as to what is being said, and in the event that someone has a negative review about you (whaaaat?)… now you have a means by which you can counter and respectfully disagree, because you are already engaged and part of the community. Of course you’ll also want to promote yourself in a more flattering way any chance that you get. And, don’t forget, all those fans and/or friends that you are gathering will help you promote your content as well.

As Twitter and other social media services evolve, they are becoming a key part of online marketing strategies. All of your efforts should work together; (1) SEO (plus PPC), (2) your blog, and (3) your social marketing. These efforts, combined, help to increase the number of inbound links and spread your content through more and more channels … all of which makes for a highly efficient online marketing strategy.

There are several key features that every blog should posses. I am going to outline some key elements that every blog must have:

Strong Engaging Posts

1. Quality on page SEO – Optimized Titles, URLs, Headers and Content.
2. A theme – your content and overall look and feel of your blog should all be around a similar topic. If you want to talk about your cat or how you helped an old lady cross the street, while that is very sweet of you, …um I don’t think anyone cares to follow that except a few of your close friends and family or unless you are a celebrity in which case you can even write about your bowel movement and people will still follow you.
3. Write posts that draw in your audience and will get them to share your content. Writing information that is helpful will do that for you. “How To” posts are a great place to start.
4. Post at least weekly and if possible twice a week.
5. Pose questions at the end of your posts to encourage engagement and feedback.
6. If you have a successful post follow it up immediately by posting another strong article.

Easy Sign up/Call to Action

1. Give people the optionto sign up via RSS. You want to have that sign up above the fold
2. Also give people the option to sign up via email. It’s old school but people still use it.
3. Show people where else they can find you. While that may mean that they read your content elsewhere my school of thought is that they are at least still following what you write and will still share your content.

An Information “About” Section

1. Make available a snippet of information through a sidebar or at least on your home page that gives your readers a glimpse as to the human side of your blog.
2. Also have a full blown about page. This page can be developed over time and should be a kick ass glimpse at what makes you, you, and what your blog is all about.

Feature this…

1. Highlight you best blog posts. Trying to find ways to keep people on your site? Give them easy access to your most popular posts.
2. Find some cool wordpress plugins that sensible and work for what you offer. Here are some wordpress plugins that I think are key.
3. Write up a post about someone else.
4. Look for new ways to attract people to your site that will hopefully also serve as link bait.

Set Goals

1. Whether your are setting goals for your social media strategy or your overall blog…have them be concrete and realistic.
2. If you are trying to promote your services or you are selling something then track your leads.
3. Consider getting comments as a possible goal/conversion measure.

A strong blog doesn’t happen overnight. You know the saying Rome wasn’t built…neither will your blog. For a lot of people it takes some time to find their voice. Once you do…keep at it.

What are some key elements that you employ on your blog? Anything you think that this list definitely should have?

Ever wonder what a SEO does? I get this question frequently “what is that makes you a SEO?”

Let me enlighten you … as I report from my hot-seat as a Boston SEO.

Like most any job these days, being involved in online marketing requires the following skills: highly motivated, self-starter, thrive under tight deadlines, quick learner with a “can do” attitude, attention to detail and a touch of whimsy.

What makes SEO so unique is that you must also be a marketing chameleon; meaning that you must be able to take on a role of a marketer, techie, designer, PR guru, account manager, project manager and copywriter (did I miss anything) … oh yeah, a dash of tenacity, bravado, insight, intuition and strategy of course.  You have to be able to plan and track down to a T, and without notice amend all of that when the industry takes a turn.

Here’s my illustration of the anatomy of a SEO: