Tag Archives: Blogging

Creating Conversations, One Column at a Time

I've been writing this column for almost 3 years now. In that time, one of the most rewarding and often humbling aspects is when I get to connect with the community that's formed around the SearchInsider column. I applaud MediaPost for introducing the SearchInsider blog, allowing us to turn each column into a conversation. As a writer, you get lazy and a little sloppy when you get too far disconnected from your audience. Getting feedback brings you back to earth. It reminds you that your musings are not going out in the great void. You're connecting with readers, and hopefully [...]

“Doing Search” Only Counts if You’re Seen

I'm not making any friends with Ontario Tourism. Two weeks ago I said in this column they weren't using search. I was quickly corrected by Nick Pedota, who told me my claim was "wildly inaccurate" and that they in fact have "an extensive search program". But based on the following searches I did while in Toronto, they didn't show: Ontario vacations, Ontario resorts, Toronto vacations, Ontario getaways and Ontario holidays. According to Google Trends and their keyword research tool, these are the most common searches, by a substantial margin. If You're Not Seen, You're Not Doing Search Here's the reality [...]

Discover Your Ideal Blogging Formula

The key to success in blogging, whether you want to make money, gain more subscribers, or increase visitor engagement is to constantly test new strategies. With A/B or Multivariate testing and using web analytics to measure its performance anyone can move closer to their ideal formula of success.  The results from the multivariate testing will allow you to test various alterations before they are 100% live as well as allow you to capitalize on the best performing combinations. Here are a few suggestions you can try testing within your blog: Internal Search – Ideally it should be near the top [...]