Step 2:  Branding Your Blog:  Developing Content Strategy & A Name for Your Blog

This next section is a follow-up to Part 1, the introduction to why you should start a blog and which platform is right for you.  If you missed it, you can check it out here.

Content Strategy

A big part of deciding on the brand of your blog or even naming it is deciding on the content.  Content is king for a blog to be successful.  Pick something you are passionate about.  Is it Cooking?  Interior design?  Technology?  Animals?  The sky is the limit – but the most important thing to remember is that you should choose a topic you are passionate and knowledgeable about then narrow it down to a few important objectives that you can focus on. Of course, this doesn’t mean you have to limit yourself to writing about one topic only. As long as you can make connections among varied topics, you won’t confuse your readers. 

Many people choose to write about many topics they are passionate about and would rather set their blog to be a personal brand.  One person that does this extremely well is Heather B. Armstrong of the famed Dooce.com who keeps the focus of her blog about her life and her experiences.  Other highly successful blogs are Mashable.com, a blog that focuses on the latest trends in social media, and of course, the highly recognizable PerezHilton.com, a gossip blog.
 
Content is extremely important because it is an integral part of how Search Engines, such as Google and Bing, determine where to rank your website.  Too often it seems that bloggers get caught up in worrying about monetizing their blogs, or the design of the blog, or SEO techniques — although it may sound trite, the major focus of your time should be on your writing. With great content, it is much easier to drive traffic successfully and habitually, as opposed to a site with content that is lacking in depth and relevance. 

When and how often you post is also important. This sets reader expectations and allows you to plan for posts accordingly. Are you willing to write once a day?  Three times a day? Once a week?  Choose a schedule that works best for you and stick to it. 

SEO-Friendly Titles

One thing to keep in mind once you beginning your writing blog articles is the importance of your title. The value of a great title for SEO purposes is invaluable. The title is the first thing a search engine sees to determine content significance, how it relates to the site’s theme and the keywords contained within the page. When coming up with an article title, you want to keep the following criteria in mind: be specific, create topical relevance and include a click-appeal.

Naming your Blog

Naming your blog might seem like a simple task, and generally it is, but it is also a very important decision to make.  You have to take into consideration the niche for your blog and consider a name that falls in line with that niche.  You set the expectations and the requirements through the niche of your blog and that the name you choose, is a simple reflection of those expectations.  You also want an SEO-friendly title that Google, Bing and other search engines will recognize easily.  If you have a blog about food, foodforthought.com would be a viable option and having food in the title will help search engines recognize your site more quickly.  Keep the name short, easy to spell and straight-forward.

You can buy domains at the same place you would purchase a hosting package for a self-hosted blog (i.e. GoDaddy, DreamHost, etc) and purchasing a domain is recommended because many sites will provide you with a domain that includes their domain as well (i.e. blogger blogs use yourname.blogspot.com).  Using a custom domain (ecommsuccessblog.com) shows a higher level of professionalism.
 
The Look of your Blog

If you don’t have the budget to hire a company like Pomegranate to design a custom theme for you, there are hundreds of free templates that are compatible with Blogger, WordPress.org and TypePad which you can download and use to customize the look and feel of your blog. If you are writing about nature, you might want to consider an “earthy” template to coincide with the brand and theme of your blog.  Depending on which blogging platform you choose, you can do a web search for free Blogger, WordPress.org or TypePad templates or themes.  Most of them come with instructions on how to download and install them.  If you are good with HTML and CSS, you can also customize them to your liking with cool features like a custom header graphic, the template colors, etc.  If you are good with graphic programs like Adobe Photoshop, you can really wow your audience by adding cool graphics to compliment your content and your theme.

** Check back next week for Step 3:  Promoting Your Site via Social Media and Online Communities **