ProBlogger: 6 Things You Can Do in January to Make Your Blog Better in 2017

6 Things You Can Do in January to Make Your Blog Better in 2017

Posted: 21 Dec 2016 05:00 AM PST

As 2016 winds down, many of us are looking towards 2017 wondering what we can do to take our blogs to the next level. Will next year be the year we finally:

Turn our blog into a legitimate side-hustle?
Score a guest post on a big site?
Launch that online course?

Whatever our individual goals might be, every blogger can benefit from doing the following six things in January:

1. Take a break

Those first couple of weeks in January? Everyone’s either still on holiday, or slowly working their way back into the new year after the craziness of Christmas. If ever there was a good time to take a blog hiatus, this is it. Many people fret that if they take time off they will lose the momentum they’ve spent the whole year building. Experience has taught me nothing is further from the truth. A hiatus makes your readers miss you and this is always a good thing.

Give yourself permission to have at least the first two weeks of January off. Don’t post anything on your blog. Reduce the time you’re spending on social media. Use that time to catch up on reading and go for long walks.

Not only will you be mentally refreshed when it comes time to write on your blog again, you’ll also have a ton of ideas ready to work on.

2. Reflect on 2016

January's also a good time to do deep dive into your stats. Analyse what was common to your most popular posts. Make a note of the posts you most enjoyed writing. Identify the things you thought would go well, but didn’t.

The difference between a good blog and a great blog lies at the intersection of what your readers enjoy reading, and you enjoy writing. It’s difficult to identify where that intersection lies if you never take time to reflect.

3. Run a survey

If there’s one thing I’ve learnt over the years, it’s that many of the assumptions I make are wrong. Which is why it’s good policy to always test your assumptions and there’s no better way to do this than via a survey.

Identify the assumptions you have made about who your readers are and what kind of information they want from you … and then create a survey that tests those assumptions. The results you get might lead to a slight change in direction that makes all the difference for your blog in 2017.

4. Set goals like a ninja

January is not the time for vague statements like ‘I want to be a better blogger in 2017’. January is the time for identifying exactly what you want to achieve and then ensuring the things you are striving for are SMART goals:

S – specific, significant, stretching
M – measurable, meaningful, motivational
A – agreed upon, attainable, achievable, acceptable, action-oriented
R – realistic, relevant, reasonable, rewarding, results-oriented
T – time-based, time-bound, timely, tangible, trackable {Source}

What your 2017 SMART goals might look like:

Increase my email subscribers by 5% in the first quarter of the year
Publish eight quality posts over the course of February and March
Send out a subscriber email every week without fail
Start a podcast
Create an e-book

5. Map out the exact steps for achieving your goals

Telling yourself ‘I will increase my email subscribers by 5% in the first quarter of the year’ is one thing. Doing it is another. (Sounds silly, but quite often I see people thinking the setting of the goal is all they need to do to achieve it.)

What actually allows you to achieve your goal is mapping out, step-by-step, the things you are going to do to get there.

The steps for increasing your email subscribers might look like this:

Check your email sign up form actually works
Ensure the call to action/opt in gift is something your readers really want
Create a pop-up version of your subscribe form and set it to appear when a reader has made it all the way to the end of a post
Monitor the conversion rate on the pop-up subscribe form after two weeks and see if there is anything I can do to increased that conversion rate

If your goal is to write one blog post each week for the entire year, you will benefit from writing down exactly which day of the week you're going to:

Write your first draft
Edit the post
Press publish

As an example, this year I've aimed to publish a high-quality blog post every Thursday. To do that consistently I know I need to write a dodgy first draft on Monday, edit it on Wednesday, then give it a final polish and publish it on Thursday.

Studies have shown that writing down your intentions about WHEN you are going to do the things involved in achieving your goal significantly increases the likelihood of you achieving that thing – and I have certainly found that to be true this year.

6. Choose a guiding word or mantra for the year

Sometimes, when we’re toiling away deep in the bowels of our blogs, it’s easy to lose sight of why we do this thing. Particularly when things aren’t going as well as we’d like. At times like these, it’s handy to have a guiding word or phrase that acts as a reminder of the impact we’re trying to have on people’s lives. Phrases like:

Be useful
Change lives
Interact – Inform – Inspire

While we’re all blogging for some kind of personal gain (increased income or profile, an outlet, a way to connect with others), it’s important to remember that a blog can’t be successful without happy readers. The mantras above (or the mantra you choose for yourself), help remind us of this.

Bring on 2017

In an interview I did with Mark Manson a few months he said: ‘With my writing, I aim to always be moving ahead, always experimenting and exploring. A repetitive blog is a dead blog.’ Take care of the above six things in January and you can be assured your blog won’t be in any danger of becoming repetitive or dead any time soon.

Kelly Exeter is a writer, editor, and designer who's endlessly fascinated by the power of the stories we tell ourselves. She explores these on her blog and in her books Practical Perfection and Your Best Year Ever. Connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

The post 6 Things You Can Do in January to Make Your Blog Better in 2017 appeared first on ProBlogger.

ProBlogger: Podcast SEO: How to Improve Your iTunes Ranking

Podcast SEO: How to Improve Your iTunes Ranking

Posted: 20 Dec 2016 05:00 AM PST

This is a guest contribution from Kate Toon, SEO expert and trainer at The Recipe for SEO Success.

When most people start their own podcast, the last thing on their minds is SEO. They're too busy developing eye-catching graphics, buying a cool microphone, and trying not to make that horrible saliva sound when they speak.

Why? Because most podcasters think SEO is all about Google, and nothing to do with iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud.

But the truth is, just as we have website optimisation and video optimisation, there are ways to optimise podcasts. And in this post I'm going to take you through some simple steps you can take to drive your podcast up the rankings.

Why podcast SEO matters

Podcasting is growing in popularity. More and more bloggers and business owners are seeing it as a way to build a community and engage customers.

But as more and more people launch their podcasts it becomes harder and harder to be found—especially in the coveted top spots in category lists.

SEO allows smaller podcasts to compete with the big boys, and be found quickly by their target audience.

However, while Google freely shares information about what will and won't work in terms of ranking, iTunes plays its cards a little closer to its chest.

And unlike website SEO, not a lot has been written about podcast SEO.

The tips I'm about to give you are based on extensive reading, consulting with other SEO types, and my own extensive testing (otherwise known as 'trial and error').

Note: While this article focuses on iTunes as the primary source of podcasts, my tips should work on all podcast platforms.

iTunes is a search engine

The first step to understanding podcast optimisation is realising that iTunes is yet another search engine. It has content, an index to display the content, a bot to crawl the content, and a clever string of code (or algorithm) to decide who ranks above whom.

But just like Google, iTunes doesn't have ears. It can't hear your podcast, and has no idea what your spoken content is about. So you have to tell it, using the text your write for your podcast.

Step 1: Ignore the noise

It's important to understand where optimisation will help, and where it won't have any impact whatsoever.

Optimisation will not help with:

Appearing on the home page and 'New & Noteworthy' lists. These are curated by iTunes staff members
Appearing in category and 'Listeners Also Subscribed To' lists. These are affected more by downloads, subscriptions and subscription velocity

Put simply, iTunes SEO will help people who use the search box in the top right of the iTunes screen.

Step 2: Never forget the number one rule

Just as with websites, the number one rule is to optimise for humans first. Draw your audience in first, and the Google and iTunes bots will follow.

So the first step is to think about what search term you'd like to be found for. What would your audience (current and potential) type into the search box to find your podcast?

A good idea to to sit down and brainstorm ideas with a buddy, or pose the question on your business Facebook page and see what responses you get.

For my SEO podcast, someone might type keywords related to the general topic:

SEO
Search Engine Optimisation
SEO podcast

If they have a specific problem, they might go with something like:

Google AMP
WordPress SEO
Dodgy SEO

And if I'm lucky, they may know about me and my brand and type in:

Kate Toon podcast
The Recipe for SEO Success podcast

Just as with blogging, our goal is to create a list of possible keywords relating to our industry and our topics. Here's a great little keyword tool to help you get started (don't be put off by the name), and a smashing post with additional tips.

Step 3: Create a memorable podcast name

While including a keyword in your podcast title will certainly help your efforts to rank, it's important to also think about your overall brand. If you've already established a well-known name, consider using it for your podcast. Don't reinvent the wheel.

Step 4: Combine your talent with your host name

Obviously, the name of the host should be… well, the host's name. But if you can, include some relevant keywords to make it sound a bit like a job title. Don't stuff in heaps. Just use one of two that are relevant.

Step 5: Describe your show

Most SEO experts agree that your podcast description doesn't influence the iTunes search. But it plays an important role in subscriptions and downloads.

Your description helps people understand what the podcast is about. So keep it short, clear and enjoyable to read.

Step 6: Write killer episode titles

Now we need to focus on our episode titles. These titles (or headlines) are vitally important, as they'll show up on iTunes, in the Google Search results, and when we share our podcasts on social media.

Put some time and effort into creating really compelling copy—just as you do when writing a blog post—and ensure what you write is:

Descriptive: Clearly explain what the episode will cover
Front-loaded: Put the most important words at the front
Short: Think about the cut-off point on smartphone screens
Benefit driven: Tell the user why they should listen, and what they're going to get from the episode
Compelling: Write headlines that demand to be clicked
Keyword-focused: Try to use the keywords in the title (but don't go crazy).
Unique: Make sure each episode is different and relevant

Here are some more tips on writing headlines.

Step 7: Think about formatting

A lot of podcasters waste precious characters by shoving the word EPISODE at the start of their podcast headline. While it's good to add your own numbering (so people can easily recommend particular episodes to friends and colleagues), keep it short and simple.

As you can see in the screenshot below, I keep it to a simple E followed by the episode number. This makes it easy for people to scan my episode list and find a topic they're interested in.

And think about what would appeal more to your audience—the topic or the guest. If you have a well-known guest, consider front-loading the episode title with their name.

Final tips, and my experience

With two podcasts to my name, I've learned a thing or two about making them visible. Here are some other factors that will affect your ability to rank:

Cover art: While cover art probably doesn't influence ranking, it does encourage click through. Keep it clean, simple and striking.
Subscriptions: As my subscription rate increases, so does my ranking. Asking your audience to subscribe is important to your podcast SEO.
Ratings and reviews: While I doubt ratings or reviews influence rankings (it would be far too easy a metric to abuse), they do act as social proof. So remind your listeners to give you a rating or review at the end of every episode.

Kate Toon, Head Chef at The Recipe for SEO Success, is an award-winning digital expert with years of experience. Kate helps bloggers, big brands and small business owners grapple the Google beast. Her friendly, fun approach to DIY SEO makes it easier to learn. Check out her SEO podcast on iTunes.

The post Podcast SEO: How to Improve Your iTunes Ranking appeared first on ProBlogger.

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