Eric KrockCo-Founder, Voximate

http://twitter.com/#!/voximatehttp://www.voximate.com/blog/

What We’ll CoverTrademarkingBlogging: Tools, Tips, SEOBasic Search Engine Optimization (SEO)twitter: Tools, TipsFilming Low Cost VideoYouTube Video Search Engine Optimization

(VSEO)Facebook PagesSite and Blog Promotion Tips

Why Would You Listen to Me?What Where Notes

Co-Founder, Voximate

http://www.voximate.com/ Solution for Agile project management & collaboration in private beta – ask for invite!

Blogger http://www.voximate.com/blog/

Tweep (twitter user)

@voximate@WeAreSaidMusa@WeAreShoaib@AIDSvideos

1600 followers / 7 mo.580 followers / 2 mo.872 followers / 1 mo.390 followers / 1 mo.

Not-for-profit Vlogger

http://www.AIDSvideos.org/http://www.youtube.com/AIDSvideos

2.4M views for 106 videos. Cost: $33k all-in including video HW, SW, creation, travel, translation

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/WeAreAllSaidMusa

http://www.facebook.com/WeAreAllShoaib

Trademarking Your Company NameNolo Trademark PDF eBook for $23.99:

http://www.nolo.com/products/trademark-TRD.html

Do your own initial searches:http://tess2.uspto.gov/

Have trademark attorney finalize your best candidates:Price for formal search: $750 / mark searchedAdditional price for handling official USPTO

application: $1250International trademark filings cost extra per

region & country

Why Blog?Raise awareness of company and offeringEstablish credibility in target audienceDraw traffic via organic search engine resultsRaise relevance ranking of your domain on

GoogleAttract prospects who may convert and

become customers

General Blogging TipsWrite well!

Read book: “Elements of Style” by Strunk & White

Share useful knowledgeGain audience by teaching

Use a catchy title; it must be a “hook!”Humor and irony work well

Publish new articles frequently

Use Wordpress to BlogWhy Wordpress?

Leading blog softwareFree and open sourceSupports Search Engine Optimization wellExtensible via large plug-in library

Your choices:Hosted: Wordpress.comSelf-Hosted: own site, plus Wordpress.org

softwareRead book: “Wordpress in Depth”

Customizing Look of WordpressUse a theme

I use: ThemeHybrid from http://themehybrid.com Outstanding web support membership only

$25/year!

Customize your theme with a “child theme”Lets you update parent theme laterSee: http://codex.wordpress.org/Child_Themes

Recommended Plug-insPlug-in Purpose

Akismet Spam filter: $5/mo. single site, http://akismet.com/

All-In-One SEO Pack

Optimize Search Engine Optimization of blog

cbnet Ping Optimizer

Prevent duplicate pinging of blog syndication feeds

Google XML Sitemaps

Automatically generate map of site for Google

Widget Logic Enable conditional content in sidebar

Enable Media Replace

Enable easy inline updating of images

• Get plug-ins from http://www.wordpress.org/extend/plugins/• Back up your Wordpress installation (HTML files) and database instance before installing or upgrading any plug-in!

URL Best PracticesAll-lowercase file namesSeparate words with hyphens (-), not

underscores (_)End URL with a / (not .php, .asx, etc.) so can

switch CMSes later if wish toKeep page name short enough that Google

won’t split page name when it compresses the URL for display

Ideally, keep total URL 68-74 characters (less important now due to Google URL compression)

Other Wordpress Configurations

Have static company home page, put blog at YourDomain/blog/

http://codex.wordpress.org/Creating_a_Static_Front_Page

Pretty permalinks http://codex.wordpress.org/Using_Permalinks

Show only excerpt from post on blog home page to avoid duplicating content

http://themehybrid.com/support/topic/show-only-excerpt-in-homepage

http://themehybrid.com/themes/structurePut link to post at end of excerpt http://themehybrid.com/support/topic/how-to-change-at-end-of-post-and-make-it-an-active-linkHardening security. (Update both

Wordpress & plug-ins promptly!!!)

http://codex.wordpress.org/Hardening_WordPress

Blog Social Media Integrationhttp://feedburner.google.com/

Wraps your RSS feed in easy-to-use URLHave your blog’s RSS icon point at FeedBurner

URLUse royalty-free icons for RSS Subscribe and

twitter Follow linksAddThis.com to provide social media Share

link

Search Engine OptimizationYou are writing blog posts & web pages for

TWO readers:Human beingsGooglebot

Goal: Enable Googlebot to understand page’s content and focus without annoying human readers

Target Keywords & Key PhrasesCreate list of keywords / phrases you want to

rank well for in search results. Tools:Google AdWords (free)Google Analytics (free) – where’s traffic from?SEOmoz.org Keyword Tools ($70/month

membership)Targeting niche keywords with less

competition may be more successful.

Where to Use Keywords?Domain nameAccount names on twitter, YouTube, FacebookBlog title, category names, tag namesPage URL (68-74 characters)Page TITLE (60 characters), Description (160

characters), ExcerptH1 – H6Image file name & ALT textFirst sentence of paragraphBullet itemsStrong / emphasized text

Avoid “Duplicate Content”There is no “Google penalty,” but if same content

is on two pages, they divide links, clicks, and “page equity.” Single page will rank higher in Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) than two separate pages.

Ideal: one piece of content = one page = one URLBlog post lives at pretty permalink URLBlog home page, category page, tag pages show

excerpt only and link to full blog post at permalink URL

If syndicate articles, ensure each syndicated copy includes link back to original

Put Images in Blog PostsPosts with images rank higher than posts

without themUse stock.xchng (sxc.hu) for royalty-free

imagesUse image editor (e.g. Mac Paintbrush) to

compress image to small JPEG so don’t increase page load time

Give image SEOed file name, SEOed ALT text

Inbound Link CampaignGet other relevant sites to link to your web

siteHave them use targeted keywords in their

link textGOOD: project management solutionBAD: click here to see a project management

solution

twitter TipsGreat tool for:

Listening and learning from othersFinding your audienceEngaging with customers, prospects, othersPromoting blog postsPosting shorter comments

twitter BasicsUse bit.ly to shorten URLsUse search.twitter.com to identify hash tags used

by your audience: #agile, #pmot, #prodmgmt …Keep tweets less than 120 characters so others

can re-tweet easilyEmbed relevant hash tags within your tweetsUse HootSuite to schedule tweets in advance and

follow relevant hashtagsFollow people with similar interests & see if they

follow you back; give them time to decideTweet Tue – Thu between 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Pacific

Time

Key twitter RulesNo “aggressive following”No “mass unfollows”Don’t follow the same person repeatedlyCan follow maximum of 2000 people; after

that, can only follow 10% more people than follow you back

No inappropriate (spammy) use of hash tagsNo excessive @username tweetingAvoid extremely high ratio of follows to

followers

Unofficial twitter Good PracticesNot official rules, but:

Only follow people likely to be interested in your feed!

Don’t follow more than 125 people per dayGive people 7 days to follow you back before

unfollowingShould get at least 1 new follower for every 4

follows if you are targeting correctlyDon’t “autofollow” followers!Don’t send an automated thank you message to

new followers unless it’s a substantive call to action.

Unofficial twitter Good PracticesNot official rules, but:

Not all tweets should be blog postsRetweet more than you tweetThank people for retweetsCreate useful lists to categorize users on

twitter

How to Find Potential Followers?Follow opinion leaders, who they follow, their

followers, and users on their relevant listssearch.twitter.com: who’s posting using your

target hash tags?WeFollow.comTlists.com

Blog Post + tweet SequencePick blog post page nameCreate draft blog post in WordpressUse bit.ly to shorten URLDraft 120 character tweet, including hash tags &

shortened URLWrite postFind relevant image, retitle it, upload it, make it

featured image for the postUse Wordpress to schedule post for next day @ 9

a.m.Use HootSuite to schedule tweet for next day @

9:15

Filming Low-Cost Video: Equipment$350: Consumer HD camcorder with Flash memory

and audio input port$19.95 Radio Shack lavaliere microphone, or $1000

Sennheiser wireless microphone / receiver set$837 Lowel Rifa eX 44 Pro, TO-83 Hard Case

lighting kit (two lights, plus hard carrying case)$1099 PrompterPeople.com Flex Series

Teleprompter$162 Libec T68 75mm 2-Stage Aluminum TripodMacintosh computerFinal Cut Studio (or even Express) for video editing

Notes on Filming VideoGood lighting is critical for making people look

good.Good audio is MUCH harder than good video!Film in room with closed door.Use lavaliere microphone! Make sure microphone is turned on & battery is

charged!Won’t look like Francis Ford Coppola filmed it.

Doesn’t have to; costs much less!!Be Agile. Film and publish many videos cheaply,

see what draws interest, and iterate!

Video Search Engine OptimizationWhat to SEO?

YouTube account nameVideo title (50 characters to display without

break)Video description (make long and detailed, and

include links to your site!)Video tag list (up to 500 characters total)Script for video (upload as a caption file;

YouTube will automatically synchronize English caption file to video)

Playlist titles

More Video TipsPromotion

Make your videos replies to other popular related videos

Create playlists including your videos and other popular related videos

Use YouTube animations to cross-link videosSyndication

Use TubeMogul.com to syndicate videos to multiple sites

Facebook PagesMany corporate sites have few “Likes” and

are fairly uselessReserve Facebook Page with your trademark

name earlyConsider making it live later on when you

have enough interestHave a strategy for your Facebook Page, not

just a page for the sake of having a page

Site & Blog Promotion TipsRegister your blog in technoratiLink LinkedIn profile to twitter feed so your

tweets are automatically copied to your LinkedIn feed

Remember to cross-post your blog posts to Facebook

Comment on relevant blogs & include a link back to your own site (won’t affect PageRank because of NoFollows, but humans will see and click links)