Award winning PA Jennifer Corcoran hosted a hot topic discussion at office* 2015 about blogging – for those of you that missed it, here’s a round up of the best practice tips that were shared on the day.
Where to begin, and how to set up a blog
There are basically two options which are free – tools to use like WordPress, Tumblr or Blogger versus self-hosting a blog on your own website. Setting up free tools like WordPress is relatively easy but the terms and conditions of these platforms stipulate that they own the intellectual property rights of any content posted, i.e. you have no control if they want to take down your site, so this is something to consider.
The main reason for hosting a blog on your own site is to increase SEO and you have full control so it’s a question of whether you view the blog as a hobby or a business. If you are more serious about blogging, it makes sense to buy your own domain name. You can do this via www.GoDaddy.com or 123-reg.co.uk or NameCheap.com where you get the option to buy existing names.
Best practice when blogging:
• First things first – register the blog via Google, Yahoo and Bing. You can also use www.globeofblogs.com and www.technorati.com.
• Bookmark your post on sites such as Triberr, Scoopit or Stumbleupon so that it can be found by others.
• Schedule to publish your blogs when your audience are awake i.e. choose the optimum timing for your audience.
• Optimise your content by including keyword phrases in both the title and content.
• Ensure that you use alternative text (ALT text) i.e. key words for images in order for SEO. This is basically a description of the image and it’s placement in the blog.
• Use copyright free images in your posts – I source a lot of mine from istock. Just because pictures are loaded on the web does not mean they are free to use. Imagery has its own digital footprint and can be tracked if modified or downloaded without permission. You could face legal charges so worth noting!
• You can find free images on platforms such as with Morguefile or Findicons.
• Encourage and respond to comments – include a ‘call to action’ at the end (e.g what do you think?)
• Include links to your blog in your social media profiles as well as email signature and newsletter if relevant.
• Share social media tool options at the end of your blog – FB, LI, Google+, Pinterest etc.
• Bring value – ask yourself ‘so what?’ when writing and reading the blog.
• Mention others if applicable as this will increase your audience reach.
My take away tips:
• I recently came across #bloghour on Twitter – this is a tweet chat once a week hosted by the UK Blog Awards. It is the blogging equivalent of #adminchat which is hosted by Executive Secretary Magazine.
• Blogging on the blog curation tool LinkedIn Pulse platform may be a good place to start. It is free and you are your own editor. The post will automatically feature on your LinkedIn profile. Blog curation tools allow you to see information from a number of sources in one place.
• Likewise, you could guest blog like I did and approach platforms such as Practically Perfect PA, Secsinthecity, Career Moves and WeAreTheCity. These sites will source their own copyright free photos so you don’t need to worry about that and just send over the blog content in word format.
• Track your blog with Google Analytics (a free tool).
• If you create your own blog, organise it with tags and categories, and you may also want to set up a static page ‘about you’.
• Check out other PA/EA blogs on your preferred platform – I chose WordPress and personally rate Exceptional EA by Shelagh Donnelly, PA Power with Victoria Darragh and Diary of An Award Winning Assistant by Leanne Graham. By looking at other blogs you will become aware of the large range of themes and customisation options available to you. I learnt mostly by playing around with the various widget options and with a lot of trial and error. Practically Perfect PA by Nicky Christmas is in my mind the perfect example of a domain.
• Build your own private stock photo collection – for example, in relation to blogging/writing, you can take photos of a typewriter, computer keyboard, pencil, paper, handwriting etc. You can use this approach with almost anything.
• Research all of the free tools and see which is the best for you. If none work, invest in your own personal domain.
• Use social media to see what are hot topics. Look on Twitter and in Facebook and LinkedIn groups.
• Focus on fresh and punchy titles and subheadings – 8/10 people will scan your blog and only 2 will read on – always use the ‘so what?’ test on your content. Your heading needs to be compelling in order to entice the reader to continue.
And lastly..
• Don’t put it off – if I can do it, anyone can! Most blogs are 200-500 words so in theory it shouldn’t take that long to do. There are many ways to blog – albeit a microblog, edublog, photoblog and a video blog (vlog). Twitter is considered to be a microblog so you may already be a blogger in the making!
• Enjoy and have fun but always be mindful that what you put in a blog will exist forever, so exercise caution and common sense.
A HUGE thank you to everyone who attended and supported me with this hot topic session at office*. It was my first time public speaking, and going outside our comfort zone as you know is often daunting!
To read more about Jennifer’s blogging tips, including common pitfalls – see the full blog post on Jennifer’s LinkedIn page here .
“office* is an amazing conference where you can learn, be inspired, make valuable business contacts and mingle with like-minded peers all under the one roof. It’s especially interesting to see what the hot topics of the day are and keep up to speed. I leave feeling motivated, recharged and resilient and usually with a large smile on my face. I love the vibe and recognition of National PA Day and in 2016 I’m looking forward to exploring a bit more about the VA role,” says Jennifer.
The next edition of office* will take place at ExCeL London, on 11-12 May 2016.
The post Hot topic discussion: A beginners guide to PA blogging appeared first on office* | 13-14 October 2015 | Olympia, London.