How to use articles effectively in a blog.

[AndreB]

I wanted to start a blog so I could get some longer tail search term results. I am a knowledge expert in my area but am very busy as an entrepreneur so I had been putting it off for some time. It occurred to me that I might be able to outsource the article writing and I have started doing that. I have either come up with or have approved the topics. I am a very critical editor and demand high quality writing. The articles are all original. We are proofreading everything to make sure the articles are of high quality and inform readers about the subject. I plan to only put external links in the articles that link out to the sources for the information that was used to write the articles. We are also using pictures info graphics and video where possible. I plan to close the comments because, while we have had a website for some time and get some visitors (2500 per month) we are new to blogging and do not have a following that would post comments. My questions is this.......will these be viewed negatively by Google? I think this will be good content but I don't want to do anything to negatively affect us.

[AlanMosley]

No it won’t be seen as negative assuming they are relative to your main content.
But what do you want to achieve with your blog, you may get some long tails but how do you intend to convert them to sales.
I ask because you say you will only have external links. I would assume you would be attracting traffic, therefore you need to get them to click a link to your main content, or attract links, there for you would want to funnel that link juice to your main pages, either way you need to think about internal linking.

[AndreB]

Thanks for the tip. I want to use internal links but I want to avoid making the content of the articles seem commercial, self serving, or not genuine. The blog is the same URL as my main site. Can you suggest some way to use internal linking without appearing to be a self serving sales article?

[onlinemediadirect]

The best piece of advice I would give with a blog is dont sit back and hope it happens and generates traffic. Be proactive and make it happen.

Create lists of people that would be interested in the particular postings and form relationships with people.

Once you have a good stock of contacts you can move on to other contacts via RSS subscription, social sites (facebook fan pages etc)

[EGOL]

Self-serving content is when the author thumps the corporate chest by using their brand name in every sentence, surrounding it by superlatives.  A step lower is using possessive pronouns such as "our product" accompanied by  hyperbole.

If you offer generous, genuinely altruistic, informative content without inserting yourself,  your brand or marketing then you don't have to worry about being commercial or self-serving.

A good goal would to build the "go to" place for information about your niche where your internal links provide a self-contained Bible about your topic niche.

One thing that surprised me about your post is that you are "a knowledge expert in your area" yet you are farming out the writing.  That's like a race horse letting a donkey take his place at the Kentucky Derby.

Competition on the web is usually won by creating the very best content anywhere rather than turning the content into a commodity.

If you really want your site to succeed, consider doing this important batting yourself and making the site the best it can possibly be.

I know you are busy... but if you don't have time to do this right then your sharp edge as a content expert is made dull.

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As for using the content in a blog... you could do that if you don't have the ability to build a custom website.  However, a blog is a way to publish mass produced content.  Departing from that to create a format with custom pages where you can cross-promote other content exactly at the point where it will be most effecttive.

It will also enable you to create custom topic pages to organize the site for visitors who arrive through search instead of arriving through subscription.  These can be done with a blog but it takes extra effort and planning.

[AndreB]

Thank you for your comments. I do hope to someday be able to write full time instead of running the business. Operations, compliance, payroll, taxes, strategic planning and other daily tasks now dominate my time and compete with the demands of raising a family. Right now it is more feasible for me to farm out this task than any other. I am using my knowledge to come up with the relevant subjects then to review the works to ensure they are on point and making necessary adjustments. It is my highest goal to put up great content, but I do understand your position. I will write a few, and am working on a couple that I cannot farm out. But for now it is a solution I wanted to try as opposed to pushing off making the move in this direction. I don't know that it is always possible for the most knowledgable person to do everything, but I do understand and appreciate that I am responsible for everything. I will be careful. Thanks.

[AndreB]

Thanks for your comments, I will keep that in mind.