Blog Content

[david.smith.segarra]

I keep reading that a steady stream of new blogs from my site is a great way for getting inbound links to my site.

My question is... Does the content of my blogs have to be relevant to my site? My site is www.marblerenovation.com. If the blog should stay relevant, I am finding it pretty hard to create engaging content around cleaning marble floors.

Also, does anyone know of a good place to find bloggers to help create this content?

Thanks in advance everyone

Dave

[Felip3]

Your content can be about things that your target public would like to read about.  For example who reads about "cleaning marble floors" mostly like would like to read about "home improvements".

About outsourcing your blog content creation scripted.com is a good provider.

[DarinPirkey]

First of all, be careful about what you outsource.  I think the last thing you should be outsourcing is your content.  It's okay to get content ideas of places but to outsource your content is not the right strategy in my opinion.  Secondly, one or two blog posts a month would be enough to help your rankings.  Google likes freshness and if you provide it to them they will generally reward you.

Think about your user when it comes to relevance.  Your blog posts should have something to do with your industry.  If your site is about marble restoration and you start talking about cars then you might have an issue.  I read blogs that interest me and I go back to blogs that talk about topics that I am interested in on a regular basis.  Being all over the place isn't the best strategy for repeat readers.  What that means is that you could write about the history of marble, marble in famous buildings, cleaning and maintenance of marble, marble vs granite, why does marble come in different colors, etc?

Here is a little trick I use to get content for my client sites.  I go to iwriter.com and for $3 to $5 I can get a 300 word article on a particular topic. I use the article as a basis for the article I end up writing.  You can also use oDesk and for around $25 to $50 you can have people do internet research on everything you ever wanted to know about marble or historic buildings that have marble in them.

You own the business and at the end of the day, no one will know more about your clients (and potential clients) then you.  You have to write for the people who will want your services, not for the search engines.

[WhiteboardCreations]

Great question, David.

Yes, feed your website's blog with content. We fell off for a long time on ours, but just yesterday I have put into place to have 2-4 articles posted to our blog per month and hired a great freelance writer to help with that. So, pumping more content to our site for Google to index. That is great and all, however, we are taking the approach of 'topical' vs 'keyword' driven articles due to all the latest Google updates. In doing this, we are writing for our viewers or people searching for solutions for the services we provide AND targeting some keywords and phrases along the way. 2 birds with 1 stone so to speak.

Per outsourcing your content, there are a number of sites out there, but like vzPro states, be weary of who you hire. If you are giving them full range to develop the content, then be sure to read through each sentence for grammar or spelling. For example: some writers use "optimisation" vs "optimization" and so on. We have used scripted.com before and it worked really well. I know some people use spinner software and such, but I wouldn't recommend that route at all. It looks spammy even though they promise it isn't.

Per coming up with content, have someone do your research and find all the articles and websites they can about the subjects pertaining to your client's products and services and industry. Then, from there, structure your blog topics, create your titles and begin writing.

vzPro, I like your idea a lot for some cheaper articles from iwriter.com, which you then rewrite and input your own verbiage, experiences and insight! May have to try that tactic

Patrick

[DarinPirkey]

Wanted to add that there will be a Mozinar on December 17th called "Content Marketing in Boring Industries" by Ross Hodgens.   I would definitely take the time to watch it.  Here is the link to sign up.  https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/474514734

[KaneJamison]

Here's the rankings I'd give on relevance:

• "Cleaning Marble Floors" - highly relevant, but probably too restrictive to continually create decent content.
• "Anything Related to Marble Floors" - just about right. Relevance is high in terms of search engines and your readers, and you're not getting too far away from the topic of the business.
• "General Flooring" - OK, but probably too broad if cleaning wood floors is irrelevant to your business.
• "Home Improvement" - Way too broad for the type of site you're running.

As far as finding writers, I'd avoid most of the content that you'll get for under $25 for a blog post. It's going to be poorly researched, and probably poorly written, too. Start with networks like Zerys or Skyword and look for writers with experience with construction/flooring/marble.