Anatomy of a successful blog post – Everything that goes into a blog post that gets results: Shelia Scarborough, Tourism Currents
Congratulations, you’re an online publisher, and now you want to start a blog to attract more visitors and guests. But….exactly how does one DO that? In this session, we’ll take you to the back end of blog publishing software and into the mind of an experienced blogger to show you each of the critical elements of a successful blog post (because the content itself is only part of the package.) Sheila Scarborough is a writer and speaker specializing in tourism, travel and social media. Along with Leslie McLellan and Becky McCray, she’s part of the Tourism Currents team, offering online and in-person training in social media for tourism. Sheila is Vice Chair on the National Board of Directors for the AWC (Association for Women in Communications,) co-founded and still writes for the Perceptive Travel blog, and serves on the Advisory Board for SXSWi, the South by Southwest Interactive tech conference. A U.S. Navy veteran, Sheila is an NHRA drag racing fan because there’s one winner, one loser and no whining.
Anatomy of a successful blog post – Everything that goes into a blog post that gets results: Shelia Scarborough, Tourism Currents
- 1. Anatomy of a Successful Blog Post Sheila Scarborough – Tourism Currents
- 2. Blogging is more than writing @SheilaS @TourismCurrents
- 3. What We'll Talk About Before you start Building a blog post Wait, there's MORE work?! Your gold mine – archives @SheilaS @TourismCurrents
- 4. Before you start @SheilaS @TourismCurrents
- 5. Blog structure: your goals determine your "buckets" (topics)
- 6. Possible DMO Blog Topics/Categories? @SheilaS @TourismCurrents
- 8. (Visit Philadelphia Uwishunu blog)
- 11. You Need a Plan @SheilaS @TourismCurrents
- 12. Basic Editorial Calendar Topic category Title Details (including graphics) Keywords Who's this for? (persona) What's the point? (CTA) @SheilaS @TourismCurrents
- 15. Building a blog post @SheilaS @TourismCurrents
- 18. Blog Post Title @SheilaS @TourismCurrents
- 21. Blog Post Content @SheilaS @TourismCurrents
- 27. Visuals Matter
- 28. Photo resource: Flickr Creative Commons
- 29. Historic pics - Flickr.com/Commons
- 30. Note for posts with video: also include a photo @SheilaS @TourismCurrents
- 31. Got audio? Use SoundCloud's embeddable play boxes for your posts
- 32. Writing for the web....it's not only WHAT you present but HOW you present it @SheilaS @TourismCurrents
- 34. Bolding, bullets, white space!
- 35. You have the Power of the Link. Use it! @SheilaS @TourismCurrents
- 37. Give them the info they seek, in the words they are using to search for it @SheilaS @TourismCurrents
- 40. SEO plugins for WordPress: All-in-One SEO Pack WordPress SEO by Yoast @SheilaS @TourismCurrents
- 41. A Possible Post Format "Great Local Breakfast Places in XYZ" Strong opener, often a quote The List (using bullets, headers, etc.) Mom's Cafe (farm-to-fork) Selena's Taqueria (breakfast tacos) Fred's Downtown Diner (Old School) Closing words, call to action @SheilaS @TourismCurrents
- 43. Your turn.... Take 2-3 minutes to sketch out a breakfast post outline for your blog
- 44. Wait, there's MORE work? @SheilaS @TourismCurrents
- 45. You are the publisher AND the distributor
- 47. Share with your email newsletter list @SheilaS @TourismCurrents
- 49. Don't Forget LinkedIn for B2B Posts
- 50. Your gold mine: archives @SheilaS @TourismCurrents
- 51. Get More From Your Archives Use for internal links Re-share periodically on social....ICYMI Re-share periodically in emails/newsletters Use them to answer visitor questions on social @SheilaS @TourismCurrents
- 52. Photo Credits All photos mine except.... Buckets by Angie Harms on Flickr CC (Creative Commons) You need a map by Stephan van Es on Flickr CC Roget's Thesaurus by Professor Cooper on Flickr CC Newsboys via the U.S. National Archives on Flickr Commons, circa 1909
- 53. Thanks very much! Sheila Scarborough Tourism Currents @SheilaS @TourismCurrents