Who to aim an on-site blog at?
-
I've recently joined a web-development and social media company as their SEO; with an onsite blog which we're trying to resurrect.
Previously, the blog has been aimed mainly at either clients ('Why is a website important for your business' etc. - I know, I know) or web developers (quick tutorials on css techniques, for example).
The owner of the business recently approached me about the blog posts I'd been writing and said they were too technical and aimed at the wrong people. I'm always open to constructive criticism, but I want to know who a web development, social media and SEO company's blog should be aimed at. I was perhaps assuming knowledge of SEO and web techniques that not his previous readers may not have. However, I don't really think the blog had any significant number of readers before.
My argument is to aim it at those in the industry of SEO and social media, as this will garner more links and position ourselves as an authority (people learning from our blog, arguing and contributing their opinion on something). Whereas a blog aimed at clients, while it may attract some search traffic, is less likely to be linked to because they're clients who don't know about linking to content on the web.
-
Thanks for the details.
It sounds like doing both might be a good move.
Perhaps you should have two blogs... the original to share information and expertise with customers and another for people in the SEO industry. If you are a thought leader you might get a lot of links.
-
Thanks for your in-depth reply EGOL.
I did go to the owner with my ideas, stating why I think my way is more effective, and citing SEOmoz as a highly successful company who has always aimed their content at other SEOs, and yet (previously) offered an SEO service to clients.
He knows the basics of SEO and we agree on becoming an authority on a subject is important.
My reply was this:
"This was something I'd considered myself. The thing with the blog is; are we looking to make a blog for clients, or for others in the industry? I feel the latter is better for links and authority. However, I know your current audience is perhaps not the audience I've been writing for. My aim with the last post was to get other SEOs involved with what we're saying.
Perhaps if we split up the blog more distinctly: an SEO/technical blog, and a client blog? Or links on these type of posts saying 'Unsure what all this means? Learn the basics of SEO here'. "
The dynamic of the business is such that the owner is a skilled web developer/social media guy. It's a two man show, with me doing the SEO aspect, him doing the web/social media aspect. He owns the business, but he accepts my opinion on most SEO issues (and other web marketing ideas), even when they clash with his beliefs.
My question was more, 'Am I right in saying that the blog should be aimed at others in the industry, or does he have a good point?'
-
I am answering this as someone who currently owns a business but who previously worked a long time as an employee in a "Yes Sir" and "Yes Ma'am" environment.
The owner of the business recently approached me about the blog posts I'd been writing and said they were too technical and aimed at the wrong people.
The owner of this business pays you guaranteed money to do your job and she is the one who defines your job. Unlike you, the owner of this business does not earn guaranteed money. She is instead paid strictly on the basis of performance. She gets the big bucks if the business is successful and loses her investment if the business tanks.
She was motivated to tell you to change direction. That means she believes that the posts you are making a threat to her income or worse her investment.
You are the noob, she is the most senior person who has all of the skin in the game and who has watched lots of previous efforts to make money succeed and fail.
Now, if what I have said so far has not made you angry then I think you are a person with enormous potential.
If I was in your situation, I would visit the owner to discuss the blog. Your goal in this visit is to listen. What you need to hear are.....
-- who the intended audience is
-- what the intended message is (sample topics)
-- what result is hoped for
After hearing this the goals of the owner should be very clear to you.
After hearing this if you think that your idea targets a different goal then you can explain that goal to the owner. It is possible that the owner will agree and want to do both - if that is the case you might need two blogs or a way to attack your goal on a different part of the website. It is also possible to get agreement but the owner thinks that your time is most profitably spent working towards her goal.
My employees sometimes disagree with me. Sometimes they have an idea that is better than mine. Sometimes they have an idea that just as good. I want to hear these ideas because if they are good and successful then I am the one who will benefit the most.
How you play this depends a lot on the personality of the owner. If the owner is "always right" then it might be best for you to suck it up and do things her way. In that situation I would not try to change this person's mind unless I was really confident about my idea and could make a rock-solid case for it.
However, if the owner values input then you have an opportunity to make a valuable contribution to her business. And, your willingness to discuss the topic to learn and provide input will be valued.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
How to make this informational site successful
Hello, We've got a problem with one of our sites. Our main writer is too advanced for the mainstream SERPs. She is a genius at what she does and really writes beyond where the mainstream looks. Way beyond. I can't even ask her to dumb down, it doesn't make sense. I don't think we're going to hit any of the main (mainstream) keywords with this site because of it, which is fine, but what advice do you have to making money off ads with content like that? There doesn't even really exist keywords for her articles. It's hard to explain. The traffic will be small because the audience is large enough if we got the whole thing but small compared with mainstream. I think mainly experts will understand her. The area of writing is conspiracy, fringe, ancient knowledge, progressive science, healing, consciousness, spirituality. I guess I'm wondering what you guys would do. It would be great if this site could make a good income. She's been studying the topic nonstop for fifteen years. Thanks.
Social Media | | BobGW0 -
Trying to find a WP application (that does not require a FB application) that synchronizes website blog posts with a company facebook page
I'm not a developer and it's been about 5 years since I helped a client synchronize their wordpress blog posts with their FB page. I remember it being much simpler to do this in the past. However recently I'm noticing that all of the WP auto post applications require a Facebook application to get the synchronization to function properly.
Social Media | | RosemaryB
Is there any WP plugin available that does not require this? Something that just requires FB keys?0 -
Can you recommend improvements to my blog?
Hello, I have just revamped my blog. I am not expert blogger. Do you have any recommendations to improve it? What can I add? What would people use? What SEO improvements should I make? http://www.ditalia.com.au/blog Thanks. 🙂
Social Media | | infinart0 -
Duplicate Content issue: Amazon book review & company blog
Can my site be penalized for including a book review verbatim in my blog that I also post on Amazon? What are the steps I need to take? I have written a book review that I want to post on Amazon. I am also planning to create a blog post and include the exact text of the review within the post which I will then also promote on my social channels. What do I need to watch out for in terms of duplicate content? Is there a sequence I should follow? We have the rel=canonical tag on our site which is WordPress.
Social Media | | gfiedel0 -
Blog Sharing Options
We are currently evaluating a long list of blog promotion and sharing ideas for our website and wanted to ask some of the resident experts here. We post all of our blogs on our Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ pages, but would you suggest using any of these services for an internet marketing company? What would be the main purpose to using them? StumbleUpon Technorati Digg Reddit Tumblr Delicious Any missing from the list? Is there a list of great sites to ping through WordPress? I saw they provided a list on the http://codex.wordpress.org/Update_Services page. Is this good to use? Do we need to create accounts at all of those services first? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Social Media | | Prager0 -
Similar Sites to CrunchBase
Hi All, Are there any similar sites to CrunchBase in that you can submit your blogs, websites, social profiles etc all to one central 'People' type page? I'm after high quality directories like this that allow you to create profiles to link to all your other profiles. Only after quality sites like CrunchBase, not spammy ones. Any suggestions? Many thanks
Social Media | | bradkrussell0 -
Best social bookmarking sites
What are the best 5 ( or 10 ) social bookmarking sites to promote a new site ? If we were to launch a new site, what bookmarking sites would be beneficial to spread the word about it. Thanks
Social Media | | seoug_20050 -
So I am my coworker have a differing opinion on social networking sites.
One of us says to join one or two, Linkedin being one of them and just work those. The other says to build profiles on multiple pages - everything from Merchant Circle to fastpitch , essentially any and all, and not worry about activity level, just get the link. What are your thoughts? Which approve will result in more effective optimization for clients?
Social Media | | belocally0