I love what Michael Gray aka Graywolf is doing with his seo video casting.
He has proposed that some SEO bloggers need to stop blogging, that they add noise rather than useful information which improves the bottom line with their reblogging of news that is already available elsewhere.
I gotta say I agree with our cannine friend.
I have only recently dipped my toe into the pond of the seo blogosphere and am amazed at how much drivel is out there. Of course it not drivel to the writer and it’s great if you enjoy SEO blogging, but a blog is a communication tool rather than a blogwank.
The point is to communicate a thought, an insight, a way to solve a specific problem. If the information has already been read, if it’s old, stale, crusty, mouldy then what does that make the brand that is you and your blog look.
I blog specifically to raise my profile in the SEO community. It will not be an instant thing and I must serve up the juiciest titbits around to gain any traction. It’s about being a problem solver, I want this blog to be a place where other SEO types and marketing types can come and find stuff they cannot find anywhere else is easy to digest portions.
My Enormous Linkbaiting list was a winner, this was because you could not find all that information collated in such a useful way anywhere else. Sure, anyone could go and collate that info, but I was the one that did it. I solved the problem of being able to find cutting edge advice regarding linkbait.
Of course for every great post I do there will be ten not so great posts. But as long as I keep at it, my goal will be acheived.
So here are my tips for publishing a great SEO blog.
1. Have a goal.
Know why you are blogging and make every post contribute to that goal. I would love to blog about Cornish Pasties but I resist knowing that you lot couldn’t give a toss.
2. Publish unique information.
If the info is not unique then improve it, expand it, look at the subject from another angle. Get lateral. Read Edward De Bono
3. You are unique.
You have a monopoly on your thoughts. Your thoughts rank number one in your own search engines. Leverage that advantage. Let loose your personality, don’t be shy. Give your opinion, even if you think the industry will laugh at you. No one has your vision, your view on things. Blog about what you are upto, tell us about your successes, your failures. People are interested.
4. Read less blog more.
I read way too much. There is more information going online today than you could read in your lifetime. I havn’t done the test but I am sure it would be physically impossible to read every SEO and marketing blog out there. As soon as you read one post another pops up. I have problems keeping up with just one blog like SEOmoz. I’m sure those guys outsource to India 😉
5. Blog your convictions.
I love reading Aaron Pratt over at seobuzzbox not so much for the seo info but for the way he relates to the rest of the SEO blogoshphere, or rather specific bloggers like Aaron Wall at SEObook. I find it a little funny that he takes a pop at respected bloggers, I jsut love a bitchfest and yes I know I’m going to hell. But Aaron thinks counter intuitively and whether or not you agree with him that kind of thinking can be very readable.
In fact if I take a look at the seo bloggers I like, they are opinionated and really piss me off sometimes. But I love to be challenged and made to look at things differently. Of course the master of this is Calacanis, but Jeremy Schoemaker is hot on his heals.
Greg Boser, Aaron Wall, Michael Gray, Dave Naylor etc. are also on my reading list. Yes they give info that is very useful, but they add their personality and it may not be pretty at times but it’s bloody readable.
There is more but I have already written too much, no time to edit so deal with the mistakes, I had intended to video cast a response to Graywolf but I’m too impatient to set it up and who wants to see my ugly mugg.