As many of you know, I do blog consulting on the side and one of the biggest problems I see with most blogs is the lack of system integration between the blog and other social media outlets. It is almost as if the blogger thought about each individual part, instead of how they affect each other as a whole. Your Twitter account, Facebook account, email newsletter and blog are all apart of a system that you, as the blogger, use to convert casual viewers into longtime readers and customers. Without this integration and planning, you create branding confusion amongst the different mediums and your conversion rates suffer. So let’s take a look deeper into how you need to treat your blogging like a system.
Video Blogging Lesson: Treating Your Blog Like A System
Discussed In This Video – Logopond.com | Aweber
Ok…so the idea here is that you want your blog and your related sites/social media to be a sum that is greater than it’s parts. With branding and design consistent across mediums, you are able to build trust in your content and brand through integration. Think of it this way…what do you think when you switch from someone’s blog to their Twitter account and finally to their Facebook account and everything matches? It helps you remember who they are and what they are about right? Well…that is the idea.
So…how do we treat our blogs like a system?
While the video goes more in-depth on the subject, here are the cliff notes.
Your Blog: On Page Optimizing
Your blog is typically your first line of attack with your readers. It is what creates that first impression and gets a new reader to start absorbing your content. On your blog you need to have some items that all look seamless within the design and compliment your goals.
- Unique Logo in the header.
- Social Media Icons that match your color scheme and design.
- Newsletter Opt-Ins below content and in sidebar that carry the same color scheme and design. (Preferably through Aweber)
- Personal photo on about page that is professional looking even if it is humorous.
From your on page blog system optimization, you are laying the foundation for your other social media and newsletter elements.
Your Social Media and Newsletter: Off Page Optimization
We carry this same theory to your off page sites using your blog as the foundation.
Facebook Fan Page
- Professional picture – Matches the picture on your about page.
- Matching Logo – Same as the one in the header of your blog.
- RSS Feed – Deliver your content to your Facebook fans.
Twitter Account
- Professional Looking Personal Avatar – Matches your Facebook fan page and blog about page.
- Logo – Located in the background of your profile page.
Newsletter
- Same voice and style in content as blog content.
- Same color scheme and logo if html formatted.
There Are No Assumptions in Blogging!
The biggest excuse that I hear bloggers say as they choose to ignore this crucial part of the process is…
I don’t have to worry about that…they’ll know.
Well…guess what? They don’t. It is up to you as the blogger to operate under the assumption that there are no assumptions. You have to make your blog and your brand stand out from the competition by making everything easy to recognize and as simple as possible. Any confusion will only hurt you in the long run. It is not always about what you like or what you think looks good. It is about what converts the best while keeping within your personal voice and originality.
Next time you are jumping around blogs being a consumer of content, take a look at how the successful blogs attack this theory. Chances are…if they are seeing a lot of success…they are holding true to their branding and voice across all of their outlets.
18 comments
Fabulous, absolutely spot on!
Fantastic video..I’m glad you’re using a whiteboard or something instead of a lot of videos just have “talking heads”. Gives a place for us to mentally interact with what you say.
Just a couple of notes, maybe instead of 10 minute video, break it down into 3-4 smaller chunks, go with one idea per chunk, go to facebook, go to twitter, newsletter etc.
Use a personal mic or maybe have some deadening panels on walls, your voice echoed quite a bit.
Again, great post, would love to see more like this. Take care
Joe
PS..do several of these, put together in chapters, you’ll have a “how-to” dvd in no time.!!
I thought about that Joe, but then there would be people that said I should have included it all!
It goes both ways I guess.
Thanks for the feedback!
Hi Robb
Nice to see a great video from you. I think this medium is growing in popularity as it gives that rawness to it. Whenever I do one at my blog (one going live tomorrow actually!) I always get a ton of great feedback.
I appreciate the time, as no doubt do the rest of your readers/viewers, you put into these great posts, dude.
Its never a dull day at robbsutton.com!
Thanks again,
Chris
Thanks Chris!
I really need to do more videos like this. Brings that personal aspect into blogging with a better light.
Never a dull moment at all for sure!
That’s really good points Robb, took me a few months to get thru all of those but like to think I am there now…
Excellent Video! Nice work. What Video Camera are you using. It looks great. Loved the whiteboard. 🙂
I think you really nailed it here with being consistent. It’s a total package that needs to work together. Presentation is everything.
I rocked this one out with the Kodiak Zi8. I really wanted to use my Nikon D300s with the super wide lens to get up close and personal, but it is limited to a 5 minute record time in HD.
The new iPhone 4 I just ordered should shake things up a bit though…
I have a lot of work to do. Overall, I’m satisfied with the look of my blog, but there’s a lot of tweaking that I’m slowly putting into place. However, in the back of my mind I’m always wondering if it’s not time find a template that would better fit my “system.”
Hey Robb.
Really enjoyed that video which was very well done. I trying to get the hang of video recording, something I need to continue working on. I was going to ask about the camera, but I see the answer in your reply to Richard. I’ll upgrade at some point. Currently using an older model Sony Handycam (DCR-DVD301) that records directly to a DVD. The output is avi and I have to convert that to wmv which is a PIA.
My other option is to use my laptop and edit in Camtasia 7. Anyhow…
The “system” you discuss in the video is on the mark. I’m reworking my blog now and have some elements to address.
Thanks for the post.
The Kodak Zi8 has worked out great and the video quality is amazing for it’s size (and price).
Robb,
It makes me happy to know that you and others believe it how things all flow and how they need to be consistent all in terms of transparency of you and then all the design elements. I believe the weakest section of every blog I see is the sidebar. It looks like it was simply pieced together throughout time. Just kept being added to. Instead we should focus on having a sidebar that is to the point of being 95% established when first laying out the design for our blog.
Lastly, I would love to help anyone wanting a new logo, because this simple fix has a huge impact and it like the first step in branding. There is too many logos that are just “insert text here”.
Thanks for the video!
The sidebar is normally the biggest culprit for sure. A bunch of after thought widgets for the most part on many blogs.
Robb,
Great video! You talked about adding the opt in box seamlessly at the end of posts. What are you thoughts on the opt in pop up box for new visitors on a blog? What is the best program or plug-in to use for that? I see so many people using the pop up type sign up box now. I was thinking about testing it out to try and get more sign ups. Thanks…
I use a lightbox hover through Aweber on all of my blogs. Best converting weapon I have honestly.
Robb-
First of all thanks for all the great tips, I’m slowly organizing my blogs to create a more coherent brand for myself. Quick question…in order to embed the aweber signup at the bottom of each post do you place the code on each post or are you using a plugin to make it happen.
Scott
I hand coded and designed that on my own.
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