2. Agenda
⢠What is a blog?
⢠Blogging platforms
⢠Informatica Perspectives
overview
⢠How to set up a blog
⢠Writing a blog post
⢠How to promote your blog
post
3. What is a blog?
⢠An online
platform that
consists of short
entries or âpostsâ
⢠All entries or
posts revolve
around one key
topic
⢠Can be the work
of a single
person, or many
people
4. Blogging Platforms
Blogger
⢠Powered by Google
⢠Advantages:
⢠Use free blogger templates or easily customize your blog
themes using CSS or HTML code
⢠Can use a custom domain
⢠Search engine friendly and a high ranking for your content
⢠Limitless themes
⢠Disadvantages:
⢠Chance of your blogs being shut down any time by Google
without prior notification
⢠Canât integrate social media channels
5. Blogging Platforms
WordPress
⢠Advantages:
â˘
â˘
â˘
â˘
â˘
Wide variety of plugins and widgets*
Reliable hosting
High level of security
Social media integration
⢠Can share posts through a widget
Disadvantages
⢠Limits storage space and design
⢠Canât host videos on the site, must embed them into your post
6. Blogging Platforms
LiveJournal!
⢠Advantages:
⢠Large volume of readers and users [10M-100M/month]
⢠Offers many blog templates
â˘
⢠Drag and drop, no coding
⢠Can customize with HTML if desired
Disadvantages:
⢠Doesnât allow you to integrate social channels
⢠Can be slow and cumbersome
7. Setting up a blog
⢠Choose a theme that interests you
⢠Make sure that you have a constant stream of new content
⢠EX. A culinary blog where you teach people how to make certain
dishes
⢠EX. A blog on your industry (big data, cloud, MDM, etc.)
Select a blogging platform to use
â˘
⢠Customize your domain (if possible)
⢠Create the look and feel of your blog
⢠Start posting!
8. Writing a blog post
⢠Ground rules
⢠500-700 words
⢠Include multimedia when possible
⢠Experts predict by 2015, the majority of SEO results will be
video*
⢠Catchy, on topic title
⢠Compelling content
9. Write Your Blog
⢠Write about a trending topic or something that is
noteworthy
⢠Add value to your readers
⢠Share your point of view about a topic, remember what is
obvious to you might not be obvious to someone else
⢠Write in an authentic tone
⢠Remember this is a blog post, not a press release â let your
personality show through in your writing!
10. Optimize Your Blog for Search
⢠Have keywords in mind
⢠Include keywords in:
â˘
⢠Title
⢠Heading
⢠Body
⢠Metadescription
⢠URL
Hyperlink within your blog
⢠Make sure the text matches the link
â˘
⢠EX. PowerCenter links to the PowerCenter product page
Categorize your blog post â make it easier to find within
your blog
⢠Tag your blog with keywords
11. Posting Your Blog
⢠Timing is everything
⢠Think about where your core audience is
⢠What is your content about?
⢠More technical or business related posts do better in the
morning â this is when journalists are looking for compelling
content to write about
⢠More personal interest related posts do better in the
afternoon/evening when people get off of work and are looking
for a leisurely read
⢠If you are posting on Perspectives make sure to reserve a time
and date
12. Promote Your Blog
⢠Promote via other social channels
⢠Leverage your social channels to spread the word widely â
LinkedIn Groups for technical/business blog posts are a
great way to generate more readership
⢠If you blog for Perspectives, the blog automatically will be
distributed from Informaticaâs twitter and facebook profiles
⢠Add your blog to the Informatica Conversation Calendar
⢠Provide a set of tweets to promote and send to Alison by EOD
Thursday the week prior
⢠Comment on other relevant blogs
⢠Add value to them, do NOT just spam!
⢠Comment on something that they wrote and
follow up with a teaser and link to your blog
*blog rolls, photo slideshows, link lists or small programs ranging from updating new posts, Twitter Integration, to improving your tag and keyword usage, to adding music to your site.