1.)  Decide on the best keywords.

• Research and find those keywords that your target audience is searching for.
• Use A/B testing (multi-variant testing) and choose those words that bring the best results. (Tip: Set up a Google AdWords campaign, run it for a month or two and use different keywords to find those that work best for you.)
• Establish whether you can compete on those keywords. How established are the websites that appear on the first Google page for those keywords? Is the content relevant to the keywords? Would you be able to compete with these websites? Will you be able to build enough authority to be included on the first page of Google for these keywords? If not, you might consider other keywords or phrases or re-arrange them differently.

 2.)  Once you have chosen those keywords that will drive the most traffic to your site, (they are relevant, your target audience is searching for them, and they are not too competitive) insert your keywords in:

• The page title
• Headings on the page
• Page URL
• Text on the page
• Meta-tags
• Alt-text on images

3.)  Write the best possible description for each page of your website. When your page appears on the Google search results, your target audience should understand what you are offering. They should want to read more. Convince them to click on your site.

4.)  Build links within your site to other key text or keywords on your site – anchor text to other pages. Remember to make the hypertext the description or title of the page it directs to – the landing page.

5.)  Submit your site to the main directory: Dmoz.org

6.)  Communicate through social networking (Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google buzz) and your blog. Add content that people want to remark on and share with others. (Tip: Provide free tools to use in your industry, give tips, write a top 10 list, etc.) Join groups and comment on the content of others.

7.)  Your blog should be your homepage (www.yourdomain.com) or (www.yourdomain.com/blog) or a sub domain like blog.yourdomain.com. Why? Because you want to drive more traffic to your site and build inbound links. You do not want your efforts to build authority and improve the rankings of someone else’s site – Word Press, Blogger, etc.

8.)  Your blog/website should incorporate your social media applications, i.e. include Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube widgets on your site or blog.

9.)  I would recommend including RSS functionality and an email subscription form.

10.)  Register with and start using social bookmarking sites: Digg, Reddit, and StumbleUpon.

“Well, if you stay with me, I’ll tell you more…” James replies.

Time and effort - Every person that ends up with a successful blog, starts out with the knowledge that the blog will be successful. If you are aware of and implement the time, effort, research and best practice, you can have a go at it with the knowledge that your blog will be executed successfully and (most importantly) that it will be read.

Something exciting - These days anyone can start a blog, write posts and build an online network. Many end up in an online cul-de-sac because either the writer or the audience has lost interest. However, if you know you have something meaningful to say, if you are passionate about what you write and if you feel you have something to contribute whether it be facts, gossip, politics or if you have stories to tell, you could end up with something exciting.

Of course you will find marketers, like me, who want to sell you anything from stripes to zebras disguised as a blog, but that does not mean that it is less meaningful – or interesting.  If you don’t like what you read, you move on. Right?

“It started a long time ago, as so many things do, in a piazza in Rome. Silvio had just been found out! He was trying to hide, he disguised himself as a modern day Don Giovanni, but in the end he had to come out.” James cannot contain his laughter as he reads the disbelief on my face.

Target audience and message- Before you start writing, decide who your main target audience is going to be. Do they want to read a story or just the facts? What do they think? How do they want to receive the message? Then decide on how you will convey your message to them. Will it be factual, light-hearted, reporting or story-telling? Will you include other media such as video or podcasts in your blog? Of course there are a lot of factors to consider and yes, you have the freedom to add items as you go along, but I would suggest to think about these main issues before you start. This will help you to create a vision for the blog.

I wonder how many of you are still reading at this point, but if you got this far, you may as well finish as there is not much left to say for today.

Make it personal – talk to your audience as if they are sitting opposite you.

James agrees and suggests that… “oh no James, I won’t be writing that! Thanks for the thought though, maybe next time?”

Keep it short - you know what I mean… That is it, I have to go, but have many tips on how to create and maintain a blog and how to start writing stories. If Silvio and James allow me to, I will write here again.

“Fancy another pint, James?”

“Marketing is a process of finding those products and services that satisfy your customer needs, then making it available to them at an acceptable price and telling them all about it. If the process is researched, planned and executed correctly, your business will make a healthy profit.” Gerrie Coertzen, Independent Marketing Executive.

A creative agency used so called “clean” advertising to promote a website for a car maker in 5 major cities in the UK: London, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol and Birmingham.  The messages were spray painted on pavement sites with high-footfall using naturally collected rain water. These markings last for around two to three weeks and then simply fade away.

As many people have not seen this form of advertising before, it attracted more attention and people slowed down and took time to take it in. This already attracted more than 135,000 people to the website with over 3,400 people registering details to obtain more information in the future.

Be careful not to use scientific words for common conditions that are unfamiliar to consumers and never suggest that consumers should use certain products in excess.

If advertisers claim that products are guaranteed to work, they should have enough proof of these claims. So called “natural” products should not imply that they are effective or safe just because it excludes certain ingredients in common use.

Where there are medical claims, these claims should be backed up with sufficient evidence. These claims will be assessed based on the scientific knowledge available to the Advertising Standards Authority at the time of the claim.