LAS VEGAS, Nevada - As part of our ongoing coverage of the newly re-branded Luxury Travel Exchange International, Travel Agent sat in on a seminar hosted by freelance blogger JoAnna Haugen and learned of some tips when using blogging as marketing tool.
Haugen, who writes for the blog site, Kaleidoscopic Wandering and also serves as a managing editor for several other blog sites, told the advisors in the room that one of the most important activities they should be doing is blogging consistently. She recommends not blogging every day, but perhaps about three times a week.
"There was a time where people used it as a personal diary, as a personal journal, but it's important that companies and people running companies have blogs," she says. "People are online and they are looking for you and in order to find you they need to find something by which to find you. Your blogs are constantly being crawled by Google and when Google finds new content, it bumps you up in the rankings."
Other tips she suggested included using the blog platform Wordpress over other blog platforms simply because, "there are a lot of plug-ins in Wordpress that are created to make it easier for people to navigate your sites."
Haugen also heavily stressed staying on top of Google Analytics because it breaks down exactly how many people are reading your blog, who is reading your blog, etc etc.
Also, be sure to keep the comments feature on and try to respond to as many as possible. Keep a flowing dialogue going. Then you can always use those comments for a separate, follow-up blog.
"Blogging is a two-way street," she says. "Blogging is about two-way communication. Listen to what people have to say. Take advantage of what people have to say. You will be able to reach those audiences you want to reach in order to market your own products and services."
Other keys to a successful blog, Haugen says, are keeping the content consistent, perhaps organizing a editorial calendar for a few months in advance; don't push your product too much, but make it available and easy to find; integrate your blog into social media, such as Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest; consider keywords and think about what people are searching for as far as SEO (search engine optimization) goes and, above all else, "keep your content readable, relevant and enjoyable."
Keep visiting www.travelagentcentral.com for more updates from our ongoing coverage of Luxury Travel Exchange International.