Discount UK

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – If you plan on taking part in the MLB All-Star Game Charity 5K and Fun Run, there’s incentive to register right away.

From now until June 2, you can save $5 off registration for the event. You just need to use the code word, ALLSTAR. It’s one word in all caps.

The All-Star 5K and Fun Run will take place on Sunday, July 8 in downtown Kansas City, Mo. Royals Hall of Famer and 13-time All-Star George Brett will be at the event, along with former Royals star Mike Sweeney. Award-winning actress, singer and Stand Up To Cancer Ambassador Kristin Chenoweth will also attend.

The event will benefit the Prostate Cancer Foundation, Stand Up To Cancer and the Greater Kansas City Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Registration and event information is available at AllStarGame.com/5K.

Stay with 41 Action News and kshb.com, as we count down each day to the July 10 MLB All-Star game at Kauffman Stadium.

Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Article source: http://www.kshb.com/dpp/sports/baseball/all_star_game/the-all-star-game-5k--fun-run-discount-is-available-until-june-2

A week after previewing the revamped Bing, Microsoft has released the latest version of its search engine to people in the U.S. Head over to Bing.com/new to test out the new social features as well as annoy your friends with questions in the process. It doesn’t have all of the new bells and whistles announced last week, and you can only sign in with a Facebook or Windows Live account — though Quora, LinkedIn, and Twitter support should be coming soon.

New Bing has a gray sidebar on the right that, once you login with Facebook, shows all the new social features. When you search a topic, new Bing will list friends who might be able to answer your question and help with the search based on whether they’ve “liked” or mentioned something with that keyword in it. It even shows any relevant images they’ve posted.

You can then post a question directly to Facebook or specific friends in the know from the sidebar. If you find something useful while searching or want to answer a buddy’s question with a link, you can post the URL directly to Facebook from the sidebar. Relevant Twitter results from random people are also sometimes shown at the bottom of the box under “People Who Know”.

Most of my test searches showed no “Search With Friends” results, even for things I know my friends love and post about often such as cats, cheese, Dollywood, robots, or the Maker Faire.

Earlier this year when rival company Google first attempt to mashup your social graph and search habits via “Search Plus Your World,” the results seemed invasive and annoying. Second-place Bing seems to have learned a bit from Google’s stumbles, cordoning off the social element on the far right side of your screen.

However, even if the social/search feature was more helpful, I’m not sure there’s a big need for this kind of integration. Most people have mastered searching for things themselves, or posing questions to Facebook. If they haven’t, I usually send them to lmgtfy.com.

via Search Engine Land

Article source: http://venturebeat.com/2012/05/15/the-new-bing-is-here-start-peppering-your-friends-with-questions/

Local search engine optimization (SEO) is a specialized form of SEO focused on optimizing businesses and their websites for optimal visibility in local search engines.

Local search takes into consideration not only the keyword the searcher entered, but also the location of the searcher, whether indicated through user settings, automatic detection, or a location in the keyword phrase (e.g. “Best Restaurants in Dallas, TX”).

Google, Bing, and Yahoo! all provide local search capabilities. Here is an example of the familiar Google local search results:

Local search has some similarities to traditional SEO (focused on ranking for a given keyword), but includes a lot of activities not applicable to global SEO. It can be difficult to know where to start!

Fortunately, there are many great local SEO resources available – for free – on the Internet. Here are five that I find helpful:

1) Local Search Ranking Factors

Have you ever wondered what Google (and the other search engines) consider when ranking local businesses in the local search results? Is it the number of reviews? Is it the number of images and videos? Is it the authority of your website for the given keyword?

Thanks to David Mihm, a Local SEO guru, you don’t have to wonder (as much…). Every year, he interviews dozens of experts in the field to compile his Local Search Ranking Factors report.

It is awesome!

For the best part, scroll down to “The Results.” There you will find the top ten ranking factors for local search.

Sidebar

Take a look at #2: “Manually Owner-verified Place Page.” I can’t tell you how many businesses I’ve worked with that have not yet taken this simple step. If you haven’t claimed your Google Place page, please do so as soon as you finish reading this post!

Here is a helpful video about adding a Google business listing if you want some guidance.

2) Comprehensive List of Local Search Directories (or “Yellow Pages”)

One of the factors that determine your ranking in local search results is the number of “citations” available for your business around the Internet. Adding your business to local search directories is a great way to rack up on citations (and also improves your chances of getting new traffic!).

Andrew Shotland of Local SEO Guide has compiled a comprehensive list of local search directories (he calls them “Internet Yellow Pages”).

The Local SEO Guide blog is one of the first resources I used to learn about local SEO. Shotland is an expert in the field and has been at it for a long time. He knows his stuff!

3) Understanding Google Places Local Search

Another great local SEO resource is Mike Blumenthal’s wonderful local search blog, which is geared toward keeping the rest of us up to speed on the developments of local search.

Mike writes about local search news, Google Places (and other related Google topics), and Yahoo! local. He also addresses topics related to local mobile and local social. (To name few!)

Best of all, Mike responds to comments and questions (what a concept, right!). If you don’t understand something he’s writing about or want to discuss the topic further, he’ll take the time to discuss it with you.

Very accessible. Very friendly. Very local.

4) GetListed.org

Isn’t it amazing that there are organizations who care enough about you to put lots of time and effort into providing tools, resources, and live training sessions to help you grow your business?

GetListed.org is one such organization.

On their website, you can enter your business to see how well (or poorly) it is fairing in the local SEO world:

It’s a great tool and the website has a nice, clean interface.

Additionally, GetListed.org has all sorts of resources, including their Local University. They have several sessions coming up this spring, so make sure to check their list of upcoming events.

5) A Step-by-Step Guide to Local Search

In working with small businesses on local SEO, I have developed a process that I use to optimize a business for local search.

One day, I decided to lay it all out in a post on our blog.

Why?

Because I know that some businesses cannot afford to hire a consultant to do the job for them. And perhaps some small business owners find this type of work satisfying (I know I do!).

In this Local Search Guide, I walk through the process of optimizing your business for local search.

I believe it is the most comprehensive local search guide available free online.

Please don’t lose traffic (both to your website and your store/restaurant/office) because you haven’t taken the take to optimize your business for the local search engines. It would break my heart.

Over to You!

I hope you find these resources valuable and would love to hear about the local SEO resources you use to learn more about all things local. Leave a comment!

Article source: http://www.searchenginejournal.com/5-local-resources-to-boost-your-local-rankings/43675/

Resume Keyword Mistakes – Are You Making One?

May 15, 2012 by William Frierson

Jessica Holbrook Hernandez of Great Resumes Fast

Appropriate keyword use is a big deal for job seekers working on their resumes. Many employers now use some form of scanning software as an initial screener that helps them determine which candidates are obviously qualified for the job.

Even when your resume makes it passed the screening process, if a hiring manager can’t glance at your resume and determine through your use of keywords that you mesh with the position you’re applying for, your resume will likely land in the decline stack.

The best way to ensure your resume will be taken seriously is to avoid the misuse of keywords.

What Are Keywords?

Keywords are words or phrases that employers use to find the right candidates for positions they’re offering. The concept is similar to that of looking up information in a search engine. The more keywords you use to conduct your search, the more closely the information you find will match what you’re looking for.

Employers look for candidates to incorporate similar keywords in their resumes that match the nature of the position they’re applying for. Keyword examples might include “press release” if you’re going for a public relations position, or “infrastructure development” if you’re in the IT field.

3 Common Misuses of Keywords

Because many job seekers don’t understand keywords and how they work, they often misuse them. Here are three common misuses of keywords:

1. Keyword Underuse

Many job seekers don’t know that keywords should be incorporated into their resume, so while they may be highly qualified, they don’t appear to be because of keyword underuse. A great remedy for underuse is to find a list of good keywords based on the field you’re in. Also, take a good look at job postings to find words that seem to define the role you want to assume.

2. Keyword Overuse

Another problem seekers run into is keyword overuse. Once they realize they need keywords, they jam too many into the resume, nearly spamming the document. Although you do want to include related keywords, you don’t want to ruin the integrity of your resume by saturating it with words that don’t fit the context of the sentences you write.

3. Unrelated Keywords

Some seekers also have a problem with adding too many keywords that are unrelated to the position they’re applying for. This could happen if you’ve added job history from an industry different from your current one. To fix this, think of ways that your former jobs in outside industries relate to the position you want, then switch your details and keywords to match.

As you can see, keywords can be your best friend or your worst enemy—depending on their use. Be sure to make them your friend as you work to create a dynamic resume that impresses any hiring manager who reads it.

It’s important to remember to brand your resume before applying to each new position for more information on branding check out my recent article 5 Key Areas to Target When Branding Your Resume. You can also get additional job search and career related advice by checking out our blog or following us on Twitter @GreatResume.

Author: Global resume authority Jessica Hernandez of http://www.greatresumesfast.com is a former HR Manager who partners with professional- and executive-level candidates to create authentic, branded resumes and cover letters.

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

Comments

Powered by Facebook Comments

Related posts:

1. Writing a keyword rich resume
2. Writing a keyword rich resume
3. Resume Keyword Optimization: Set your resume on fire!
4. Resume Keyword Optimization: Set your resume on fire!
5. How To Use Keywords On Your Resume

Article source: http://www.collegerecruiter.com/blog/2012/05/15/resume-keyword-mistakes-are-you-making-one/

Keyword research can give you great insight into customer problems, needs, desires, and intent. Categorizing the keywords you’ve found is an important step in putting together potential campaigns and deciding on which ones are worth pursuing in your organic or paid search efforts.

I believe that categorizing keywords into the finest groupings that make semantic sense is the right way to do it; often I’ll have a category with 2, 10, or perhaps 30 keywords at the most. Later, when some of the categories are turned into actual campaigns, this tight organization and relevance will tend to pay off with higher quality scores.

Since Google Adwords takes into account the relevance of keywords to the creative, obviously grouping very diverse keywords will result in low relevance, so this is why relatively fine categorization is important.

Often, however, I find myself with too many keywords to handle; even as little as 5,000 keywords broken down into 300 categories, for instance, is still not a very manageable set.

In these cases, I like to take the keyword categories and bundle the categories themselves into a *secondary* category that represents the “funnel” stage that the keyword category belongs to.

Marketers are told to think of a customer as being in one of various “funnel” stages at any given time, and even if you’re not systematic about it, you probably already think of brand terms as being “lower funnel” and research-type terms as being “upper funnel”.

Most readers are doubtless familiar with models such as “Attention-Interest-Desire-Action”, and other 4, 5, and 6 stage funnels which are pretty standard fare for marketers.

After performing my initial keyword categorization (sort of into micro-categories), I like to categorize the categories themselves into a total of *ten* funnel stages I’ve developed, which are organized around a “problem/solution” mental model.

In Figure 1, I’ve shown individual keywords belonging to each funnel stage for a variety of B-to-C funnels. Later, Figure 2 presents some B-to-B  examples.

These keywords presented could be actual keywords, but I think they are more appropriately thought of as representing *categories* of keywords:

Figure 1 – Business to Consumer Search Funnel Stages

Ten stages may seem like a lot of detail, but organizing keyword categories into these stages:

1. Forces you to really try to understand searcher’s intent.
2. Gives you a sense of where the holes in your keyword research are from a funnel perspective.
3. Resonates with clients or management and is a great way to discuss and understand a business.

For example, after going through this exercise with one client, to my great surprise, they told me that stage 2 (“Suspicion There May Be a Problem“) was almost the sole focus of their existing marketing.

Their strategy is to pull in searchers looking for help identifying their problem, establishing them early as a trusted brand in the eyes of the searcher.  This client has found that organic and offline conversions then naturally follow. Although very much a one-trick pony approach which I would not recommend for most businesses, it works great in their market.

Below is another version of the funnel with examples that are more B-to-B oriented, for those interested in that perspective;  we’ll now run through the funnel stages, explain the thinking behind each of them, and discuss which stages you should consider addressing in your marketing mix.

Figure 2 – Business to Business Search Funnel Stages

 

Activity Funnel Relates To

This is a very general field of activity, and will often not be a focus of marketing efforts since the customer may not actually be experiencing a problem yet.

However, display advertising that targets field-focused websites or is demographically targeted may be a useful vehicle from a branding perspective in this stage.

Suspicion That There May Be A Problem

This funnel is focused around the mental model of problem-solving; other mental models may make for useful funnels as well, but I’ve found “problems” to be universally applicable.

In this stage, there may be symptoms described but the customer does not understand the nature of the problem, or perhaps they don’t even understand that the symptoms are a problem at all.

It’s a critical stage where you can have great influence on the direction a potential customer will take; we’ll touch on this more later.

Problem Identified

This is an interesting bucket because you may have some latent versus blatant needs that you can separate out; different types of problems may actually fork off into different funnels.

Looking For Solution Alternatives

In this stage, the prospect is trying to understand the variety of approaches available to them. There are many ways to lose weight for instance; diet, exercise, portions, surgery, and so on.

This is fairly early in the research phase and can be ripe fruit for thought leadership content (great for the SEO channel as well). If you’re really lucky and you’re the only solution to a problem (perhaps you’re in a new market) then this stage may barely even exist and prospects may jump directly from stage 3 to stage 5.

Solution Space Has Been Chosen

In this stage, the prospect has decided on a particular approach for solving the problem (for instance, “dieting” to solve a weight problem).

Complicating Issues

This stage perhaps belongs alongside the funnel, but I usually place it in the middle of the research phase. Many people with problems have complicating issues; diabetes (if they are interested in weight loss), a wheelchair-bound spouse (if they are interested in travel), and so on.

Addressing these complicating issues can be a great way of differentiating your product or service and reducing friction for a final sale.

Researching A Specific Solution

Now the prospect is getting *very* specific about a particular member of the solution space (“Low-Carb Diets” in the case of a Weight Loss/Dieting funnel for instance).

Researching A Specific Brand

At this stage, the prospect is getting very serious and is educating themselves about specific providers.

Remember, brand terms are well known in the industry to convert at a higher rate as generic terms (twice the rate on average in my experience), so addressing this funnel stage should be a critical component of any online marketing effort.

Conversion Imminent

Terms that include phrases like “coupon code”, “pricing”, “cheap”, are akin to flashing red lights with a siren screaming “transaction about to occur!!!”

Spending a lot of time building out variations in this funnel section is usually well rewarded. Google Suggest is a great place to fund ways that potential customers are raising their hands in these ways.

Post Conversion

Often, a neglected funnel stage, this is where you will find customers searching for things like “repairs”, “replacement parts”, “add-ons”, “upgrades”, “warranties”, and “support”.

You may or may not have offerings that address concerns in this funnel stage, but it’s important to think about them.

If you’re a travel company, trip insurance may not be something your customers will actively seek out often, and paid search campaigns targeting that concept may not be worthwhile.

If, however, your paid search keyword research turns up the concept, and you then prompt your company to then put together some sort of revenue-sharing deal with a trip insurance provider to integrate their product into your cart, I would say the time spent researching funnel stage #10 was well worth it.

Which Stages Should You Target?

As most articles you’ve read on this topic probably state, you should target all of them. This is not very helpful advice though – often in marketing we have to prioritize our efforts.

If I absolutely had to prioritize the top ones to focus on initially, I would say #9, #8, #5, and #2 in that order.

Funnel Stages #8 and #9, “RESEARCHING A SPECIFIC BRAND” and “CONVERSION IMMINENT” are self-evidently critical; how are you going to leverage this great funnel if you don’t catch potential customer at the end of it?

I am, however, a big believer in avoiding cannibalization from organic search conversions, so my preference is to consider targeting competitor brand terms  before I would work on cannibalizing my own.

Funnel Stage #5, “SOLUTION SPACE HAS BEEN CHOSEN” is square in the middle of the research phase, and catches customers who are partially educated on the problem and are still early enough in the funnel to nudge in your direction.

Funnel Stage #2, “SUSPICION THERE MAY BE A PROBLEM” is important because it’s an opportunity for you to disturb the prospect’s equilibrium, a critical step in any sales process.

Much like Don Draper stated in his famous “Carousel” pitch about the term “new”, with problem defining keywords, you “create an itch, and simply put your product in there as a sort of ‘calamine lotion’”. Funnel step #2 is essentially the “itch” stage.

This stage, where the potential customer suspects but does not yet fully understand that they may have a problem, is a powerful leverage point for influencing searchers in your direction. Think of searchers as meteors, heading for earth – a slight nudge much earlier in their trajectory can have as much influence as a strong shove later in the funnel.

Conclusion

Very fine categorization of keywords can be helpful in ascertaining customer intent, organizing your efforts, and suggesting actual paid search campaigns you might run.

I have found these ten funnel stages in particular are a convenient and useful way for me to organize very large numbers of refined categories of keywords, derive insights from them, and create campaigns targeting various phases of the sales funnel.

If anyone has any other useful mental models for constructing a funnel besides the “problem/solution” approach I’ve presented here, or any thoughts on which funnel stages to prioritize and how – by all means, comment below.

Opinions expressed in the article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land.

Related Topics: How To: SEM | Keywords Content | Search Marketing: Search Term Research

Article source: http://searchengineland.com/how-to-use-the-keyword-funnel-to-understand-searcher-intent-121463

Walgreens announced Tuesday an expanded Prescription Savings Club offering discounts on 8,000 brand and generic medications, including some generics for as low as $1 a week for a 90-day supply.

A Walgreens spokesman said the program adds 300 “value-added” generics to the 400  covered under the savings plan. It is aimed at the uninsured.

Customers must buy an annual membership — $20 for an individual, $35 for a family. Several other chains also have drug discount programs.

Article source: http://chicagotribune.feedsportal.com/c/34253/f/622842/s/1f63e09a/l/0L0Schicagotribune0N0Cbusiness0Cbreaking0Cchi0Ewalgreen0Eadds0E80A0A0A0Emedications0Eto0Ediscount0Eclub0E20A120A5150H0A0H66517630Bstory0Dtrack0Frss/story01.htm

March 20 (Bloomberg) — Conor Yang, chief financial officer at E-Commerce China Dangdang Inc., China’s biggest Internet-based book retailer, talks about the company’s business strategy and the industry.
He speaks in Hong Kong with Susan Li on Bloomberg Television’s “First Up.” (Source: Bloomberg)

Chinese Internet stocks gained in New
York, on prospects Facebook Inc. (FB)’s increased offering price will
spur demand for industry assets while Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. (YZC)’s
discount swelled as coal prices fell.

Renren Inc. (RENN), a social networking website, climbed the most
in a month, and Internet bookstore E-Commerce China Dangdang
Inc. (DANG) posted the steepest advance in three weeks. American
depositary receipts of Yanzhou traded at the biggest discount to
the shares in Hong Kong since December as coal prices fell for
the first time in three years. The Bloomberg China-US Equity
Index (CH55BN) of the most-traded Chinese shares in the U.S. extended its
nine-day slump to 9.2 percent.

China’s Internet stocks benefited from Facebook’s decision
to increase the price range on its IPO to as much as $38 a share
from $35, implying a market value of as much as $104.2 billion.
That would make Facebook worth more than Citigroup Inc. (C) and
McDonald’s Corp. Beijing-based Renren reported yesterday a
first-quarter loss of 3 cents a share, below the median forecast
for 4 cents a share by eight analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

“All the talk on the street about Facebook is driving
retail investors in particular to look for stocks that might
gain on social media in China,” Echo He, a New York-based
analyst who covers Chinese Internet stocks for Maxim Group LLC,
said in a phone interview. “Renren’s second-quarter outlook is
weak because advertising is weak, but investors are hoping it
can do as well as Facebook.”

The iShares FTSE China 25 Index Fund, the biggest Chinese
exchange-traded fund in the U.S., was little changed at $34.72
while the Standard Poor’s 500 Index slid 0.6 percent to
1,330.66.

German, U.S. Data

Germany’s economy expanded more than forecast in the first
quarter, offsetting contractions elsewhere in Europe and helping
the region, China’s largest trading partner, avoid a second
recession in three years.

U.S. auto sales running at the fastest pace in four years
helped boost manufacturing in the New York region in May more
than forecast while strengthening the outlook for a U.S.
economic recovery.

“Investors do remain very nervous but a better outlook for
the U.S. economy is certainly helping to calm matters,” Charlie Awdry, portfolio manager of Henderson Global Investors’ 500
million pound ($800 million) China Opportunities Fund, said in a
phone interview from London. “We still think Chinese earnings
are going to grow, though at a slow pace.”

Foreign direct investment in China fell for a sixth month
in April, the longest stretch of declines since the global
financial crisis, amid renewed turmoil in financial markets.

Renren Rises

Renren added 6.4 percent to $6.38. The company said
yesterday it will probably report second-quarter revenue of $41
million to $43 million, missing a $46 million median forecast of
seven analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

Second-quarter performance “remains very soft” as a
result of the country’s slowing economy, Chief Executive
Officer Joseph Chen said in an investor conference call
yesterday. “We have not seen much rebound in sentiment and
expenditures from advertisers,” he said.

E-Commerce, known as Dangdang, which reports first-quarter
earnings before the market opens tomorrow, jumped 9.5 percent,
the most since April 25, to $7.40. The Beijing-based company,
which has gained 67 percent in 2012, is expected to report a
non-GAAP loss of 20 cents per share for the last quarter,
according to seven analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

AutoNavi Holdings Ltd. (AMAP), a Chinese provider of digital map
and navigation services, surged 6.5 percent to $11.50, the most
in two months, after reporting first-quarter net revenue of
$35.7 million, compared with a $33 million median forecast by
two analysts.

Discount

Yanzhou Coal, China’s fourth-largest producer, rose 0.8
percent to $17.86 in New York yesterday. The ADR traded at 4.1
percent discount to its shares in Hong Kong, where they gained
2.7 percent yesterday to HK$ 14.46, or the equivalent of $1.86.
The discount was the biggest since Dec. 8. One ADR represents 10
ordinary shares.

The price of Chinese coal for power stations fell for the
first time in three years in May, data compiled by the China
Coal Transport and Distribution Association on May 14 showed.

WuXi PharmaTech (Cayman) Inc. (WX), China’s biggest medical
contract researcher, led declines yesterday, dropping 6.6
percent to $14.01.

The U.S. China Index fell 0.2 percent to 95.24 in New York
yesterday.

The Shanghai Composite Index retreated 0.2 percent
yesterday to 2,374.84 while the Hang Seng China Enterprises
Index of Chinese companies traded in Hong Kong broke a string of
eight consecutive declines, gaining 1 percent to 10,084.59.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Leon Lazaroff in New York at
llazaroff@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Tal Barak Harif at
tbarak@bloomberg.net

• Facebook Share

• LinkedIn
• Google +1

• 
  COMMENTS

• Print

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.

Article source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-15/dangdang-gains-as-yanzhou-coal-discount-widens-china-overnight.html

Creating a fantastic blog is all about developing extraordinary habits: you want to develop a habit of creating stellar content regularly; you want a habit of connecting with and responding to your audience; you want to get into the habit of posting regularly and so on. Essentially, you want to develop habits that make your blog stand out, rather than blend in with the rest of the crowd.

The following are five habits you should try to actively cultivate to make your small business blog truly outstanding.

Habit #1: Build your E-mail Lists

This can’t be emphasized enough. If you want to build a blog, you need to start building and cultivating your list.

The vast majority of people who read online content simply won’t remember to come back to your blog every day or every week. If you want to build a loyal following of readers, you need to build an e-mail list.

Create a compelling opt in box that gets people to give you their email address. Then send them an email every time you post. There are a number of automated services you can use to post to your list automatically every time you blog.

Habit #2: Share Useful Outside Content

A lot of blog owners get very stingy about linking outside their blog or sharing content by other people. The reality is, you’re robbing your readers of value when you do this. You’re also making it more work to build a valuable blog, as you’re not taking advantage of great content that other people have already put out.

If you see a truly spectacular piece of content out there on the web, link to it. You can even create a post based around that one piece of content. The Huffington Post does this brilliantly: They don’t create their own content; they just link to and comment on great content by others.

Try to get a mix of content. Most of your content should be written by you, but having a good 10% to 20% of your content be outside links can be a great way to add variety.

 Habit #3: Link Internally, Everywhere

Link internally at every chance you get. Whenever you talk about something that you’ve discussed previously, link to that post. Someone who’s reading your content should regularly be presented with links to other pieces of content you’ve written.

This gets people staying on your site a lot longer. As people read, they’ll open other articles in new tabs and keep reading once they finish reading their current article. It’s a great way to increase your connection with your customers.

Also, add “related posts” or “you may also like” links at the bottom of each article.

Adding links does take a lot of time and can seem tedious at first. Over time however, they’ll really pay off.

Habit #4: Use Analytics to Predict and Analyze

There are a lot of analytics tools you can use to figure out what your readers want, what they care about and what they respond to.

Your Facebook Insights analytics can tell you what kind of posts your audience tends to like or share. You can figure out the virality of the different kinds of posts you’ve written. If you find that one type of post tends to get shared a lot more than others, then it makes sense to spend some more time focusing on those kinds of posts.

Google Analytics can tell you what keywords you’re ranking for and what keywords people are using to get to your site. Performing keyword research can tell you who’s sending you traffic, so you can get a better sense of what traffic tactics are working and what traffic tactics aren’t.

You can use Research.ly to figure out what people are talking about in your industry. You can use CrazyEgg to see how people are looking at and clicking on your site. The list of tools goes on and on.

Use analytics to figure out what your readers want and what’s working in your business. If you don’t have a strong analytics strategy, you’ll have a very hard time building a solid business.

Habit #5: Create a Blogging Schedule and Stick to it

Having a solid blogging schedule is essential for success. In order to build a successful blog, you need to post consistently not just when you want to.

If you want people to come to rely on your content, then you need to be reliable in your publishing. Set a strict schedule for yourself and stick to it. Always have at least 2 blog posts scheduled in advance, just in case a life emergency comes up.

These five habits will set you far ahead of the vast majority of bloggers. Follow these five habits and your blogging results will soar.

Image Credits – Stuart Miles

Article source: http://www.business2community.com/blogging/5-habits-to-catapult-your-small-business-blog-to-the-next-level-0179019