[Marketing] SEO Protip: Blog Post Titles

SEO means Search Engine Optimization for those of you who are unfamiliar with the term, and one of these days I should probably do a big, giant post covering the basics. For now here's one simple basic tip on improving your search results for blog content. It begins at the beginning with the title of your blog post.

Sometimes we get too creative for our own good. Titles that are fun and those that are whimsical do not always also communicate what the post is actually about.

Titles are key bits of metadata - the descriptive back-end pieces of information that Google search crawlers use to to find and define your site. Which is why it's important to fit in specific and strong keywords when naming your blog posts because it'll help your blog be found by Google. It'll also be the first thing a reader sees as they are scanning their search results so a title ought to inform readers of what they can expect to find in your post.

As a bad example of what not to do let's look at one of my old posts,  Ramblings on a Wednesday and Indiana Jones.  In that post I mainly talk about writer's block and not Indiana Jones. I think I was trying to be witty that day and reference the Roadtrip Wednesday topic that week. If f I had a Tardis I'd probably go back and change it to "Writer's Block and Indiana Jones".  This new title is still interesting and kinda fun, but now it reflects the content better.

So there is still room for creativity for SEO friendly titles. Your blog should reflect your voice as an author after all. Cut and dry titles may not be engaging enough to your audience. Just keep these questions in the back of your head before you hit publish - 1.) Is there a place to seamlessly toss in a keyword to my title? and 2.) Does my title inform or distract?

[Marketing] Klout

I had some time to actually write this weekend so I thought I would weigh-in briefly on Klout. (Edit: Did I say brief? Hah!)

What Klout Is:  

According to Klout:

"Our friendships and professional connections have moved online, making influence measurable for the first time in history. When you recommend, share, and create content you impact others. Your Klout Score measures that influence on a scale of 1 to 100...The Klout Score measures influence based on your ability to drive action. Every time you create content or engage you influence others. The Klout Score uses data from social networks in order to measure: True Reach (how many people you influence), Amplification (how mjuch you influence them), and Network Impact (the influence of your network)."

In basic terms, Klout ought to be able to answer the questions that often eludes marketers - does any of these things that I do, tweet, and promote across all my many channels have any real effect on our audience?! Anything at all?! Or am I just a voice shouting in the woods? What's nice about Klout is that Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, and a host of other accounts to be scored by Klout which again to ought to be very helpful in interpreting the overall effectiveness of a marketing campaign. Klout measures that influence with a numerical value, allowing a marketer to establish a baseline from which they can set goals towards future growth. Seems like useful information, right?

What Klout Really Is:

Kinda useless sad to say. At least for me it has been. Is it hella fun though? Hell YES! But more on that later. This has been my personal experience so I will fully admit that results may vary. If you're on Klout and you've found a way to interpret the data that is meaningful and helpful to you - more power to you.  As I played around with Klout, I tried to come up with a good enough reason to recommend it specifically to authors and I just can't find it. It's all interesting data, but ultimately I don't see it helping as much as it distracts. Writers can be notorious procrastinators as it is. For a certain kind of person, I can see Klout being another shiny thing to check-in on hourly to avoid writing.

I think there is just too much data for Klout to collect and then produce a meaningful return on and sometimes the results just don't make sense. Here's an example: For a long time 'Karate' used to be one of my Top Topics not because I was an expert on the martial art or Tweet about it frequently.  I suspect the reason was because I once live-tweeted a re-watch of the first three Karate Kid movies and response to that was decent. Now Karate vs. The Karatie Kid (film) are two very different topics. Klout at the time was unable to separate the two. In fairness their most recent update does seem to have taken out the more ridiculous Top Topics. So we'll see how the service changes.

Since the algorithms behind the Klout score are not as transparent as I'd like them to be and due to other incidents similar to The Karate Kid story, I don't feel like I can trust Klout's numbers.  Scalzi brings up some great points and other issues about Klout numbers and labels in his post on CNN Money. You should definitely check it out.


When does the fun start?

The perks are pretty fun. My roommate, the amazing @causticsoda (who crochets similarly amazing things), is always qualifying for Klout perks and I have enjoyed the benefits of this. It has all been good fun. When the Have Mercy samples were delivered, they were delivered by hand and still chilled. It was pretty awesome; however, I rarely qualify for the perks. Ordinarily, I'm not bothered by it. If I'm being honest with myself, I'm just into the Klout perks for the free food.

I do think that Klout Style is an interesting feature. My Twitter seems to waffle back and forth between Networker and Explorer. It a good thing for my ego, but I'm also not going to change how I use Twitter based on the label Klout assigns to me. The descriptions of each are just too vague to be super useful.


And at the end of the day:

I am still addicted to Klout, but I have an analytics addiction.  My advice to any writers who have been looking into Klout is this - there are probably better uses for your time. It's a fun thing to check passively, but not an analytics program to take too seriously. Unlike the social accounts of large corporations, your Twitter and Facebook feeds are likely going to be less static and hopefully more creative and fun so expect some strangness in your stats and Top Topics. You should also be prepared to see a Klout score that is lower than you expect even if you do have a healthy following. Klout scores seem to favor the large corporations like Best Buy and McDonalds. So don't rely on Klout to tell you how successful you've been. That's something you ought to decide for yourself.

[Marketing] Name vs. Brand

What's in a name?

"Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet?"  Of course it would because a four letter name does not in any way affect the chemical make up of the flower's scent; however, roses have taken on many other meanings in our culture through commercial branding. They become a symbol of love, passion, and even one of sincerity and apology. Culturally, we've been trained to think of them as more than just pretty flowers.

Like a rose, your brand is more than just a name, and I think that's what a lot of people are confused about.  The Shameless Self-Promoters - the ones whose RSS, Twitter, and Facebook feeds are filed with MY BOOK TITLE reviewed, MY BOOK TITLE onsale, MY BOOK TITLE, MY BOOK TITLE (you've all seen these accounts) are misunderstanding that branding is not just about maximum exposure of a select set of keywords.

That's not to say that the name is unimportant.  Your name, the title of your novel or series, blog, hashtag etc.  is the unique identifier that consumers and readers will be associating with your over-arching message.  It is your base. In time you'll build on your base and the end result will be more complex than the name itself.

Branding is a form of communication. The ultimate goal of successful branding is widespread awareness of your name, but you also want your brand to answer those "Who?" and "What?" questions too.  HOW you go about answering those questions is branding.

Photo Credits: Photo by Charisse JoyChyu, published under a creative commons license.

[Marketing] The Importance of an Ideas Folder

A quick post today while I wait for a phone call at the office.  I'm starving folks, but it'll be another hour or so before I can get home to some frozen waffles. Mmmm, waffles.

Many writers keep a folder or digital archive of their ideas, inspirations, false starts, and what-have-you. It's a great idea, because you never know when inspiration will hit. By that same token, you never know when marketing inspiration will hit you in the face like a waffle out of a sonic-powered-toaster.

Meredith Barnes, posted something to her blog today that I wanted to reshare for two reasons.

First, Eric Telchin shares his experience behind the marketing of Boy Sees Hearts. There is a ton of great info in this post, and I really urge you to check it out. Unlike a lot of marketing posts out there, Eric delivers value with a charming light-hearted tone that matches his brand beautifully.

Secondly, because something Meredith said on her blog needs to be repeated: "Case studies, man. Case studies is where it's at."


TRUTH!

Past experience and discovery informs the present, and can greatly help you in planning and executing your current and future marketing strategies. There is a catch though. You can't expect the same results by replicating the successful marketing campaigns of the near-past. Every blog post and tweet should be viewed as moment in time that can't never be revisited in exactly the same way.  A marketing ideas folder can help you avoid wasting time on things that didn't work for others. It may help you to pick up on strategies that compliment your own voice, genre, and skills or spark a new idea entirely. An inspiration folder can also help you through the marketing equivalent of Writer's Block.  (Oh it happens, and it is just as awful. T_T)

As you roam the internet, be aware of those things that you find affect you in a meaningful way - even if it's not publishing related.  Anything that influences your buying habits or convinces you to interact with a website, fan page, or author is a point of data that may be valuable to you in your role as a marketer. Take the two seconds and bookmark it for later use. The burden on any marketer is to apply creativity to a basic core concept, expand on it, and grow it into a fresh approach.

Fortunately, writers tend to be fabulously creative people.

[Marketing] Equal Linking

Today's post applies to authors with published works, but hopefully it will be useful to all of you in your futures.

Take a quick look at your blog or website. Are all places where you might digitally purchase your book prominently placed where readers can easily and quickly click through to the retailer of their choice? If so, good; we're done here. Go enjoy your day or this adorable youtube video.

I am always surprised by how often this information is either missing or banished to the bottom of the page where it does the author no good. Guys, you must provide a way for the consumer to buy your books, and unless you're publishing your work as an exclusive on a single platform then you really ought to be linking to more than just your Amazon page.

Think of your blog and website as your digital "home". Visitors to your blog are your guests in a sense. So in addition to creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere through the editorial voice of your content, it's important to build a page that serves their needs and interests. When they arrive at your blog and hopefully become interested in your work, give them the option to buy your book without struggle. People have difference purchasing preferences which you should be mindful and accommodating of. There is a greater probability of making a sale if they are able to click directly through to the title page of their favorite e-retailer as opposed to having to seek the book out.  These links should be positioned near the top of your sidebar where it can be found easily - never in the middle, below the blogroll, or at the bottom.

Diversity among book retailers is also a thing to be celebrated and supported. A retail environment without competition will not be a healthy environment for books and literacy. A lot of blogging authors who link-out to retailers, often link to the big ones such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble, but often missing is any reference to the Indiebound title pages where consumers can look for a book stocked at their nearest independent.

If you are self-publishing digital editions then logically it would follow that you'd link to all the e-retailers where your product is available. Honestly, I have never seen a self-published author who hasn't covered all their bases on their blog already. This tends to be more of a problem among authors who are published by traditional houses or small presses.  It's sounds like such a simple thing, but it is easily forgotten when you're one step removed from the sell-in aspect of publishing. So when you've got the time, glance over your website and make sure your representing every sales channel. Compare it to your publisher's title page.  Routine check-ups are important for humans, and they're also important for websites too.

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Need a few good books for your summer vacation?  Enter my YA Summer Stack contest open until 7/1.

[Marketing] The Fun Factor

I cannot stress how important it is to have fun with your blog.  If blogging is nothing more than a chore to you, something that you have to do because you've been told you need to market your book or platform, it'll be obvious to your readers.  If it's boring to you then it'll be boring to them, and you'll be unhappy with the results of your efforts which fuels the downward spiral.  The more your indifference grows then the less engaging your content will become, and your traffic will putter away to a pittance.

There will be boring posts some days and that's okay.  There is a certain kind of meta information that must get communicated to your audience and certain news just doesn't always lend itself to thrilling blog copy.  Life is kinda like that too and in-between the quieter moments you've got to find an element of fun. 

Doing so is important for both you and the reader. It gives the reader reason to keep reading and to come back often which in turn exposes them to your product and/or brand again on every visit.  It also makes the act of blogging more fun for you and less of a chore.  Keep the fun factor at the forefront of your mind as you sit down to write and it will enliven your blog copy.

If you're struggling with coming up with content for your own blog, the best way to find what is Fun is to turn inward.  Look to your own passions, interests, and habits or those of your characters.  Try to find things that are unique to you and that you enjoy to give your blog more life and variety. The truth is, you never know what will resonate with your readers.  When you do find out, that data is worth gold!  But until you figure it out, you should experiment a little and cast your net in other waters, but waters where you'll have fun doing so.

A quick thing about Fun - when I talk about it, I do not mean to imply anything of of the following nature.  Take a moment to watch this clip from Family Guy. I'm sure that many of you will remember the original bit that spawned this sequel.  This type of Fun is just a gimmick. Gimmicks and cliches are not a sincere way to market or build your brand.  Be careful when you're having fun that you don't turn into a wacky-waving-inflatable-arm-balloon-man. Happy, excitable, and crazy can be funny, but not always fun.  You want your audience laughing with you; never at you.

[Marketing] The Blog's the thing!

The Internet enables writers to connect with their audience, promote their books or brand, and network with industry professionals in so many different ways now. So. Many. Different ways. And still, almost everyday some Marketing guru out there is touting the next new exciting digital thing that'll supposedly revolutionize EVERYTHING!  How often have you thought: It's too much!?

Honestly, it is too much especially considering that most writers have a career and/or manage a family, must find time to write between the first two things, and have to invest time and energy in their own marketing and promotion.  So no, you probably won't be able to do it all.  You need to tailor your digital strategy to your life and commitments to truly be efficient and worthwile, but that's a discussion for another day.

However, if you do just one thing, then you must have blog or a website.  I feel a blog is less of a hassle to throw together if you have no experience in web design and allows for a more open and transparent channel of communication between yourself and your audience so my recommendation is to keep a blog over a website if you do only that one thing.  There are so many professional looking free templates out there that it won't be too much trouble finding one that suits your work and personality. Even after all these years, the blog still the most important thing you can do to market yourself. And yet, it amazes me how often writers don't have or keep up with their blogs.  Think of your blog as the foundation stones of your online platform that you will build up from.

Your blog should help aggregate all the information about you, your books, and all the publicity information surrounding them.  Your reader should be able to get a sense of who you are - your personality, humor, and maybe your interests, and feel a connection.  They should be able to read a blurb about your book or excerpt (of edited work with your editor's or agent's approval) or character profiles. Something that will wet their appetite for your product.  And your blog should always link to a wide range of places where the reader can go to get more information or connect with you and other readers in other ways. This might be the publisher's page, Twitter, a Facebook fanpage, Goodreads. It should go without saying that you should promote the events and blog tours that your publicist arranges for, from your blog. And it's courteous to re-promote what others are doing for you elsewhere in the blogosphere to foster goodwill and help support one another within your interest communities.

But a word of warning: you mustn't let the blog be all about selling your books.  You won't build a committed audience if all you do is pitch your book at them. You have to let your personality shine through.  Now if you're uncomfortable with that level of online sharing there are other alternatives.  Build your blog into a resource pertaining to something that will interest your intended audience.  It can make blogging a bit more fun too if you're delving into your own passions and interests.

[Marketing] sell-in vs sell through

I'm really bad about forgetting what publishing jargon is either known or not known among my wider circle of acquaintances.  While on vacation visiting my parents last week, they asked for clarification on a pair of terms so it seemed like a good thing to post about today.

There are two phases in the life of a book in terms of marketing and publicity: sell-in, and sell-through.  I sometimes see them bandied about on publishing blogs or dropped into conversation without much by way of explanation or distinction, so here we go.

Sell-through

The ultimate goal is to sell through the available stock in the marketplace with enough reorders to warrant a reprint. But if you've been doing your research into the publishing industry, you should know already that this ultimate goal is the Cinderella story and not the norm for a lot of books. Most books do not achieve this velocity of sale and a lot of stock comes back in the form of returns.

Sell-through is all the marketing, advertising, or publicity begins near the pub date.  It is anything that aims to bring the consumer into a store or to an online retailer in order to the book or e-book.  This is any book or blog tour beginning on or closely linked to the on-sale date.  This is all advertising that runs at around that same time that's been designed and written as a call-to-action encouraging the consumer to purchase the book.  The advertising may also highlight a specific uniqueness about the product or the marketing campaign.

Now obviously the more digitized publishing becomes the less appropriate the term sell-through is.  With an e-book there is no stock to sell through so the word probably ought to be phased out.


Sell-in

Sell-in occurs prior to publication.  The ultimate goal here is to sell in as much stock as possible to retailers be they traditional bookstores such as Barnes & Nobles, Borders, Amazon, Books-A-Million, the independents etc. etc. or secondary sellers such as Walmart, Target, grocery chains and so forth.

At sell-through the title, specs, and covers of the books are already known. At sell-in this may not be the case.  A cover may still be under-development or a title or release date may need to change.  You've all seen the complaint that books these days get almost no marketing for them, but in addition to  a place in the catalog, Advanced Readers Copies or galleys, and several other things that are already the subject of many other blog posts around the web, all books get support from the marketing department at sell-in. At sell-in a publisher's marketing department is talking with the sales reps and getting their feedback on what they think is best for the book in matters such as positioning.  Sales materials such as the catalog are being developed along with any other special sales pieces that might be necessary to pitch special projects to accounts.  And there are meetings, lots and lots of meetings, but that seems to be true of many industries.

There may be advertising, but it'll be targeting booksellers and retailers rather than the consumer since sell-in occurs so long before publication.

The near and post publication plans are being made and presented to sales which can positively affect the buy.  So just a little something to keep in your head: if you are already planning some big, unique marketing campaign on your own for the publication of your book then it would be a good idea to make it known to your publisher in a brief e-mail well in advance so that they can include it in these materials.

[Marketing] Stat Junkies

Hi, my name is Laura and I am a Stat Junkie.  I know I'm not alone.  I know many of you will have already checked your bookscan numbers, your Google Analytics, your Facebook Insights at least once, twice....maybe even three times today? 

What You Are Doing Right

It's important that you understand your sphere of influence and the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.  As an author, writer, artist, or any industry professional you need to have a solid understanding of your own platform in order to grow it quickly, efficiently, and in new and original ways; however, stat checking can also be a big time distraction.


What You Might Be Doing Wrong

It's true that stat checking might seem like a more "productive" distraction than Farmville, but in reality it is just one more thing that eats up the time you might have otherwise spent writing.  For your analytics to truly be effective you have to allow for enough time to eclipse so that the number will show you some real data.  Watching your page views climb might be uplifting, but what will be the true boon to you in your marketing efforts are the conclusions that you will draw from those numbers over time.

Some things to consider about your numbers:

• One of the obvious things that you should be looking for are the topics and features that consistently do well for you in terms of traffic and/or discussion.  (Even if a post attracts low numbers in terms of impressions and unique page views, if it sparks the energy and intellect of your audience then it has done well.)  By honing in on that, you can work towards developing your authority within the community or subject matter.  Variety though is so the spice of life so be careful that you don't let your blog grow into a one trick pony.
• You may notice over time that certain days of the week do more well than others.  That's good to know in terms of scheduling content.  
• It's also incredibly important to look at how people are finding you.  Where does the bulk of your traffic come from?  If it is all from Twitter and Google Reader, is there more that you could be doing to improve the SEO of your site?

You should definitely be checking your stats once a month and it's probably a good idea to take a peak once a week.  More than that, and it get's tricky.  It doesn't take long to fall into the trap of being a stat junkie.

Obligatory Enabling Section
 
Here are a few analytics tools that I use/have used.  Try them out, see if any fit, but remember to check your stats responsibly.

Google Analytics: A lot of blog engines like Wordpress and Blogger already have built-in simple interfaces this data, but if you don't have that, sign up with Google Analytics.  (Blogger bloggers, you're already using Google Analytics even if you don't realize it.)
Twitter Counter:  Good at tracking your growth in terms of Followers.
Goodbye Buddy: Useful in identifying those specific users who have chosen to unfollow, seeing how long they followed you, and whether you follow them back.
Klout:  Honestly I'm still on the fence about this one, but that's a whole different blog post for another time.  Klout is a tool for measuring your influence, but it seems a lot more fun than useful. You can even earn badges like on Foursquare different milestones on the path of building your Twitter brand.
Twitter Grader: I like it better than Klout, and again offers me data on my influence and those users that influence me.  I get cleaner, clearer results and numbers with Twitter Grader and I like that they are so transparent about their algorithms.
Twitter Karma: A simple tool for finding out which of you Following list follows you back. It's a great tool in terms of housekeeping.

Mythbusters: The Publishing Edition

One of the big gripes with traditional publishing these days is that due to the economic downturn, it is only a handful of books that receive -any- marketing at all.  That if you aren't Stephen King, you can expect to go it alone.  Here is the good news:  that's not all that true!  Most every book receives some marketing and publicity attention with few exception among all the major trade houses. 

What is true is that only a few books receive money for some of the bigger things such as ads in The New York Times Book Review, and that's okay.  It's only a certain kind of book that benefits from such things.  

Every book receives at least three big things: review galleys, a place in catalog, and attention from your marketing department and sales force at major meetings.  None of these are insignificant.  The catalog is a hugely important sales tools that goes out to booksellers, libraries, and reviewers everywhere to pitch the upcoming season of books.

The thing you should also know is that it is never all or nothing.  Between those big books that get those ads in USA Today and the ten city tours, there are a lot of other tiers.  Some books get a lot more galleys and advertising perhaps in lieu of author appearances due to the budget or an author's schedule and travel restraints.  Some books get a lot more of an online push with little to no print attention because that's just the best way to reach its target audience. 

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