You’ve probably heard the phrase “long tail” before, especially in regard to business and marketing. Essentially, the long tail is the tail end of a demand curve – there may be lots of people who buy the latest #1 single, but there are many more people buying all sorts of different, obscure albums – the total number of the people buying the varied music is much greater than the people buying the #1 hit. The long tail is part of the reason why companies like Amazon are so successful – they offer tons of different niche items. The inter-connectedness and global scope of the web has made the long tail and catering to niche markets a viable business strategy.

However, the long tail is also relevant to SEO. Very significant percentage of searches are “long tail searches”, that consist longer, more specific queries that naturally tend to yield fewer results. For instance, if you’re looking for a newly built condo in Chicago’s South Loop neighborhood, wouldn’t you type “Chicago condominiums South Loop real estate new construction” or something similar into the search box? After, you’re much likely to find what you’re looking for that way than by just using “Chicago real estate”. Long tail searchers are looking for something very specific. This post on Search Engine Watch’s blog has excellent visuals illustrating long tail searches.

So how does this apply to your blog? Think about your niche and your own unique skills and characteristics. Narrow down your keywords – instead of only using “Chicago real estate agent”, make sure to write about the particular neighborhoods and types of properties you specialize in, for example. Or if you’re any kind of retailer (chances are if you’re an online retailer, you’re already very familiar with niche markets and the long tail), write constant posts about your products. Try to create the most detailed descriptions possible, and aim to be your readers’ source for the latest information about new products in your niche.

Targeting the long tail may end up benefiting you more in the long run – after all, long tail searchers tend to be looking for very specific information, and if you fit into their desired niche, they are that much more likely to bookmark your blog and/or become clients or customers someday.

I was very, very impressed by this guest post on Problogger from Gala of iCiNG about the 9 Lessons she’s learned from blogging.  Yes, she’s a niche blogger -her blog deals with fashion and style, which are common topics in the blogosphere but she definitely adds her own unique spin to everything. She points out an incredibly important aspect of blogging that I’d be willing to bet all successful bloggers know.

And I quote:

Blogging isn’t about shouting the loudest or being really important, it’s about connecting & engaging in a dialogue with other people. If you’re not actually interested in interacting with anyone else or hearing other people’s opinions, you might as well be keeping a diary for yourself. Like it or lump it, having a blog is like being in retail. If people don’t like you, they will go (& spend their money) elsewhere.

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times – successful bloggers manage to connect and communicate with their readers, and that’s what makes them so popular.  On the most basic level, they create value for their readers, and that’s why readers keep coming back.

Yes, listening and responding to your readers takes some time, but remember that they are like customers – keeping readers interested is essential to your success.  If you put in the hours creating compelling content, whether it’s a how-to or a round-up of useful resources, it will eventually pay off.  Of course, you need to promote it with SEO and link-building, but you had better concentrate on creating something quality to market first.

One excellent way to create value is to teach your readers something.  If you’re a business blogger, chances are there’s at least one area where you possess some expertise, so share your knowledge with your visitors.  By helping others you can help yourself.  An example from the sports world – hockey great Wayne Gretzky recorded more than twice as many assists as goals (1963 career assists vs. 894 goals), and he still holds almost every possible scoring record.  It’s clear that he helped his teammates succeed, and now he’s considered one of the greatest hockey players of all time.

Focus on what you can give to your readers – “ask not what your readers can do for you, ask what you can do for your readers“.  Yes, I took some serious liberties with John F. Kennedy’s classic phrase, but it’s important for bloggers to remember that they must contribute to community in order to reap its rewards.

Almost all bloggers are going to encounter critics at some point, especially bloggers who are passionate about their topics and committed to sharing their ideas with the world. Passion and conviction can polarize people, and it takes courage to publish your thoughts, especially if your topics are in any way controversial.

Criticism is a Fact of Blogging Life

A thick skin is vital to participating in blogosphere, because you are opening yourself up to criticism in the form of comments and emails, and even if you don’t enable comments or provide a way for your readers to contact you, that won’t necessarily stop them from talking about you – but isn’t that why you started a blog?  To make people aware of you and your company?  However, it’s important to differentiate between constructive criticism and flames (criticism for the sake of being derogatory or insulting, essentially taking cheap shots in order to pick a fight).

Examine Your Critics

Basically, you have to understand the source – know when to take someone’s opinion seriously and when to dismiss it as a mere feedback.  For instance, you’d take the opinion of an expert in your field much more seriously than someone completely unfamiliar with it, so take a look at who is doing the criticizing.  Also, pay attention to the numbers – are many of your readers disagreeing with you on a particular point or is there is a lone dissenter? Remember that you can’t please everyone all the time, and if you try to do that, there’s a good chance that you’ll end up with a bland, entirely forgettable blog.

Be Open to Change

No matter how much expertise you have, it’s always important to be open to new ideas and concepts.  In fact, that’s one of the many reasons blogging can help you achieve your business goals – it’s a continual learning process that forces you to keep up with the latest news and trends in your field, and exposes your ideas to many more people than any other method.   Blogging is a form of media, after all.  By publishing your thoughts, you’re inviting others to join the discussion, and they may have some amazing knowledge to share.

If you read blogs on a regular basis, you’ll probably notice that popular or well established bloggers often take the time to interact with their readers, in the comments section or by replying to emailed questions.   There’s no doubt that one of the things that differentiates writing for the web from traditional media – on the net, your readers can (and will) participate, respond, and offer their own viewpoints.

I’ve written before about how bloggers should take the time to answer questions from their readers, but it’s also possible to use questions as more fodder for your blog. Here’s a list of five ways to use Q&A’s to beat blogger’s block.

1.   Reply to a reader-submitted question in the form of a post.  If one of your readers makes an interesting inquiry through email, chances are they aren’t the only one who could benefit from reading the answer.   You don’t necessarily have to post the entire exchange, but writing a post as a follow-up to a query can be an excellent to interact with your readers while adding compelling content to your blog.

2. Answer a real life question.   Are there a few questions that customers and clients ask on a regular basis?   Create a FAQ for them.   Did someone ask you a really intriguing question?  Write a response to them on your blog, where you can be more thoughtful and detailed than you can in person (plus you can link to sources).

3.  Respond to another blogger. Bloggers often pose questions to their readers. If you come across a good one that inspires you to write a lengthy comment, try making it into a post instead.  Don’t forget to link to the original question so that the other blogger and readers can follow the conversation through trackbacks.   Also, check out forums that are related to your niche and make note of any common questions, because they might make good blog posts.

4.  Follow up on search engine queries.   Look at your stats and the search terms that brought traffic to your blog.   Are there any relevant questions there?  If you consistently rank for search terms that ask who, what, where, when, why, or how, write a post or two responding to them.

5.   Turn the tables and answer yourself.   Is there something that you recently looked up?   Did you find an excellent resource or come across something great in the course of your research?   Others in your niche may have the similar questions and appreciate it when you share your findings.

Next time you find yourself suffering from blogger’s block, think about the questions you’ve recently asked and answered, and you may find yourself overflowing with ideas. You could even answer a more complex question with a whole series of posts.   Besides, responding to your readers and other bloggers sends a positive message of openness, helpfulness, and general goodwill.   Now, do you have any questions?

Okay, you know the importance of placing your keywords and phrases throughout your posts, especially in the titles, bold headings, and tags.  Now I’m going to go into more detail about techniques for seeding them throughout your blog in a natural manner (no one sticks around to read a blog that’s stuffed full of keywords and not much else.)

First of all, place your keywords in titles, headings, categories, and tags. Anytime you’ve got a chance to label something with a keyword (or two or three), do so.   This one’s a no brainer – the search engines consider these things more important than your other content, so be sure to treat them accordingly by labeling them with your keywords.

Next you have to write your content, and of course you want to be keyword rich.  You can either keep your keywords in mind as you write your posts and add them in as you go, or you can write the whole post freely and go back through it to see where your keywords will fit.  There’s no right or wrong way to do it, so you’ll want to try out both methods and see which one leads to your best results.

If you want some extra help with keeping your keywords in mind while you write, you can also keep a list of them on another open document on your computer, or even on a piece of paper on your desk.  You may find that glancing at the list helps you come up with ideas for new angles and ideas to write about as well.

Concerned about your posts sounding unnatural or overly formal?   Try reading them out loud to yourself or a friend- this is one of the better ways to work on developing your writing voice.   Remember that blogging is a casual medium – I always encourage people to write like they’re having coffee with a client or friend, so you don’t need to give a lecture or write highly academic articles.

Another good way to generate high quality, keyword rich posts is to read what other people are writing about your keywords.  Of course, it’s important to be aware of what other bloggers in your niche are writing about, and one of the easiest ways to do this is to set up Google Alerts for a few of your key phrases.  Check out this awesome post on Techie-Buzz for more information and a how-to (you don’t even need to have a google account, although it does make things easier).

As you can see, using keywords doesn’t have to result in boring, uncreative content – once you get into the blogging groove, you’ll be creating compelling, keyword rich posts in no time.

SEO, or search engine optimization, is a really hot topic in the blogosphere lately.  There has been tons of discussion on how to best optimize your blog, what keyword tools to use, and whether or not SEO should even matter for bloggers?  I even wrote a series on it myself.

I’ve always been of the opinion that although SEO is an undeniably helpful tool, search engine optimization alone will not result in success (no matter what some search engine marketers will tell you).   It’s not a magic potion.  Yes, SEO will help get readers to your website, but if you don’t provide compelling content, they probably won’t stay there, bookmark it, or subscribe to your feed.  Think of SEO as a major component of your marketing campaign for your blog, the star product.  The quality of the product has to come first, and like a good product, a good post can get some word of mouth promotion in the form of incoming links and social media mentions.

You’ve got to provide value for your readers in some way, shape, or form.  Blogging is a conversation, it’s a two way street, it’s a way to engage directly with your target market. Yes, a high ranking on google for your keywords will drive traffic your way, but it’s up to you to make that traffic stick by writing posts that benefit your readers.

After all, you don’t want to them to click away immediately (an exception here are the keyword stuffed sites loaded with advertising where the only goal is to serve as a tollbooth on the information superhighway that is the web – the readers come in, hopefully throw some change the blogger’s way in the form of clicking on an ad, and end up leaving pretty quickly).  After all, a good website is both search engine friendly and reader friendly.

Of course, if you’re using your blog as a portal to your business and personal brand, you want readers to stick around and keep coming back.  This is especially important if you’re an authority blogger, because then quality content and useful articles that inspire people to link to them are absolutely essential.  In addition, it’s likely that well-written articles from a knowledgeable blogger will naturally contain lots of keywords and search terms (hey, when you’re writing about a particular thing you tend to mention it a lot).

Of course, using targeted keywords in your titles (especially your titles – I’ll say it again – use keywords in your titles!), tags, and anchor text is important, as well as just generally seeding them throughout your posts.  Some bloggers like to keep them in mind and place them in their content with the terms as they go along, and some prefer to write the copy first and then figure out ways to add keywords in later.  Both ways work equally well, so you’ll have to discover what method works best for you through trial and error.  This post from Matt McGee over at Small Business SEM is an excellent primer on the “perfect storm” of keyword usage inside a website.

It’s also important to deep link to older posts that cover related topics.  Not only does that direct your readers to more of your relevant content, it keeps them on your site for longer.  Linking out is also key – besides the fact that citing other articles lends you credibility, it generates goodwill and gets you on other blogger’s radar (they’ll notice your links through their trackbacks or stats).   Speaking of linking out, the Copyblogger has written a stellar series on SEO called SEO Copywriting 2.0.

Finally, one more thing about SEO – your biggest results probably won’t occur immediately.  Besides the fact it takes time to build up a collection of good posts, gaining popularity and getting linked on other blogs typically isn’t an overnight thing.  Yes, you may know your blog is awesome and that you have valuable content, because unless you’re already pretty well known in your field, it might take some time for others to realize that too.  Just remember that each post is another step towards blogging greatness.

I’ve suggested before that when you’re creating your About page and your first few introductory posts, you should interview yourself.  But that’s easier said than done, and personally I always find it easier to write about things other myself.  However, your blog is about you and building your brand, so creating a detailed profile is vital.

As a result of my blogging experience (seriously, there are thousands of posts and hundreds of thousands of words that I’ve written on the web), I’ve had lots of experience interview and writing profiles of individuals from all walks of life.  Therefore, I’ve compiled a list of questions that I use as prompts when I interview someone.

Of course, my actual questions change depending on the characteristics of the person I’m profiling, but here’s the basic template (this is geared towards business owners and/or people who are using their blogs to market something).   Feel free to take this as a survey, and answer it on your own blog (skip any questions you don’t like or add your own).

1. Who are you, what do you do, and where do you live (the basic data -this one is a softball question)?  How about family (married, single, kids, pets)?

2. What is your background (education, career, awards, achievements, etc.)? Basically, why should readers be listening to you and reading your blog?  This is an especially important question for authority bloggers – people who blog to promote their expertise on a particular topic – to answer.

3. How did you get to where you are today? Tell your readers about the journey.  What forces shaped you?  Have you always been involved in the industry that you’re part of today?  What interesting twists and turns has your life taken?

4. Where do you hope to be in the future?  You don’t necessarily need to post a five year plan or anything that detailed, but talk about your aspirations.  Where do you see yourself in the future?

5. What are you passionate about?  What inspires you and why?  If you’re in a creative field, what is your muse?  What gets you out of bed in the morning and what makes you happier than anything else?

6. What are some current trends in your industry/niche/topic area?  How do you feel about them personally and where do you think your field is headed?

7. What makes you unique in your field?  In general?  How do you stand out from the crowd? (Again, this falls into the category of why your readers should be reading your blog).

8. Who are your heroes? Who do you look up to? Why are they awesome?

9. On the opposite note, do you have any key advice for newcomers to your field? What do you wish you had known when you started?

10. Do you have any favorite quotes that always ring true with you?  What are they?

11. What is a typical day in your life like?

12. What are your hobbies and what do you do when you’re not working? What kind of music do you like, what are your favorite movies/games/sports?

13. What are some of your favorite places, in your current hometown and in the world? Why are they your favorites?

14.  Name a few interesting facts or unique talents you have.  Is there anything truly off-the-wall or have you done something that few other people have?  Do you have any weird but wonderful accomplishments under your belt?  Share some interesting anecdotes.

15.  If your readers could only remember one thing about you, what would it be?  Can you sum up your brand – your uniqueness – in a sentence or two?

And last but not least, the one question that I always ask at the end of an interview:

16. Is there anything you wish I would have asked you that I missed?

New to the blogging world and wondering what it’s all about?

Here’s a hint: blogging is like writing a column.  Think of the web as a giant media organization, sort of like a community driven, open source version of the Associated Press that is constantly churning out new content.  Each individual reader composes their own local paper of their favorite sites and blogs that they read regularly (and bookmark or subscribe to).

So really, maintaining a blog is not entirely unlike having your own byline and column in your reader’s newspaper.  Like a columnist, you have a dedicated topic -your niche – that you give your own personal spin.  Bloggers and columnists both have personal brands that they promote, and they usually write in their own voices, in the first person.

You may reply, “but I want to use my blog to market something, not to write a personal column.” Yes, but the basic idea is still the same – your blog is simply an advertorial or advertising column instead of an editorial one.  You are still blogging to promote your brand, just in a more conversational, interactive sense.

But that’s about where the similarities end, because as everyone knows, the web is fundamentally different from other media – it’s dynamic, it’s constantly updated, and it’s much more democratic in the sense that anyone who can get a hold of a computer and an internet connection can participate in the conversation.

If the web is a conversation, traditional media is a collection of lectures.  You can listen and even take notes, but you can’t respond.  This what makes blogging such a powerful new form of marketing – it breaks down the walls and lets businesses speak directly to customers, experts directly to their audience in the form of authority blogs, and allows virtually everyone to promote their personal brand.

The level of reader participation is a big part of what makes blogging different from print publications – readers can comment, other bloggers can link to your posts, and you can instantly respond to questions.  Blogging is dynamic, print is static.  Like the rest of the web, it is also much more community based, as it is important to interact with and link to other bloggers in your niche – to participate in the discussion.

Inspiration is a tricky thing.  Sometimes you’re firing on all cylinders and you just have tons of great ideas that you can’t wait to share with the world, but other times you end up staring a blank screen wondering what in the world to write about today.  I know that I’ve definitely been there.

Since it has been established that No One Cares What You Had For Lunch (a book of ideas for blog posts that I’d definitely recommend, if only to kickstart your creative side once in a while), how do you pull a quality post out of your hat?  Starting today, on Mondays I’m going to post a list of creative tips to help you beat blogger’s block and write something awesome.  After all, even the best of us need a little creative spark from time to time.

1.  Write about a recent triumph, whether it was large or small.  For instance, did you land a great new client or any kind of award?  This can be anything from selling a beautiful piece of property if you’re a real estate agent to having something published if you’re a writer or photographer (be sure to link to the piece if possible).

2.  Share some handy tips. Did you figure any new time-saving tricks, productivity boosts, or life hacks that might help someone else out? Check out sites like Zen Habits and Pick the Brain for more ideas here.

3.  Interview someone – a colleague, a satisfied client, someone prominent in your field.  Hint: most bloggers like to be interviewed provided it doesn’t take tons of their time, so contact other bloggers in your niche, particularly ones who get more traffic, and ask if they’d like to be interviewed.  An added bonus: they’ll probably link to your interview at their own site, sending some traffic your way.

4.  Make a list. As evidenced by the many lists I’ve posted in this blog, I like lists.  Other people like lists too, because they are scannable and instantly let the reader know what they are getting into.  Lists can cover any topic; for instance, five ways to solve a particular problem or seven reasons why a certain item is a must-have.

5.  Link the news.  Have any good articles or blog posts been written about your niche lately?  The web is vast enough that there is probably something interesting out there, so find a few things and link to them.  Be sure to put the links in context with a short description through, otherwise your readers won’t know what they are clicking on (so they probably won’t).

In honor of Daily Blog Tips‘s “Blog Project: Three” Contest, here are the three things that all bloggers should before they hit the publish button on a new post.

1.  Read over and spell check the content.  I know that blogging is an informal medium, but spelling and grammar errors can make you appear less intelligent that you actually are, and a quick proofread only takes a few minutes.  Besides, once you’ve invested the time in setting up your blog, writing posts, and participating in the blogging community, what’s a few more minutes to ensure that you put your best face forward?  Spelling errors on a blog are the equivalent of going into a job interview in track pants and a t-shirt – in a perfect world, appearances wouldn’t matter, but in the real world, they definitely do.

2.  Make sure that your post is tagged properly and assigned to the correct categories.  You want to make it as simple as possible for others to find your blog and use your content, so careful tagging and categorizing are essential and easy things to do.

3.  Link to any other blogs or outside sources you mention.  It helps your readers find out more on a particular topic if they are so inclined, and giving some link love to fellow bloggers is generally a good thing.  Besides, citing your sources lends your blog credibility (well, this may depend on what the sources are, but in general citing can’t hurt).

3.5.  The one thing bloggers should do after they hit publish is to check how their post looks in the context of the rest of the site – is the layout okay?  If there are images, are they are sized and placed properly?  Are any of the links broken?  Did you forget to mention anything really important?  Go back and edit anything that’s not right - one of the many, many excellent aspects of blogging is how easy it is to edit and fix errors. 

*An aside: blogging round-ups, contests, and carnivals are excellent way to get the word out about your blog to other bloggers and new readers, so keep an eye out for similar goings-on in your niche.  The Daily Blog Tips Project 3 contest is very open-ended (as long as you post about something involving the number 3, you can participate).