Last week, I shared why you should keep blogging. Today, I want to share an infographic that complements my commentary.
I am embedding this graphic from The Daily SEO Blog so you can see, as the editor of that blog says, how a blog, “[S]peaks in your voice, provides a gateway to your community, acts as your moral center and facilitates communication with the rest of the world.” Check out the graphic and then scroll underneath it to see what I think is most important for Indies.
- Beauty counts. The infographic stresses beauty in the sense of blog design, and I agree that's important. But Indies who make the products they sell can get away with investing less in “design beauty” by featuring large photos of the beautiful products they make. You can have a nice design that doesn't cost much money, then use the space to publish gorgeous, clear, colorful pictures of your products! Each post should be accompanied by at least one colorful, eye-catching graphic. If you make your products yourself, you have more options than most!
Here are some IBN member blogs that illustrate how beautiful pictures enhance a blog:
Soapylove – Debbie features juicy, colorful pictures of products, collages and more on a free Blogger blog
Manor Hall Soap Co. – Susan includes gorgeous photos of her handmade soap, along with pictures illustrating her life and the things she cares about
Eve Organics – Sharron uses product photos and videos demonstrating you how to use her products
The Nova Studio – Lori's Blogger blog includes great photos to chronicle events and products made at The Nova Studio
Anya's Garden – Anya, a perfumer, features lovely photos of plants from her own garden (she uses some of them in the perfume she makes) along with big pictures of perfume bottles other aromatic things of interest
Aromaleigh v2– Rich photos of her mineral makeup are complemented by vintage pictures of all kinds; serious eye candy!
- Make it shareable. Note how each of the blogs featured above have share buttons. Take a look at how many times Eve's videos have been shared on FaceBook. Brilliant! For more examples, check out the sharing icons at the top and bottom of this post. (I use Social Discussions and FaceBook Comments For WordPress.)
Plugins can be easily added to any blog, and most of them are free to add. You may need to pay someone to install them and make sure they work, but this is typically a nominal cost when you consider how it translates into your blog content and product photos being shared on the Web
- Search window. It's important to make it easy for people to search your blog. If I want to see if you have any lemon scented products, I can easily find them by searching for “lemon.” If you blogged about your lemon scented products, I should see great pictures of lemon goodness, with links to where I can buy some for myself.
A search window is also useful to help the media, bloggers, and people who are new to your brand to conduct quick searches about you and your company. In my experience, people tend to look for search window in an upper sidebar.
There are lots of other juicy tidbits in the graphic, so be sure to have a look at your leisure.
Question: Which of these tips is most useful for you?
Question: Are you going to keep your blog (or start or re-start one)? Why or why not?
