WHEN WE LOSE OUR FOCUS. WHO ARE YOU? What do you KNOW? What is - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Foundation Series BLOG • Who you are • What gap do you fi ll • Who your target audience is

Foundation Series BLOG • insure that your blog is intentional from the layout & design to content • insure that your blog fi nds readers

OVERWHELM HAPPENS WHEN WE LOSE OUR FOCUS.

WHO ARE YOU? • What do you KNOW? • What is your PASSION? • What is your WHY? Zoom out to see your life’s bigger picture. Zoom in to make your blog relevant and focused.

WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE? What is your blog going to DO? For you AND for others.

WHO ARE YOUR PEOPLE? Who are the people that your purpose will serve? Who are the people drawn to YOUR story?

{A Note about Design} I’ll try to stick with easy fi xes. At some point, though, you may want/need to work with a designer.

FIRST: THE NAME Your name makes YOU the brand. • better for search for you • better for uni fi ed platform • better if you plan to write books better often in the long run

FIRST: THE NAME Brand name gives a clear picture. • better for SEO (if using keywords) • better for clarity up front • better at being memorable (usually)

FIRST: THE NAME Nothing is one-size fi ts all. • Brand name great for immediate recognition. • Your name lasts longer.

Basic Layout Elements Header Navigation Bar Sidebar (or lack thereof) Footer Content

Research Your Niche Find what blogs look like in your niche. Decide if you want to be clearly identi fi ed OR stand apart.

Visual Examples Lifestyle blogs mom blogs food blogs social media blogs

HEADER Logo image vs Name vs NO header • Vertical logos can hide the content • Names show content, but aren’t as memorable

HEADER What is the FUNCTION of the space? • Visual branding & identity? • Placeholder? • Multi-functional?

Header area has logo for branding, plus email signup, plus social icons

Header area has an ad sharing the same space above the nav bar

HEADER What function goes with YOUR why? • Are visuals super important? • Is your name itself the key? • Do you want content to be visible? • What other top priorities could share the header space?

NAV BAR Where do you want people to GO? • People often stu ff everything into the navigation bar. (I’ve done it!) • You want to GUIDE people through your blog.

NAV BAR Where do you want people to GO? • Use analytics to see how people move through your site. • Think about your WHY. What would the idea visitor DO when on your blog? Plan it, implement it.

Ramsay is ALWAYS intentional. He has two Nav Bars, but only SIX places to go.

Paula has two nav bars. One for categories and the other for info. For readers AND brands who want to work with her.

Femtrepreneur has no nav bar unless you click. Then four options. (Can you see what’s important??)

NAV BAR Pick THE most important places to include. Be focused, not clutter-y. • Important pages: blog, about, email, sales/book page (if applicable). • Secondary: courses, resources, start here, speaking.

MAIN PAGE Blog posts vs. landing page • Blog posts on main page can be full text or shortened. • Landing page has all the necessary and most important things you want people to see or do.

Very zoomed out view of Amy Lynn Andrews shows landing page style.

Pinch of Yum’s new design has a landing page style. Posts + Products.

MAIN PAGE What is the main WHY of your blog? • Blog posts? Is the blog THE thing? • Free content >> paid content? • Blog readers >> book readers? As with everything, no RIGHT answer. Yours might change over time.

SIDEBAR Sidebar vs NO Sidebar • Distraction or Intention • Again- where do you want people to go?

“So, consider this: You’re reading an article on a blog. Will you stop to look at the content suggestions in the sidebar? If you do, you’ve already lost interest in that given article. If not, what good is the sidebar anyway ?” -Torque

Benefits of NO Sidebar: • Allows your content to shine, distraction-free • Controls where your readers GO & how they behave • Clean, fresh look

But where do things GO? • Popular or related posts: at the end of your post • Search bar: in the header or nav bar • Email signup: EVERYWHERE • Ads: above/below header, footer, in the posts

An argument FOR Sidebars • Controls reader behavior • People are used to seeing them • Can highlight important places If you DO use one, turn it o ff for landing pages and your home page.

What goes IN the sidebar? • Bio- connect with readers • Email signup- not THE most e ff ective, but still • Social media icons- connect other places • Ads- if you fi nd them e ff ective. If you aren’t making money, REMOVE.

Fonts & Colors • Fonts need to be commercially free. Check Google Fonts or Font Squirrel. Read FINE PRINT. • At most, 3 fonts. Text, header, and a cursive or handwriting font for e ff ect. (Including on your images!) • Be large enough to be READABLE.

Fonts & Colors • Pick a small color palette. 4-6. • One main brand color. • One color for all actions. On buttons, on links to click, on what you want people to DO. • Consider the FEEL of colors & how they fi t with your brand vibe.

CONTENT Directly correlates to your WHY • What do you know? • What are you passionate about? • What kind of readers do you want? Best thing to do: Brainstorm.

CONTENT Who IS your audience? • Survey on the blog. • Study analytics of popular content. • Ask email subscribers. Match who you have with who you want.

CONTENT If your ideal & actual don’t match up… • Do you want to grow in the direction of who your people ARE? • Do you want to weed out those people or train them for what you want to BRING?

CONTENT Frequency • Plan what is SUSTAINABLE. • Provide QUALITY. • If possible, be CONSISTENT. But keep Quality > Consistency.

VOICE This is the persona of you that comes across through your writing. • Are you professional or personal? • Are you funny? Quirky? Sarcastic? Sentimental? This takes time to develop. It’s YOU, but the YOU of your blog.

TRAFFIC Knowing your WHY gives you good growth. Simple tra ffi c is empty unless you are going for straight ad $$$. • You want the RIGHT readers. • You want RETURN readers.

TRAFFIC Two main tra ffi c sources: • Search. • Social.

SEARCH • Optimizing your posts & pages on the main & meta level. • Tools like YOAST SEO on Wordpress help guide you. • Backlinks & social proof e ff ect rank.

IMPROVE SEO • Optimize your posts & pages on the main & meta level. • Use keywords naturally in posts, titles, image alt tags, & H1 or H2. • Guest post at relevant, larger blogs for backlinks. • Make posts shareable on social.

IMPROVE SOCIAL • Have killer titles. Itchy, How-to, Lists, Emotional. • Have killer images. (We’ll get to that!) • Share a LOT without being spammy. • Facebook groups- keep a list of which group allows shares daily.

IMPROVE SOCIAL • Pick the platforms for YOU. • Pick the platforms for YOUR PEOPLE. • Make it sustainable. • Don’t rely too much on ONE source.

SLOW & STRATEGIC DON’T BE OVERWHELMED! • Know your why. • Take one element at a time and ask if it lines up with your why. Focus from the foundation UP.

More? www.createifwriting.com kirsten@kirstenoliphant.com @kikimojo Next up: Email & Images