Be the first to write a review
Creating Readable SEO Content for Your Blog
Structure, along with words that make searches engines happy
If you have trouble building blog content that gets noticed, you might need help with structure and SEO. Structure, along with words that make searches engines happy is what Linda tackles in this article.
How to Kill Your Credibility
If you continue to write blog entries that make outrageous claims without sources to back you up, you may lose credibility among your readers. On the other hand, you may know politicians that make outrageous claims that they do not back up. Are you a politician? If not, maybe you do not need to follow in their footsteps.
If you plagiarize material, even from Wikipedia, without attributing to the source, you also may lose credibility. Simply state, "According to Wikipedia (or any other source), blah blah blah." This not only takes the onus off your back as to the claim, but it provides you with an opportunity to create a link. Links are good for readership, because they're good for SEO, even when they're not reciprocated.
The Political PR That Can Kill a Reputation
I'm going to relay a story to you about a specific political office and their PR department. Without naming names, this PR has to do with the Appomattox News site, so you know that office is in Virginia. The person was just voted into office, which also narrows down the selection a bit.
Recently, I wrote a letter to that PR department complaining about their press releases. They often sent video without transcriptions and PDF attachments that could not be copied and pasted into a readable format within the blog. In other words, I often ended up re-typing whole documents because they were not usable as repeatable documents.
I pointed out to that PR department that half of that politician's constituency cannot gain access to high-speed Internet because of the digital divide. Therefore, they could not download video (slow dial-up connections) and/or PDF files. Additionally, there is no screen reader on earth that can read a PDF file that was created by a scan of a document. It's just not possible.
The digital divide is one issue...when you post information on the Web that cannot be viewed by blind people (those PDF files and videos without transcriptions), then you're stepping into a Civil Rights issue. I never received a response, but they have discontinued the videos.
Incorrect Grammar from a Political Office? You Betcha.
Additionally, this PR department doesn't know the differences among the words, "that, which, who," and continue to use them inappropriately along with poor punctuation. They use non-ISO code in their format, so I need to change all their quotation marks and more when I receive their issue. In other words, when it comes to dealing with this PR department, I'm doing everything but writing the original draft. In some cases, I throw up my hands and make an "Editor's comment" that a given press release has been issued "as is" from that politician's office.
Perhaps the issue wouldn't be so onerous if that politician did not issue four to five press releases PER DAY. At this point, I run that politician's press releases late in the day, as I need to pick and choose which press releases I want to run. Otherwise, my paper would look like it was owned by that politician.
When you begin to open your blog up to press releases, be aware that even some of the higher political offices may issue press releases that can screw up your credibility. Go through those press releases with a fine-tooth comb to find errors and fix them. Or, slap the press release up with a disclaimer, but do take the time to fix that non-ISO code.
You may want to make the disclaimer if you feel that any press release is not correct or if you can prove that it is incorrect on its facts as well. This fact-checking especially is important with political press releases from any office or organization.
Try this exercise: if you receive a political press release – even if you agree with it – go through it and remove all the adjectives and adverbs. What do you have left? If there is not a message within the remaining copy, then you don't have news to relay to your readers.
Linda Goin
Linda Goin carries an A.A. in graphic design, a B.F.A. in visual communications with a minor in business and marketing and an M.A. in American History with a minor in the Reformation. While the latter degree doesn't seem to fit with the first two educational experiences, Linda used her 25-year design expertise on archaeological digs and in the study of material culture. Now she uses her education and experiences in social media experiments.
Accolades for her work include fifteen first-place Colorado Press Association awards, numerous fine art and graphic design awards, and interviews about content development with The Wall St. Journal, Chicago Tribune, Psychology Today, and L.A. Times.