This is a blogging basics guide that includes more specific syntax on best practices for topics, article structure, SEO, and content inspiration.

1. BLOGGING BASIC GUIDE
Baochi Nguyen

2. TOPICS
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Why Blogging
The Anatomy of a Blog Post
Blogging Best Practices
Writing Tips
Content Inspiration
Content Calendar
© 2014 Social Canny. All rights reserved.

3. WHY BLOGGING?
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Thought leadership
Brand awareness
Credibility
Website customer acquisition
© 2014 Social Canny. All rights reserved.

4. FROM CONTENT TO CUSTOMERS
“The hope of content marketing
is marketing that our buyers
don’t hate. It is marketing that
serves their needs. It’s
marketing that delivers value to
our buyers, helps us earn their
trust, and that trust then leads to
brand awareness, affinity and
purchase.”
Michael Brenner, vice president of global
marketing for SAP
© 2014 Social Canny. All rights reserved.

5. ANATOMY OF A BLOG POST
Title
Intro and Main Idea (1 to 2 paragraphs)
Content: proof points (2 to 3 paragraphs)
Conclusion and Engagement Question
© 2014 Social Canny. All rights reserved.

6. PROVIDE VALUE
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Tips
Lessons
Insights
Advice
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Best Practices
Recommendations
© 2014 Social Canny. All rights reserved.

7. BITE-SIZED CONTENT
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Make bite-sized content: bullets,
lists, bolded text, short paragraphs
>> think skimmers and mobile
users
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Word count: irrelevant as long as
content is quality
© 2014 Social Canny. All rights reserved.

8. BRAND
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Establish your audience
Choose article topics that fall under one or more of the established blog
categories
Embody the voice/tone of the brand personality, then add a dash of your own
personality
© 2014 Social Canny. All rights reserved.

9. TITLE, INTRO AND CONCLUSION
Blog Title
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Make the title an enticing one, something that
compels people to read/share
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Title must be relevant to content
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Keep it short
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Blog Intro
Establish context, audience, and perspective
Spell out the value you’re about to impart
Keep it succinct and to the point
Blog Conclusion
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Briefly reiterate your main point(s)
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Emphasize key takeaways
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Invite reader engagement
© 2014 Social Canny. All rights reserved.

10. SEO
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Incorporate key words: relevant, in moderation
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Include at least five tags (long tail okay)
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Interlink between web pages: other blog posts, webpages
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Interlink with aligned brands/companies/content
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When “curating” content, don’t duplicate copy as this negatively
impacts SEO
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Highlight key ideas and add unique perspective or additional
information
© 2014 Social Canny. All rights reserved.

11. DATA IS KING
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Incorporate data: stats, studies, surveys, analyses
Posts that cite data tend to receive more shares/clicks
© 2014 Social Canny. All rights reserved.

12. BLOG IMAGES
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Include at least one image (the hero image)
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Choose relevant, specific images – not generic and general
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Avoid stock photos that look like stock photos
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Credit image source in article footer (unless image is original)
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Set images to open in new tab during upload
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Source from: iStock, WikiMedia, Flickr – or take an original photo on your
phone
Photos
Charts
Comics
Graphics
Infographics
Screenshots
© 2014 Social Canny. All rights reserved.

13. VIDEOS
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Post videos at the top of the
article, preceding content
Insert videos through embedded
code, e.g., from YouTube
Cut and paste embed code via the
html view in WordPress
© 2014 Social Canny. All rights reserved.

14. BLOG BUZZKILLS
• Sales pitches
• Over-promotion
• Omissions to data sources
• Bad grammar and typos
• Too many links
• Lack of visuals
• Corporate-speak
© 2014 Social Canny. All rights reserved.

15. WRITING TIPS
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Write, don’t edit
Tell a story, make it conversational
Take a unique perspective
Say “NO” to bad grammar
Spell out numbers below 10
Don’t spell out numbers in a title
Cross-reference data and facts
Cite your sources
Italicize book titles, put article titles in quotes
© 2014 Social Canny. All rights reserved.

16. GRAMMAR RESOURCES
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Book: Elements of Style by Strunk and White
Book: Woe Is I: The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better
English in Plain English by Patricia O’Conner
Blog Post: 12 Grammar Mistakes That Make You Look
Like a Bad Blogger
© 2014 Social Canny. All rights reserved.

17. CONTENT INSPIRATION
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Customer stories
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Employee experts
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Industry experts
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FAQs via sales and customer service
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Influencers
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Partners and competitors
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Social communities
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Trending topics
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Key words
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Twitter hashtags
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Search terms
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Conference attendees
© 2014 Social Canny. All rights reserved.

18. CONTENT: CALENDAR
• Establish:
• Content frequency
• Assigned writers
• Define:
• Seasonal events
• Day-of-the-week themes
• Determine:
• Content type
• Distribution channels
• Modify and update frequently
• Distribute content calendar
(Google – calendar, docs, drive)
© 2014 Social Canny. All rights reserved.

19. THANK YOU!