While we're writing the book I'll post tips on how to make your corporate blog better. Just short things that'll help make your blog better.
Anyway, our publisher, Joe Wikert has started a blog. Shel linked to it the other night. And he made a common first mistake: he didn't think through his title very well.
Quick. Tell us what "The Average Joe" means to you?
It doesn't mean anything to us. It's like wheat flour. No shape. No meaning. If this were just a personal blog it'd be OK (although I argue that even a personal blog is better if you get more specific).
Now, think about someone searching Google. Why will someone want to read Joe's blog? Just cause Scoble said to? I don't think so.
Here's a better approach: own a niche.
Bad: my blog about something made with flour
Good: Scoble's blog about artisian bread made in Santa Cruz.
Go back to Google. Or MSN. Or Yahoo. They all work pretty much the same.
If we're looking for a book publisher, wouldn't we query on "book publisher blog?" Nah, no one knows what a blog is, so let's do some brainstorming. Here's some things we searched for to find a good book publisher:
Book publisher problem (or hate, or sucks, or avoid)
How do you get a book published?
Negotiating book publishing contracts
The best business book publisher
Highest sales business books
Author's favorite business book publisher
How to write a book
How to get a book author deal
Getting your book written
You can come up with some more on your own. Spend an hour doing some searches. There are actually some tools to help you come up with searches on your own. There are also tons of sites that'll help you brainstorm how people searching for information think. Search for "Danny Sullivan" or "John Battelle" and you'll find lots of search-engine optimization tricks.
Anyway, after doing a bunch of brainstorming I see that some words are common on that list: "publishing" "author" "writing" "book."
So, those are the words you want in your title tag. You also want your name in there as well.
How about: Joe Wikert's book authoring and publishing blog
Sounds boring, right? But here's why it's important.
Quick, go to Feedster.com. Enter in "publishing." And see what comes back.
Notice that the blog title is underneath each post. Now, what's the likelihood that you'll click on somebody with the name "joe's average blog?"
Compare that to how likely you'll be to click on something that says "Joe Wikert's book authoring and publishing blog."
And we can even improve that further. Joe already has something that most of us don't: authority. He's an executive at a book company that's hundreds of years old and sells a good percentage of the top 25 books in the world.
So, why not reflect that in the title tag?
Joe Wikert, Wiley's book publishing executive who will get you published
Now, I would CLICK on that!!!
How about you? What tips would you give for improving the title tag?
