Make Hay Ethical E-Media

As you may already know Jez and I here at Make Hay manage and coordinate the Green Girls Global and Green Guys Global blogs. On Monday we will be very happy to re-launch fresh, new and even better versions of them both.

The GGG blogs are all about editors from different parts of the world sharing their experiences, ideas and views on living a more sustainable life.

Since the beginning of Green Girls Global in November 2006 and subsequent launch of Green Guys Global exactly one year later we’ve enjoyed fantastic support from our readers and contributors. We’ve even been featured in The Times (Top 50 Eco Blogs and Anna Shepard’s Greenie Points) and Marie Claire and been voted number 2 in the People’s Choice Best Green Blogger.

So on the 1st September make sure you stop by www.greengirlsglobal.com and www.greenguysglobal.com and tell us what you think.

There will also be lots of opportunities for contributors so if you’d like to get involved let us know!

Quite a lot of our Make Hay clients are bloggers so this one is especially for you.

In my view it is all the more important that green bloggers have engaged and interested visitors because the issues that you’re blogging about can make a big difference.

So here are 5 links from the blogging experts to help you along the way:

How to Create a Blog that People Want to Read
Chris Garrett

Using Titles Effectively on Blogs
Problogger

Common Mistake Bloggers Make
Business Blogging Tips

Creating Stories that Resonate
Seth Godin

Six Simple Things You can do to Enjoy Blogging More
North x East

One of the first questions many potential clients ask is “how to I get to number 1 in Google?”.

Well, this is a massive question. SEO is a detailed and complex subject in itself relating to technical aspects of web development, semantics and copywriting, not to mention keeping up with the changing ways that search engines track and index sites on the web.

Those of you who have worked with us before have probably, at some time or another, heard us say “content is king”. When it comes to potential clients finding you on search engines and then staying on your site when they get there your content is extremely important. This is where you have the most control of your SEO destiny.

Unless you are hiring a copywriter to do the job for you it is likely that you will write the text content for your own website. And why not? Who knows your business better than you? The skill is in taking this knowledge of your business, industry and market and creating clear, concise and relevant copy that both search engines and website visitors will like.

It sounds complicated but following certain rules will go a long way to helping you get to grips with writing in this way. Here are a few resources that you may find useful.

Rule No 1 - Don’t underestimate the importance of good content
See this Webcredible article:
“Website content - Getting it right for search engines“

Rule No 2 - Write for your audience as well as Google
See this Copyblogger article:
“Seven Copywriting Tips for a Well-Staffed Business Website“

Rule No 3 - Understand how linking affects your search engine position
See this Webcredible article:
“Advanced link building“

As I mentioned earlier there are many other things involved in having a search engine friendly website and much of that relies on the coding and way it is built. Please see our article ‘Standards Design Works!‘ for an example and do contact us if you would like to know more.

One of our fantastic Make Mail clients Michael Norton, of 365 Act, has published a gargantuan list of networks in his August newsletter.

The list includes physical and virtual networking groups for technology and social entrepreneurs and creative people.

As Michael Says networking is a great way to get the creative juices flowing and “the two ingredients of success in changing the world are CURIOSITY and SERENDIPITY”

To find out more about Make Mail, our e-mail marketing service, visit www.makemail.co.uk

The latest Make Noise newsletter is out now!

Check out the August ‘08 edition ‘Grasslands, Natural Nursery and Pledging for Change‘.

If you would like to find out about all kinds of green and ethical work then why not become a Make Noise member? Joining Make Noise is completely free and all we ask you to do is help spread the word by forwarding anything you think will be of interest to a friend.

Spread the word about positive action and Make Noise!

www.makenoise.co.uk