In the online marketing arena, my peers and I tend to get sucked into using lingo that can sometimes be a bit too “exclusive”. Much like other industries where the terminology can not only be off-putting, but can cut you right out of the conversation, the online community can be a bit tricky sometimes to navigate.

For me, I really hate it. I think there is nothing worse than reading an article with the goal of getting actionable tips….and then finding yourself Googling ten of the terms in the article in order to make sense of it? Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve been guilty of this in the past as well. That’s why I try to be as clear and to the point as possible. Our time is precious, so let’s just get to it, right?

This brings me to “Blog Tours”. I’ve seen this broadcasted far and wide, but never really saw an explanation that I thought hit the nail on the head.

Basically, toss the “cool” terminology out the window and think of this as a “blog comment” strategy. I’m sure you have gone onto a blog (or even a website) and read an article that at the end allows you to put in your comments. A simple idea, but it packs a punch!

Commenting on blogs is a wonderful way to build more links to your online point of sale, or your company website. In terms of SEO (search engine optimization) – it is definitely a golden child.

But how do you do this? Here’s my rules of blog commenting:

If you are using blog commenting for SEO purposes, before you even take time to read the article, scroll to the bottom of the page to make sure that there is a place for you to key in your website when you comment. If this is not here….there is no way to link you (unless you register to the blog or community which can be time consuming).

If you have to comment via Facebook, it will not pack the SEO punch that you are looking for.  Again, having a spot to key in your website is the best option.

Once you’ve decided to comment on a post, first read the full article to see that it’s message is in line with your brand. You can disagree, but make sure that your comment is not vulgar in any way.

Think of the next three ideas as a “compliment sandwich”. Begin your comment by agreeing with a few points made in the author’s article.

The second part of your comment (the ‘meat’ of your activity here) should be you sharing your expertise. If you agree with the whole article, maybe share a quick story of something that has happened to you in this arena.

Round off your comment with a note of thanks for the article or something similar.  ou don’t want to sound too canned, so make sure to make it personal.

Then after you post your comment (or sometimes before) there is a button you can push to have all future comments sent to you via email. Click this, as you want to see how people react to your comment as well as have the opportunity to jump back in if needed.

It’s that simple. I suggest to help you FIND these blogs (which is the most time-consuming effort), use a site like StumbleUpon, Zite, Scoop.it, Trap.it, AOL Editions, or even Google Currents to find random blogs within your company’s niche category. This site is easy to use and very straightforward. You can also use sites such as Alltop or even a simple Google search for keywords.

My final piece of advice is to make sure you do this on a consistent basis. If you comment on one blog a month, the SEO impact will be non-existent. I say shoot for two comments a day and keep up with it. After a week you will get in the groove and it will become second nature. Also there is a wonderful side-effect that I’ve found in searching around the web – you might learn something new!

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