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Tags for Posts: Best Practices

I covered how to use the broader idea of categories for your blog posts in this article.

Now, I’d like to contrast that with a bit on the use of tags. To me (having originally been a book indexer by trade), tags are more like an index, while categories are more like a table of contents. Unlike a book index, though, tags don’t have to be in alphabetical order or in a list at all; they can be unordered because they are accessible by using a search tool. The computer doesn’t need all the terms in order to complete the search quickly for you. One of the advantages of computers over humans is their ability to use “brute force” speed to find terms, where we humans need an ordered list to scan efficiently.

Significance for Tags

On the other hand, the computer can’t always tell which mentions of a term are important enough to give you results for, so human indexers continue to create value by choosing significant topics for indexes. Search engines and indexes can actually complement each other.

But I digress. 🙂 Tags in your posts allow folks to use the search feature on your site (I do hope you have one) to more easily find any articles that mention topics or names, or that aren’t part of the site’s categories.

In the spirit of good book indexing (and to keep search engines like Google’s from downgrading your site), though, you don’t want to just tag every noun in your post, or even get carried away with more than, say six, tags for a post. Google has definitely taken to downgrading sites that use tags unrelated to content at all, and I know you all won’t be trying to play that game. But even with subjects and names that are in or related to your post, keep your tags restricted to names and subjects that you spend some verbiage discussing. For example, just because Bill Gates shows up in your post on how to use Microsoft Windows 10 doesn’t mean his name should be in your list of tags. If you were writing about the Gates’s education foundation, then his name might be appropriate as a tag. It’s all about what we indexers call “significance.” Do your blog readers a favor and make the quality of your site better for Google by sticking to the few most relevant terms for each post.

In this age of information overload, quality of information is of crucial importance; be a purveyor of quality. 🙂

Post Categories: Best Practices

Content Strategy

If you are a professional content strategist, you probably know the latest about how to use this feature of WordPress blog posts, but many great writers are just a little clueless about the most efficient and effective way to use categories. In addition, Google’s search engine has changed the way it evaluates tags in particular in its cataloging of pages.

Categories as Browsing Tools

Categories provide you, the writer, with an opportunity to collect different blog posts into one or more general categories that reveal the posts’ relationship to the major topics or offerings on your site. They help browsing readers who’ve read one post on love, for example, to find other posts that are primarily on that same subject. Categories are not designed to help people search for specific names or topics in a post that are not themes of your blog as a whole. Categories are like a table of contents for your entire site.

So, choose your categories, which should be a much smaller list than the one for your tags, based on what major subjects you want to group your posts under. Then you can post this short list in your blog’s sidebar or even link to some or all of them in your menu.

Here’s an example of categories for a site where a fairly wide range of topics and more than one type of writing are covered:

Cosmology
Inspiration
Mythology
Poetry

My publishing services website has these categories, which reflect my services and the biz in general:

Book Design
Book Indexing
Editing & Proofreading
Freelance Biz
Publishing
Writing

Both lists are short, and they do not include specific topics of posts. I don’t have a category for grammar, for example. Those posts would go in the Editing & Proofreading category. I might have a poem about my teddy bear, but it would just go in Poetry with all the poetry posts.

For more specific, index-like search terms for your post, you need to use the tags section that’s available on the right side of your post editor. I’ll cover best practices for those in a future post.

Social Media for Introverts

Marketing

I’d put money on the idea that many serious introverts, including a number of authors as well as artisans and artists, are the majority of the no-social-media accounts population. Problem is that social media has become a go-to space to be visible to an audience for your books or jewelry or paintings. Years ago, we were often restricted to a local network centered in a shop or had to get a literary agent or traditional publisher to pay attention to our great story. But no more!

The Social Media Exposure Myth

Well, maybe. Social media was originally touted as an easy way to promote your wares worldwide. But the ad-based social media model has built-in incentives to only give access to the largest audience if you are willing to pay for ads. Even then, you might only reach a small percentage of your followers on FB or wherever unless you are willing to pay big bucks. So, we are in some respects back to the TV commercial model. Yuck! Yeah, I don’t want to do a bunch of commercials/ads, nor do I think I’ll get enough of a return on investment to make it worth my effort.

It’s the Engagement That Counts

For small-scale entrepreneurs, mass exposure is likely to be overwhelming. Like the painter from the Renaissance, what you need is at least one patron, and in today’s world perhaps a tribe of fans to follow your work and buy your stuff. And for that, you need to build real relationships and reputation rather than blanketing the social media world with ads. Also, introverts tend to value in-depth one-on-one relationships anyway, so social media may seem rather alien with its focus on numbers of followers and broadcasting of personal information to what amounts to strangers. So, let’s scale this down to a level that introverts might find more comfortable.

Get Organically Social

I was the social media maven for my introverted husband’s coin ring business a few years ago. I noticed that artisans on Etsy.com, where hubby had his shop, tended to feel overwhelmed with what they perceived as social media obligations. All the stuff of marketing and relating to customers is something many makers would rather avoid.

The good news for anyone who wants to avoid social media overwhelm and still be visible:

It’s about engagement, not advertisement.
You don’t have to be everywhere or compromise your personality or ethics.

Each social media outlet has a slightly different demographic and “culture” for sharing and connecting. Very few engage using posts that are just product promotion. If they put out lots and lots of those in repetition, people will ignore them. Just begging for customers all the time is definitely a turnoff.

Instead, use social media to let us get to know you, the maker or writer. It’s more about you as a person than the product itself (surprised?). Remember that you are the real product; your talent is what sets you apart. We’d like to know about your process. No, dear artist, you don’t have to give away all your “secrets.” We just want to know what it’s like for you to make cool stuff with your own tools and talents.

If you are a strong introvert and just want to make stuff, it’s likely best to work with a partner on the social media stuff. You can also do some of the marketing stuff that does feel comfortable to you. My hubby always wrote a personal note to each customer on parchment paper (his idea) and included a history of the coin that he’d turned into a ring. This was his way of connecting and adding story to his product.

Social Media Outlets

So, read up on some of the blogs about how the different social media outlets work and see what seems to fit your style best. Following are some brief impressions of mine on the major players:

Patreon

Patreon might not be strictly thought of as social media, but it is. It gathers people with a common interest (your work). Most social media is about collecting people around common interests. With Patreon, though, patrons consciously support you with regular funding to create more work. Unlike crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter, Patreon is designed for a deep, long-term relationship with your fans. Just keep in mind that you will commit to creating work for them and the general public on a regular basis. It’s a major commitment, and it can take time to build a patron audience.

Twitter

Twitter kind of expects people to be engaged several times a day (but not necessarily hundreds of times, thank you!). To me, Twitter is definitely designed for extroverts to take advantage of. It requires too much activity even for me. 😉

Facebook

Facebook is not a fav of mine for biz, but it can work for others. It is a good way to keep a small audience of regular fans apprised of your work. Keep in mind that a Facebook Page by itself will not just bring hordes of people to you. Facebook sets it up so most people won’t see your posts or even paid ads unless you already have a large following (I know, Catch 22). That’s because they, like all public corporations, are primarily interested in making money for their shareholders.

MeWe

As a quieter and much more privacy-focused alternative to the old FB, you can build a tribe over at MeWe. I like that I can separate personal friends from fans by starting over, basically. MeWe doesn’t work on the ad model (they have basic stuff for free and then charge small amounts for extra things, like having a business page or fancier emojis). I like the vibe and the greater impact of my presence because it’s got users in the low millions so far instead of billions.

Pinterest can be good for artists and artisans because it focuses on visuals and doesn’t require a big story behind everything that’s posted. Especially if you are creating for collectors (of genre fiction or jewelry or seashells or paintings or photos, the list goes on), Pinterest can be a good place to get extra visibility.

Instagram

Instagram (owned by Facebook) is also visually oriented and expects very brief posts. I find it a timesaver just because I can post to both it and FB at the same time.

A Simple Social Media Strategy

Pick two or maybe three outlets (two’s enough) that seem to match your personal style. Share yourself and your making process (video, for example, can be a great way to share what you do if you make stuff) regularly. Pick a frequency of posting that works for you (weekly or monthly are best options), and then be very regular with it.

Final Thoughts

Keep in mind that sales are not necessarily highly correlated to social media directly. So don’t despair if you don’t see direct connections, especially at first. Most folks still buy because they search for something they want, or because an offline friend recommended something. Social media is just a way to increase general visibility over time and reach some people you might not have otherwise.

Always remember that your own marketing territory, whether it’s a brick-and-mortar shop on a street in your town or a website of your own (or ideally, both) are your most powerful tools for being visible. Social media will always be extra, mainly because you don’t own the territory.

Go forth and create in peace and joy! And if you want to create or enhance your very own web presence, I’ll be right here. 🙂

Do I Need a Website?

Freelance Business

Well, it depends (like most things). Note the word “need” in my post title. First make sure you need one for some purpose (doesn’t have to be something you get paid for, though). Let’s go through the possibilities:

Service business (even if it’s just local) = yes
Products to sell (autos to xylophones) (even if it’s just local) = yes
Something to say (influencer or writer generally) = yes
Hobby that you want to share in a community = maybe

Facebook Page or Group Instead?

Generally, no, with emphasis on “instead.” The hobby option is the only one where just having an FB group or page (group might be better) might be enough. Keeping in mind that you still are not in control of what happens to that group or page or what kinds of things you can share on it. And the contributions are in most-recent-date sequence, so it’s harder to jump to a topic that might have been covered a month ago, for example. Working with forum software solves that problem, but truth be told, lots of folks are used to the FB interface, so I see the appeal of FB groups.

If you run a business, though, by using Facebook, you are giving up a lot and not getting much in return. Even aside from the fact that the corporation can take and sell all your data, they control your visibility. If you don’t pay for ads (and often even if you do), the posts on your FB page will remain largely invisible unless you have lots of active friends (just the ones that love your profile posts and comment). And those friends need to share your posts a lot. That’s sort of the price of “free.” And not that you shouldn’t have an FB page or group to provide coaching or whatever, just don’t make them the only place you operate. Social media should be a set of satellites for your business’s visibility, not the main territory.

Local Business with Local Customers

Maybe, but at the very least, a Facebook page. Just to take care of your current customers and maybe add some who search on “Mexican restaurant near me.” For example, I frequent a Mexican restaurant in my small town, one where you can call in your order and go pick it up. Food and service are wonderful, but no portable menus at the location that I know of, and no sign of the menu on their Facebook page.

The only menu is a photo on Yelp. Which does work with a search, but the Yelp photos are out of date now. And again, Yelp is not an online territory you have control over. Their photo display is very basic and their focus is on reviews rather than on making your business look good. That’s really up to you on your own website territory.

A simple, four- or five-page website for a local business with a list of services or products (you don’t have to sell stuff online) will be fine. And your emphasis can be on location and contact information. No blogging necessary, but a site using a content management system like WordPress, Weebly, or Wix will make it easier for a non-geek to update the content, which will be good for customers also.

Online Influencers and Online Businesses

You really need to own your Web territory. Yes, Google really “owns it” in the sense that like Facebook, they have some control over your site’s visibility in their search engine. But they are a bit more neutral than FB. The search engine only cares that your site is searchable, relatively active (updated regularly), mobile device friendly, and has a simple security certificate (https). Google doesn’t directly control what your site looks like the way FB does with its Pages feature.

You can have your site hosted at a very reasonable price (your data is kept on a physical server somewhere) by a number of companies. There’s been some consolidation in the web hosting area, but a lot are still independent of each other. Big or small, they do not control how you display information or what information you put on your site. If you use a good content management system (like WordPress), you can:

create a professional website that makes it easy for potential customers to find information and make a purchase;
keep the site updated easily so Google will make it more likely to come up in search results, as well as heading off any technical changes that might break your site;
and automatically keep the site mobile-friendly so it displays nicely (and readably) on phones and tablets.

Own Your Space

What’s not to love? Yes, web hosting is not free, but at anywhere from $7 to $30 per month, it’s a small investment to make in the independence of your brand. Most of the extra functionality (called plugins) available for WordPress is free, at least for basic features. Compared to the outlay for a brick-and-mortar office or shop, these costs are minimal.

You also have lots of choice around investing time versus money on your site development and maintenance. You can dig in and do it yourself without being a computer programmer, including checking for updates and adding or subtracting content. Or, you can invest anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000 in the talent and time of a designer to build a simpler or more complex site for you. You can also pay that designer to do the upkeep on the site for a monthly fee. It’s a world of choice, really.

Personally, I like having control over my brand and the way it is displayed. How about you? Do let me know when you’d like to talk about investing in your business by building a website. 🙂

Making Content Changes to Your Site

Visual Design

This is a WordPress-versus-your-static-custom-coded-site comparison. I just finished tweaking a client’s site because the web host made a change that caused it to not display at all. Between her web host and me, we got her original site back up, and I made a small update to the content on one of the pages. All great and everything, but having to go into the client’s previous designer’s old HTML code took longer than if she’d had a WordPress site, which she could have updated herself without paying me to do that part. 🙂

Your Old HTML Site

I still remember back in the day as a freelance book indexer having a great professional build me a nicely designed website to make me visible to potential clients. It was a review of my services and a resume of my experience. Worked fine. But that was 1997. A lot of freelancers who aren’t into all the blogging stuff think that their static CV-type website will work just fine in 2019. It’s the same information, it’s still visible, or so it seems. Why not just have a designer come in and tweak it or update content once in a while?

Unfortunately, no. A lot has changed since 1997, and especially since the early 2000s. And it’s not about fancy site designs with big images and weekly blog articles. What’s happened is that most of the old sites from the 1999 to 2010 period in particular have become invisible to search engines, partly because search looks for actively changing sites with lots of visitors, and partly because Google likes sites that look good on mobile devices.

But, maybe you have a thriving freelance business based on reputation and referral and don’t feel a need to modernize your website. It’s just not that critical to your business. Fair. But with a more modern site based on a content management system like WordPress or Squarespace, or even Wix or Weebly, you could actually make content updates yourself. Save time, save money in the long run. And also make yourself more visible.

Your WordPress Website

I’m going to use WordPress as a content management system example, because I prefer its wealth of capabilities, but you can also make simple sites with other systems like Squarespace, Wix, Weebly, or even the very basic systems that most web hosts have as standard features.

Your upfront costs for a WordPress site will be the time and money for help in getting the site set up and your content moved. If you want to maintain everything yourself, one or more tutorials might be a good idea, and then you’ll be able to add new projects to your portfolio or update resource documents for your colleagues, or even write articles for your profession if you are so inclined.

Keeping everything up to date is as easy as checking into your site once a month and clicking on the updates function. Maybe once every five years you can look at a redesign, but if you are not looking to expand your client base by a whole lot or become a blogging influencer in your field, you’ll be fine for that long with just updating content (you don’t have to have a blog), and maybe asking for a brief tweak or troubleshoot a small issue with a professional designer.

Meanwhile, your site will look cool, stay technically updated so you don’t have display problems with your web host changes something, and updating will be easy and much more efficient. Three wins!

As you can guess, I’d love to help you update your site from 2000 or so and empower you to maintain it if you so choose. I can also check in on your site regularly if you like. Let’s set up a conversation!

E-Course Tools

Courses

Now that we’ve gotten the really important stuff out of the way (the plan and the funnel structure), we can get to the spiffy electronic tools to support your course.

I will go over three course management options for you. This is a general overview; if you want to see them in detail, follow the links in the titles.

Course Management on Their Site

There are two basic approaches to online course management: On their site, or on your site. The difference is important in terms of data storage. If you work with a system that’s on their site, you don’t have to deal with the page loading drag and potential extra cost of needing more storage from your own web host.

Thinkific

I went ahead and signed up for Thinkific. It was also recommended by a friend. Cool interface. Free forever in terms of annual or monthly fees, but they have restrictions on number of courses at the free level. They also seem to have their own integrated membership feature, so you can create discussion groups within Thinkific. It doesn’t look like they charge transaction fees, but for me the fact that they don’t use Square as a payment gateway is a bit of a bummer. They do use Stripe and Paypal.

Teachable

Teachable also has a free version, although you have to scroll down their site a bit to find it. Their subscription prices are a little cheaper than Thinkific, but they also charge for each payment transaction (it looks like it’s just to cover their cost). There are no limits on number of students for the paid plans, but a limit of 10 on the free one (makes sense). They have a nice feature comparison chart that gives you all the information you need to choose a plan. I didn’t see a specific membership feature at Teachable. Teachable also uses just Stripe and Paypal as payment gateways.

Both systems seem to have features to support the funnel I wrote about, starting with dripping email content and going on through to more formal course designs with lessons, quizzes, graded tests, etc.

For branding purposes, for both systems, you do start with a subdomain of the course management provider (e.g., joannecourse.thinkific.com), and have to pay to get a custom domain name. But it looks like Teachable may be easier to link up to your own site.

Course Management on Your Site

The advantage of hosting your courses yourself is freedom and control. Freedom to integrate into all your branding easily, freedom to take advantage of lots of third-party add-ons. Control over your security provider choices, membership groups, etc.

LearnDash seems to be the power player in this space. If you use LearnDash, though, you have to deal with hosting it on your site and therefore with your web host. As course content and enrollments grow, you may have to pay more for storage at your web host, in addition to any charges from LearnDash itself. They also charge significantly more than Thinkific and Teachable. In addition, there is no free option, although if you try it and don’t like it, you can get a refund.

My thought after looking at the features and integrations (I can use Square as a payment gateway!) is that LearnDash may be something to grow into after using the cheaper on-their-site options at Thinkific or Teachable. There are lots of add-ons to customize and expand your course system with LearnDash. But just starting out, I don’t think I’d go there.

So, a quick overview. At least I got us down to three options! Please do go and check out the details on each of these based on where you think you want to go with e-courses. I think I’ll try Thinkific first and see how it goes.

Meanwhile, I’m totally open to comments from your experience with theses course management systems. 🙂