How to Grow Your Readership and Audience #WindowsChampions

This is information that I received from Duane Forrester. I’ve had the chance to listen to Duane Forrester speak twice. Once while I attended the Windows champion press trip and then again on a call with the Windows Champions. I’m a Windows Champion and occasional receive products that I share with you. This time, I’m sharing with you some tips I learned from Duane Forrester that will help you grow your influence, readership, audience.

Duane shared the following tips:

He is a Senior Product Manager with Bing’s Webmaster Program.  Previously, he was an inhouse SEM running the SEO program for MSN in the US & Americas. He’s also the founding co-chair of SEMPO’s In-House SEM Committee, was formerly on the Board of Directors for SEMPO and is the author of two books: How To Make Money With Your Blog & Turn Clicks Into Customers

The Secret to Success

• Build social followers & fans organically
• Wall posts/tweets with links are perceived as more credible and useful
• Get the basics of SEO covered, then focus on content
• It’s worth repeating: unique, compelling content still works

To do these things however, you need to understand a few things. like you really need to understand what authority is and how the browsers view authority. Duane works on Bing and has been an SEO expert for YEARS. So you should pay attention to what I’m sharing with you.

What is Authority?

• Authority, as defined by a dictionary means an entity is a holder of power: somebody or something with power
• Know the topic inside out
• Engage your community
• Share useful content freely
• Be consistent and useful
• Market your strengths
• Be a go-to resource
• Learn to spot trends in data
• You’re an authority when others say you are

So it’s important that you have such great quality in your posts that people come back to you, they link to you and that they know whenever they come to your site you are going to share something amazing with them. You also need to understand how to have and be a community. Community is one of my weakness, I don’t spend enough time with you guys. I’m often surprised that you come back for more but appreciate ever so much that you do.

Community

• Be a valuable contributor
• Peer recognition points to your authority
• There are communities for everyone today
• Being recognized takes time
• It also takes consistency
• If you make a mistake, own it and move on

And finally, you can’t be in this blogging business without understanding social media, your reach and how to achieve it.

Why Social Matters to Search

• Signal of topical authority
• Real-time – engines want fresh content, fast
• Integrated social signals influence click actions of searchers
• Social signals remain only a few of thousands of signals for organic ranking