When people go on-line, its usually to:
- to learn how to do something,
- to be entertained, or
- to find out about product or service.
To take advantage of this, a blog can boast your club’s on-line presence. How so?
Having a blog can:
- help with link building,
- drive long-term results, and
- get the word out about Toastmasters, club news, and upcoming events.
Let’s take a look!
1) Building bridges with link building
Link building is about using backlinks to help build traffic to your website. Backlinks are links from one website to a page on another website (such as referring back to your website) and are one of the factors the Google algorithm considers when ranking a site on its search engine results. For a link to be considered a backlink by search engines, it must be clickable. Backlinks are important for search engine optimization or SEO. Simply put, that’s when your content is ranked higher on Goggle.
Once the blog article is live, let the world know. Post on your club’s social media platforms. Let your social media audience know that a new blog article has just been published on your club’s website.
Don’t forget to add a backlink to your blog article on your social media posts; you want it easy for your reader can find your blog article. The reader will click on the link to read your new blog post. In the background, algorithms will pick up that more traffic is being driven to your club’s website.
To leverage your blog, schedule some social media posts with small excerpts taken from your article, along with the link to your blog page, so that the reader to click on to continue reading.
If your blog article is a leadership or communications resource, include a link to the District 86 or to the Toastmasters International website. Give your reader the opportunity to go to another website for additional information on that topic. Links to other Toastmaster websites in your blog article will help to give your article a tone of authority. This will also signal to search engines that your club is a leader, which can help to improve your overall ranking in search engines.
2) Beep beep! Drive long-term results
Blogging can help drive your long-term traffic results across search engines.
- You write an article for your non-Toastmaster reader.
- You publish your blog article.
- You leverage your blog content by telling people about it on your club’s social media platforms, with a backlink to your website blog page.
- People see your post, look at your blog excerpt, and click on the link your provided to see the rest of your article. They read the whole article.
- They get to the bottom of the page; they see another link – such as a link to Toastmasters International or to District 86 – where they can go to for additional information on that topic.
- The reader is interested to learn more, and they click on the link – the link that you provided for their convenience.
As more people click on the links, your post starts getting ranked by Google’s analytics. As long as your blog is available online, it will continue to generate traffic to your club’s website months after it’s been published.
But don’t stop there. Consider updating old posts with new insights. Go back to one of your older blog posts. Repurpose it and redirect it to a new audience. This will help continue the traffic to your club’s website long after you initially published your original article.
3) Hear yea – hear yea; read all about it!
Is your club looking for a new meeting space? Blog about it! Have a championship speaker coming to present a workshop? Tell your non-toastmaster audience what tips they can pick up by attending. Highlight what your club is up to. Let people know what events are coming up. Blog to share club news, club stories, and other, note-worthy club updates.
Great testimonials tell a story. Share your member’s success stories and testimonials on your blog. Interview someone in your club about their communication or leadership journey. Include a photo of your featured club member; not only will your readers want to “meet” the person they are reading about, but your club will also come across as a friendly place to be.
Testimonials are also a great opportunity to show off how attending Toastmasters club meetings helps people improve. If a member went from no public speaking experience to achieving personal and professional success due to the Toastmasters program, your reader will believe that your club will help them become better presenters too.
If your club has invited a special guest to speak at your meeting, write a blog article about it to bring attention to your invited speaker. Also include a link to your speaker’s website (if they have one) at the bottom of your blog article, so your reader to find out more about your speaker.
Sharing club news makes your Toastmasters club appear more authentic and welcoming to your readers. Is your club celebrating a milestone? What about your members – are they celebrating any achievements? The more familiar your reader is with your club’s culture, the more of a loyal following you will develop.
Always include your club meeting information at the end of your blog (i.e., the day of the week and time your club meets, how to attend a club meeting etc.). Make it easy for your reader to find your club and attend your meeting. Remember to add a call to action, such as inviting your reader to meet the club member you showcased on your blog.
Bogging is valuable for any club’s PR strategy. Blogging can:
- help with link building,
- drive long-term results,
- and get the word out about Toastmasters, club news, and upcoming events.
Do you have any blogging tips? We’d love to hear what worked for you!
Email us at publicrelationsmanager@toastmasters86.org
Created by Nancy Movrin DTM Public Relations Manager 2021 – 2022