How to Write a Roundup Blog Post
Roundup blog posts are an effective way to build your reputation as an expert source of information.
A roundup post highlights and links to several articles in your niche – they can be articles from your own blog or from other sources.
I like roundups for three reasons:
1. I do a lot of reading within my industry anyway, and a roundup is a quick, easy way to share what I’m learning. There’s no sense in “reinventing the wheel” by rehashing what others have said; why not refer my readers directly to the source?
Some would argue that sending people away from my blog is counterproductive.
I disagree.
If I consistently deliver helpful content to my readers – even if that content occasionally sends them to someone else’s site – they’ll return to find out what new, juicy tidbits and links I’ll share with them.
2. Most bloggers check their trackbacks (links to their post from someone else’s blog). Outgoing links can serve as a low-key introduction to a blogger you’d like to get acquainted with. I have formed many wonderful ongoing relationships with bloggers I’ve referred my readers to.
3. While we bloggers would like to know it all and do it all, we can’t. There is so much expertise in the blogosphere that’s just waiting to be tapped – why not share someone else’s expertise with your own readers?
When to publish roundups
Roundup posts appear most frequently at the end of the year, when everyone writes their “100 best articles of 2010” posts. Buy why not do a roundup post monthly – or even weekly?
Titles
When you title your roundup, identify it as such with phrases such as:
- Highlights…
- Best of…
- Top…
SEO
To get the most “juice” from search engine results, stick closely to your blog’s theme. And don’t give too many links. I love the idea of “100 best” posts, but I rarely read them because I get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of links. I recommend sharing 5-10 links.
Structure
Create a system for sharing links. In the roundup example below, I include:
- the title of the original article in boldface type
- introduction that explains the article’s topic
- brief quote from the article
- link to the full article (always credit your source)
Sample Roundup
The 5 Most Interesting Social Media Articles From April 2010
Quid pro quo (santa math)
The vast majority of business bloggers are obsessed with ROI – Return on Investment. They wonder, “If I blog, what is my business going to get out of it?”
Seth Godin gets to the heart of why those of us who are passionate about business blogging do it:
You don’t write a blog to get gigs. You don’t help people out in a forum to build a freelance business. Sure, that might happen, but that’s not why you do it. If you are busy calculating quid pro quo, that means your heart isn’t in it, and the math won’t work out anyway.
Read the rest of his short, but weighty article:
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/04/quid-pro-quo.html
College Students Addicted to Social Media
A new study released by the University of Maryland concludes that most college students are functionally unable to be without their media links to the world.
When they abstain from using media, they describe their feelings in literally the same terms associated with drug and alcohol addictions: In withdrawal, Frantically craving, Very anxious, Extremely antsy, Miserable, Jittery, Crazy.
And that’s after only 24 hours of abstinence!
Read the results of the study:
http://www.newsdesk.umd.edu/sociss/release.cfm?ArticleID=2144
42 Blog Post Ideas You Can Outright Steal
What to write about? It’s the question-of-the-day for many business bloggers. I downloaded this free PDF from Growth Strategies that lists 42 general suggestions for business blog topics. It’s worth a look. Here are several good ones:
- Share a photo or video “walking tour” of your business
- Post about the best things you’ve read online in the past week related to your industry. (Hey, I’m doing that right now!)
- Post a “Test Your Knowledge” quiz and give readers a chance to interact
- Reveal a generally unknown secret in your industry
Read the rest of the article:
http://www.growthstrategies.us/pdf_docs/42BlogPostIdeasYouCanOutrightSteal.pdf
Facebook Has Over 40% of Social Media Traffic
Facebook has overtaken MySpace to become the dominant force in social media, with 41% of social media traffic heading there (comScore statistic). This post on Marketing Pilgrim has some good charts that show the shift in social media use among several popular networks from March 2009 to March 2010.
Read the rest of the article:
http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2010/04/facebook-has-over-40-of-social-media-traffic.html
How to Boost your SEO with a YouTube Channel
I love tutorials that provide detailed information the average person can do. This article by Mitchell Harper balances screenshots, a video, and great content to walk us through how to set up and use YouTube to promote a product or service.
He explains how to “seed” your video:
One idea is to post your content as a “video reply” to other related videos. This gives YouTube context as to what your video is about and starts a steady flow of traffic. To do this, search YouTube for the exact phrase you want to rank for. Click on each video that comes up and post your new video as a “video reply” to those.
Read the rest of the article:
http://mashable.com/2010/04/16/boost-seo-youtube/
Your turn: Share the link to a roundup post you’ve written. If you’ve never written a roundup, try it this week. Be sure to share the link to your post!
Thx Laura!