Hey you bloggers we are back again with another stunning interview session!
As part of our BloggersIdeas interview series, today we have Professional blogger Adrienne smith, She loves sharing what she have learned over at her blog, adriennesmith.net.
She ‘ve become pretty much a fanatic for all things having to do with blogging, driving traffic to your blog and building relationships with your readers. She is keen blogger and always ready to help fellow bloggers.
Lets explore with Adrienne.
Please tell us about yourself and your educational background ?
I want to thank you as well Jitendra for this opportunity and I’m happy to be here.
My name is Adrienne Smith and I’ve been online now for seven years. I was an executive assistant for over 31 years while in corporate America. When our company downsized I made the decision to do something else with my life and eventually found my way to the internet to see if I couldn’t build a business online.
It took me quite a while to understand how this all works and what it was that I enjoyed doing the most. Blogging just ended up being what I loved and my passion has always been to help others. Those two things just ended up going hand in hand.
As far as my educational background I didn’t attend college and I’m pretty much self-taught. Everything I learned how to do I either did it on my own or took a course to learn the skills.
I’ve always loved to learn although at times it can be rather overwhelming.
With increased volatility in the search engine landscape, how do you see SEO’s future shape up in the time to come? Does it still remain competitive to Paid Search Marketing?
In all honesty, SEO is not my area of expertise and I don’t even write for the search engines anymore. I did back when I was doing just affiliate marketing and wanting to rank for certain terms.
As I ventured away from that though I started writing more for my readers and stopped concentrating on SEO.
The one thing I know we all can be sure of is that SEO will never die. Without it there would be no search engines so I’m sure as the years go by that Google will continue to improve how content is being found in the search engines although we may not always agree with those changes.
I don’t want to get on Google’s bad side but I can’t ever seem to please them so I concentrate more on referral and social traffic.
I don’t do any paid search marketing so I can’t really comment on that.
How do you increase your Facebook shared post reach to your audience? Any ideas?
I haven’t concentrated much on Facebook to be honest with you. Ever since they changed their algorithms in order for us to pay for our content to be promoted I have put more focus on other social platforms.
Now when my product is released hopefully this October, I may concentrate more on their ad network then promoting to just my fan base.
I haven’t taken the time to really grow that mainly because since they changed the way our fans see our content I didn’t want to be obligated to Facebook in that way. I know I would have a much better reach with their ad network then just my fan base.
What is call tracking in SEO, why it is important. Please give examples?
Again, SEO is not something I do but I have heard of call tracking and I believe this is how it’s defined:
“It’s a way for online marketers to track which sources, campaigns and keywords generate phone calls.
From what I’ve heard some of the biggest companies in the world use call tracking to measure the effectiveness of their PPC campaigns and SEO efforts. I can see why these companies would value call data significantly.
Marketing agencies also use call tracking. They use it as a way to prove their worth to their clients. It is especially popular among agencies that do PPC and SEO work.”
How do you optimize 404 page errors on websites?
I have a custom 404 page so that if someone lands on that page I have a cute message waiting for them. I actually direct them to my “Start Here” page so that they can find the information they were searching for.
Once I release my upcoming product I’ll have an advertisement on that page directing them to that as well.
I think that you should use this page to the best of your ability since people will have issues at times finding what they want.
Google Recently launched Panda and many big businesses got badly affected by it, were any of your sites affected by it?
None of my sites were affected by Google Panda.
What is the reason behind your Blogging success?
I was determined and consistent.
I had listened to so many people tell me what to do that I added what they shared plus what I felt comfortable doing and it just seemed to work well for me. I did what I knew would bring me results and I did that five days a week consistently.
Still to this day I do those action steps which is why my blog has remained where it is with my readers and I’ve built up a great community, subscriber list and client base.
According to you, what are the best ways to promote a Blog?
For me personally I love blog commenting. I do promote my posts on the social media sites as well but by commenting on other posts and putting yourself out there in front of enough people then they’re going to pay attention and be eager to see what you’re all about.
Of course, your comments have to be genuine and add value to the conversation because that’s what will make you stand out.
How are you building relationships with your Readers. How do you make them stay on your blog?
I truly care about my readers and they can tell from the content I write and how much I’m eager to help them.
When you like someone and you know they are helping you, you just want to hang around them for a while and learn more from them.
When you reach out to them and let them know that you want to help, no strings attached, people are more open to wanting to come back time and time again.
It’s not just about the content you write but people just want to know you truly care.
Penguin Proof, Panda Proof link building – Do those things exist.(I’ve been seeing link builders package or talk about this one on their services offered) ?
I seriously don’t pay attention to things like this. I’ve never heard of either of these terms. I do my best to provide valuable content to my readers that will benefit them so as long as you focus your efforts on delivering in that way I just don’t worry about Google’s next big thing.
Call me naïve if you want but I have yet to be affected by any of their changes so I must be doing something right.
How many years have you been blogging. What do you feel about blogging?
I’ve been blogging for six years and I started on the free platforms. I’ve been blogging on AdrienneSmith.net for five this past June.
I love blogging and I feel it’s the best way to get in front of your target audience and let them know who you are and what you’re all about. It’s the best way to help them learn, grow and solve their problems all while building relationships with them that can lead to having them either purchase what you promote or tell their friends all about how fabulous you are.
How many blogs do you have. Which blogs do you follow regularly?
I have three blogs at this time. One is inactive and I started it because of a course I was taking several years ago. I wanted to keep it up as a reference.
The other one I have I’m fixing to take offline because it promotes an affiliate product that I believe has run its course.
There are several bloggers that I met at the beginning of my own blogging journey that I look at as really dear friends. They all write such wonderful content in different niches and I can honestly say I still follow them to this day. Those people are:
http://understandingyoursubconsciousmind.com/
Now there are a lot of blogs I visit regularly so that would be pretty long list.
What are your tips on traffic generation? Please reveal some must use techniques to get more traffic to new blogs?
Well as I mentioned earlier, blog commenting is my favorite way of getting out there in front of people and it’s the reason I am where I am today. By leaving genuine comments on people’s blog they’ll start to really notice you.
People pay attention to that and will start reaching out to you because they want you to do the same thing on their blogs too. It’s the best traffic source for me still to this day and has brought me so much success.
The other ways I drive traffic to my blog are by using Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Triberr.
There are literally dozens of ways to drive traffic to your blog but you have to find where your target audience hangs out plus you have to enjoy those platforms too. I’m on several others as well but these are my best sources to date.
If you have any questions about this interview, please do ask in the comments below !
Dont forget to share this awesome interview in social media. I will be pleased if you share this now ! Join BloggersIdeas on Facebook, Google+ & Twitter .
Hi!
I’ve already read an article about Adrienne Smith, it was also an interview of her sharing her tips and secrets. However, I know, there is amazing in here in your article that the other article I had read, do not have.
I was stunned reading her take about her Facebook shares and how the shares increased.
The value or quality of her blog posts and her brand is the reason why she has this huge numbers of shared. Many bloggers were inspired by here tips, her experience and so on.
For me “How do you optimize 404 page errors on websites?” is one of the most interesting parts.
I found this post shared on Kingged.com, the Internet marketing social site, and I “kingged” it and left this comment.
Thanks for your appreciation Metz, Adrienne is a great mentor.
Hi Metz,
Thank you for reading my interview and glad you enjoyed what I had to share. Jitendra definitely asked me some different questions then most of my other interviews so hope you found them helpful.
Am I the only one who feels this way about Facebook’s changes?
Thank you for your thoughts on this and I appreciate your visit.
~Adrienne
Hi,
Learning is something which comes naturally seeing Adrienne’s name. I always wondered, what is that great bloggers do different and all I found was they find the things that worked for them.
Every blogger has a different story to tell and one needs to find some answers from others, while most from within, experience.
The best takeaway is to forget about search engines, and to focus on the readership values. Search engines will give value to the content for sure.
Loved your interview.
P.S. I found this post on Kingged.
Hi Rohan,
Thank you for saying that and you are exactly right. Decide what you want to do and then find the way to go about it that works best for you. The search engines are important if all you want to do is sell a product and that’s it. If you’re a big site like Amazon then people will automatically trust you. If you’re not then you may have some issues. Either way you have to do what’s best for you and if you just concentrate on the search engines you’ll get visitors and maybe some sales but they’ll most likely not be repeat customers.
If you have a blog and you want to build up a community then I know exactly how you can achieve that. The search engines will pay attention when you have enough people talking about you.
That’s my thoughts anyway Rohan and I appreciate you sharing yours. Thank you again for your comment and enjoy your day.
~Adrienne
Hello Adrienne and Jitendra
I love the interview and yes Adrienne is a super star as a blogger. It does prove that you do not have to be an SEO expert and I love that you say you do not write for it anymore. So many people get caught up in thinking they need to learn SEO.
Thank you so much for mentioning me too Adrienne I so appreciate it.
Engagement and building relationships will trump all the rest I believe and yes you are the best at that.
Awesome interview.
Sue
Hi Sue,
Thank you for stopping by, that was very thoughtful of you and all the nice things you said.
I felt that with time I just couldn’t seem to satisfy Google but little did I know that with the engagement and social shares that I was still showing up in the search results without really having to do more work then needed. Just writing content your readers want is huge as well. I just don’t do well obsessing over SEO.
Thank you Sue for your lovely comment, I really appreciate your visit. Hope you’re enjoying your week.
~Adrienne
One thing I find really intriguing in this interview has to with the SEO question and the answer Madam Adrienne gave
She write for her readers and one thing is clear, Google will find her instead for those quality articles she has being channeling out instead of her finding Google.
I don’t do SEO myself and having just 2 people to read my blog post for me is better than 1000 visitors who just come and come again. Readers are indeed valuable and this one great thing Madam Adrienne cut across.
Thanks for this lovely interview, Jitendra.
I found this post of yours shared on kingged.com as well just as Sunday did!
Hi Emmanuel,
I appreciate your comment, thank you so much.
Well I have been online for a while and SEO is not my area of expertise but I have come to learn how it all works. I just couldn’t seem to please Google I guess so I just stopped trying and now I seem to be pleasing them without trying. That’s because they understand that we have to write for our readers and they are searching for quality content that will resolve their problem. Give that to them and we’ve done our part. Get people to talking about it and you’ve really done your part.
Thank you for sharing that Emmanuel and with time you’ll continue to get more and more readers to your blog. I’m pretty sure of that.
~Adrienne
Hi Jitendra,
Over the last few months I’ve started to get to know Adrienne and she really is the real deal!!! It’s rare to find someone as authentic and transparent as she is; and this interview really bares witness to that.
There are these moments that I’m not sure I would call Adrienne a blogger. She is a fantastic thinker and more importantly a networker who happens to have a blog.
I do a lot of offline networking and the principles I have applied there that has earned me $100,000+ website jobs have served me extremely well online. I see many of those same principles:
1. Be concerned about others over self
2. Offer your full attention to the person you’re talking with
3. Invest in them via introductions to others
4. Be competent
5. Give people a reason to like you
6. Give people a reason to trust you
7. Give people a reason to buy you
She is extremely gifted at doing this online. Thanks for the interview and for allowing her to share her experiences and insights.
Adrienne… if you read this… you’re the BOMB and I so appreciate you in the short time I’ve had the blessing to interact with you. May we stay connected for many years!
~ Don Purdum
Hey Don,
Well thank you so very much for your awesome comment. I’m over here blushing now and turning all shares of red. My goodness, so many nice things you’ve said about me and we just recently met. Guess I’ve made some good first impressions right! 😉
I appreciate you sharing your own experience and what you know about how important it is to network and that’s why I “use” my blog as a marketing tool to make those necessary connections because that’s what’s going to benefit me down the road as well.
Thank you again for you kind comment and it’s greatly appreciated. Thank you for sharing it as well.
~Adrienne
Hi Adrienne, and welcome to Jitendra’s blog 🙂
It’s always a pleasure to read more about you, and of course learn from your experiences. Yes, SEO can never die, but we aren’t all that much into it, nor do I know much of the terms people use, just like you mentioned.
I guess some of us are more into relationship building through our blog comments – nothing works better, and that’s just what’s always worked for me, right from day one of my blogging career. Niche or no niche, I’d always visit several blogs because they come to mine and it’s just for connecting with them that we visit theirs also. No second thoughts about it.
Thanks for sharing. Have a nice week ahead, both of you 🙂
Hi Harleena,
Thank you for stopping by, always a pleasure to see and hear from you.
Yeah, you definitely know that SEO is not my area although I do know that we all pretty much do onpage SEO. I think I finally understood that term a few years ago but I no longer write to get traffic from the search engines.
I know that commenting is a big debate these days but it’s what put me on the map, it’s what’s help build my community and make some amazing relationships that have greatly benefited me moving forward with my business so I only have positive things to say about that. Maybe some day when I get too huge I’ll consider the alternative but my little brain right now just can’t even imagine that.
I’m so glad we met through this method and I appreciate your ongoing support. Thank you again and I appreciate your comment. You have a wonderful evening.
~Adrienne
Hi Jitendra,
Thank you for approaching me about your interview series and I’m always appreciative of anyone who would like to share a little of me with their community.
I’m not sure how much your readers can learn from me since SEO is not my area of expertise but I do love blogging and building those relationships with my readers. That’s just the best part for me and I love sharing what I know.
Thank you again for this opportunity and I look forward to hearing what your readers think.
~Adrienne
Its interesting having Adrienne Smith in this Interview series! She is a blogging brand that inspire many!
I love the fact that she admits “SEO is not my area of expertise” but most of the questions are centered on SEO ;). Nevertheless, she has dealt with them with concision and sincerity. For instance, this is a great takeaway for me in the question relating to call tracking in SEO
Its pretty interesting having her share her opinion on blogging. I follow her and I know she is a great blogger! 😀
This post “kingged” or upvoted in kingged.com where it was shared for bloggers,social marketers,and online marketers.
http://kingged.com/interview-adrienne-smith-sharing-blogging-success-secrets/
Hey Sunday,
I was quite surprised with Jitendra’s questions in all honesty because SEO is not my area of expertise but most of his questions did fall into that category. That’s why I’m not sure my interview will really do his readers justice but I appreciate the opportunity and hope that something I share will be helpful to them.
I appreciate your kind comment, thank you very much.
Enjoy your week.
~Adrienne