By Chris Cano

For bloggers with iPhones, Apple’s mobile device is an invaluable tool for researching, planning and executing your blogging regimen. As a blogger myself, I regularly use my iPhone to more efficiently tackle my blogging tasks.

Here are seven tips for using your iPhone to become a better blogger:

1. Mind Mapping
   If you have not incorporated mind mapping into your brainstorming strategy, then you are missing out. Mind mapping is a brainstorming tool that mimics the natural flow of your thoughts, allowing you to lay out ideas, break them down, and connect them together in a virtual web. Use mind maps to come up with blog post concepts, to plan posts themselves, or to brainstorm your blog’s growth strategy.
   Recommended apps: iThoughts (what I use), MindMeister, iBlueSky
2. To-Do Lists
   While the default iPhone Calendar can be useful for setting tasks, a to-do list app is better suited to task planning. I use the Appigo Todo app to set specific blogging tasks, categorize my tasks, and mark them as completed once finished. While mindmapping is great for getting the juices flowing, to-do lists help you break down your day into specific items. Some of my tasks on a typical day might include:
   • Write blog post on [topic]
   • Add Popular Posts list to sidebar
   • Write guest post for Urban Muse

   Recommended apps: Todo (what I use), 2Do, List Master

3. WordPress
   WordPress for iPhone is a must-have app for bloggers who use the WordPress blogging platform. Use the WordPress app to write posts (and upload photos), moderate comments, and update pages.
4. Evernote
   Evernote is a premier note-taking app that is ideal for compiling notes and research, and organizing it all within one place. With Evernote, you can add photos, voice memos, text notes and PDF’s to a project folder, then refer back to your research when you are ready to begin writing.
5. Photos
   You’re out and about and something catches your eye. Snap a photo with your iPhone camera. Then, use the Photoshop Express app to touch up the photo before you upload it to your blog with the WordPress app. The iPhone camera, combined with photo editing apps, is a great tool for capturing bloggable moments.
   Recommended apps: Photoshop Express, Best Camera, Cropulator
6. Bluetooth Keyboard
   A bluetooth keyboard for iPhone is a must-have accessory for mobile bloggers. While the iPhone’s virtual keyboard gets the job done for notes, text messages and short blog posts, a bluetooth keyboard can save you hours in the long run by facilitating blogging on the go.
   Recommended accessories: iGo Stowaway, TK-421 iPhone Case with Flip-Out Keyboard, Verbatim Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard
7. Analytics Apps
   Sure, you could wait to get to a laptop before checking your blog’s analytics data, but there are apps on the iPhone that let you view information about your blog visitors, referring web sites and top content in real-time. I like to occasionally check my Google Analytics data on my iPhone because it is a great motivator to get me in blogging mode when the time comes to get back to work.
   Recommended apps: Analytics Agent (what I use), Analytics App

Chris Cano is a University of Florida graduate (B.A. in English) who makes a living blogging about the iPhone at Apple iPhone Review. Founded in December 2006, Apple iPhone Review is best known for its iPhone Jailbreak instructions and detailed accessory reviews.

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By Christian Arno

Writing content for the web that is both search engine friendly and informative for readers is a skill that differs from other areas of both writing and marketing. It’s no use writing wonderful prose or engaging copy if no one ever finds it in the first place. Equally, it’s not very useful having content that ranks high on search engines but is so stilted or badly written that it puts readers and/or potential customers off. A balance must be struck between the two aspects but more emphasis may be required on one side or the other, depending on the purpose of the content being written.

Consider your audience
You should remember, even when SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is a high priority, that you are still writing for other people and there may be a difference in how you will want to write depending on your audience. A blog demonstrating your expertise or informed opinion on a certain topic – whether it’s reviewing the newest CD of your favourite death metal band or discussing the writings of Sartre – will require a different format and style than a list of company services or a quick guide on how to change a fuse.

An informed audience will generally be more willing to plough through more prose on a topic they are interested in. Information and ideas can therefore be more involved, and more complex language can be used. However, unless you’re writing predominantly for such an audience, try not to alienate casual readers with technical jargon and overly complex ideas. In addition, even if you are writing for an expert audience, content may need to be presented in another way than it would on the printed page as people process online information differently.

Present organized web content
It’s harder on the eyes to read from a computer monitor than the printed page. It’s easy to get lost in an unbroken block of text and people often don’t like scrolling through text. Unless they have gone to a specific website or page for a particular purpose, the viewer will scan it for relevant information rather than read it thoroughly, initially at least.

In short:

• People tend to scan website content
• Single line statements are often effective
• Bullet points can help to organise your information
• Keep running copy to good, manageable chunks

Catch the eye with sub-headings
You see what we did there? Sub-headings are important not only when it comes to optimisation of content for the web, but also in breaking up blocks of text and directing your reader to the appropriate section of copy. If writing for a general web readership you should keep paragraphs short and language simple.

It can also help to start with a conclusion rather than a general introduction. People often place more importance on the information at the top of a page and may be unwilling to trawl further down to check if the page is actually what they were after. This is known as the ‘inverted pyramid style’, which allows you to expand on your various points further down on the page.

Employ SEO techniques
Put in its simplest terms, SEO is the process of boosting the ranking of a website on Google and other big search engines. If you have a company specialising in ballet equipment, you want your website to be as close to the top of the list as possible when somebody searches for ‘ballet flats’, ‘children’s dancewear’ or the more specific ‘tutu girl age 7-8′.

Keywords are the single most important aspect of SEO. Basically, these are the terms that people put into search engines when they want to find something. There are various paid tools that may be useful if you are charging for SEO or running your own SEO campaign. Otherwise, you may want to use Google tools or other free tools.

Brainstorm keywords and then test them to see how popular they are (how often they are used by search engine users) and how much competition they have (how many other websites are using the terms as keywords).

Keyword placement. Place keywords in your title, sub-headings and in the first line or first couple of lines of your content. Repeat them throughout the text but, as mentioned previously, don’t go overboard. Also, keep the keywords relevant to the content. Search engine bots are becoming sophisticated enough to tell if keywords are placed inappropriately and this could harm your rankings or even lead to a blacklist.

The balance between SEO and readability can be a tricky one to maintain but, with a little thought and clear planning, content that is search engine friendly can also be made engaging and informative for the reader.

Christian Arno is the founder of professional translations agency Lingo24. Launched in 2001, Lingo24 now has over 150 employees spanning three continents and clients in over sixty countries. In the past twelve months, they have translated over forty million words for businesses in every industry sector. Follow Lingo24 on Twitter: @Lingo24.

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