• 7 Things Kidd Kraddick Needs to Do Online

    Kidd Kraddick

    Kidd, now that I’ve got your attention, we need to talk about what you need to do to maximize your online presence. There are 7 things you can do to RAWK (6 of them are quick and easy):

    1. MyBlogLog – Joining this blog community has multiple benefits. Each member can upload a photo or icon to represent him or her which will be posted on thousands of blogs nationwide every time you visit. Some blogs even have functionality which posts the photo/icon when you leave a comment. This is obviously valuable as it lends credibility to your comments (proof that you’re leaving the comment and not some random Sanjaya impersonator – sorry, Taylor!) It is also an excellent way to network, generate interest among bloggers (tip: bloggers are some of the most dedicated commentors), and add cool guest photo functionality to your own site.
    2. Gravatar – A gravatar is an icon/image of yourself similar to what I mentioned on MyBlogLog. Since you have a Google Alert set for your name, Kidd, you should connect your gravatar to your email account so that every time you post a comment on a blog equipped with gravatar recognition, your photo will appear beside your comment. This will make the blogger feel special and promote your brand at the same time.
    3. Twitter – This is the future of celebrity promotion, Kidd. Guys like Jason Calcanis (founder of Weblogs, Inc. and now head of Netscape) and Robert Scoble have been using Twitter since its inception. You can use your AIM, cellphone, or Twitter website to post comments about what you’re doing. The KKITM crew should use this when they go out to clubs, parties, weddings, vacations, etc. to keep the KISS fans connected. Just post something once or twice a day to keep the fans happy. Twitter is especially effective for celebrities, because they will automatically have fans who want to know what they’re up to. An added benefit of Twitter is that you can post a box on your blog or website which checks for your latest Twitter updates every time the page is refreshed. This means that users who visit your blog can not only read your latest thoughts but check in to see what you’re doing throughout the day. Quite a few people are also using Twitter to promote products, websites, etc.
    4. del.icio.us – Bookmark cool articles, blog posts, and websites, so that your fans can read what you like. This is also a great way to promote your advertisers, local bands, local bloggers, fans, etc. There are a dozen other places you can do this, but del.icio.us is the most popular.
    5. FeedBurner – I’m going to talk about the current level of suck that your team’s blogs epitomize in a second, but once we’ve covered that, you desperately need to add RSS feeds to your blogs. This gives your fans the option of subscribing to your blog feeds and checking in more often to see what you’re blogging about. Trust me, you’ll see an increase of readership with an RSS feed from FeedBurner.
    6. WordPress – Now, back to your blogs. I know you’re a radio show, but you DO have blogs. Anything worth doing at all is worth doing well. Your blog structure is pathetic. Comments are not attached to each post. Posts have no titles except dates. Do you use any kind of blog software? It looks like you guys just type something up and have some computer guy throw it up on the site. It’s unattractive, boring, lacking in any special abilities (like WordPress plugins and widgets), and it screams “we have no idea how to use the Web!” That might sound like a harsh statement, Kidd, but I promote best practices regardless of how they will be received. You absolutely need WordPress for your blogs and RSS feeds attached. Taylor at least has a cheesy Blogger (blogspot) site, but even that is subpar compared to what you can easily get for free elsewhere (i.e. the most wonderful awesome WordPress).
    7. KiddLive – Kidd, this website is not appealing to the eye, Again, I say this because I want you to know (in case your webmaster/designers aren’t telling you) the true quality of this site. What’s wrong with it? 1) It’s not usable (find out more about usability and usability testing); 2) It’s unattractive – you desperately need a better site design – you want to look like the cutting edge morning show that you are; 3) your homepage is ridiculously long – throwing up your newest info at the top and pushing everything else down works okay for a blog; 4) usability says most everything in one word – navigation is too small and the drop down navigation is awkward – i could go on.
    8. This is a bonus – if you don’t use web analytics, add them to all of your sites ASAP! Google Analytics is free and with the new interface is quite helpful (plus with their acquisition of FeedBurner, you will likely soon be able to view RSS subscription stats on Google Analytics as well). If you want “professional grade” analytics, get Index Tools. You need web analytics to tell you where traffic is coming from, where they are going, and how successful each part of your website is. You’ll learn all kinds of geographic and demographic information as well.

    As a search engine optimization and online marketing specialist, I know of which I speak. I tell you these things because someone needs to tell you that your brand suffers because of your online presentation. Your website could be radically transformed by a good SEO-friendly web design team and a content management system that allows a non-web savvy person to easily add content and new pages to the site.

    Take my advice, Kidd. If you follow these seven steps, you will begin to see a difference online very quickly. Once you’ve taken these steps, There are deeper levels of tips I can give you to hone your blogging and online message.