If you’ve been listening to this podcast lately, then you know how important blogging is for your pet business. But does it still feel overwhelming? Then you’re going to love today’s expert interview with Jessica Shipman, the accomplished COO and CMO of BlogPaws.

BlogPaws is the original educational resource for pet bloggers. I first discovered this group when I started my blog over 11 years ago. They continue to inspire me to improve my blog and make a full-time living with my website.

So it was great to catch up with Jessica! In this conversation, we explored some exciting trends and tactics that every petpreneur will find useful when it comes to keeping their blog organized and efficient. We’re both excited about the shift back to long-form content!

Jessica also shares great advice on how to adapt your pet blogging and social media strategy to today’s social media algorithms.

Build Online Authority with Content Pillars and Google’s EEAT

This interview is packed with practical tips that will help elevate your pet business blog. This is part 3 of my blogging series here on the podcast.

All of Q3 this year is dedicated to blogging. If you missed the previous interviews, go back to Episode 323 with Pamela Keniston and Episode 326 with Caitlin Brown.

One last thing to mention about today’s episode. Jessica shares exciting news about the upcoming BlogPaws LiVE event in Boulder, Colorado, where you’ll get to mingle with fellow pet content creators and professionals.

I’ll be speaking on an expert panel about diversifying your income as a pet content creator! If you want to join us in person at BlogPaws LiVE this November 15-16 use my discount code for $30 off your registration! CODE: TORI30

About Jessica Shipman of BlogPaws

Jessica Shipman, COO & CMO of BlogPaws, is an accomplished business owner and content creator with 11+ years of pet industry experience. You will find blogging, SEO, social media, web development, photography, brand partnerships, event planning, and more on her resume; If it’s related to running an online pet business, Jessica’s done it.

Jessica has successfully founded and co-founded multiple pet-focused businesses, including her first blog Beagles & Bargains, which still brings in steady traffic thanks to SEO, and All Pet Voices, a pet media company that was sold in 2021.

When she’s not helping pet-focused content creators grow their reach and business in the free BlogPaws Community, she’s either trying to outsmart Google, cracking a bad joke, or hanging out with her two dogs, Ralph & Luna, and community cat, Chadwick.

OVERVIEW OF THIS EPISODE:

• Key trends and changes in the blog landscape in 2024
• The most important SEO tips for blog posts
• How to use a Content Catalog
• What is a Content Brief?
• What are the E-E-A-T guidelines at Google?
• Advice for beginners to get started with SEO

Actionable Step: Why You Need a Content Catalog and How to Make One

After this conversation with Jessica, I was inspired to implement her strategy of maintaining a content catalog. My blog has been around for over 11 years. In that time I have added and added. But I’ve never taken the time to organize or delete old posts that aren’t relevant anymore.

If you want to get organized and make your blog more effective, here’s Jessica’s advice about creating a content catalog for your pet bog.

Why a Content Catalog will Help Your SEO

1. Organize Existing Content:
   • When Jessica took over the management of the BlogPaws blog, she needed a way to know everything that existed on the blog. This includes posts from numerous authors dating back to 2009.
   • It helps you manage your content inventory, including identifying weak content that needs removal or updating.
2. Internal Linking:
   • A content catalog allows you to easily link back to your previous posts in new content. This maximizes the value of existing content and improves internal linking, which is important for SEO.
3. Content Strategy:
   • It gives you an overview of all your site’s content, helping you to see which areas are over or underrepresented. This enables you create a balanced variety of content that aligns with your goals.
   • For example, if your team knows that branding posts are lacking, you can plan to create more content in that area. For me, I know my audience wants more canine enrichment blog posts, but as of now, it’s my second lowest category.

How to Make a Content Catalog for Your Pet Blog

1. Choose a Tool:
   • Jessica uses Airtable because it allows you to view your data in multiple ways without needing to code or use multiple tabs.
   • Personally, I’m creating my content catalog in a Google Sheet because that’s that I’m comfortable using. Don’t let the learning curve of using new software prevent you from taking action. A boring, regular spreadsheet works fine as long as you use it!
2. Setup Your Database:
   • Your content catalog should be a database of all your content. Here are some fields to include:
     • General Information: Each post’s title, publishing date and author (important if you have more than 1).
     • Content Pillars: These are the main themes or topics you want to be known for.
     • SEO Keywords: Identify the primary and secondary keywords targeted in each post.
3. Track Related Content:
   • Include sections for internal linking. You can list other posts that can be linked to from each piece of content so you’re building a nice interconnected spiderweb of blog posts (and keeping visitors on your site longer!).
4. Review and Optimize Regularly:
   • Use the catalog to review what posts you have and what kind of posts you need to create. For instance, check which pillars are underrepresented and plan new content accordingly. Again, for me, this is canine enrichment!
   • Regularly update with new posts, and mark any changes or content that needs updating.

By following these steps, you can create a well-organized content catalog that makes content planning, creation, and optimization far more efficient.

My Content Catalog Plan

I’ve already started creating mine in a Google Sheet. Based on some advice Jessica gave me after the recording, I went into Google Analytics and exported a CSV file of all the blog posts I have. I used that list to create the foundation of my content catalog.

This list needed some housekeeping and I took time to add a column for content pillars so I could see how many posts I have on the topics I want to be known for. Once I got everything organized, I’m spending about an hour a day updating old posts, reviewing content that needs to be deleted and adding internal links.

Are you inspired to create a content catalog? I know some Wear Wag Repeat Society members are doing this alongside me! Let us know in the comments below if you’re taking action on Jessica’s blogging advice, too.

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

• All Pet Voices
• Google Search Console
• Airtable
• Google PageSpeed Insights
• BlogPaws LiVE

WHERE TO FIND JESSICA:

• BlogPaws Website: www.blogpaws.com
• Her blog: www.beaglesandbargains.com