BLOG SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

• Career growth
• Digital marketing trends
• Diversity and inclusion in marketing
• Future of marketing
• Marketing best practices
• Networking
• Skill development

• Adds value for the readers to improve their marketing work or career. 
• Article points are backed by with clear arguments, facts, research, or statistics. Links are to original sources of data—not other articles referencing that data—or to highly trusted media sites. Do not link to sites or pages that are selling something. Do not place links in the first paragraph. The AMA New York Blog has a zero-tolerance policy for plagiarism. 
• Blog submission does one of the following: builds curiosity, helps solve a marketing problem, provides practical marketing tips.
• Supply metadata in the form of a title (50 to 75 characters) and a description (100 to 150 characters). Include keywords.

How do you make your blog post SEO-optimized so people can discover your content? We’ll show you how below. Please follow these five steps:

Step 1: Before writing your blog post, think of one keyword that marketers would search for on your topic. The keyword should be specific and can be a keyword phrase. 

Step 2: Look up the keyword and pick a keyword/keyword phrase with relevant traffic related to your blog topic.  We recommend using searchvolume.io or https://www.thehoth.com/keyword-volume/ to find keyword traffic and Google Trends for keyword comparison research.

Here are a few examples of good/not good keywords (using Searchvolume.io):

• career development tips for professionals = 0 avg. monthly searches (not a good keyword, no traffic volume)
• building your personal brand = 260 avg. monthly searches (good keyword phrase; targeted, relevant traffic) 
• marketing career = 590 avg. monthly searches (good keyword phrase; targeted, relevant traffic) 
• content marketing = 14,800 avg. monthly searches (good keyword phrase, relevant traffic)
• career = 90,500 avg. monthly searches (not a good keyword, too broad) 

Step 3: Write your blog post and include your keyword in your blog title, the first sentence of the blog post, and then 3 or 4 times in the blog post. Please highlight your main keyword. 

• For a blog post of approximately 500-2000 words, the main keyword should appear five or six times. 
• Linking to external websites that are reputable (“high authority sites”) is a good SEO practice. When possible, include sites with an edu. or gov. domain. Including internal links (to relevant AMA New York blog articles) also is a good SEO practice. Use approximately three to five hyperlinks in a 500-2000 word blog post. Links are to original sources of data—not other articles referencing that data—or to highly trusted media sites. Do not link to sites or pages that are selling something. Do not place links in the first paragraph.

Step 4: Choose a blog title that is clear and communicates the blog’s purpose. 

• If you are writing a “tip” blog post, please use numbers in the blog title to indicate the number of tips. Specificity is important. Then make sure to include a numbered list of these tips in your article. 

Step 5: Ensure that it is easy for people to scan and include a visual. Readers no longer start at the top and work their way down. Instead, they scan the document to gauge interest.

• You can include bulleted and numbered lists, use subheadings to break text blocks, and bold key points (sparingly).
• Choose a supporting image that relates in some way to the blog post. Always include photos with people (instead of objects or landscapes) and select photos that look “natural.” Do not include any text. Only use high-resolution free stock photos from sites such as unsplash, pixabay, and pexels. Please give photo credit.