Interview with Matthew Hooper

Matthew Hooper is one of those bloggers who’s post’s you just want to keep on reading. You can find his blog at MatthewHooper.com where he blogs about building an internet presence as well as WordPress and social marketing. His blog is well worth checking out if you are looking to improve your WordPress knowledge.

What inspired you to set-up your blog ?

I started a site under the MatthewHooper.com domain nearly a decade ago as a personal site. It has gone through a few complete “do-overs” in its life but it has been in its latest version for the last couple of years. The main difference is that it has focus now. I restarted the site as a platform to answer questions that I get asked a lot. I’ve always been the tech guy amongst friends and family. It serves mostly as a FAQ so that I don’t have to write on the same answers over and over again. As I started building more websites and teaching students, the website became a resource for them and to appeal to new clients or students.

Do you find that social media or guest blogging is best method of online promotion ?

Guest posting is by far the best method for me. It’s a good way to get in front of a larger audience and if you do it right, some of them will visit your site and see what you’re up to. Whenever you get a chance to write a guest post, make sure you are writing an article that appeals to the audience where you are guest posting. You also want to make sure that you are able to get your message across.

What websites and other blogs do you like to read regularly ?

I have a lot of blog subscriptions in Google Reader but I tend to skim a lot of them. I’d say my top three right now are Tropical MBA, Social Triggers and Smart Passive Income.

What is your favorite WordPress plugin for building an internet presence ?

This is tough one to answer since there isn’t really a plugin to build an internet presence. One of the ways to build an internet presence is to ensure that you are visible in different places. In order to do this, you want to make sure that your content is easy to share. One of the best social sharing plugins that I have found to do this is the Social Sharing Toolkit plugin.

Do you have any advice to give to people starting their own WordPress blog today ?

First off, ask yourself, “What do I want visitors to do when they get to my site?”. As an example, if the answer to that question is to sign up for your email newsletter, then make that one thing the easiest thing to do on your website. Be clear on what visitors do when they get to your website.