Did you know that 53% of marketers list blogging as their top priority?
With so many ways to spend your time and money as a marketer, why would blogging be taken so seriously by so many entrepreneurs? To discover this, it’s crucial to look at what exactly blogging is, and how it can contribute to your digital marketing strategy.
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What Kind of Business Can Benefit from a Recurring Blog?
Every type of business can reap the benefits of an effective blogging strategyClick To TweetWhether you’re a B2B company that makes auto parts or a fitness facility, blogging can do a lot to help you engage with the people that drive your business.
There are a number of ways your blog strategy can go, but choosing one and sticking with it will result in more engagement and brand enhancement than just about any other option.
Six Steps to a Blog Strategy That Gets Results
There are thousands of blogs on the internet, but very few are focused enough to get results. While the most tempting option may be to write about whatever random topics are on your mind for whoever happens to read it, that typically won’t send people down the sales funnel or vastly increase your engagement.
Explore these six steps to a blog strategy that gets results for your business.
1. Decide What You Want Your Blogs to Accomplish
Ultimately, you’re going to want your blog to be consistent in order to be effective. This means if your goal is to guide readers down the sales funnel, that should be the role of every blog. If it’s simply to show that you’re a friendly, personal company who engages with potential customers, the situation is the same…
…it’s crucial to pick a goal, and ensure that it stays consistent.
Here Are Example Blog Strategies that Might Be Ideal for Your Company
- Post about fun events and office news that makes your business seem welcoming.
- Create blogs that solve problems that your typical clients have to gain web traffic.
- Talk very specifically about your products and services to drive customers to a purchase.
- Discuss complex trends and jargon to come across as a subject matter expert.
Notice that each of these strategies brings some advantage to your company. The important part is to choose one, commit to it, and write a blog that executes that strategy and gets the results you want.
Once you’ve decided what you want your blog to accomplish, you’re ready for the next step.
2. Write Content that Compels Your Audience Into Action
Writing content that gets the results you want really boils down to two things: Quality writing and passion for your topic.
If you’re a skilled writer, but could care less about an office event you just had or a new trend in your industry, that apathy will shine through in your writing. Whatever the goal is for your blog, it involves inspiring action in your audience, and only through a combination of passion and skilled writing can you make that happen.
Strategies for Getting Your Audience Involved
Whether you want your audience to become more interested in your products, sign up for a newsletter, or have a fun time getting to know your staff so they want to visit, it’s crucial to write a blog that’s powerful enough to move them. These tips may help:
- End each blog with a powerful call to action (CTA) that urges them to act.
- Ask a question at the end to encourage readers to leave comments.
- Provide advice in the blog and invite the reader to share their progress.
- Challenge the reader at the end of your blog. For example, a fitness blog could mention: “Simply try our CrossFit classes for a month and you’ll see undeniable results.”
- Support your blog posts by sharing them on social media and commenting.
When you’re able to write blogs that cause readers to get involved with your company, you’ll see improvements in engagement, conversions, and brand recognition as well.
3. Assume Your Blog Will Be Judged By its Title and Feature Image
Although there’s truth to the adage that you can’t judge a book by its cover, the fact is, the greatest book in the world won’t be read very often if the cover is blank and the title is weak.
The same is true for blogs. If the title is lackluster and the featured image is generic or non-existent, most people will skip it entirely. This means taking the time to find an image that’s visually striking and to come up with a title that grabs peoples’ attention are worthy endeavors for any blogger.
Example: Hiking Blog for Bhu Foods
This post for Bhu Foods is an example of a blog that’s enhanced with a strong featured image and a compelling title.
The blog is about what would happen if you committed to hiking for a year for fitness, so a basic, uninspired title might be “How to Get Fit By Hiking”, or something along those lines. Observe how the image and title add to the value of the blog:
As you can see in the example above, the featured image is not just an action shot, but it’s detailed and textured. Plus, the powerful image of the muscular woman racing up the hill conveys a strong sense of both fitness and adventure.
The title is catchy as well. Immediately the reader knows it’s part of the “Year of Fitness” series for Bhu Foods, and rather than some average mention of hiking, the words “Conquering Trails in the Sun” packs a punch.
In addition to sounding powerful, it also conveys all the important information that the blog is about: hiking trails in the outdoors and getting fit while doing it.
4. Fill Out Your Meta Description and SEO Tag
Your blog can contain the most priceless information, but if it’s not easy to read with meta descriptions and SEO tags intact, it won’t get the recognition it deserves.
Optimising your blog for SEO doesn’t have to be complicated. By simply finding the meta description and SEO tag, and filling in crucial info about your blog, you’ll greatly enhance the chances of people reading it.
Example of a Meta Description and Title Tag for a Blog
Depending on whether you’re using WordPress or some other type of website, your specific section for the meta description and SEO Tag may appear a little bit different. Yoast and other plug-ins can also make optimising your blog a bit easier.
Peruse this example in a blog for Cosmetic Review on how plant-based diets are better for your teeth, and see how a meta description and SEO tag look on the backend:
Although you can’t read the full meta description in this image, you can see that both the SEO tag and meta description meet the character limit without going over. The main concern is that an SEO tag and meta that are too long won’t show up neatly.
In the SEO tag, it’s usually a good idea to include your blog title and the hosting site, and that’s all there will typically be room for. Ultimately, filling in these two SEO sections will result in vast improvements for your blog.
5. If You Care, You’ll Share
The best-written blog with links to the most reputable websites will do nothing for you if you’re not putting it out there. That means everything from dropping the link in Facebook groups that are related to the blog’s topic, to putting it on your LinkedIn account for all your business associates to see.
Even if spending time on social media is a nightmare for you, taking the time to share your blog in a few select places will give it a fighting chance to excel in the rankings.
How to Share Your Blog for Maximum Exposure
There are many creative ways to put your blogs out there and almost all of them involve social media. Try these tried and true methods of sharing your blog and see which works best for you:
- Read the guidelines of a related business website and see if they’ll accept your blog.
- Join Facebook groups related to your blog and share it on there.
- When sharing your blog, ask a question to spark engagement.
- Consider sharing it on less-expected sites, including Instagram and Twitter.
- LinkedIn is excellent for business-related material, especially if it’s tech-heavy.
- Leverage your own experience and resources to find other creative ways to gain exposure.
6. Set Yourself Apart and Be Seen As An Expert
If you’ve followed the steps above, and are interacting with the people who comment on your blog and social posts, it won’t be long before you have regular followers. These are people who love the entertaining, informative, blogs you put out on a regular basis and consistently check back for more.
As more people continue to rely on your blog, something else will happen as well: They’ll start to view you as an expert.
Setting Yourself Apart
As you continue to write about trends in your office or industry, you and your company will take on a new reputation. Your successful blogs will show that not only do you provide the service you’re talking about, but you have a thorough understanding of the changes, trends and details involved as well.
This will set you apart from competitors who simply sell their product and cause more prospects to choose you, the subject matter expert who’s been writing about the industry for years.
A Smart Blogging Strategy Comes With a Lot of Benefits
Whether you prioritise engaging with customers and using fun blogs to make your business seem personable or you write about actionable tips that only an expert would know, blogging can accomplish a lot of goals for you and your company. Whichever type of blog you end up deciding to start for your business, don’t just write it and leave it — follow these steps to set it up for success in the rankings.
One Response
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