In this day and age of content marketing, a good blog can be an extremely valuable business asset. Blogs are becoming a standard currency for businesses trying to take part in the digital economy, offering an effective way to share new information, cultivate relationships with existing clients, and draw more traffic to a company’s website. When it comes to education and outreach, nothing beats a good blog.
If you haven’t been able to effectively leverage this valuable marketing tool, here are a few basic tenets on how to blog and to blog well.
- Originality is important. A blog is an opportunity for you to create a unique voice in your niche. Whether you are telling stories or expanding education, your blog gives you the chance to build on what your audience may have already seen somewhere else on the Internet, but you get to deliver it in a way that is completely your own. Creating original content sets you apart from the rest of the online content, but also gives you more legitimacy in search engine optimization.
- Authorship means authority. When you develop a blog, you are setting yourself apart as an expert in your field. While it’s true that pretty much anyone with a computer can start blogging, not everyone can do it well, and certainly, not everyone can do it as well as you. In realizing yourself as an author, you are claiming your authority as an expert based on your education, your experience, and your passion. Don’t underestimate how many readers will take interest in what you have to say.
- The title is telling. With each blog that you craft, you’re going to have to sell it. Coming up with a compelling and descriptive title is a very important step in that process. Not only will the title entice readers to want to know more, planting keywords in it will also help it to be found in search engines.
- Keywords are key. Each blog you write is certain to have various themes. As you’re writing it, and after you’re finished writing it, you need to consider the people who might be searching for the information you have to offer, and what words, terms, and phrases they may use while looking for it. Using the most appropriate keywords in the title, in the text, and in the meta description is largely a service to your potential readers to help them find the information (and your website) more easily.
- Be sociable. Along with blogging, a social media presence is key to participating in the digital economy. To help you excel at both, you want to make sure you’re using them in tandem. In addition to sharing your blog on your Facebook wall, Twitter feed, and whatever other platforms work for you, including social sharing buttons on your website allows your readers to share your blogs as well.
- A picture says a thousand words. While the keywords and titles are important in communicating to your potential readers what your blog is about, the accompanying image can be just as important, if not more. In their consumer research, Netflix found that images are four times more likely to convince someone to watch a film than the text about it. Finding the right image to represent your blog can be a very important step in its success.
- Everything’s connected. When you find that image and have ascertained that you have permission to use it, be sure to give credit to whoever created it, and if possible, insert a link to their website. If you’re researching as you write your blog, insert links to where you get your information. In the digital economy, we’re not faced with the limitations of the inherent competitiveness found in prior mediums like print. Content is about collaboration, so it’s not about getting readers to come to your site instead of other sites, but in addition to. By offering links to other content developers, you’re offering them the respect they deserve as the experts they are with the understanding that they’ll be much more inclined to offer the respect, and the links, back to you.
- Put out the call. Chances are good that you want to use your blog to help grow your business. Because there are a number of steps between being a visitor and becoming a customer, in order to take that journey, your readers are going to have to take some sort of action. Whether it’s filling out a contact form, following you on social media, or signing up for a newsletter, you’ve got to have a call-to-action to let them know what that next step is.
This should get you started, or if you are already blogging, hopefully, it will help you up your game. Understandably, not everyone is a writer, and many would rather focus their time and energy on their own talents and passions. If you’d like some help with your blogging, we have a talented team of wordsmiths who would love to help you tell your story and make your mark on the web.
