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Blogs used to be little more than online journals, but that’s not the case anymore. Today, blogs have become crucial to every business’s digital marketing strategy. It’s the ideal place to showcase valuable information, offer industry insight, and share news with your target audience. It’s also a way to generate traffic and land more leads
But in the age of search engine optimization, creating a successful blogging strategy isn’t as simple as it once was. You can’t just throw up a blog and hope people show up. Instead, you have to be thoughtful about your approach and follow some of the blogging best practices to stand out.
That’s why we’ve taken the time to put together a comprehensive list of blogging best practices to help you maximize your online marketing.
A dedicated blog is one of the best ways businesses can engage their target audience and connect with potential customers. Here are 14 best practices for creating and maintaining an engaging blog for your business.
Remember that you aren’t just competing with other businesses for readership. You’re competing with news from friends and families, stories from news agencies, countless memes, and more.
So, if you want your blogs to be successful, they also have to be click-worthy enough to stand up to the competition. To make your titles irresistible, use words and phrases that are eye-catching and relevant to your topic. Here’s a list of more than 1,900 buzzwords to get you started!
Optimizing blog posts for search engines is a vital part of creating a successful blogging strategy. This is called search engine optimization (SEO). Essentially, it’s the art of getting Google to notice your website.
A huge part of SEO is keyword research because if you don’t utilize the search terms people are using, you’ll just get buried in the back pages of Google, where no one ventures.
So, when you write or create a blog post, be sure to use keywords relevant to what search engine users are likely to be searching for. This will help your blogs appear in search results, increasing your marketing reach and overall effectiveness. (Here’s a quick guide to getting started with SEO).
Getting people to click on your blog is just half the battle. You have to keep them there and communicate who you are very quickly. Blogs don’t have regular readers like they did in the early 2000s.
Instead, you might only have one opportunity to communicate who you are and what you have to offer. That’s why you must establish your brand voice early and stick to it. For the best results, try to make it unique, engaging, and relevant to your business.
For example, is your company laid-back and conversational or more buttoned-up? Get really clear about who your company is, and write with that tone of voice. Be sure to model your choice of words, grammar, tone, and messaging in a way that resonates with your target audience. When used correctly, having a distinct brand voice can make your blog posts stand out from competitors and encourage readers to take action.
Your target audience should always be at the forefront of your mind when creating and executing your blogging strategy. Ask yourself:
Writing content tailored to your target audience’s interests and needs will make your blogs more engaging and keep readers on the page.
Every post should end with a clear and defined CTA (call-to-action). It can be something like a link to a sign-up page, a product page, an email subscription list, or any other action that encourages the reader to take the next step. A clear, concise CTA gives you the best chance of getting the reader to do what you want. And if you forget to use one, you’re missing a critical opportunity to capitalize on their attention.
A blogging strategy can be as straightforward as you’d like, but there are a few bare minimum requirements you should follow. Think about how often you want to post, who will be writing the content, and what topics you want to cover. Then set a schedule and stick to it. You should research as much as possible to create the most effective blogging strategy for your business and industry.
Also, when it comes to scheduling, the specific day or time you post is less important than it used to be. Now, it’s way more essential to post regularly and consistently. In fact, experts believe that to create organic traffic, small blogs should post new blogs three to four times per week, while larger blogs should try to post four to five times per week.
If you want people to actually read your blog posts, they have to be relevant to what they’re searching for and, most importantly, engaging. Fortunately, there are some tricks to making almost any content more readable:
You should also try to use quality sources when writing and researching your content and include quotes from people in the industry for added depth and insight. This helps build trust with your reader and prove that you actually know what you’re talking about.
As we already mentioned, using images, videos, and graphics can add a level of interest that text simply can’t provide. In fact, studies show that images lead to higher levels of engagement, so it’s always a good idea to include them in your blog post. There are even a few websites you visit go to source free, high-quality stock images, like:
You can also create free graphics with resources like Canva. And remember: not all blog posts have to be written. Creating video blogs can help you drive engagement and reach a larger audience. After all, some people would much rather watch a ten-minute video than read a 1,000+ word article.
Research is essential when writing any content. But it’s especially important when you’re trying to establish yourself as a thought leader or appear reputable. So, be sure to back up claims with evidence from credible sources and backlink to other relevant content, especially your own. You can also find experts in your industry, read their thoughts and opinions, and share quotes inside your post.
Too many amateur bloggers trust that their first drafts are perfect and don’t need extra time and attention, which is rarely the case. You should always take the time to proofread and edit your blogs. Nothing undermines a blog post faster than grammatical errors or incorrect facts.
So, taking a few extra moments to ensure your blog is polished and error-free is well worth the effort. Tools like Grammarly are great for mistake-proofing your writing.
Breaking up long paragraphs and blog posts into smaller sections can make it easier for readers to better digest the content. Aim for paragraphs with three to five lines of text each, and use bullet points whenever you can. Adding header sections with interesting headlines can make the post more eye-catching and engaging, too.
Engaging with readers is a great way to drive traffic to your blog and create a stronger connection with your customers. So, take the time to respond to comments, questions, and any feedback you receive on your blogs. A pleasant interaction can help foster a feeling of connection and community amongst your readers, and those interactions ultimately drive more traffic and boost your conversions.
Analytics are essential for measuring the success of blog posts and understanding how to optimize future posts. Tracking page views, time on page, bounce rate, and other engagement metrics will help you better understand what works and what doesn’t, allowing you to make strategic decisions when creating future blogs. (Google Analytics is a great free option for giving you all the insight you need!)
Once you’ve created an engaging blog post, be sure to share it on your social media platforms. This helps you broaden the post’s reach and gain more traction, ultimately driving traffic back to your website. Plus, it also gives you content for social media, which is a win-win!
You can also share your blogs in your email newsletter or run traffic to them with PPC ads. There are numerous options for getting your blog in front of readers. The only wrong choice is not sharing it at all.
Developing a successful and engaging blog can take time and effort, but the results are undoubtedly worth it. With a company blog, you can drive more organic traffic, establish yourself as a thought leader, generate more leads, nurture prospects in your marketing funnel, and more.
Incorporate the tips we’ve outlined above to maximize your reach and the impact your blogs can have on your business. And remember, keep testing new things. If one blog flops, try something new with the next one. Marketing takes some trial and error, and that same rule applies to blogging. However, starting with these best practices will put you well ahead of the curve.
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