When you take the time and effort to write a blog piece, you want to make sure that people actually see them and read them! Blogs can be time consuming to maintain and so you want to make sure it’s worthwhile!
Below you’ll find some thoughts on writing a blog and getting it out there.
First things first, there are approximately 5 million blogs published every day across the world – that’s a LOT of blogs – so why should people pick yours? Why would they use their time to read your words?
This leads us to our first key element of writing a blog – find your niche! Take a look out there at existing content, what are your competitors doing? Do something DIFFERENT! Give people a reason to want to read your blog over everyone else’s. With the amount of content online at the moment and people’s time being precious, you need to find something to make your blog stand out, this could be as simple as adding your personality into your writing.
In the world of blogging, content is king, if your blog isn’t interesting and engaging, there are two concerns a) people will switch off before the end of the blog or (arguably even worse!) b) they won’t bother with your blog again. Don’t get me wrong, the pressure of writing new fresh content on a regular basis can be quite draining, that’s why it’s good to have a plan! Create a planner for the year (template available from www.tartanotter.com), this planner lists out all each months and the relevant content for each month, it’s also is a great place to collate blog ideas.
Now then, back to content, your blog should be engaging! People are giving you their time so give them some quality content! If you’re a business and you’re running a blog, you may want to consider giving your customers (or potential customers!) some value added to their visit to your website – give something back. You can’t expect people to just purchase from you (sometimes you’ll get lucky!) but if you’re really looking to strike a chord with someone, offer them advice or guidance – you’re an expert in your field so share tidbits of what you know!
Preaching to the choir with this one! Consistency is KEY! If you build a following of loyal readers, you need to keep them interested! If they come back to your page, you need to make sure that they are going to be met with some new content. Yes, writing blog posts is time consuming so the last thing you want it to be as well is dull! Write about things that interest you. Keeping your content relevant and consistent is providing you with the essential makings of a successful blog!
As we’ve already said, there are SO many blogs out there, so how do you draw in your audience? Well, you’re an expert in your field aren’t you?! So be an expert, bash away that imposter syndrome and write what you know. People are reading what you’re writing because you know your stuff so use it as content.
Know your longtails (no, it’s not a bird) and use them! These aren’t key words, they are those three and four keyword phrases which are very, very specific to whatever you are selling. You see, whenever a customer uses a highly specific search phrase, they tend to be looking for exactly what they are actually going to buy. In virtually every case, very specific searches are far more likely to convert to sales than more general generic searches that tend to be geared more toward the type of research that consumers typically do prior to making a buying decision so make sure you litter your blogs with the phrases that will bring your customers to you!
Get yourself some hits with some referral traffic. If your blog is really interesting, it could feature on another website or a social media page. A good way of spreading your net for referral traffic could be to take on a guest blogger to interview for your website, this way, it’ll be shared on their site or social media (hopefully!) and on yours so you have double the audience!
Make sure you market it! You surely didn’t do all that work for it not to get seen? Make sure you push, push, push your blog posts! The more you share, the more impressions you get, the more impressions, the more likely you’ll get new readers and this could mean more sales for you.
Thanks for reading our blog! Come back for more soon or keep an eye on our social media pages!
If you’re bored of your blog and you want some input or some assistance with other elements of your marketing, please get in touch with us at www.tartanotter.com .