Top Tips for Blogging

Blogs are everywhere and they are everywhere for a reason: In short, when done right, blogs are great for business because they:

✔ Give voice and authenticity to products and brands,

✔ Provide a great means of communication to, from, and amongst customers and potential customers,

✔ Build SEO into your website to increase and improve your online presence.

 

But how do you have a great blog that accomplishes all three? If you’ve already got a blog started and just aren’t seeing the response to it you had hoped or anticipated, here are our top tips to get it turned around and back on the track to success. (If you’re a complete beginner, check out www.theblogstarter.com or https://masterblogging.com/blogging-tips/ for help on how to set up your blog and get it online.)

 

Voice. It’s what makes you, well, you. And it’s very, very important. Make sure you write all your content in your own words and in your own voice. Your readers will come to your blog for it’s content, sure. But they’ll come BACK for your voice. Make sure it’s authentic and honest.

 

The right balance of quality vs. quantity is another important aspect to take into consideration when writing your blogs. Readers these days want something substantial, and giving it to them can really set you out as leader in your field. But make sure everything you write is relevant. Don’t write words for the sake of writing words. People are busy and attention spans are short – irrelevant content is quickly thrown to the wayside with little hope of getting picked back up again. If you’re not sure what to write about, check out AnswerThePublic, a free keyword research tool to help you find the topics that are relevant to your readers.

 

On the topic of content, make sure it’s unique, of course. But unique can take many different forms over the course of your blog. Recycle your same quality content in many ways by repurposing your blogs into images, article collections, videos, etc to create unique new blogs. If it’s great content, your readers will be happy to see it in a variety different formats over time.

 

Busy lives also mean lots of skimmers and scanners. Your blogs can cater to this by making your blog as easy as possible to read. Provide lists. Insert great images or infographics. Use headings and subheadings. The faster that readers can find the information they’re looking for, the more valuable your blog is to them, and the more likely they’re going to share your content to others and keep coming back for more.

 

Part of this, of course, is writing great headlines that grab your readers’ attention but also tell your reader exactly what to expect. Great headlines are also key in your SEO work, so don’t forget to take a little extra time with them. EMV Headline Analyzer is an online tool that can help you analyze your blog headlines and is a great resource to have in your blog repertoire.

 

Have fun playing around, with colours, styles, and fonts to make your blog unique, but never forget that consistency is key. Don’t forget that your blog is part of your brand, and consistent branding is crucial to building the trust and loyalty of your customers (both of which are critical to attracting and obtaining new followers -and turning those followers into customers)!

 

Loyal blog followers can exponentially increase your net of readers when they share your blog with their own personal and professional networks. What does this mean for you, the blog writer? Easy: Make your blogs easy to share on social media, where the majority of online content is shared. Something as simple as the Digg Digg plugin can make a world of difference in increasing your blog traffic!

 

Don’t be shy, either, about sharing your own content elsewhere, too. An important but often overlooked way of doing this is by being a guest blogger for other blogs in your industry. It’s a form of online networking and you should never stop networking.

 

Networking also means interacting with your blog readers. Ask questions in your blogs and give readers the facility to write answers, comments, and feedback. More importantly, reply to all blog comments and get the conversation flowing! (An exception to this rule is knowing that as your blog increases in popularity, you will also attract the attention of trolls, which you should feel free to ignore.)

 

Finally, keep all your hard work safe by routinely backing up your blog and its content; and don’t forget to use strong passwords for all of your online accounts. A great way of doing this is through a password keeper. Check out www.lastpass.com if you don’t already have one.

 

Here at Peppermint, our team of content writers have years of experience in blog writing and can help you add unique, inspiring and interesting blogs that will not only engage your customers but help with SEO and your online positioning. Contact us today to find out more.