Blogging is still a very important factor of a website, and a powerful tool to have as a business.
It helps drive traffic to your website, which helps convert that traffic into leads, establishes authority, and for days, weeks, months and years – those hardworking posts will be driving results.
Most great blogs don’t happen overnight. They take a while to grow an audience, for the blog to find its voice and to establish the relationship between reader and blogger.
Here’s a couple of pointers to growing a successful blog.
Write what you are passionate about – no matter how niche
If you’re interested in one tiny aspect of the business you’re in, focus on that. As a web developer, you may be particularly interested in front-end development only, but if you’re passionate about it, then it will make great content.
If possible get other contributors to your site, who can blog on different disciplines and invite guests posts to come on board.
Write posts on things that people need to hear.
At the same time, you need to make sure you steer your posts towards areas of interest. What do your clients ask? What are they interested in? What questions appear in your inbox? What are they interested in? Use these queries as blog titles and create posts around these.
Do the odd in-depth post
Many of your posts will be the average length, but it’s good to do a long read every so often. This should go into great depth about a particular topic, involve images, text, H2s, and lots and lots of information. Not only will this bring out a lot of people’s inner geek, but Google also loves these types of pages – unique, well written and informative.
Turn the channels on
The next step is to spread the word. For this, you need to get social media channels for your blog. Twitter and Facebook are great for picking up followers and likes. If your blog focuses on the visual – design or style for example – platforms like Instagram and Pinterest are great.
Guest post
Another way of getting people’s attention is by writing guest blogs. Find out people in your sector, and offer a free guest post on their blog about a topic. You will both need to come to some agreement on what your post will be on – it will need to highlight what your business offers, but it must also fit the interests of the blog’s audience.
Do a good job on this (proofread, nice images, interesting to read) and you’ll build a good reputation in your network.
The money’s in the list
Set up a subscription form on your blog, and get people’s details (use an email management list for this – definitely worth the small monthly cost) to send them extra info, a newsletter, discount on products etc. You can then directly email these people. Newsletters normally invite engagement – comments, feedback and stories – far more than just simply posting your blog onto your site.
Look at the overall look and feel of the site
Ultimately, the user experience on your site is vital. Are you on a secure server? Does your site load quickly? Are you using good images? Is the size and style of your font easy to read?
Incorporate it into your life
Sometimes, a blog will come naturally, other times, you’ll have to force yourself to write one. Make a schedule and make sure you keep to a set number of blogs a month. The most important thing is you enjoy creating and writing and you’ll soon have an eager audience awaiting your next post. Do it well, and you’ll wonder what you were doing without this crucial channel in your business. Good luck!
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