As time passes, digital marketing – and specifically blogging – is becoming increasingly important for small businesses. Whether you’re looking to launch a brand new blog or you have an existing one that needs fixing, it’s important to develop a specific and strategic plan of action. Let’s take a look at how you can maximize your blog’s potential and reach new customers.
What to Blog About
What you blog about will depend heavily on the industry and niche your business is a part of. For example, a deep sea sport fishing venture would likely want to focus on topics related to the sea, while a small technology startup would need to center content around things like the latest gadgets and devices. However, on a more general note, here are some ideas for picking topics that will resonate with your readers:
- Lend a helping hand. How-to guides are always effective at reaching people. Teach customers about ideas and concepts in your industry and show them how to take a do-it-yourself approach to related tasks. Video is becoming an increasingly popular channel for how-to guides on the internet.
- Solve a problem. A lot your readers are searching the internet for answers to their issues. Content that solves a problem is extremely valuable and engaging. Try answering pressing questions and adding value to problems surrounding your industry or niche. FAQ type articles are particularly helpful.
- Be exciting. Content doesn’t have to be boring and academic. Sometimes taking a light-hearted, entertaining tone can be effective. Just be careful not to come off as inappropriate or immature.
Tips for Making Your Blog Worth Reading
While you can know what to write, that doesn’t necessarily mean people are going to read it. Here are some tips for making your blogs readable:
- Be regular. The only way to build a community of readers is to be consistent and regular with how and when you post. You can’t expect to blog once a month and have lots of people read your posts. Ideally, you should aim for between 3-5 posts per week.
- Invest in quality. Don’t confuse quantity for quality, though. It’s better to have two high quality blog posts per week, than seven low quality articles. If you don’t have any talented writers in your company, don’t be afraid to outsource the task.
- SEO matters. Don’t ignore the value of SEO for your blog. You can naturally generate organic traffic by implementing long tail keywords and optimizing images. You should also invest in a linking strategy that connects your website’s internal pages with relevant blog posts. Additionally, it’s important to keep your blog on a subfolder or subdomain, not a separate website. This will allow your blog to be found on search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing.
Blog Your Way to Success
By implementing these tips and tricks, you’ll be well on your way to blogging success in no time. Remember that it takes patience, persistence, and consistency to succeed, and that every amount of time and energy you spend will be returned multiple times over.
