How to Get More Bang Out of Your Blog
Producing a
weekly blog is a marketing power play and provides value to your audience in a
variety of ways. They are one of the most powerful tools for search engine
optimization, content marketing and social media. The challenge when blogging
is to find ways to come up with compelling content week after week.
Below are a
handful of tips to keep your blog content fresh and relevant. A strong blog is
a great way to keep customers and prospects coming back to your site, and
engaging with your brand.
TIP 1: INTEGRATE MULTIMEDIA
If you are using your blog to drive
conversions and engagement, provide your readers with dynamic content. An easy
way to provide a more interactive user experience is to embed audio and video
into your copy. You can also create a video blog (vlog) where your entire blog
content is provided in a video
format.
If you opt for a vlog, keep it concise and don’t exceed 10 minutes.
TIP 2: COPY
Several years go everyone follow the AP Style Guide when writing press releases and website
content. With an increase in web copy Yahoo! came out with a new format to
increase engagement when reading content online. The Yahoo! Style
Guide recommends a
number of proofreading techniques. Below are a few suggestions:
- Print
a Tangible Copy: Reading a printed version of your copy is
a great way to spot errors
- Give
it Time: Walk
away from your copy and come back to it
- Phone
a Friend: Ask someone
else to read the copy, two set of eyes are better than one
- Start
from the End: Reading
backwards is a great way to proofread numbers etc.
- Say
It: Reading out loud is a good way to check
the “voice” of your piece.
- Details:
Spell check
doesn’t catch everything so read line-by-line and word-for-word
- Aesthetics:
Switch up the font size, background color
or text color
TIP 3: DATA
People love
data, graphs, research, and case studies. However, no one wants to sift through
mountains or words and numbers. Infographics are a great way tool when
trying to visually represent data, information or research.
TIP 4: CREATE A CATCHY HEADLINE
Blog posts are similar to emails. People are inundated with content and
information. In order to standout your headline has to be catchy and intuitive.
A solid heading/subheading helps the user ascertain the content of the blog
post, and increases readability.
TIP 5: ACKNOWLEGEMENT
A blog is not a sales tool and
constant sales pitches are painful for readers. Integrate other industry
resources and content into your blog. Give that source proper attribution by
linking back to their site. This provides your readers with a variety subject
matter, builds credibility, and is a great way to compliment SEO campaigns.
TIP 6: CONSISTANCY
Starting a
blog and then neglecting it is a sure fired way to lose credibility. It is
extremely important that you put together an editorial calendar, and continue
to post blog entries frequently and with consistency. Readers will come to
expect regular delivery of blog content via email, RSS or social media, and
will notice if you taper off your postings.
TIP 7: OPTIMIZATION
Content should drive the copy of your blog posts. However, blogs are also a
powerful SEO tool. It is important to use them to drive traffic and
conversions.
- Keywords: Use keywords in title tags, headings, body content, URL and meta description
- Link Building: Link to posts you have referenced and link back to one of your own related posts
- Mobile Friendly: More readers are accessing blog posts from their mobile phones. Make sure your blog is mobile friendly. Many popular blogging platforms have mobile plugins and templates
TIP 8: ENCOURAGE CONVERSATION
Encourage
conversation and engagement by asking your readers questions.
TIP 9: INTERVIEWS
Conduct an interview series on your
blog and integrate into your YouTube channel, or syndicate it across social
video sites. By interviewing a known expert in your field, you can piggy back
of their personal brand, and drive traffic to your site as well.
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