Writing a blog, especially the first one, can be very daunting. Most people find it much easier to speak the words than physically write them down. Content creation is a fundamental part of any marketing strategy and blogging is just one way you can connect with and educate your target audience. The benefit of blogging is that it drives traffic (both new and returning visitors) to your website, it is great for social media content creation, and can be integrated in email marketing (just to name a few!).
So if you’re about to embark of your first blog, here are some tips for you.
Find a Topic. Identify what your blog topic will be about and stick to it. Make it an easy read by using focus points such as 7 tips, 5 things etc.
Write for your readers. Write your blog for the people who are likely to read it. Think about frequently asked questions, tips and advice, personal stories, industry news etc that would appeal to your target audience.
Pay attention to the word count. Get straight to the point and make it an easy read. Word Count is important from an SEO (search engine optimisation) perspective) but as a rule of thumb, try and write at least 500 words.
Keep it SEO friendly. As mentioned above, each blog needs a topic to which you can identify a focus keyword. When writing, make sure your focus keyword is used in the blog title, opening sentence, and at least 2-3 times throughout.
Make it visually appealing. A blog with images throughout the text is much easier to read than one without. Add value to your blog by adding visuals that will help get your point across and evoke emotion with your readers.
Include a Call to Action. Conclude your blog with a call to action so people know what to do next (if anything). Encourage people to subscribe to your e-news or follow you on social media so they can be alerted when new blogs are released or use your CTA as a means to get people to purchase a product, enquire about a service, book tickets to an event etc.
Syndicate your blog. Get it out there and put it on social media, create links to it in your e-news, submit it to third party sites which feature articles on the topic or industry, and find others who may want your blog shared in their marketing.
Monitor Engagement. Make sure your site has Google Analytics installed and keep an eye on the traffic to your blogs. Google Analytics will show you traffic to each blog, time spent on the page, click through to other pages (from your blog), and show you what channels drive the most traffic to your blogs. (email, social etc).
Lastly, create an editorial calendar so you can plan out your blog topics over a few months, giving you time to prepare your blog and where it will be published and shared.
