So, you’ve written a blog – great! Now what?
From the smallest sole trader businesses right up to the largest corporations, we are all guilty or occasionally creating content but then taking a back step when it comes to marketing and pushing that blog into the eyesight of our target readers. In fact, we often hear about businesses who create blogs purely for the purpose of SEO, with no real goals or CTAs attached to drive action from their readers and prospective customers.
But what if we told you that great content can not only boost your SEO, but can also attract the right people towards your website, encourage them to engage with you, and help convert visitors into customers if you are trying to sell something?
In this article, we share some top tips on how to make sure that people actually read your content – looking at the best ways to increase traffic and encourage the most productive action from each and every piece of content on your website.
The Power of a Great Piece of Content
A great piece of content can:
- Let Google and other search engines know what your website/webpage is about, proving credibility and reliability.
- Show users and prospective customers that you are knowledgeable and trustworthy.
- Start conversations and encourage engagement.
- Provide you with a landing page for campaigns or social posts.
- Give you some leverage for email campaigns and social campaigns.
- Support your SEO with keywords.
But in order to tick all of those boxes and ensure that every piece of content you upload adds value to your website and draws the right readers and potential customers, you first need to make sure that what you’re writing about is targeting the right audience in the right way.
Introducing our step by step guide to creating content which will benefit your business and/or online presence.
STEP ONE – Know your Audience
Whether you’re writing a blog to support a new product or service launch, to provide insight into a specific topic within your industry, or to share an opinion and start a conversation with your readers, knowing who you are talking to lies at the heart of every word on your webpage.
This includes knowing where your target audience spend their time online, so that you can target them and use those same platforms and channels to market your blog once it is complete – enticing the right people to engage in the right way with your content. You will find that the more you know about your audience, the easier it will be to write in a way that organically engages and entices them.
STEP TWO – Think about Keywords
Organic traffic is easily the best way to bring in new readers if your blog or website is fairly new, or if you are trying a new approach to content creation – mainly because focussing on organic traffic allows you to write and use keywords to connect with the kind of users who are searching for your industry and the keywords you prioritise. And the best way to gain organic traffic to your blog is to focus on identifying and using those keywords.
Keywords refer to the words and phrases that your audience will type into the search bar and that can bring them to your blog if you play your cards right (and use your keyword strategy correctly), so it’s important to think both big and small – with more generic industry-specific keywords, and more targeted niche ones as well.
TOP TIP: Think about problems that your audience might search for and how you and your blog can link. Factor the keywords relating to those problems into your blog and frame yourself as the best solution.
STEP THREE – Decide on a Perspective for your Blog
Once you know your audience, it will become easier to know how to approach each topic and new piece of content. The first thing to do in terms of perspective is to decide on an area of expertise that you and your blog will become known for – and then build on that, becoming a go-to resource for your target audience.
You can support this by using research and keyword tools to anticipate trending topics in your industry and write about them as part of a growing trend.
STEP FOUR – One vs. A Series
Before you start writing on a specific topic, consider if it will all fit nearly into one blog or if it could be better presented as a series. While this will inevitably take more time, it will also give you a lot more material to work with and implement into a marketing campaign, social media, and even a larger downloadable resource in the future.
STEP FIVE – Start Writing
Ready to go? Make sure that as you write your blog(s) you keep on track, refer back to your audience and what they are searching for, and implement those keywords effectively and productively.
Publishing and Promoting your Content
Once your blog or piece of content is complete, it’s time to publish and promote – and that means more work from your end in getting your blog link out among relevant communities, in the right industry groups, on your social media and email campaigns, and across your customer base.
If you decide to put some financial backing behind your blogs and content, then you can use PPC campaigns to build on the reach of your page. Alternatively, you can create some social media campaigns that are targeted towards your blog and promote these. Or you can keep it simple and throw your weight behind gaining an organic following – using the power of recommendation, sharing, and discussion to drive prospective readers towards your blog.
And remember, consistency is key – so don’t give up if your very first blog only draws in a handful of readers. Keep providing value and the followers and customers will come.
