Let the journey begin . . .
You’re probably now aware that a blog is a web content source, and among the biggest components of your visibility and ranking on the internet. This article is going to explain to you why posting regularly to your blog is so important for your marketing reach and how you can drive returns to your site with great content.
A blog is a means of communication that can connect the public to your business, which is why you should think about the five features discussed here and why they are so important to your business:
1. Adding New Content is EASY
For most individuals, editing their site is quite difficult. Websites are viewed as being complex and technical and the average business owner is reluctant to update the site in case they make mistakes.
Blogs have fundamentally changed all that. They provide a self-publishing platform that’s so simple that even the newbie internet user and small business owner can run a blog and create new content with ease. The technical barriers have been removed, permitting millions of bloggers to publish blogs about their business.
2. Blog Posts are Listed Chronologically
This is the most consistent characteristic of virtually every blog. Articles begin with a headline or title with accompanying content or body text starting at the top of the page, with the most recent upload on top, and then followed by subsequent versions.
This arrangement was used mainly by journalists who were the main users of blogs in the early days of blogging. The word blog is derived from ‘weblog‘, which means an online diary or journal. Diaries have date-based entries, and blogs are based on that too.
Although the blog structure is conventionally the same, blogs are no longer really used as online diaries these days. For the most part, business owners use blogs to attract potential clients and stay in touch. The blog has become a relatively effective marketing tool.
3. People Can Share Their Comments on Blogs*
*Preamble: The back-office setup of a blog system permits the owner to disable (or disallow) comments under certain circumstances.
Being able to interact is one of the most important features of a blog. Below each post is a comments section where anyone can leave a comment about the post.
Websites went from being one-way broadcasts to two-way communication tools with this enhancement. Readers can directly communicate with you, the author of the post, discuss the content of your article, and essentially turn a blog into a community.
4. Content is Consistently Updated
A problem that hounds many conventional websites is that they become stagnant and stale when fresh content becomes increasingly difficult to find. A lot of people either don’t realize the significance of keeping their content up-to-date or don’t have the resources or technical skills to do so.
Blogging has changed that, so even a user with minimal technical skills can now update their site with relative ease.
This has helped them to attain excellent results in the search engines, especially on sites like Google. Google favors websites that publish quality content on a regular basis. Blogs, by their very nature, do this, assuming motivated bloggers are maintaining them and are consistently updating their content. Consequently, companies find that their sites climb high up in the search engine rankings bringing in more traffic and new customers.
5. Blogging is a Conversation, and People Respond Better vs. Normal Websites.
If you combine the elements mentioned above, your authentic writing style, the ability to create new content that leads to regular updates, and your ability to communicate directly with your readers, you have the winning formula for a natural communication tool.
Because of their nature, blogs are considered trusted sources of information, and the blogger is commonly perceived as an expert, regardless of whether they are or not, purely as a result of their successful blogs.
This aspect is significant and distinguishes personal blogs from normal sites. If people trust the words written on a blog, if they identify with and like the person who wrote it, then all the elements for a well-liked community can be formed around your company.
This is one of the key reasons for any small business becoming successful. With a blog, they can quickly build a loyal audience, ensure repeat traffic and ultimately earn revenue from that traffic.
How to Attract Attention to Your Blog?
To attract traffic to your blog, your greatest priority should be providing good content. This will form the foundation of your blog.
In addition to content, you also need to set up an effective marketing campaign to highlight it.
- Content
How to Write a Killer Blog Post
Once your blog is launched, it is time to begin working on your first killer blog post. It should be an article that your readers will enjoy. If you post a great and compelling blog post, it means more comments, more pins on Pinterest, more Facebook shares, more tweets, and usually more traffic, all of which can help your blog grow. But what makes a killer post?
A killer blog post:
Is easy to read. Blog posts should be clear and straightforward. Research suggests that blog readers typically skim through an article if it appears to be too long. So use short paragraphs, headers, and bullet points. Make sure that you write in a casual manner, and ensure that you use correct spelling and grammar. Readers will not forgive sloppy writing or grammatical errors.
Makes a clear point. A killer blog post always includes a clear and concise message that can be summed up into one sentence. If the author isn’t able to summarize his or her point, how will the audience be expected to understand his or her logic? Always write with the point in mind. If you have multiple points, it would be smarter to split up the article into two posts.
Empowers the reader. A killer blog post is not about YOU or what you’ve accomplished or created or cooked. Yes, you may be sharing something you have done, but the best blog posts do it only in a way that makes the reader feel that THEY could do it too, with your clear tips and helpful instruction. They want to feel like they’ve learnt something new after a visit to your blog.
Provokes an emotional response. The posts that people remember (and share) are the ones that have made them feel a certain way, whether that be happy, angry, encouraged or inspired. This means they usually take a stand one way or another. Neutral may seem like a safe choice, but it is boring and less memorable. Your aim is to provoke some kind of response from the reader – to make them think and react.
Teaches a simple lesson. Whether your article is a step-by-step tutorial showing how to create something, a recipe, or some other helpful tip, the best blog posts stick to a single, easy-to-follow lesson. This is not to say you can’t do complex projects or recipes, but in general, simple projects tend to have the highest rate of sharing on social media.
Creates controversy. Killer blog posts do not sit on the fence. They take a strong stance and require the audience to respond in one way or another. The stronger the stance, the more intense the reaction will be. But don’t simply try to be controversial just because you want to spice things up! Readers are sure to smell insincerity a mile away.
If you are passionate about a particular issue, try to stay true to it. Being neutral is boring. Just be ready for people to challenge your point of view – it can most surely make your community come alive. Your site will generate more attention and of course there will be more visits to your site then.
Is visually appealing. Killer blog posts have killer images to go with them. This is not only important for recipes and DIY, but for ALL articles – especially with the emergence of Pinterest. You might have written a fantastic post but if you don’t have images your readers won’t be able to ‘pin’ anything. You need to make it as easy and simple as possible for your content to be shared, especially on social media.
Is not overly complicated. Do not use large words or pad it with a 100-word phrase when only one simple word will do. Nobody will impressed if you use big words just to look smart. If you write in everyday terms, anybody who visits your blog will easily understand what you’re saying.
Makes you say WOW. This is the stunning factor again. Whatever you share, be it a recipe, a party, an idea, or a project, should be so compelling that it makes your audience stop what they’re doing and turn their attention to it.
If it is not awe-inspiring, don’t bother. It is much better to share one awesome post every month as opposed to twenty forgettable ones. The more you impress your audience with your articles, the more they will want to share them on social media.
Keep in mind that not all of these tips even have to be incorporated in a single article, but the more you use of them, the better off your article will be.
So now that ‘how to create killer content’ has been discussed, let’s discuss marketing.
- Marketing Your Blog
Once you have your content in place and you are ready to release a steady flow of that content, the next step is to attract people to your blog so that you can show them how useful and appealing it is. This is where marketing becomes essential.
You could try marketing your blog by yourself, but if you are already running a busy offline business, you will probably find the whole process of online marketing challenging if not time-consuming.
This is where ‘marketing’ service providers may be able to help you.
The touted plan is not only to ‘drive traffic to your blog’ with a tailored marketing campaign, but also to create the steady flow of content to keep customers and visitors coming back for more, which – as a service provider naturally will tell you – will result in more sales, leads and thus revenue for your business.
and I am not one of those ‘marketing’ service providers 😀
. . . I hope this post helps,
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