You probably already know how important blogging is to your digital marketing campaign. It’s the source of your content for social media, it’s what drives organic traffic to your website, and without it, your SEO strategy has no foundation. A well executed blog can lead to hundreds or even thousands of new site visitors and can generate leads for your business without any active management.
The problem is, how do you make your blog better than average? You may have blog content on your site, but is it really doing the job? Can you say that your blog generates online leads on a regular basis? If you’re unsure, the answer is probably no. A blog can’t do its job if 1) you don’t have a strategy to promote it, or 2) your content isn’t strong enough to attract leads.
Writing blog content is tricky. You need to present your information from a different angle because thousands of other websites are competing for the same traffic. A blog does no good to your SEO strategy if it isn’t seen. To get those clicks, you need content that stands out among the rest.
These are some tips to help you create better content for your blog and website. Focus on these areas to improve your writing, and get more traffic from your content marketing strategy:
Write in phases.
In school, you were taught to plan, write and revise essays before turning them into the teacher. The same rule applies for professional writing and blogging. Professional content writers usually write two or three drafts of their work before finally publishing it. You should do the same. If you put as much effort into planning and editing as you do the writing of your blog, you will have a much more compelling and coherent final product.
Start with a title, then create an outline for your post. Next you can fill in the details, writing notes, facts and elements you want to use in your copy. Once your notes and ideas are rewritten into paragraphs, edit them for clarity. Finally, send your work to an editor or coworker for final revisions. Then you’re ready to publish.
Focus on the intro.
Usually the intro of a blog is the weakest part. The hard part of writing a blog is getting started.. Once you have a few sentences and a direction for your writing, it’s easier to fill in the details. That is why blog intros usually suffer. They’re incoherent, cliche, or so vague that they don’t compel the reader to move on to the meat of the content.
If you can’t think of a good introduction, use some of these ideas:
- Lead with a statistic relating to your content
- Tell the reader a story
- Define the term or concept that your blog post is about
Give all the details.
Google ranks pages with more content higher than pages with shorter copy. On average, the top three search results contain 2000+ words, plus visual content. Google may not use word count as an exact ranking factor, but longer content usually contains more keywords and gives the search engine a better understanding of the concepts and subjects contained in your post. The more information you can give that is relevant, the better your blog will perform in search engines.
You may think 2000 words is too much for one blog post, but the content will accumulate faster than you think. If you’re having trouble adding that much relevant detail, look for statistics, studies, or other relevant facts online that can boost your content’s authority.
Break up your sections.
On average, a reader will spend less than a minute per blog post they click on. People want to scan your content for the information they’re looking for. They don’t want to have to read pages and pages of content searching for the one thing that they need. To help your readers, use headers, lists, and short, easily-digestible “chunks” of information to break up your blog post, both visually and contextually. Each paragraph should be three to five sentences long, no more.
Hide “Easter eggs” in your blog.
Most blog posts share one common problem – they’re boring. They say the same thing in the same way as every other blog. Readers get bored, and therefore don’t take the time to read your content and truly learn from it. You may not be able to create a stellar post every time; but, if you can sneak one clever line in every piece of content you write, you’ll quickly start winning more fans for your blog.
Add visual content.
Your blog doesn’t have to be all writing. Adding infographics, photos, and videos will improve your content and reduce bounce rates. You can use custom graphics, photos you take yourself, or simply stock photos you find online. Make sure you optimize your images so they’re the correct size and look right on both mobile and desktop versions of your site.
For more tips on attracting, nurturing, and selling, purchase a copy of Scale Up Your Profits! here.
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