5 Business Blog Tips
How to start a successful blog
We’re living in the Information Age, where digital communication is your trump card. There are several ways to communicate in the Information Age, and blogging is one of them. The first blog was written by Justin Hall and can be traced back to the year 1994. Back then, it was referred to as a personal homepage. 2006 was when the blogging revolution really took flight, and today as more and more people blog, the quality of blog content is becoming more important.
Regular blogging increases your chance of getting found on the Internet. With so much competition out there with regards to SEO ranking, keywords, etc., it isn’t enough to just have a blog. You need to find the time to put together a blogging strategy, which will allow you to create high-quality content.
This will allow you to gradually position yourself as a thought leader in your industry and increase your ROI in the long term. Blogs will also allow you to drive more traffic to your website and can be repurposed as content on your social platforms. So, without delay, here a 5 ways to start your blog.
1. Find Your Purpose
Having a blog is great, but it needs an underlying purpose. Take some time to ask yourself these questions before you begin blogging:
- What is the greater purpose your company is trying to fulfil?
- What story supports this purpose?
- Who shares your passion for this purpose?
- Is your team aligned with the meaning of this purpose?
2. Look at Your Competitors
Make a list of 5–10 of your closest competitors, see what they’re doing, and see how you can do it better.
You don’t want your customers going to the competitor, so ensure that your blogs contain the information they are looking for.
3. Do Keyword Research
Which keywords are you targeting? Write down a list of 5–10 keyword groups that you want to rank for, together with their associated long-tail keywords.
Your keywords should relate to what you do, and more importantly, the words people are using to find you. Spend some time researching the types of keywords your customers are typing into search engines.
Also, look at the keywords your competitors are using, and then write and promote better content for those keywords.
4. Promote Your Content
Now that you have high-quality blogs to position you as a thought leader in your industry, it’s time to start promoting them.
Pull out attention-grabbing snippets from each piece and optimise them for your social platforms.
5. Choose a good blog format
When writing a blog article, make sure you get the template right. It may be the Information Age, but people are reading less. So, write your content in a way that will encourage the reader to read on. There are different types of blogs
The “How to” Blog Post
People are constantly searching “how to” do things on the Google. Help them out with a “how to” blog post by providing them with a step-by-step guide on the information you think they require. Providing this information without asking for anything in return, positions you as a trustworthy, selfless brand. “How to” posts can help your blog rank for Google’s feature snippet.
The “What is” Blog Post
Here’s another chance to be chosen for Google’s featured snippet. Provide factual answers to the questions readers are asking.
The “Infographic” Blog Post
Infographics are a great way of condensing heavy content into a user-friendly reading experience, paired with attention-grabbing visuals. Most of your copy will be included on the infographic. Include content before and after images, to elaborate on the ideas within the images, and to help the post rank on search engines.
The “List” Blog Post
List posts are another great way to create a user-friendly reading experience for readers where you can break content up into smaller pieces of information. They can range from anywhere between 3 to 100.
The “Newsjacking” Blog Post
Newsjacking is the practice of using current news stories in such a way as to promote or advertise one's product or brand. A lot of people are reading the news online. Piggyback of a trending news story related to your company.
There are two different approaches to newsjacking: the immediate rundown of what’s happening and the look back of what happened (alongside what to expect after the initial news break settles). Alternatively, you could publish an initial post to alert readers of the breaking news, and then edit once more details arise. Be careful how you write your story, as you do not want to hurt your brand.
The “Pillar” Blog Post
A pillar page is written to inform a reader of everything they would ever need to know about a topic. Support your pillar page with related blog posts that will link to it, known as cluster posts.
Your pillar pages should be the most in-depth writing you’ve ever compiled on a subject on your blog to date. This is because you’ll have multiple places on the post to work in your keywords and backlink from reputable sources, showing search engines you’re the place to point to for a given topic.
So there you have it. Now that you've read our 5 tips, try it out, and let us know how it works for you!
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