Some things in business require careful planning, execution, evaluation, and ongoing strategy in order to succeed. Blogging is one of those things. Adding a blogging strategy to your digital media marketing mix is a big deal; it must be done correctly, but doesn’t need to be feared. Going into a content publishing strategy haphazardly or “rocking the boat” can end up hurting your online reputation. That’s why we’ve compiled some info about why you should blog and writing tips to get you started.

Why blog?

First off, is blogging important? Does it add value to your website and your business? Absolutely. Here are some supporting statistics:

  • Blogging increases web traffic by 55% for brands. (Rocket Post)
  • 37% of marketers say blogs are the most valuable content type for marketing.(NewsCred)
  • Companies that publish new blog posts 15+ times per month (3-4 posts per week) generate five times more traffic than companies that don’t blog at all. (NewsCred)
  • 17% of marketers plan to increase blogging efforts this year. (Forbes)
  • B2B companies that blog generate 67% more leads than those without blogs. (SocialFresh)

Create a Content Strategy

Depending on the size and scope of your business, different approaches can be taken for content strategy development. Flying solo? If you are the only one writing for your blog, you can create a document that outlines your blogging plan to get started. If a team is going to collaborate on the blogging strategy, a group discussion where others share their input can be effective in terms of strategy and collaboration. You may delegate this task to a single person who may or may not be actually working on the blog themselves.

No matter what approach you take for creating your blog marketing content strategy, consider the following points and include them in your blogging plan:

  • What’s the purpose of the blog?
  • Why are you blogging?
  • How often will you be publishing content?
  • What type of content will you focus on?
  • Which reliable resources will you use for reference?
  • Who is your target audience?

Don’t rock the boat. Baby.

It’s never a good idea to simply start publishing random content on your blog.  Once you have your content strategy in place and you know your target audience and the purpose and plan for your blog, it’s time to get organized.

An easy way to get content scheduled is to use an editorial calendar. Many are available as WordPress plugins or you can simply use a spreadsheet with your blog posts scheduled out. Choose the days you will publish your content and create a note on the calendar that features a preliminary title for the article, a few sentences about what the article will be about, possibly add keywords to be used and related articles or other online references for the content. Be sure you sync your content calendar with your social media calendar to keep everything and everyone on the same page.

Rock your blog.

Rock your blog simply by creating content based on the knowledge and expertise you already have. This will strengthen the depth of information on your website and ultimately your SEO.

Writing content relevant to your niche and with knowledge you already have rather than researching new topics makes the writing flow naturally and takes up less time. It just makes sense. It’s easier. It’s more effective.

What will you do with all that extra time? Your website could be dominating the rankings because you are posting three to four times a week (companies that publish three to four posts a week or 15 per month generate five times more traffic than companies without a blog – NewsCred). All thanks to your blog strategy that keeps you organized, on track and features articles based on information you already know and are likely passionate about. 

You can’t go wrong. Here are some tips for creating easy, natural tone simple blog posts without making major changes to your strategy. Also, you will supercharge your SEO by publishing industry-relevant content on a consistent basis.

7 Tips to writing blogs that are simple and effective.

1. Play up your expertise. Any business will surely possess accomplishments, milestones or specialties. Your blog is a fabulous place to brag about achievements.

Besides, who doesn’t like talking about themselves? Especially only from a positive perspective. Be honest.

But, also be careful. There is a fine line between sharing information about your business and your strengths and coming across as being too “salesy.”

2. Create how-to articles. What a better way to share your knowledge and offer some helpful advice? Whenever you can’t think of a topic – create an instructional article on something you know how to do very well. Then it’s just a matter of writing down the steps in detail.

3. Always use conversational tone. Guess what? Many writers don’t realize this – but we often overthink or complicate our writing by accident. New writers, especially, struggle getting passed writing in third person. It’s actually beneficial in your blog to use words such as you, that lets your readers know you are talking directly to them.

Not to mention, your audience will enjoy hearing your natural tone and how you actually sound in conversation. By writing in this manner, you are creating an actual connection with your reader.

4. Write to people, not search engines. We won’t underplay the importance of white-hat SEO practices, but don’t let SEO be your primary focus when writing your blog articles. If you’re still caught in that outdated thinking that stuffing as many keywords in your content as possible is beneficial – it’s time you get up to speed.

Good content is everything. In case you haven’t heard (which I’m sure you have). Always stay focused on creating valuable content that your target audience will enjoy reading. One of the best tactics is to incorporate a story-telling element in your writing whenever possible. Incorporate human emotion and feelings whenever applicable to create a connection with your readers.

5. Let others ignite your fire. Take a few minutes to research your niche and see the latest topics trending. Not only does your brain get to take the lazy route of not having to come up with the topic – you will also stay ahead of all industry news.

6. Curate news relevant news stories. Curated articles are some of the most widespread forms of blog articles. Most writers will agree it is easier to rewrite existing content relevant to your business and be sure to include quotes and paraphrase with references to your source.

7. Let your personality shine. Don’t be afraid to let your character come out in your writing. Maybe you’re a little quirky and have humorous points you can slide in. Go for it. Maybe you can be a bit pessimistic and happen to have clever way to bring out a pet peeve. Let it out.

Don’t go overboard with this one. Remember the whole idea to sound natural. Don’t invent a personality you want to be, rather incorporate your true self in the writing. As long as your true self isn’t a psychotic crazy person, in that case I would try not to let that out. But seriously, make a human connection by showing the real you in your blogs. Your blog is the perfect place to vent and rant about topics that you are passionate about that are also related to your business.

8. Avoid jargon. Always write in a simple language that everyone in your target audience understands. Don’t try to impress visitors with over-complicated language that can be difficult to understand. That won’t make you look smart. This will only discourage the user and send them to a competitor’s website. Yikes!

Just do it.

One of the biggest mistakes that can be made is never starting a blog for your website. Or, starting one and not maintaining it or adding new content. The more consistently you post, the better your site rankings, traffic, everything. Consider outsourcing your blog marketing to take the easiest way out possible. The benefits are proved and worth it.