In the world of digital marketing, blogs are a brilliant way to connect with your audience and establish a thought leadership position. However, writing a blog isn’t as easy as it looks and can take a lot of time. To help generate interest, establish credibility, and grow your business, we’ve collected 25+ indispensable tips from industry experts on how to write a winning blog.
Focus On One Idea At A Time
Blogs aren’t like traditional newspaper articles or web content; they’re living documents that are constantly changing and evolving as new content is added.
The trick is to establish a schedule of regular posts on your blog and stick to it. By focusing on one idea at a time, you’ll ensure that your posts are consistently high-quality and make the most out of your time working on the project. Establishing this pattern will also help you avoid burning out and becoming disheartened by the never-ending revision process.
Curate Content For International Readers
If you’re keen to grow your blog’s reach, you’ll soon discover that many readers are based overseas. Whether you’re aware of it or not, your blog content is being accessed from international readers who are benefiting from the relative cheaper cost of web hosting or using a virtual private server.
To ensure that your content is appropriate for international readers, you’ll need to take into account the differences in culture and language. For example, medical terminology can cause confusion, so be sure to explain what a filter is and how it works in simplified terms.
Regular, Specific Posting Is Key
In the same way that writing a business plan, pitching a product, or presenting a speech can benefit from frequent practice, your blog will benefit from regular, specific posting. Consistent, frequent posting will help establish your blog as a thought leader in your industry and attract a following of interested readers.
To start, try posting at least two new articles every week. As you get more experienced, consider increasing your post frequency to once every two weeks or even once a week. Regular, specific posting will also help establish your blog as an authority in your industry and give you credibility with other bloggers and content creators.
Always Be Ready To Answer Questions
An important part of establishing your blog as an authoritative source in your industry is by being ready to answer questions from your audience. It’s essential that you have an information-gathering mechanism in place whereby you can respond to questions, comments, and suggestions.
The best way to do this is by building a community of bloggers, leaders, and content creators in your industry. By regularly engaging with your audience, you’ll not only be keeping your blog fresh but, more importantly, you’ll be creating a resource that your audience will value and benefit from.
Make Sure Your Blog Is As Search Engine-friendly As Possible
If you want to benefit from online marketing, building a quality blog is a great place to start. However, if you want to ensure that your blog is as search engine-friendly as possible, you’ll need to take a little bit of time to make minor tweaks to your blog’s format and content. Building a quality blog takes time, and you have to be willing to commit to making it successful.
To improve your blog’s visibility, install related articles, use keywords strategically throughout your content, and measure the success of your blog’s SEO strategy. With the right tools and the willingness to learn, anyone can become an SEO expert and drive traffic to their blogs.
Take Care Of The User Experience
If you want to create a successful business using the web, you’ll need to take care of the user experience. This entails meeting the needs of both your customers (site visitors) and community (blog readers) and creating an experience that is both satisfying and effortless.
To put it simply, your customers will need to feel that they’re getting something worthwhile in return for their investment of time and effort, while your bloggers and followers need to feel that they’ve benefited from your direction and guidance. Achieving this balance is a lot easier said than done, but it’s a question of constant review and iteration.
Use Short-Lists To Break Down Complex Ideas
If you want your readers to truly understand and appreciate your content, take the time to explain your ideas in a way that is easy to follow. If you’ve got a complex idea or concept that you want to explain in a few short paragraphs, use numbered lists to make it easier for the reader to follow along. Your numbered lists should follow a familiar pattern with each list item supported by a succinct, easy-to-understand explanation.
For example, if you’ve got an article on the importance of SEO in digital marketing, your introductory paragraph could state that SEO is a tool used to find relevant content, raise a brand’s organic traffic, and make the most out of their investment in content.
From here, you could explain what SEO is (search engine optimization) and how it works, list some of its advantages, and conclude with a call to action that encourages the reader to learn more.
If you want to build a profitable business, become an expert in SEO. With the right tools and the willingness to learn, anyone can become an SEO expert and drive traffic to their blogs.
Avoid Grammatical Errors
Grammatical errors can trip up even the most careful of writers, and the sooner you realize this, the better. Proofread your content carefully before publishing; it’ll only take a few minutes, and you’ll be able to identify some errors that could’ve been easily avoided. Once you’ve fixed them, read your content one more time before submitting for approval.
These errors could be minor or major, but they all add up and contribute to reducing the overall quality of your content.
Some examples of grammatical errors you might make are using mixed gender pronouns (he/she/his/hers), using a plural verb where a singular is required (guests enjoyed themselves), or using a comparative where a superlative would be better (more stylish than she is beautiful).
It’s always helpful to look for blogs in your industry to get an idea of what kind of content you should be putting out.
Choose A Niche
To succeed as a blogger, you need to choose a niche and become good at writing in that niche. If you can create content that’s highly relevant to your chosen niche, you’ll find it much easier to generate interest and build a following.
For example, if you’re passionate about lifestyle and fashion, you could create content that’s highly relevant to and focused on women’s fashion. If you can create high-quality content on a regular basis, you’ll be able to position yourself as an expert in your industry and start attracting the clients and potential sponsors that you want.
Niche expertise takes time to become good at, but the effort is definitely worth it.
If you want to succeed as a blogger, choose a niche and build your expertise; it’ll take you to the next level.