Blogging tips are “a dime a dozen” these days. There are so many blogs out there that people think blogs are an outdated marketing tool and last decade’s fad. These people couldn’t be more wrong.
Blogs are still one of the best ways to market every business. The reason is the versatility and the customizable options versus the other alternatives, e.g. social media platforms. Essentially, every social media site is a blog, but with certain limitations. Some of them restrict the number of characters you post and others steer you in the direction of creating videos. Regardless, they are a medium to get your information out to the masses.
However, social media sites create limitations, and those limitations are not suitable for every kind of business. A blog is suitable because blogs are for every type of business, and a necessary part of any solid online presence. Without it, your customers will feel like they don’t know you very well. With a blog, your business will create more leads and sales in a matter of months. The best part is that if you keep providing good content for your blog, your traffic will continue to grow.
This article is loaded with blogging tips to make your business grow like wildfire. Here’s my first tip…
Bookmark this page, so you can come back to it in the future because I suggest you start with one or two of these tips then slowly incorporate the rest into your routine over the next year. Blogging is a long-term play, so stick to your guns and make a strategy that fits within your schedule.
Create a Long-Term Strategy
Blogging is a long-term play, especially if you’re looking to rank on Google. If you read any blogging tips that say anything contrary to that, believe at your own risk. You may face some grave disappointment especially if you’re new to blogging altogether.
Starting with a long-term mindset will improve your blog dramatically. You’ll abandon the idea of making the quick buck and that will stop you from putting out sub-par content.
The way you win with any blog or any business is to have the idea of a plan for over 5 years. I’m not saying every blog should be mapped out that far in advance, but you should have the idea that you’ll be writing for a long time. If you scour the internet for good blogs that rank high on search engines, you’ll see a massive amount of content on those pages and each blog will be more thorough than the next.
Start With Things You Know
A great way to get frustrated on this long journey you are embarking upon is to pick a subject that you don’t know or lack the interest to learn about. Having the passion for what you’re writing is a requirement for blogging. That’s why there are so many travel blogs out there, and why I exclusively blog about marketing topics.
If you’re starting a blog for your business, keep in mind that you’ll need to have a certain level of expertise to communicate properly to the readers. Business blogs are the easiest to alienate customers if they lack the depth to prove you’re a trustworthy influencer.
Create Original Graphics for Each Blog
If you have a graphic designer, you create customized images for your blogs. Blogging tips are great, but customization and targeting your audience is the best thing you can do to make your readers more interested in your brand.
Even if you’re not a graphic designer and have the best computer programs, you can make simple images using Canva, a free graphic design program, in minutes. Kind of like the one below…
Provide Downloadables for the Cost of an Email Address
Downloadables are great for blogs because they provide a great way to collect emails for a trade. You can make almost anything a downloadable these days. For instance, infographics, checklists, summaries, and whitepapers are great because they provide a ton of value at-a-glance.
Emails are of course a great way to either sell products or produce more repeat traffic. With each email you send, you can provide a short preview of new blogs you do. This provides more traffic and more opportunities for shares and sales.
Outsource to Provide More Content Each Month
One of my favorite blogging tips is to never forget that more content is always better than less content. In this case, if you’re having difficulty creating enough content each month, you should hire some freelancers to get the ball rolling. Try Upwork (not an affiliate link). It has a ton of professional content marketers ready to help you create amazing content.
Blogging tips are great and can help with your overall strategy, but the top priority should be to produce large amounts of solid content. That’s something one person might have a hard time doing.
Freelancer websites are a great alternative to hiring someone full-time, but what you’re looking for is someone to become focused on your content. You want them to become an expert on everything you do if they aren’t already.
Don’t Focus on The Numbers In The Beginning
This is one of the blogging tips you should write on your forehead and recite every morning when you start a new blog. Never get lost in the numbers when you start making content. This is something you should do after you find a groove and start making large amounts of content.
The numbers are very important, but if you’re an unknown you won’t see too much movement in the beginning. Keep in mind that your blog is unknown and if you’re not using pay-per-click (PPC) ads to boost its visibility you’re relying on social media and SEO. Both those strategies take time to mature.
When I start writing for a company, I like to write about 3 months worth of content before I start looking at the numbers. After those three months, I’ll start analyzing that traffic. If I see upticks on certain days I’ll check what I published that day. Maybe I’ll see a correlation or maybe I won’t but the numbers will never lie.
Republish Your Old Blogs
Republishing your blogs is one of those blogging tips that needs to be talked about. As the internet evolves, so do the strategies and the way people view them.
In this case, if you published a blog 5 years ago and it did pretty well, you should consider adding current photos, videos, and altering the dates that make them outdated. It’s a really easy tactic that is overlooked by many marketers.
This isn’t just something to keep this in mind if you’re looking to make a comeback or just need an extra blog this week if you’re encountering some writer’s block. This is a bonafide strategy that every long-term blogger should incorporate into his or her strategy. New content is vital to the strength of your blog, but republishing will give your older blogs a push and boost your blog on all platforms if you’re doing it right.
Publish Your Blogs On Medium
Republishing your blogs on Medium is one of the newest blogging tips of 2018. The idea is you don’t have to change your blogs like you would if you wanted to publish them on another site. Apparently, there isn’t any penalty for duplicate content if you post the same blog on your website and on your Medium profile.
I’d say use this while it’s available if you’re feeling lucky because Google will eventually make the changes to penalize people that do this. This is definitely a use at your own risk kind of tip. It’s not something I would do religiously, but if you have a blog that really does well and you’re in need of a big boost in traffic, this could be a good way to go temporarily viral.
Blogging Tips Will Never End
Blogging tips will always be followed by more blogging tips as the internet and search engines evolve. All you need to do is get a good basic strategy like in our last blog and you’ll be able to dominate many of the keywords you target.
As Google revamps their algorithms, you will need to make adjustments, but you can be pretty sure that if you focus on creating authoritative and thorough content, then republish them with current information, you won’t have a problem ranking high.
What Google is concerned about is their user’s experience. If you’re using short-cuts to get your website to the top of the charts, you’ll eventually pay the price. When in doubt, base your decisions on what you would like to see if you were the reader. Do you want to see a bunch of links pointing to articles that have nothing to do with your interests? Of course not. Would you like to see keywords spammed all over the article you’re trying to read? No way.
If you keep the end user in mind, you’ll never have problems getting traffic to your site in the long-run. Stick with it and you’ll see the results.
Finishing Touches
After you establish your blog’s brand, you need to make sure each blog is up to standards. By putting the time into making your blog stand out, it’s imperative that you ensure your blog is perfectly edited and aesthetically pleasing. This means choosing fonts, colors, subheadings, and phrasing that make it easy on the eyes.
Google makes sure, at the very least, that you’re using subheadings. If you’re not, start now.
To come full circle, blogging is an essential part of any business that has an online presence. For more information on why you need a blog check out this article and get started today.
