Your blog has an agenda longer than a quarterly corporate meeting. It has to be engaging, provide value, and deliver a consistent brand message. It needs to be strategic, build awareness and trust, educate the reader and be perceived as a quality article from a reputable resource. Wow! That’s a lot of pressure on such a little piece of writing.
Yes, your blog is just a small part of your overall website, but it obviously has a big job to do, and it’s important to do it right. So, strap on your “Kiss the Writer” apron and follow this secret recipe for consistently serving up great blogs:
1. Create a Tantalizing Title
The title of your blog has to be compelling, as does your introductory paragraph. After all, you have just seconds to grab someone’s attention, and even less time to keep it! Studies have shown that 80% of people read headlines and only 20% of that group actually read the rest. Stop them from just ordering an appetizer and force them to stay through dessert.
2. Have a Main Ingredient in Mind
Your blog should have a single focus, targeted toward a specific audience. The goal is to present a clear solution to one of your customers’ problems – emphasis on one. Don’t go off in other directions covering other topics. If you’re talking to working moms, don’t try to also speak to male construction workers who are afraid of clowns. You can see how that would get confusing, right?
3. Make Your Customer the Guest of Honor
Your blog should not be about you and what you do. No one likes a bragger. Instead, blog content should provide value to readers with information that helps them out or covers topics that interest them. The key is to build trust and position yourself as a thought leader and expert. Establish that, and you’ve pulled a customer in rather than pushing them away with too much “sell.”
4. Give Search Engines What They Crave
Yep, it’s that optimization thing again. What can we say, it’s kind of a big deal. You not only need to satisfy customers, you need to make search engines happy too, otherwise they won’t even try to invite people to your party. Use long tail keywords in your title, opening paragraph, and peppered throughout (remember, just a pinch goes a long way!). Make sure your title is short but sweet, your content is at least 300 words, images have alt text, body copy has headers – all the basic SEO best practices stuff.
5. Provide Options for Extra Helpings of Info
In-text links to relevant other pages and calls-to-action like downloadable ebooks prompt the reader to stick around and continue digesting even more information. The longer they stay and the more they consume, the greater your chances of making them a regular.
6. Remember to Have Good Etiquette
Don’t underestimate the ill effects of grammar faux pas and typos. Nothing pours credibility down the drain faster than mistakes that stick out like finding a bone in your fish. Triple check spelling, punctuation, and grammar to ensure readers come away impressed with your quality and expertise, not questioning it.
Make sure your blog has all these ingredients and you’ll have readers (a.k.a. prospective customers) clamoring for more.
Want to fill up on additional marketing tips? Call Revel at 231-727-9778, or help yourself to the free ebook below.
