Blogging…urghhh…As small business owners, it’s one of our least favourite marketing things. But I’ll let you in on a little secret: Blogging works. Most of all because it helps your people find you on 'the Internets'. Here are 3 tips to make blog writing a little less painful and a whole lot more effective.
Before we get into the ‘how’, let’s talk about the ‘why’. Three little letters: S E O. For you newbies, SEO is search engine optimization. In a nutshell, it’s how Google determines where to send people looking for your products and services.
Businesses with a consistent blog strategy receive 2x more email traffic as those without. Plus, more than 55% of marketers say they’ve gained new customers just by blogging. (Oberlo)
Google LOVES fresh content and Google loves it even more when that content speaks directly to someone’s need. So if our boy Scott is searching for ‘custom engagement rings in Toronto’ and you have a blog post titled ‘Top 5 tips to buying custom engagement rings in Toronto’, chances are pretty good Google will show a snippet of your blog post in Scott's search results.
#1: Write what you know
“I have no clue what to write about Jenn.” Really? Really?! Sure you do! Sit down and make a list. Here, let’s do one together.
Topic: Child psychology
Blog post ideas
How to support your child’s mental health through the COVID-19 pandemic
5 Tips on raising thoughtful teens
3 signs you should seek professional help for your child’s mental health
Educational video games
Things to do outdoors with your child
I’m no child psychologist but I do have a child and these are certainly topics I, as a parent, am interested in learning about.
Whether you run a snow removal business, a local cafe or a women’s clothing store, you have knowledge to share. And that knowledge can be transformed into insightful blog posts that get you found, position you as an expert in your field and build trust with your audience.
#2: Use winning blog formulas
Want to know the one thing that will get more people to click on your posts? It’s the headline.
You’re welcome.
Expert copywriters (like me!) know that the key to getting traffic to your posts is the headline.
Have a look at the headlines from our little exercise above. It’s a fact: Blog headlines that start with How To’s, Why’s & (INSERT NUMBER) of Tips/Tricks, etc. get read more.
Let’s take the dull ‘Educational video games’ headline above as an example. A quick edit can guarantee way more hits. Top 5 Educational Video Games for Teens. See what I did there? I added a number (5) AND I also specified the audience, i.e.,Teens.
Once you get folks to click on a great headline, you had better be prepared to deliver some valuable content.
Do some additional research to bring new angles to popular subjects. Consider adding quotes from other experts that further hammer home your key points.
Using bullets and stats and quotes will make your blog post more scannable and easier to digest. And don’t forget the images!
Lastly, don’t skip out on completing the meta descriptions on your posts. This information is critical when it comes to having your posts indexed by search engines. ‘What’s that Jenn?’ Here’s what it looks like in my website editor.
#3: Reuse and Recycle old blog posts
Wanna know the best thing about blog posts? They can be repurposed in so many ways. With the average blog post taking almost 4 hours to write, you want to get the most out of your efforts.
Take little snippets from your blog posts and convert them into social media posts. I could likely get a good 10 out of this one post alone!
I’ll also be condensing this into a synopsis which I plan to send to my email list. Maybe that’s where you came from today ;-).
Knowing you’ll be able to slice and dice a blog post into valuable little morsels will make the task of actually writing it more enjoyable.
A blog post can also be resurrected years later. As a matter of fact, my first job with a long-term client was to rewrite and refresh some of their old posts. I updated the tone, content and stats to work for ‘today’. Here's an example of one below:
If your business is stuck, blogging is one of those simple steps you can take to give your business a boost. But like any other marketing channel, you’ll need to be consistent if you want to see results. So carve out some time on a Sunday afternoon in between weekly meal prep and your favourite true crime podcast to get one written.
You should be aiming for one blog post a week. Even one a month is better than none a month.
If, after reading this, you’re convinced you need to give blogging another try but still have a case of the ‘I don’t wanna’s’, give me a shout. I’ll be happy to take on this chore for you.
Happy Blogging,
Jenn