Blogging basics for small business owners who are not creating regular blogs and are most likely to missing out on valuable traffic, leads and customers.
Google loves fresh content and lots of useful information and it will drive more traffic to your website. But most small businesses don’t have a ton of content or update the few pages they do have. This is why blogging will solve both of these problems.
Every time you publish a blog post it creates one more indexed page on the web, which is one more opportunity for to show up in searches.
Plus the fact you have some new content you can publish on social media and get shared.
Table of Contents
A few blogging facts
Companies who blog get 97% more links to their websites.
77% of internet users read blogs.
59% of people will share an article without reading it first, or ever.
53% of marketers say blogging is their top content marketing priority.
Studies show that the more often you update your blog, the more traffic it will receive. Google loves fresh content, so blogging should be a priority.
A few blogging myths
Blogging is a dated trend
It’s been around for years in fact decades. It not going away, you read them every day in some form or another from the news, micro blogs such as twitter (more on twitter later) interesting articles posted on Facebook. The list goes on.
Blogs don’t drive business
Companies that blog just 1-2 times per month generate 70% more leads than companies that don’t.
So, is it worth spending your hours blogging? YES.
Blog posts should never be more than 500 words
Total bull.
Will people lose interest if it is too long? No, if it is a valuable, interesting article they will read on.
And more in-depth copy will boost your rankings.
The subject has been covered by some else, so I can’t write about it.
Total bull.
Gather all your facts and write your view on the subject. You don’t get one reviewer at a west end show. You will get a number of writers giving their opinion.
The anatomy of a blog post
- Awesome Headline
The first thing people see. Make it interesting enough to make people click on your link.
- Catchy picture
Use an interesting image sites like www.pixabay.com and www.pexals.com have a vast number of images if you don’t have one. Use a few to break up a mass of text.
Tip; Use alt tags on your images. Even more important today with sites like Pinterest sharing your content.
- Introduction
This is another chance to hook your readers in. You are telling people what your content is about. A punchy intro is more effective.
- Lead in
After your intro segue into your main points. Don’t just start with a bulleted list start with “The main points are…”
- Your main points
Deliver your main points that you want to make. Use headings to break up the copy along with bullet points. Write for readers, not search engines.
- Conclusion
You are not writing and essay, so don’t cover every point. But wrap up your post so you are not leaving readers hanging.
- Invitation for feedback
The comments section at the bottom of your post is a great way to get people taking and engaging. Leave a line at the end of you blog post such as “What do you think”.
- Related posts
Do you have another post relating to the content? Lead them to it “want to know more about ‘XYZ’ take a look at ‘ABC’.
Finding subjects and coming up with ideas
A question I am often asked, “what do I write about?”
First of all, most new bloggers write about topics they want to write about. Problem is most readers come to your website with specific interest and problems they want to solve. If you are not solving problems, there is no reason to hang around.
We rely on our brains and our abilities to create content. Sometimes that works, but eventually we run out of ideas. Or we need to kick start our blog writing and find subjects.
Find out what your readers want
What are the problems your target audience are struggling with? What are they most interested in getting help with?
So, how can you find subjects to you write about?
Join Facebook groups where your targets markets hang out. Ask questions, read comments.
Ask Quara
For those who don’t know about this website it is a q and a website. You ask questions and people answer them to the best of their abilities.
Go to https://www.quora.com/ and create an account.
There are 5 easy steps to finding topics using this website.
- Make a list of terms\keywords associated with your niche
- Enter each of your keywords in the Quora search box
- Read through the conversation and discussions that pop up
- Highlight parts of the discussion you could write about
- Write an awesome blog post on the content you highlighted.
Forums
Yes, they still exist. Go to google and search for ‘Your chosen subject forums’. Be creative with your search, you will be surprised what’s out there.
If I was in the wedding industry I could search for ‘brides to be forum’
By doing this I found lots of things people are asking questions about I could write about.
- Weddings abroad – coronavirus
- Where to get married – UK or abroad
Found these subjects in 2 minutes flat.
Talk to your existing and past customers
You are on Facebook, right? Ask question on your page such as ‘what was the biggest hurdle you encountered when planning your wedding’.
Research your competitors
Take a look at the blogs of your rivals, what blogs got comments and shares. Write your spin on the subject.
Stalk your competitions Facebook pages and look at comments.
Writing a headline
If you were writing about a wedding venue you think your readers will like. What would the title be?
A title such as ‘wedding venues in Coventry’ is not going to draw the reader in.
’10 stunning wedding venues on a budget’ is solving a problem and much more appealing.
There is one method, and it does work; it is used in the advertising sector.
Number or Trigger word + Adjective + Keyword + Promise
Example: “10 unbelievable wedding venues that you will love”
A little SEO
You want your new shiny blog to be found.
Make sure your key phrase is in your title and appears within your copy. There are many tools you can use to help with on-page SEO. If for instance, you are using WordPress you could use a plugin such as Rank Math or Yoast.
Post the link of your new wonderful blog writing to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or any other social media channels you use.
Look at the Facebook groups you joined; can you share you link in the group. Afterall these people are your audience.
If you have written about a supplier or venue make sure you tag them on Facebook, they are more likely to share your blog on their page too.
Wrapping it all up
Do your research into a subject to cover.
Research the subject and get your facts correct.
Write your content and catchy headline, use bullet points and headings to break up your copy.
Share your content.