Blogging: Back to Basics

The evolution of blogging

For most, the term “blogging” can conjure images of favored personal blogs from the earlier days of blogging. For instance, women documenting their journey through motherhood or avid ‘Foodies’ sharing their favorite recipes. However, despite personal blogs still being popular today, blogs have now developed to become a powerful business tool. In short, businesses are now using blogging as a means to connect with consumers, share information and stay relevant.

Advantages of blogging: The Facts and Figures

Companies who blog get 67% more leads than those that don’t.

Websites producing blogs have 434% more indexed pages.

Companies maintaining a blog get 97% more inbound links.

In summary, companies who blog undoubtedly get much better marketing results.

 

Getting started.

Assign roles

Firstly, decide who is going to be involved in the writing and publication of your blog. Who will be in charge of content ideas and writing etc. In the long run, consider working with web developers.

Choose your Content Management System (CMS)

A content management system or CMS such as WordPress can be used to schedule and plan content as drafts or scheduled posts.

Identify your blog’s purpose

Before publishing any blog entries, you should have already identified the blog’s purpose. For example, do you want your blog to:

  • Share information
  • Convert prospects into leads
  • Start a conversation with your audience

Create a user persona

The content you produce should be based on your audience. Therefore, you must research who they are, why they are there, what their needs and interests are.

Decide how your blog and company are connected

Does it exist as its own entity? Or will it be incorporated into your website?

For example, our blogs at Stone create can be found on our website in our main navigation under “Insights”.

Define your goals

Blogs are a long-term content strategy, therefore, you’ll need to track your progress by setting goals and milestones. This will help you analyze what performs best longer down the line. Your goals could be to:

  • Raise brand awareness
  • Drive traffic
  • Retain/convert customers
  • Convert leads

Plan content

Writing a blog for a specific goal requires time spent researching and planning. A good place to start is keyword research. Prior to writing your blog, plan and design it around keywords.

Tip: Using long-tailed, niche keywords can mean less competition and better qualified visitors.

Balance your content

One of the best ways to do this is by following the 80% rule sworn by flying hippo. Specifically, evergreen content will remain relevant and build momentum over time whereas topical or editorial content is usually time-sensitive and tends to lose relevance over time.

Both content types are equally important to your business but should be broken down into 80% Evergreen and 20% time-sensitive, topical content.

Design your blog

Overall, your blog must be shareable and easy to access. You should consider a colour scheme, whether you want to use a template, branding and your call to action.

Make your Call To Action (CTA)

Types of CTAs in a blog could include:

  • Pop-ups
  • Slide-ins
  • Header bars
  • Buttons
  • In-text CTAs
  • Image CTAs

CTAs are a way to pinpoint users showing interest in your product or services. Therefore, you can offer them something more. For this purpose, consider where a user might be in their buying journey when choosing a call to action.

What to include for your first blog post

  • Author
  • Date of publish/updates
  • Title
  • Introduction
  • Body
  • Helpful tips, information and terms
  • Conclusion
  • CTA
  • Keywords
  • Links

Build your online presence with Stone Create

To conclude, our team at Stone Create are happy to help. Our industry professionals can help you enhance your online presence and stay connected with your audience. Get in touch with us today for even more information.

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