And we’re not the only one bringing in the bacon through our blogging. Michelle at makingsenseofcents.com is a blogger I follow who travels the world and makes six-figures monthly through affiliate blogging. And Jon Morrow at SmartBlogger is a smart marketer who uses his blog to earn over $100k/month.
So, whether you’re attempting to start your own blog or looking to create content for other businesses, the opportunities are there.
And while there’s quite a bit of competition in this space, becoming an expert blogger is something that can set you apart from the field.
If you’re able to nail the strategies outlined below, you’ll be well on your way to becoming an expert in the blogging world. Let’s get started.
[bctt tweet=”Learn how to become an expert #blogger in our 10-step guide. ” username=”ExpWriters”]
10 Strategies to Becoming an Expert Blogger
Ready? Let’s get into them!
1. Learn How to Write Well-Structured Blogs
Arguably, writing is 80-95% of the weight of a highly-successful blog.
Just look a few examples of top-ranking, top-shared, conversation-driving blog posts:
The structure and readability of these blogs are critical examples. This is the style you need to follow when you write a blog. For example, look at the readability and short, impactful-sentence structure of Morrow’s blog, linked to above:
Learning how to write a great blog is definitely an art and a science.
As you can see in the image above, content-centric blogs are those where the writers create content and then try to find an audience that will read and appreciate it.
Writers of audience-centric blogs, on the other hand, establish the audience they’re writing for and work to create content that’s designed specifically for them.
The more important point to take away from the image above, however, is that audience-centric content enables you to reach your maximum audience.
By identifying who you’re writing for, and what they want to hear, you’re giving your content the best opportunity to earn the interest of readers and be successful.
And isn’t that your goal?
Takeaway: Identify your audience and create content based on what they want to hear.
3. Stay Up-to-Date With Your Industry
Ten years ago, not many people were familiar with content marketing.
“Research is the first and most vital step when developing and executing a content strategy. Without complete research, the steps of Ideation/Planning, Creation, Connection, and Measurement will be based on insufficient data.”
So, you know that research is important. But how do you actually do it effectively?
What’s the Best Way to Research Effectively?
This is where things can get a little tricky.
Because, while there are many ways to go about researching, you’re going to have to take the time to determine the strategy that works best for you.
Researching and creating an outline can be time consuming. But by writing down ideas and researching them as they come to you, you can significantly reduce this part of the creation process.
References are essential to creating useful content. Be sure to gather any references you can that will help you make your point when writing.
Takeaway: Work to develop an approach to research that works for you and ensures you’re able to consistently create useful and relevant content for your audience.
5. Develop a Content Differentiation Factor (CDF)
While it’s true that becoming an expert blogger has a lot to do with gaining knowledge from others, that doesn’t mean you should just follow in their footsteps.
The ability to carve your own path, and differentiate yourself from the pack, is equally important on your quest to becoming an expert in your field.
But to truly separate yourself, you have to provide a compelling reason for someone to read and devour YOUR content instead of a competitor.
If a potential reader or customer were to ask,
“Why should I read your content over your competitor(s)?”
What would your answer be?
Creating a Competitive Advantage by Developing Your Content Differentiation Factor (CDF)
If your goal is to develop a competitive advantage, and give potential readers a reason to choose your content, then it’s essential that you develop a Content Differentiation Factor.
While establishing your CDF can be a complex and time-consuming process, it’s absolutely necessary if you want to succeed in the world of content marketing.
To create your CDF, you need to clearly answer the question of:
“What is your unique, standout perspective in your content niche that makes you an expert that needs to be heard?”
Takeaway: Take the time to develop your Content Differentiation Factor so you can provide potential readers with a compelling reason to view your content over your competitors.
6. Make the Readability and Usefulness of Your Content a Focal Point
As you begin to study other expert bloggers, you’ll find that almost all of them talk heavily about the short attention span of today’s internet users.
And it’s true. Modern day attention spans are undoubtedly shorter than they’ve ever been.
But that doesn’t mean you CAN’T capture their attention.
Legendary comedian Jerry Seinfeld has a different take on this topic than most. As he says:
In a lot of ways, Seinfeld is right. If you’re producing high quality content that captures the attention of your audience, people will read it.
To make sure they read it, however, you have to focus readability and usefulness.
Honing in On Readability
Making your content readable isn’t difficult, even if you aren’t a great writer.
Let’s take a look at a few tips that can help you with this:
Write short, to-the-point sentences
Include no more than 2-4 sentences within each paragraph
Break up your content with images, subheadings, and bullet lists
If you’re looking for a tool that can help you discover the readability of your content, Readable.io is a great free option.
Let’s take a look at the results when we plug in the article you’re currently reading:
As you can see, it gives us an overall grade while also providing more detailed statistics about things like keyword density, syllable use, reading level, and more.
Yoast SEO, which is a WordPress SEO plugin, is another great readability tool if you’re looking for something even more advanced.
Making Your Content Useful
Making your content useful is simple if you’ve already committed to creating audience-centric content.
So long as you focus on what your audience wants, and ensure your content serves as a useful and actionable resource, you shouldn’t have a problem with this.
Takeaway: Attention spans are only short when your content isn’t readable or useful.
7. Stay Consistent
Consistency and persistence is important in just about every part of life.
But it’s really, really important in the world of blogging.
And there are many reasons for this.
For one, as Forbes tell us:
“Without consistency, it’s difficult to build brand loyalty.”
If you aren’t able to develop a core audience that regularly reads your content, you’re going to have a very difficult time succeeding in the blogging world.
And, unless you’re consistently publishing content, it’s going to be impossible to develop that core audience and brand loyalty.
Consistency is also important for SEO reasons.
As HubSpot has found, blogs that publish 16+ blog posts per month generate about 3.5x more traffic than those that publish between 0-4 posts.
While there are other factors, such as content quality and promotion, that will have a positive impact on SEO and traffic, creating and posting consistently offers a clear opportunity to get ahead.
But if you don’t currently have the time or resources to publish 4x per week, that doesn’t mean you can’t succeed as a blogger.
Blogging, after all, is a long term game.
As DeMers also tells us:
“Posting at least once a week is usually sufficient to establish a regular core of readers, and these readers are typically the ones who will form the core of your brand community.”
Once the core of your brand community is developed, you can start focusing on developing more content in an effort to boost traffic and build a stronger SEO profile.
And, as your resources expand, you can begin to hire freelancers or content creation agencies to write some of your content for you.
Takeaway: Know that blogging is a long term game and that your ability to stay consistent will have a major impact on your success.
8. Make Promotion a Priority
Of all the ways that blogging and content marketing have evolved over the years, possibly the biggest change has been with the incredible increase in the amount of content being created.
In 2015, Marketing Profs reported that there over 2 million blog posts are written and published every day.
Not surprisingly, however, most of that content goes unnoticed.
Because while content creators are writing and publishing plenty of blog posts, many of them are failing to realize the importance of actually promoting that content.
How to Promote Your Content
This is a topic that’s FAR too in-depth to cover within this post. But, as we’ve mentioned, understanding how to do it will be incredibly important to your success.
So instead of giving you a brief summary, here’s a few great resources that can help:
Find the Right Groups. Find the social networks and groups where your target audience is active. Facebook and LinkedIn both offer great opportunities for this.
Keep Your Image Consistent. While it’s important to cater your content to the social media platform it’s being posted on, it’s also crucial to control your audience’s perception by maintaining consistency with how you represent yourself across the web.
Engage as Often as Possible. Create a consistent posting schedule and be sure that you’re communication with your audience as often as possible.
Give, Give, and Give Some More. Make personal connections with your audience and ask them what you can do for them. And, above all, avoid being salesy and promotional.
Become Involved in Discussions. Show that you’re human and connect with others by getting involved in discussions. Not only is this great for visibility, but it’s an opportunity to offer your unique insights on a topic.
Takeaway: Social media and content marketing form a powerful team. Leverage this combination to build authority in your industry.
10. Don’t Forget About SEO
While it’s true that creating audience-centric content plays a crucial role in becoming an expert blogger, you still need to understand how to write content for SEO.
By doing so, you enable your content to be found via search engines and therefore reach its maximum viewership potential.
And while there are some technical aspects of SEO that can contribute to success with SERPs, most of the strategies necessary to succeed are fairly basic.
Here are five rules of thumb for great SEO content:
Focus on 1-2 Long-Tail Keywords. Don’t overdo it with keywords. Focus on 1-2 that have the least competition and include them in your title, headers, meta description, and body copy.
Design Your Post to be Mobile-Friendly. More and more people are viewing content from mobile devices. And, as Google is beginning to emphasize mobile-friendly design as a part of their algorithms, you’re significantly reducing your potential reach if your content isn’t mobile optimized.
Optimize Your Meta Description. While the meta description doesn’t have a direct impact on search rankings, the words within it help searchers decide whether to click on your content or a competitor.
Optimize Images. Search engines crawl for images based on their alt text. For this reason, you’ll want to be sure that you’re optimizing images (especially custom images) for search.
Link Internally When Appropriate. By linking to other posts on your site, you’ll help keep visitors on your website while also sending signals to search engines about the relevancy of your content.
Takeaway: Be sure to optimize your content for search engines to maximize your potential reach.
Bonus #11. Develop Your Own Unique Voice and Style
I couldn’t end without tossing in an extra bonus point.
Question: Do you know of any cover bands that are more popular than the actual band that they cover?
Blogging is like a full-time profession for many of us, and because of that we have a dedicated interest in our audiences. We are the place that they come for content and we have a responsibility to provide current, accurate reporting as far as content is concerned. Our opinions usually shape the final decisions of a number of our readers and because of that a lot of power rests in our hands. Creating captivating blog entries is always a challenging task, especially when you have a lot on your plate and little time to get it all done.
In order to be a successful blogger, you have to understand what success means to a blogger. For some it equates to a lot of clicks, but to others it means providing a source of information to our readers. We are tasked with presenting an unbiased view that is free from fear or favor when it comes to a particular topic and we should take our responsibilities as bloggers very seriously.
Success Tips To Help You Make Your Blogging ROI Increase
If you truly want to succeed and produce a blog that you can be proud of, here are a few things that are almost guaranteed to net you success.
Success Tip #1: Put Your Audience First
How many bloggers out there truly know their audience? How many of them are simply assuming what their audience wants and instead miss the attractive points that would draw the crowds? Understanding your audience is one of the most important things any blogger can do. By understanding what drives your audience, you locate the motivation behind their need for content and this allows you to better home in what they love to read. Putting your audience first means taking their likes and dislikes into account. Usually in niche blogs this is a simple matter because only an individual that follows the particular area of interest would be a reader on such a blog. When it comes to more open, wide-ranging blogs there is a lot more scope for you to be good (or bad) at presenting your ideas. Knowing your audience helps you to streamline your ideas to present it in a more palatable fashion to your readers, according to Copyblogger. Know what they read and what interests them and you’re well on your way to creating riveting content that will ensure that people take notice of what you say.
Success Tip #2: Be Unbiased In Your Representation Of Facts
Anonymity has made it easy for anyone to be a blogger and hide their real identity. It doesn’t do much to promote trustworthiness, however. When you produce a blog, what you write on it is a direct reflection of your own opinions and ideas. However, if you’re blogging about a factual piece of information then you should be careful to separate your ideas from what makes up the body of truth. Representing fact is important and the more accurate you are in presenting the fact uncolored by bias, the more your audience tends to trust you. Creating trust in an audience means that it is more likely that they will come back to you for news since in their opinion, you are a reliable location to get the truth. Opinion pieces are welcome since the aim of most blogging is to represent a blogger’s opinions on a particular issue. You must be careful to draw the line between opinion and fact since blurring those lines will lose you credibility in the eyes of your audience. Showing your audience two sides of the story before chiming in with your own take on the issue is a very good way to present an issue in a simple, unbiased way.
Success Tip #3: Don’t Get Complicated
One of the things that turns a lot of readers off from a blog is content that is simply padding. Overcomplicating an issue is a very common way to pad a word count, but it does your audience no favors. The more complex a piece of content is, the less likely that you’re going to get readers willing to sit through your filler text. Get right down the point and do it effectively and efficiently. It might be a lot easier to simple research a point in depth rather than trying to create meaningless phrases and words to make up a word count. Keeping it simple helps connect with your audience without alienating them. In some industry blogs, using jargon that is common within the industry does not count as being complicated. This exception is because such blogs are usually aimed at industry professionals that are already familiar with these terms. General Blogs should try to maintain a conversational tone without inserting obscure words and phrases. Doing so usually interrupts the flow of your conversation with the reader and could lead to them dismissing your entry as not worthy of their time.
Success Tip #4: A Picture Paints a Thousand Words
We’re no longer in the dark ages of the Internet where a single jpeg file could take as much as ten minutes to load on a dial up connection. Thanks to the wonders of easily available high speed internet, using eye-catching images is not only an option, it is recommended. Quite a lot of human beings have the ability to process graphic information far more readily than textual information. It’s the reason why memes are such a popular thing in internet culture today. Utilizing images capitalizes on this ability by giving your readers content in a breathtaking flurry of color and shape. Selecting the right image for your post is as important as writing the post itself and due care should be taken to choose an image that best represents what you want the reader to take away from this entry. Images are probably the best way to communicate simple ideas and you should utilize them in blog posts as often as you can in order to give your content a more attractive look.
Success Tip #5: Post Regularly and Consistently
Last but maybe most importantly, blogging isn’t a fly-by-night enterprise. It requires a lot of dedication and hard work before it even has a chance of being successful. Looking at how blogs have been developed over the last decade, it is obvious that in order to maintain your momentum and to keep readers coming back for more, your posts should be done on a regular schedule. Ideally, posting one blog a day is a good idea, although some people do cover more than one post, sometimes incorporating multiple posts of different types of content into one single day. Other bloggers only post once a week, but their content is rich and it leaves the readers on the edge, awaiting the next instalment. Creating regular blog posts not only gives you visibility, it shows that you are consistent. Nothing is more unnerving to a reader to find that a blog they have followed for a long time has simply ceased to exist. The longer you post for, the more confidence that readers have in following your posts over the long term. Blog readers tend to increase over time the longer you blog so it’s in your best interests to keep your posts coming regularly to grow your readership over time.
Success Tip #6: Networking is Essential
The advent of social media has made it much easier to share your blogs as well as to engage in conversation on them. Conversation on an entry is one of the most important driving factors in a blog. With social media intertwined with most blog hosting outlets, it is not a surprise that most bloggers have a social media outlet dedicated to sharing and promoting their blog entries. Many bloggers also ask questions within their entries so that their readers can comment and start up their own private discussions in the comment threads. The true masters of blog networking follow other blogs that have similar interests and attempt to engage their writers in civil conversation. This usually leads to an exchanging of ideas and sometimes even readers. There is a downside to this blogging practice, however. Comments are left to the discretion of the user and unmoderated comments can lead to spam. There are ways to avoid this such as requiring a login to post a comment but it can interrupt the flow of readers who simply want to leave a comment and be on their way. The benefits to reaching out socially to your audience far outweigh the negatives.
A Noble Profession Not Learned Overnight: Blogging
Blogging isn’t something you learn to do overnight. Starting a blog is a simple process, but keeping one running for any length of time will test your dedication. Creating new content can have you feeling burned out at times and even trying to follow multiple threads of discussion can leave you tired at the end of a long session. With dedication comes reward. Blogging is rewarding on many levels, both financially and intellectually. Sharing information about a topic with others who may not know as much as you offers the benefit of helping you grasp concepts easier while at the same time providing a useful resource for others.
Creating compelling content and interacting with users from other blogs helps to bring you closer to your readers and discover new points of view and new ideas. Blogging is a noble profession, and if done right it can be one of the most rewarding things any writer can find themselves undertaking.
It’s tough being a blogger. You spend hours of time on the web as you strategize, plan, and carefully craft your perfect post. You face deadlines, lack of motivation, and writer’s block. Not to mention, you could really use an assistant. Oh, and coffee. Lots of coffee.
Sound accurate? As a blogger, you might think that you are on your own in terms of perfecting your craft. Lucky for you, your life is about to get a little bit easier. Whether you are a seasoned blogger or you are just at the beginning of your career, there are a lot of tools available on the web that can help bloggers stay on track and fight writer’s block. Blogger to blogger, here are 5 tools that are bound to keep your fingers flowing on that keyboard.
1. The Wonders of Blogging With Wordpress
Still using Blogger or another old school blogging platform? If so, it is time to get a little bit of Wordpress love in your life. Wordpress was originally started as a simple blog platform solution. However, it has experienced explosive growth over the last several years, morphing into the ultimate content management system that it is today. Wordpress offers many benefits to bloggers, and you are truthfully crazy if you have yet to convert.
So, what is it about Wordpress that makes it so spectacular for bloggers? For starters, it is super simple to use and customize. While older blog platforms only allow you to change your background and maybe your font face, Wordpress allows you to create an entire functioning website around your blog.
If you are not a web designer and shudder at the thought of HTML, you are in luck. Wordpress contains literally millions of themes that give you a beautifully designed website with the click of a button. It really is that easy.
To take the benefits of Wordpress a step further, Google actually favors Wordpress websites and blogs. Wordpress also contains built-in SEO plug-ins that you can install to help give your blog an extra boost.
These advantages only skim the surface of why Wordpress makes an excellent tool to bloggers. What are you waiting for?
2. Can’t Keep Track Of Your Posts? Enter the Editorial Calendar
So, this blogger tool is mostly developed by you, but it a necessity and really helps bloggers to stay organized. There are several ways to go about creating an editorial calendar; one being a simple Excel spreadsheet.
Image source: contentmarketinginstitute.com
Depending on your posting frequency, you can plan your blogs day-by-day, week-by-week, or even month-by-month. Consider splitting your blog topics into categories, such as posts that are trending, seasonal, news, and how-tos.
Another way to create an editorial calendar is by literally using an online calendar. Google Calendar in particular has a pretty decent set up to help keep you on track.
Image Source: linkedin.com
If you still doubt your ability to make a solid editorial calendar on your own, there are free templates available that you can mold to fit your needs. For example, Hubspot offers a free and convenient editorial calendar to get you started. Staying organized as a blogger and knowing exactly what topic to write about will make your job a breeze.
You know what they say – failing to plan is planning to fail.
3. Never Have Any Good Ideas? Hubspot Helps With That
As one of my favorite tools for bloggers, Hubspot’s Blog Topic Generator is perfect for coming up with fresh ideas when you are in a pinch. One of the greatest obstacles that every blogger faces is wondering what to write about next. I don’t know about you, but I am not a fan of wasting time while trying to figure out my next blog topic.
The blog topic generator is super simple to use. Type in 3 nouns that relate to your industry, and click the button for instant ideas.
The disclaimer here is that this tool is not fool proof. Sometimes it generates topics that do not make much sense. A little common sense goes a long way with this tool, but I think it is a lot of fun and pretty useful.
4. Tracking Your Visits With Google Analytics
Most bloggers want to know how much traffic is pouring onto their blog on a regular basis. One of the best tracking systems, hands down, is Google Analytics. Google Analytics will give you an overview of specific blog topics that are performing well on a traffic level, and what posts aren’t making the cut. You will see your bounce rate in analytics, which gives you an idea of how engaged your audience is with your website.
Image Source: semilogic.com
Google Analytics also can measure your tracking coming in from social media, so you will know exactly how much traffic your Facebook or twitter account is pushing to your blog.
Analytics has tons of cool and useful bells and whistles. There are a lot of useful features to explore, and they can all help analyze your best content. Every blogger can absolutely benefit from the power of Google Analytics.
5. Wordfence Security Keeps Your Blog More Secure
The reality of owning your own blog is that there is a very real possibility that your site can become hacked. If you are on the Wordpress platform, there is a free plug-in called Wordfence that will alert you of any potential threats that occur on your website. This includes attempted anonymous logins and security updates. Hackers can find loopholes to enter your site through old and outdated code, so always be sure to update your Wordpress website as requested by Wordfence. This tool can save bloggers a lot of headache and heartache. Don’t put yourself in a position where you become the next horror story.
Now that you know 5 essential tools that all bloggers should be using, you can start increasing your productivity while making your blogging career both simple and streamlined.
About 15 years ago, it was virtually unheard of for businesses to have their own blog. At the time, blogs were mostly diaries in disguise (Livejournal, anyone?), and very few companies had even heard of the concept of blogging for business. Content marketing was anything but a topic of conversation, and some small businesses lagged behind on having any type of web presence at all. As the concept of having a company website became more and more prevalent, keeping the website updated and maintained became another battle. It became clear that having a company website was anything but a fad, and businesses soon had to incorporate ideas of standing out from their competition online. The web was a blank canvass for upcoming business blogs, and the competition was about to explode throughout the new millennium.
Fast forward: it’s now almost 2015. While not every single company possesses a blog these days, many of them do. It’s interesting to see companies that have a smart blogging strategy in place, and those who aren’t too dedicated to managing their own blog. If companies aren’t currently blogging, the typical reasons include:
Not enough time
Fresh out of ideas
Don’t know where to start
20 Techniques To Blow Up Your Business Blogging
If you manage a company blog and you’re experiencing one or all three of these set backs, today is your lucky day. I’ve been around the blogging block a time or two, and I can tell you what kind of techniques work for creating, managing, and writing your very own blog. The following tips will enhance your online presence while having a blog that’s easy and entertaining to read for your customers. After all, isn’t that overall goal?
1. How’s That Headline? Did you know that 80% of customers will read your headline, but only 20% will actually read anything beyond? Think of all that hard work you put into your blog, only to have your customers click the back button. Writing powerful headlines is an absolute must for generating any kind of engagement. Think about it from your own point of view: if this blog post was entitled “20 Ways to Write a Nice Blog Post”, would you ever click on it? If I were a betting woman, I would definitely bet no. No one likes a boring read. Put some thought into that headline.
2. Verbs, Not Adjectives. While adjectives have their place, using verbs in your blog has the potential to create some very compelling copy. Some of my personal favorite verbs include:
Dazzle
Compel
Astonish
Bewilder
Captivating
Conquer
Delight
Discover
Putting verbs in your headline or copy inspires people to take action. Taking action leads to conversion. What does this mean? Verbs are power words for your blogging strategy. Not to mention, they are pretty fun to write with. Give it a try.
3. Spark Some Emotion. Notice that all of my favorite verbs are related to some form of emotion. If you want to write a strong blog, you’re going to have to write something that sparks some form of emotion: preferably a positive one, since most people aren’t going to respond too well to negative emotion.
Connecting to people on an emotional level gives them something that they can find as relatable. If you can get your customers relating to your company or product, that’s a big part of the battle. That’s when they become emotionally invested, and that is exactly what you want.
4. Become an Inspiration. Isn’t it great to feel motivated and inspired? Help your customers feel the same. While inspiration can come in many forms, use your sources to better your community or the life of a person in need. If you have an interesting background of how you came from poverty and built your business from the ground up, people will want to hear your story. Depending on your industry, you can take this in many directions. You can inspire people to get healthy, get an education, or even seek treatment for an addiction.
5. Write Longer Posts. Sorry folks, but two paragraphs are not going to cut it. In fact, three or four paragraphs probably won’t take you very far, either. Studies have shown that long content (think 1500 words minimum) performs and converts better than content that’s considered short. Your audience is looking for engagement, and long (well-written) content is a surefire way to get your audience thinking.
You’ll be spending some extra time at the keyboard, but it’ll pay off in the long run.
6. The Presentation Factor. Have you ever received an e-mail that was literally one giant block of text? That e-mail could have contained the secrets of the universe, but the presentation ruined everything. And it was such a great topic!
When you’re writing your blog, it’s important to establish exactly how you’re going to present the information. If you are currently using the one-huge-text-block strategy, it’s time to start thinking in punctuation and paragraphs. Be careful on how you present.
7. Playing with Paragraphs. Paragraphs are mandatory when it comes to almost any kind of content writing. As a general rule, most paragraphs are about six sentences long. I like to play with paragraph lengths and keep them around 100 words if at all possible. When I hit around the 100-word mark, I then divide the paragraphs up using sub headers.
8. Standout Sub Headers. Yes, your headline has to be top notch. However, that’s no reason to skimp on your sub headers. Use the same techniques for writing strong headlines, and incorporate those into writing your sub headers. Your sub headers are typically in larger or bold font compared to the rest of your text, so think of them as additional opportunities to grab attention. Sub headers need some love, too!
9. Always Use Images. Try to include an image with every blog post, even if it’s just one. Images break up the monotony of text-headline-text-headline. Keep in mind that some people are visual learners, and graphics can help relay your information in different ways than text alone. You don’t have to hire a photographer, but it’s nice to have some unique images to go along with your blog post.
10. But Refrain From Super Generic Stock Images. Let me be clear and say there’s nothing wrong with using stock images at all. However, remember that there are batches of stock images out there that almost every other company is using. If you have to resort to bad stock images, use them sparingly. Just remember that you might come across another company using the exact same photography as you. Try to stay unique in every aspect of your blog that you can.
11. Remember Who You’re Talking To. As you craft your blog post, it’s easy to forget that you’re not talking to your word processor: you’re talking to people. Write as if you are having a conversation with another person on the other side of the screen. Expect people to comment and reply back. Once your blog is published for the real world to see, people will likely have something to say.
12. Use Your Competitor’s Blog as Inspiration. Whatever your competitor is blogging about, you can do it better. Don’t outright steal their ideas, but use their blog posts as an edge. If you read their blog post for the week and it feels like there are gaps in their information, take advantage of this opportunity and fill the holes with your own unique blog posts. Chances are, this is information that your customers are already looking for. Many companies will hold back on giving away too much information because they think that their customers will take the valuable info and run. This isn’t always the case; giving away valuable information for free makes you an authority. Customers will buy from authoritative companies.
13. Don’t Overcomplicate Your Message. Blogging is not meant to be a mysterious and super complex marketing strategy. Blogging is about giving your brand a voice and reaching out to customers who are looking for relevant information. You can easily break down your thoughts by using bullet points, short paragraphs, and images. If your blog is easy to digest, you won’t have to worry about readers grasping your message.
14. Plan Ahead. Planning ahead for your upcoming blog can help save a ridiculous amount of time. If you’re normally hard-pressed for ideas, take an hour or two per week to dedicate solely on discovering great content ideas for your blog. It’s so much easier to sit down at your computer in the morning knowing exactly what topic you’re writing about that day. Staring at a blank screen waiting for an idea is a one-way ticket to writer’s block.
15. When You’re Tired, Take a Break. It’s a common sense technique, but don’t push to write more when you’re burnt out for the day. Personally, my quality of writing takes a drastic nosedive when I’m running out of steam. Some people may thrive on this, but it’s important to realize when you’re at your max. Step away from the computer for a while and even take a catnap or go outside for a walk. Your creative juices will come flowing back when you’re feeling refreshed.
16. Answer Questions. Customers are coming to your website because they’re looking for information: most times, that information is coming in the form of a question. Try to make sure that every blog post answers a question in one way or another. Answering questions for customers adds educational value, which in turn helps you build your brand.
17. Tread Where Competitors Won’t. This technique is one of my favorites. I personally love tackling topics that competitors will not (or have not) addressed. For example, if you work in an industry where price is typically not revealed until late in the buying process, write a blog post addressing this issue. Better yet, write a blog post that gives price ranges for your products. You’ll be surprised at how much traffic you can generate by blogging about taboo topics in your niches.
18. Be Consistent. Consistent blogging is best practice for establishing a regular publishing flow with your customers. If you write your blog on Monday morning and publish it after lunch on a regular basis, your audience will come to expect your regular publishing schedule. This is beneficial for customers who might be scoping out your blog for deals, promotions, or new products. Try to pick a day that works for you and stick with it.
19. Leave Them Hanging. OK, so only a little bit. Building anticipation through your blog is a great technique for getting your audience to come back for more. This is especially true if you’re offering a free product, making a big announcement, or you’re about the spill the beans on something juicy. You know the feeling you get when your favorite TV show leaves you feeling like you’re at the edge of a cliff? It can be frustrating, but you know you’ll be back for more next week.
20. Don’t Try to Be Everything to Everyone. Catering your blog to everyone under the sun isn’t beneficial to anyone. Blogging isn’t about throwing everything you’ve got at the wall and hoping that it sticks. You want to write to a specific audience so you can maximize your traffic and conversion rates. Even if you’re a company that sells paper plates, don’t try to boil an ocean with a one-size-fits-all blogging strategy.
These techniques have personally helped me throughout my blogging career, and it’s helpful to refer back to them whenever I’m in a pinch.
If there’s anything that you take away from these tips, always strive to remain relevant and helpful to your customers.
Remember: if you build your blog around addressing your customers’ needs, you’ll always come out as a winner in the end.
Engagement, shareability, and even going viral. It’s what we all want out of our blogging. But how exactly do you get there? How do you keep a reader engaged enough (to read past the first word)? How do you get to the level of going viral and getting excess shares? One way is to teach through your blogging. It’s simple—start teaching your clients and visitors with your blog. Let’s take a look at why you should teach your clients, the benefits, and few examples of how you can do this!
Why Should You Teach Your Clients?
One of the main reasons you want to teach your client base is to keep them engaged with your blogs. Sure, the few blogs about your company are entertaining, but they do not provide value for your readers. Your services landing pages are where you can tell people about your company, what you offer, and more, but your blog is your chance to give your customers something of high value. People love being able to learn from businesses because it feels like they are getting something for free. This encourages them to use your company in the future for whatever their particular needs are. Marketing Land points out that when anyone encounters a problem they can’t solve on their own, they head right on over to the nearest search engine. This gives you the amazing opportunity to rank quickly and bring in new customers!
What Are The Benefits of Teaching through Blogging?
Teaching is something that is perfect for every company with a blog to do. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits you will see when you teach your clients through your blog:
1. Keep Visitors Engaged In Your Writing. One of the key benefits of teaching is that you are able to keep your visitors engaged in your blogs. It is easy for people to just skim and skip your content if it doesn’t offer anything that they want or need. If you start teaching people, they will keep reading your blog. You may even see that people do more than just skim your blog because people can’t learn just by skimming (though some do try!).
2. Convert Visitors Into Customers. You know that it is important to convert those visitors to customers, but you might find that it is quite difficult to do. Teaching through your blog is a great way to do just this. You will show visitors that you offer something pretty awesome and they might consider using your company in the future, or even purchase something that day! Doesn’t it seem like a great idea to start teaching your clients? Offer them something of value to show your visitors that you really are the company to go with.
3. Create Longtime Customers. If you continually offer something that has value, you will find that your customers are more apt to stay with you for a long time. We all love receiving consistent information that can help us in our everyday problems and are more likely to stick with a company that offers something no one else does. Just think about it; are you more likely to stay with a company that never offers any helpful information on a certain task or problem? Or are you more likely to stay with a company that consistently offers you valuable information? We know that we’d prefer a company who gave us consistent useful information!
4. You Get A Competitive Edge When Teaching. Teaching is still something that seems relatively new, and as Mack Collier points out, if you teach, you get a strong competitive edge. This is a great way to start beating your competition and you might even bring over a few of your competition’s client base just by simply teaching people. Obviously, your competition might learn from you to teach others, but you will have the satisfaction of knowing you are worlds ahead of them already.
5. Content With Value Is More Apt To Be Shared. In the same article mentioned above, Mark Collier explains that content with value is more likely to be shared on social sites. The more your content is shared, the closer you will get to have something go viral. Viral content is something that most companies really want because it will get them noticed by more people and grow their client base significantly. There are several different ways that viral content can be achieved; teaching your customers is just one of many.
6. Your Brand Becomes More Trusted. Hubpsot points out thatyou will find clients are more likely to trust your brand if you teach them, than if your blog doesn’t offer anything valuable. They can give your brand excellent reviews and you will stand out amongst all of the others in your industry. Teaching can really help your reputation management and keep your reputation higher. As you well know, reputation is crucial in the online world and is what can make or break your business. Teaching will help you keep that reputation up.
7. Overall Happy Customers. According to the same Hubspot article mentioned above, you will find that clients will be generally happy when they are learning from your business. What you are doing is showing your client base that you appreciate them enough to give them help and information for free. As stated previously, customers will be more likely to share your business with others, and you will find that if a particular blog post really resonates with them, they will share it. Happy customers make for a happy business.
How Do You Teach Through Your Blog?
You are now probably thinking, “well, those benefits sure sound great! But how do I go about teaching through blogging?” We are going to give you a few tips on just how to teach through your blog and offer some excellent, valuable content for your clients.
1. Offer DIY Projects. People really enjoy DIY projects; just take a look at Pinterest! Offer your client base a project that is relatively easy to do that will not end up as a “Pinterest Fail.” This can give people the ability to try something on their own, which will help them trust your company. You can even follow it up with a statement that if a customer needs further help that your business can do just that.
2. Give People A Fun History Lesson. Sometimes, it can be fun to learn about the history of your products, services, or industry. Give a little history lesson in your next blog post to give people the backstory to your items. This will make your company seem more like humans run it and give people a feeling of connection with you. Make sure that you make the history fun and exciting. If you find that the written blog might be too overwhelming, make it into a handy infographic or turn it into a fun video.
3. Offer Free e-Books. Freebies are something we all love and you can utilize this perfectly when teaching customers, while giving them something for free. Places such as offer great free e-books for their clients and gives them the ability to learn about the latest, greatest ways to market their business. This makes their client base feel appreciated while also making sure that Moz is able to keep their base. Consider crafting an e-book to send out to your client base or maybe offer one when someone signs up to become a client. Either way, you are offering your clients an excellent resource for their business, making them more likely to stay with you and to share information about your business with their peers.
4. Hire Guest Bloggers To Offer Other Information. Another great way to teach people is to ask guest bloggers to write for your blog. This gives you access to more information and a different viewpoint on particular lessons that you might not have been able to give. You will find that a guest blogger can offer quite a bit in the way of useful information to your client base, and it also helps to keep your content fresh and ever-growing. Make sure your guest bloggers know what you expect from them and give them a set of guidelines to help them adhere to what you want in a guest blog.
5. Research What Your Customers Want To Learn About. While the above ideas are perfect ways to begin teaching your client base, make sure you also research what your clients want to learn about. You can do this by gathering questions to email your clients, setting up polls, or asking on your blog. You’ll be surprised at how many people are willing to give their input.
In Closing
You will start noticing that you bring in more revenue and that you maintain a client base when you start teaching your clients. Offer newsletters, blogs, emails, or whatever format you want to teach and your customers will keep coming back to you for more information! Now is your chance to sit down and start outlining a few excellent teaching pieces!
