Starting up your blog isn’t an easy task! Whether you’re incorporating it into your already existing website or you’re starting from scratch, you have so much to take into consideration. In this article, we’ll be focusing on how blogs can be a great resource to expanding your business as well as tips that we have that can improve your blogging experience!
Blogging Pitfalls
From what we’ve seen, some businesses that pursue blogging end up struggling because they underestimated the amount of attention that blogs would require. Anybody can start a blog, but if you’re looking to use blogging as a means to grow your business, it’s going to take both time and effort to do so properly. Before you begin, and before you continue reading the rest of this blog, think about what the goals of your blogs are and who your audience is. With this in mind, it’ll be easier to move forward and have blogs that promote your business and also cater to the interest of your readers!
Our Blogging Tips
It’s time to cover some suggestions that we’ve learned and come across in our own experience.
Keep Blogs Personable
Some people write their blogs as if they’re back in college trying to finish their term paper before their midnight deadline. If this is genuinely what the tone of your brand sounds like, this tip won’t be applicable to you. For everyone else, we highly recommend avoiding this style of writing. The odds are that you would much rather read a more casual piece of writing over somebody’s dissertation. Your readers likely share the same preference! Blogs should have an approachable writing style that makes people feel like they’re engaging with real people. You’ve probably either worked hard to cultivate your brand’s voice or have one in mind. Don’t throw that away by sticking to stiff writing that disinterests your audience after a handful of sentences.
Strive to Grow Your Business
Out of everyone that’s read your writing, you’re probably the one that’s read it the most. After all, you’re the person that wrote it and edited it countless times to make it as cohesive and captivating as possible. As great as this is, keep in mind that you might not be the intended reader. When it comes to writing articles for a business, it’s important to evaluate if the topic is a good fit for your company. Typically, if you’re writing for a business, it’s to help solve problems for your audience or inform them of something. If your topic doesn’t fit either of these categories, it might be a good idea to write about something more relevant that would promote your brand and grow your audience and their loyalty.
Remember Why Your Readers Are There
Oftentimes readers come to blogs because they have an issue or want to learn more about something. When you’re writing, ask yourself what your readers are able to gain from reading your blog. Does your blog answer a big-picture question that your audience might have? By putting yourself in the mind of your intended reader and understanding the challenges they might be facing, you have a better chance of creating blog content that they find extremely relevant. This also helps in gaining their trust and building customer relations because they develop the notion that your intention is primarily to help them.
Know When to Incorporate a Call-to-Action (CTA)
Most businesses start blogging to drive more traffic to their website organically. As helpful as this is, blogging could also be there as a tool to build up an extensive email list of subscribers. These people are already coming to your site from their own searches and out of their own volition, so why not capitalize on it by providing them the opportunity to subscribe. Keep it simple! If there aren’t any barriers that they come across while subscribing, they’re much more likely to follow through. However, it’s important to know that visitors to your site don’t want to constantly be bombarded with prompts like this. Pick and choose your battles for when you think it’s most appropriate to incorporate a CTA on a specific page.
Be Patient With Analytics
If you’re someone who writes a post and constantly checks to see if it’s generating a lot of traffic, you’re not alone. Many bloggers have their concentration on if they have any new immediate traffic but this is a mistake! The more you’re fixated on your analytics, the more likely it is that you’ll get discouraged and frustrated. Unfortunately, this is a big reason many bloggers abandon their projects prematurely. For anyone that wants to have a successful blog, we encourage you to focus on the potential of the long-term organic growth and traffic that can come from your persistence. Stay consistent with your posts as well! It helps to have a schedule that you can stick to where you can also plan different topics in advance.
Now what?
We hope that by now, with your blogging goals in mind, you’re able to have the confidence to publish your blogs without worrying about some of the roadblocks that new bloggers might encounter. By investing in a strong and organized blogging effort, you’re essentially investing in your own company’s future. Over time, your audience will begin to see you as more of a valuable resource, and as a result, you’ll start to see your subscriber base grow with people who genuinely want to hear what you have to say!