Publishing a regular blog is one of the best ways to build out your website with fresh content (which Google loves), demonstrate your expertise on a topic, increase engagement with visitors and target more keyword phrases.
In short, having a blog is a very good idea.
How should you go about creating blog posts to ensure you maximise the potential of every blog you write? Here are some quick strategies you could implement in your B2B content marketing strategy to get the most from your blog...
1) Be yourself
Blogs are the space where you can be yourself and afterall, this is what sets you apart from the competition. Your voice should flow through your writing, whether this is a casual tone or a more formal one.
You should try writing as if you are speaking to the reader out loud. By doing this, your writing instantly becomes more engaging, and less stiff.
Engaging writing helps to reveal your personality, and one of the main benefits of content writing is that it reveals the personality behind the brand. The more natural the tone of the writing, the more it will connect with readers.
People have a lot of options for things to read online. A fun, relaxed article is far more likely to attract them, so don't bore them and instead create a connection.
2) ‘Tight and focused’ beats ‘broad and vague’
Stay away from broad, general blog posts that cover anything and everything. They lack structure and are harder to follow, increasing the chances that the reader will become distracted and won’t make it to the end.
Instead, keep your blogs focused.
Plan each post in advance and have a goal in mind before you start. Ask yourself what your reader should take away from the blog after reading it, then follow a clear structure to avoid waffling on about unrelated topics.
When you have a clear idea about the solution you want to provide or the question you want to answer, this helps you to go into greater detail and makes for a more interesting and relevant blog.
3) Become a planner
Content writing can be difficult for even the most natural of writers as there are many aspects you must consider when blogging, such as SEO strategy for example. Trying to write something new every week is tough, especially when you find yourself brainstorming topics all the time and you constantly find ideas lacking.
Solve this problem by creating a content calendar. Plan out your blog posts for the next three months or six months. Having the topics listed before you will help you to devise a clearer strategy, and you will find that the process of creating and publishing new content regularly suddenly becomes a lot easier.
You can also set aside time for creating, editing, proofing and publishing each piece, perhaps using a different person on your team for each task. You can make this super easy by using Google Sheets for a spreadsheet that you can share with your editorial team or use Trello, which is ideal for this type of task.
4) Incorporate keyword research
Planning your content in advance can also play an important role for your SEO strategy - particularly the keywords you use in your content. Not sure where to start with keyword research? Check out our guide to keyword research for helpful tips and tricks to getting started.
By planning your content, you can plan which keyword – or group of keywords – you want to focus on in each blog, and this gives you a clear overview of how to approach every piece of content you create. By doing this, you’ll ensure that you stick to a content plan that incorporates keyword research and keeps your content focused on appropriate areas instead of going off-topic.
5) Make each blog easy on the eye
Blogs should be easy to read and visually attractive to draw people in. That means using short sentences and paragraphs, headings and bullet points.
Try to break up the text and use plenty of white space, and the content will look more inviting to the reader.
It also means going beyond text and using visuals where possible. You could using the following:
- Using relevant images
- Embed videos
- Use infographics
- Insert GIFs and memes
All of these visual elements illustrate your point and present information in a more compelling format and draw the reader in.
What you say in the blog is obviously important. But make your blogs look attractive, and they will be more readable.
6) Consistency always wins out
Finally, one of the biggest enemies of successful content writing is a lack of consistency. So many businesses start blogging with good intentions, but they lose steam and end up giving up without anything to show for their efforts.
The real benefits of blogging come after you have been publishing blogs regularly for months. Once you have nailed your strategy, you'll steadily begin to get more loyal readers who share your content and get it in front of more people.
Estimate a blogging amount that is sustainable for you and your business. If one blog is all you can commit to a month, then this is fine - just make sure that it is hyper valuable to the reader. Perhaps, you find it easier to write more shorter and snappier pieces, that’s fine too just make sure that you bear the above tips in-mind and you stick to what works best for you on a regular basis.
Maximise the benefits of blogging
Don't be one of those businesses that tries to blog but gives up after a few months with nothing to show for it. Use these tips to improve your blogging, and create blogs that inspire, inform and engage your readers.
Need some more help to get going? Then check out our free download, 'Your Guide to Better Blogging', and get your blogging off to a great start.
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