Blogging is a great way to build your online network, lead prospects to your website and provide added value to your existing clients. I like to jot down ideas for future posts as they come to me. This gives me a list of subjects to work with before my next post is due – I simply pick a subject from my list! Here are some of my other tips to writing a good blog.
- Make regular posts to your blog site – keep your content relevant and up to date, consistency is key!
- Try to post at least once a week, daily is even better.
- Build your community – leave comments on other blogs, submit your site to various web log directories, guest posting and ‘pinging’ to social networks are only a few of the ways you can build your community.
- Increase the visibility of your blog on search engines – most people use search engines to solve a query, therefore your blog should be optimized to gain search engine traffic. This article by Susan Gunelius titled “15 tips to increase blog traffic’ looks at some of the ways to optimize your site.
WRITING YOUR BLOG
The Lead Paragraph
My first paragraph is written conversationally and from my point of view. I often tell a really short story about something relating to the topic. Why? Because I’m trying to engage YOU right away.
Structure
Use bullet points, headings and pictures to separate segments throughout the post and try to keep your paragraphs short. There are a few reasons to do that:
- It makes it easier to skim read.
- It breaks up the post.
- It rolls into an easy summary.
Lead With the Best Stuff
Other hints I have for getting people to appreciate your posts is that I put the best stuff up front, in case you don’t have enough time. Further, I definitely follow the old, “say what you’re going to say, say it, tell them what you just said” method. Only, I try not to be clunky with it.
End With a Question
This isn’t a gimmick, it works really well. I ask you what YOU think, because often you’ll add something way better than what I started with. And it keeps you thinking long after you’ve read my post, which is a good thing!
Does It Work?
My blog traffic is increasing slowly over time. It gets big spikes here and there from my Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn followers, but overall, the community is growing organically, and I like it.
Struggling with your blog strategy? Book a discovery chat now and let’s talk about ways we can deliver some quick wins for you.
