Everything you need to know about writing a great blog
Blogging is one of your most valuable marketing tools. It will help you build trust, generate leads, educate and build brand awareness.
This is why it’s so important to get the content right. While there is no magic solution to writing a great blog, there a few simple rules to follow to help make it engaging, in line with your brand and – most importantly – read by your audience.
Here’s how to get it right.
Understand your audience
The first thing you need to do before hammering away on the keyboard (or staring into space with writer’s block) is to think about who you are writing for.
Knowing your audience is the key to success for any business, so hopefully you already have a good idea of who they are. Think about:
- The problems they face
- The information they need/want
- The tone of voice they will respond to
For example, if your target market is 40-something professional women with kids, dogs and horses, chances are they are busy and stressed! Writing a blog about time management, or how to make the most of their time with their horse will be well received.
Write a killer headline
There is so much online content these days, vying for our attention. Little wonder 55% of readers spend fewer than 15 seconds on a page. So you need to make an instant impact with a killer headline and introduction.
- Grab your reader’s attention with stats and facts, which will make then want to know more.
- Use enticing, descriptive language to reel them in, such as ‘The ultimate guide…’ or ‘All you need to know…’ or ‘The truth about…’
- Make it search-engine friendly, by using keywords that people will be searching for.
- Maintain interest with a strong introduction that sums up what the blog is about, and the value it will offer.
Optimise your blog
For maximum SEO (search engine optimisation) you need to use your the keywords or phrase throughout the blog. This will help your blog post climb up Google’s results pages.
But be warned: use your keyword phrase wisely. Keyword stuffing, to manipulate a page’s rankings, can result in your blog being demoted in rankings, or removed all together.
Make it snappy
According to research, 43% of people skim read blog posts. So make sure key information jumps out at the reader. Use headings and bullet points to break an article up – and help your audience skim for the bits that are relevant to them.
Be interesting
Useful and informative posts will help you gain a steady stream of repeat traffic. When you’re writing a blog, ask yourself: ‘is this useful or informative?’ If you’re not sure of the answer (it can be hard to edit your own work), get a colleague or friend to read it before you publish.
Include a call to action
Make sure you include a CTA (call to action) at the end of every post. Without this, customers who are interested in your products might not know what to do next.
- Focus on the action you want the reader to do (sign-up, subscribe, buy, get in touch etc).
- Keep it brief
- Make the CTA easy to find, with big, bold fonts and buttons
Keep it regular
One of the best ways to build a loyal audience is to blog regularly, preferably on the same day each week/month. That way people will learn to look out for it.
Have fun!
It can be easy to forget to have fun when you’re trying to market your business. After all, its success depends on it, right? But having fun and being yourself, will make your blogs more interesting to your reader. Even if you’re writing about a dry subject (such as worming, or how to pull the perfect tail) you can still inject a bit of personality into your post.
Stuck for ideas for your marketing? Or need help perfecting your pitch? We can help you make a real impact with your audience, and achieve real results. Get in touch for more information.
