blogging

Blogging 8 steps to perfection

 

The more you practice your blogging, the better you’ll get.

You won’t become famous overnight because it takes time to work on your writing and voice, ensuring each is a perfect match for your target audience.

These 8 steps will help you refine your blogging technique to create a strong and readable blog.

  1. What do your readers want?

 If you don’t the answer to that, you’ll never hit the mark.

In the beginning, you’ll probably write about all sorts of stuff that relate to your niche. Over time, you’ll begin to understand exactly what your audience wants.

Your analytics show your most popular posts, so that will show the popular topics. It would help if you also asked your readers directly – at the end of each post, ask for their opinion. You can also ask if there is anything they want to know about, helping you generate future blog ideas.

  1. Mix up your blogging

Don’t just churn out written posts. People like to get their information in different ways, so think about using:

  • Photos
  • Infographics
  • Graphics
  • Audio
  • Presentations
  • Video

Plus, make sure you incorporate at least one image into every post to help attract readers.

  1. Powerful headlines

The headline of your blog is crucial because your reader makes a split-second decision about whether to read your post or not based on the attractiveness of its title.

Some of the most powerful headlines incorporate numbers (such as the one above), address the reader directly (using you and your, like the one above) and offer tips and advice showing them how to do something.

  1. Be consistent with your blogging

This means in terms of style, approach, design and voice.

Again, it may take time to develop a style that suits your readers (and your writing), but when you do, it’s a good idea to create a style guide for all future posts.

  1. Check before publishing

It’s very tempting to bash out a blog, publish it and then move on to the next task in hand. But reviewing what you write is essential, especially if you have blogs from contributors.

I’ve already mentioned the importance of consistency; well, the review process will help you do that and check for errors and ensure that your tags are all in place.

  1. Blogging optimisation

Your blog is there for one reason – to attract readers and, hopefully, push them towards your sales funnel.

But you’ll only attract them if they can find your blogs.

First, you must find out what your target audience wants, then use the keyword in your title and content to help your optimisation. To go a step further, link to other blogs where appropriate and also to your website. Finally, make sure each post has social buttons to make it easy for your readers to share your information with their friends and colleagues.

  1. Scheduling

Make sure you publish your posts when your readers are most likely to be around. If you can, avoid Mondays and Fridays – they are always busy days.

Also, once you decide on a schedule you can keep to, stick with it. Once established, your readers will get used to when they can expect to see your next post. So, if you publish twice a week, make sure you can maintain it.

  1. Share the love

Why write something if you’re not going to promote it?

Yes, some people may stumble across your posts, but if you want to widen your readership, you must also promote them.

Sent them out through your social media channels, email and make mention of them (and link them) in your internal communications and newsletters.

Each of these will get easier and clearer the more you blog. It’s like learning to walk; at the start, you will take a few tumbles, but once you learn more about your audience and what they’re looking for, you’ll soon be running.

Author: Sally Ormond, MD at Briar Copywriting, lover of Pinot Grigio and toffee popcorn.