Blogging is one of the most popular, and effective methods of keeping both consumers and your website updated with the most recent, relevant information. Despite the soaring popularity of blogging, there seems to be very little education around what does and does not work when it comes to professional blogging.
One of the most common approaches appears to be talking unnecessarily complexly. Your readers are not reading your blog for an entertaining read – they’re reading it to find out what’s new with your business, what’s new within the industry etc and because of this, it’s advised that blog writers veer away from unnecessary jargon and stick to the facts. Keeping it simple ensures that your message is as potent as possible without the distraction of flowery writing.
Another tempting option is attention-grabbing titles. “You won’t believe when you see…!” etc. These titles are clickbait and to a degree, they guarantee hits but they don’t have any longevity and their content is usually weak – offering no benefit to readers, acting as a poor strategy for content marketing in the long run. In terms of titles, stay as traditional and contextual as possible at every opportunity.
In an article aimed at small businesses which highlighted some of the SEO basics, the UK digital expert Jeremy McDonald recently advised that when writing landing page and blog content, considerations should be:
- What are you selling?
- Why should the visitor buy it from you?
- What is unique about your offering?
- Why should they buy it now?
- What further information might they need?
(Source: AXA Business Insurance – The four step guide to SEO on a budget, December 2013)
So, once your strategy is implemented the question becomes how often, or how little should you post content? Posting too little can lead to a loss of interest, posting too often can lead to a feeling of overkill. As fun as it is to write when feeling inspired, a content calendar is far more effective and such a structure may feel overwhelming at first but will ultimately lead to blogging becoming part of your regular working routine.
Your schedule doesn’t need to be set in stone and there will be news stories that take precedence over any content you had planned but to have content planned and written will alleviate any overwhelming pressure you feel and with things like blog themes, inspiration isn’t quite as hard to find.
Another thing to note is readers are ultimately interested in what you have to offer them. As professional copywriter Neville Medhora said in his book This Book Will Teach You How to Write Better:
“Nobody cares about you, they care about THEMSELVES”
This is a great rule of thumb for professional writing in general. Ensure that your tone is something that not only sounds human and like it was written by a human but also that it’s conversational enough to be appealing and relatable for humans to read and enjoy.
Finally, and this is important if you want to market and expand your blog, reply to and moderate comments wherever possible. Replying to comments offers the opportunity to build a community, ensuring regular readers as well as providing insight into how your blog is working, where you can improve and what your readers enjoy reading most.
Comment moderation is also essential, even with spam filters in place as they occasionally miss what seem to be even the most obvious spam comments.