Content is king. Both on your website and your blog. Without it there is little a visitor can glean about you and or about your services. Although the content is king, it has to be dynamic. It must keep the visitor returning to your website, and the way to do it is to blog.
Initially, if you’ve only just launched and you’re focused on getting your presence out there, blogging is probably the furthermost task on your mind, but it has to be done. And there are several ways you can do it to attain a healthy following. So, we’ll be discussing five ways we figure are some successful strategies to have you and your website advancing to the next level.
Write and Don’t Quit
There are blogs and there are blogs. The first are those which sit there day after month after possibly years with nothing more to offer than what was written in it’s first instance. It is useless.
The second is the blog that is updated weekly. Weekly is sufficient until you begin to feel the wheels of your business gathering momentum. Then it’s time to blog bi-weekly. Keep the news coming, and your visitors fed interesting, attractive and informative content. There is no excuse for a poorly written blog. You have an opportunity to really plug your services. After all, isn’t this what you’re passionate about? If you are passionate about what you do, it will show in your writing.
Think of a blog as a journal. A journal contains ideas, thoughts, solutions to specific problems and those are all worth sharing with your visitors. Keep it relevant to your goods and services and throw in a snippet of humour every now and again. A blog gives your visitors an edge. It allows them to see you as approachable. Someone who will happily answer any questions they may have.
Keep it happening and keep writing. Keep your visitors up to date with the information they came to your website to read in the first place. The moment you quit updating your blog weekly is the moment your visitors will quit visiting.
Back to the Future
Past posts are a wealth of information. If you have an entry you made months ago, you’ll be pleasantly surprised how you can update that post by rewriting it and adding in those new points you’ve learned since. There will have been changes you’ve made to your business, and there will inevitably be changes in technology that you have adopted. You can drag and drop new images into your revamped post, add a video or an audio file offering variety and a touch of professionalism. Just a reminder; if you really feel you’re no good at writing a blog get someone else to write it for you. But remember that writing if yourself produces a voice that your visitors get to know. Your voice. And that is where trust is going to come from.
Compelling Blogs
Assuming you have already built a following, compelling blogs are written to address your audience make them captivating.
Knowing your audience is the key to giving them a resource to which they can return routinely. As mentioned earlier, when you love what you do, and you do what you love, it shows. Demonstrative writing is expressive and a pleasure to read. While it is also informative offering a bounty of information about you, your services and your business, you are also reaching out to your visitors. If they feel they can reach back, then you’ve got the catalyst for visitor incentive to return to your site.
Social Media Tactics
The internet has thrown you a life line, and as a blogger, you’re able to share your posts. Social Media is always hunting down the thought-provoking, and the compelling news is giving it a proverbial kick into the awareness of people. Sharing is one click to a successful insight into what you do. Sharing can and sometimes does, providing the content is intriguing, turn your blog into one to follow, and it’s that quick.
With the Power of Choice
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ were created for a purpose. There will be other platforms in future that you can share your opinions on, but right now, you have the power to choose what to share and with whom and on what platform. Find the fit for you and your business. Find the platform that truly speaks to you, and you’ll blog effortlessly while being backed up by the knowledge your word is getting out there. Comment is Sovereign.
Your blog is your staff; your wand. You now know that without it, there’s very little you can do in an utterly inexpensive way to promote your business or your services. In fact, blogging can be absolutely free. But, you cannot be complacent and let it run its course whilst you’re feeding it and your visitor’s vital information bi-weekly. What about the comments? You cannot let them sit there without replying to them. Your interaction is also as crucial as your reach, and your reach is being felt. Comments on their own are a wealth of pre-packed information that is brought to your attention because your readers care. Being personable gives you and your reader a new slant on your relationship. Trust is building, and loyalty will soon follow.
Visitors sometimes leave a comment that brings you into a new level of awareness. Perhaps there was something pertinent you forgot to mention in your article. If it has been brought to the fore, you’ve learned something valuable. And while that is occurring, another visitor may leave a link with a suggestion you visit. A link to an impossibly amazing opportunity.
Two Way Street
When you return a favour, it returns to you tenfold. The same occurs when you make a reference on your next blog about a particularly interesting suggestion one of your visitors made. It makes people feel appreciated. When you read someone else’s blog, leave a constructive comment yourself. This is one of the keys that building global awareness means. Blogs have the ability to drift all the way to the other side of the world, and you’re on it.
If you want to include a link to a blog written by another author on your own blog, do so by referring to the relevancy first, the author second and the linked third. Do not include your website’s domain on another blog when you’re sharing your opinion either. Aside from being egotistic and appearing desperate, you’re probably in the running to be flagged as spam by the other author which will do nothing to impress your visitors.
Remember, opinions are sacred, and they have a right to be voiced. Don’t get too involved if the opinion is over-dramatic or is targeting something you may have mentioned in a derogatory way. Offer further suggestions in a professional, pleasant manner and leave it at that if the reader is hell bent on stripping you of your credibility. It will reflect on him, not you while you retain your patience.
Advertise While Utilising Analytics
While your blog is a prominent read, advertisers see it too. Both advertisers and third party services sometimes approach blog owners for a space on their page. Located in a side bar or at the bottom of a post, they are distinct and are designed to attract attention.
Blog owners are able to earn money based on the number of impressions and clicks each ad receives from users. Generally, after your blog has experienced a degree of ongoing success and its user base is expanding, it might be advantageous to consider advertising. You don have to wait until your blog has developed a presence. Advertising can still benefit you with the number of impressions and clicks. Consider setting aside a budget and try one of these popular advertising outlets:
- Google Adwords A well known option using keywords to bring awareness to your site. Through analytics and data supplied, you target markets through ads you create and are viewable by users. Via a pay-per-click action, you are charged on the number of clicks you receive. With a daily budget limited to a particular amount you want to spend, you get to control the ad appearance. If pay-per-click doesn’t interest you.
- BuySellAds similar to Google AdWords where users sign-up. Users whose sites have done well and have good following are usually approved. You’ll be given a code to add to your blogs. With an ability to be optimised to almost any ad size, the ads are generated and handled solely by BuySellAds. Compelling and attractive ads are then presented on your page. Distanced from the typical Google ad, BuySellAds are more toward branded appearances. A more professional look often brings passive income. Something to consider.
- Facebook Ads are the alternative if your blog needs a marketing nudge. Advertising on Facebook allows you to create a dedicated page for your blog. From there you connect and engage your followers by keeping your page updated. It’s here you can also encourage feedback from your visitors offering once again, a reaching hand. If you want a little more, consider; Google+ Ads who now offer +Post Ads that have a global reach. Define your budget, have your visitors include themselves in your circles, then get sharing your blog.
- Google Analytics is a tool you can use to test your blog and its behaviour. Used for any website you build for free, a new site just requires an account to be created where you’ll supply relevant information and you’ll upload some code for each page you want to track on your website.
Consider adding code to your website the enables you to view the incoming data such as:
- Location
- Language
- Demographics
- What type of Browser they Use
- Are they a new user or returning?
SEO
Driving traffic to your blog requires optimisation so that it will show up in the search engines, be it Google or Bing. Using WordPress for your blog brings you closer to having a great platform for good SEO. If you are independent of WordPress, you will need to be acquainted with a code editor as you’ll be adding information to each page of your website manually.
Wrapping it Up
Marketing your blog takes as much effort as it does to contribute to it weekly or bi-weekly. However, with your passion and the tools we’ve offered to take your blog to the next level, you will find it a pleasurable experience watching your following grow. Gaining a following is an achievement that certainly does not occur overnight, but it does occur. It’s the reward you gain for caring about others. Its giving back to the community. And it’s providing what your visitors came to you for in the first place. It’s knowing you’re contributing to a cause that is truly worth it.
Remain active, keep writing and keep replying to those comments. They’re the life blood that gives the advantage of word of mouth advertising its true meaning.