You may not know it yet, but your brand or company blog is one of the most important tools to grow your business or brand. With it you have:
- Content to distribute
- A way to attract clients
- Links to add to your website
- Content others will share with their audiences
- Useful links to bring prospects back to your site
But now that you have a blog, how do you make it work hard for you? Really hard?
Optimize. That means using all the tools at your disposal to figure out a way to make the best use of your blog. That way you won’t just be creating content. You’ll be driving more engagement with the prospects you want to do business with.
How do you optimize your blog? Follow these 4 important tips below:
1. Answer, “For who?” First let’s put this out there—content is fuel for business. The key is to have enough content that interests your audience. The path to the turbo charged version of content is making sure you are creating content your target audience needs! Your content won’t help you, or the people seeking it, if you aren’t writing for your target audience. Who is this audience? Most likely you already know based on clients, business relationships and who your target customer is. But if it isn’t documented into 3-5 very clear buyer personas, it’s just a hunch. We’ll make it easy for you: Download your free persona templates here!
Step one to optimizing your blog is obvious: Create buyer personas so you define your target audience, and better customize content for them. Ask yourself:
- What do people search for when finding your company or brand?
- What solutions are these people looking for?
- What keeps them up at night?
- What have they engaged with on your site?
- How is your company or brand a better solution or choice than your competition?
These questions are just the beginning to finding topics for your blog posts. Know your audience and it becomes infinitely easier.
TIPS: Keep in mind that people reading blogs often have short attention spans. Try to write concise posts so people stay interested. Utilize bullets, lists and subheads to keep your blog scanable and easily digestible.
2. Keywords? More like Long-tail Search. After you come up with some ideas, you can’t forget to think about the related search terms. In fact, you may even find it better to put the search terms before the blog idea (remember the old cart before the horse analogy?).
With so many people writing online these days, the way to stand out is to be specific. Don’t think in terms of what keywords to scatter throughout your post. Instead focus on the title and the tags. Then, when people search for something more detailed, they will find your blog.
Your content needs to stand out, so stay away from those broad topics. Re-work your ideas if necessary so you can become more specific and precise.
3. Interact On Social Media. Effectively using social media isn’t just a suggestion. It’s a necessity. It’s the easiest and most effective way to extend your reach. First, start with research. Look into your current metrics, starting with the “When” and “How.”
- When are people interacting with your content the most? Make sure to continue posting at the same times if it’s working and experiment and change times if it’s not.
- What social media channel has been the most helpful? That’s the How. Learning which channels to focus on will help you spread your blog online. Also remember that certain channels benefit from a different tone of voice. Some are more casual, others are more professional. Customize your content for the channel.
Social media drives traffic to your blog and your blog drives followers. It’s a great back and forth that is necessary to drive deeper relationships. Don’t forget that building your social presence does take time, so don’t give up! Stay consistent and your community will grow. A little at first, and as it gains traction, a lot!
4. Make it Visual. Do you really want to attract readers? Make sure to include visuals. Videos, infographics, images of all kinds really make a difference in views. On top of that, Google prioritizes sites with visuals. Like we said before, people have short attention spans. The way to make the best of that is to give them something to look at!
Source: Most Humans are Visual Learners, Bootstrap Marketing
5. Hook ‘Em. Just because people look at your blog doesn’t mean it’s helping you with anything. The hook is to include CTAs (calls to action) and landing pages. It is the give and the take. For your valuable content, you can ask for contact information in return. That way you can grow your relationship with the lead asking for more by providing even more content of value to them.
Here’s an example: One of our most popular downloads is our Rocket Man Content Calendar template. It’s FREE for your use.
Here are a few tips when creating an opt-in hook for your content:
TIPS: Don’t ask for too much information. No one will give it to you. Keep it simple. Ask for a contact name and email address. If knowing their company or job role is important, ask for it but don’t be over-bearing. When contact information is shared, deliver the valuable content immediately! And don’t forget to say, “Thank you!”
Blog optimization takes practice. Focus on these five tips, one post at a time. The results will come, often faster than expected.