Effective blogging starts by creating an attractive space on your website, then providing interesting content that will keep customers coming back for more. Here are a few things you can do to bring new readers to your blog, which will hopefully then translate to sales.
1. Know your customers
Before you start trying to connect with customers through your blog, make sure they would be interested in reading it. You can tell a great deal about your customers by paying close attention to their preferred method of communication. Some of your clients will communicate with you by email, while others will take conversations straight to a phone chat. If your target audience is constantly on the go, your blog posts will need to reflect that with short, easy-to-digest content that displays well on a smartphone screen.
2. Understand SEO
If you’re like most businesses, you want your blog to serve as a traffic generator. This means making sure the words you post capture the attention of search engines. Search engine optimization (SEO) goes beyond simply plugging some keywords into your content. For best results, carefully choose a couple of keywords, include them in the title and one or two other areas of your posts, and make the most of tools like meta descriptions and title tags. When combined with engaging, informative content, these strategies will improve your success rates.
3. Establish thought leadership
Once you’ve become a respected voice in your field, people will seek you out for advice. You can get started by posting insightful content on your own blog, then sharing it on social media. But to reach new audiences, seek out guest-posting opportunities on sites your target audience is likely to visit. Even if your posts are something only those in your own industry will read, you’ll probably find that when you’ve earned the respect of your peers, they’ll eagerly tell others about you.
4. Build relationships
In addition to posting on other blogs, you should also consider hosting guest bloggers on your own blog. It’s a great networking tool since you’ll make connections with others relevant to your industry, and you may even find your guest bloggers will offer to return the favor.
Once the post is live, make sure you share it on social media. You’ll probably find that the guest host either will share what you post or write something original about it. This in itself will expand your reach. You can also build relationships in your industry by interviewing influential people and tagging them when you share posts.
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5. Make it shareable
People are searching for interesting content to share. If you can create a blog post that helps other people in your industry provide actionable information to their own followers, you’ll find you will get more views than you could generate on your own.
Come up with fresh content packed with information people can’t get anywhere else. If you can conduct your own study, for instance, you’re more likely to find your statistics quoted in articles and blog posts across the web. To make the most of the work you put into gathering such information, considering hiring a graphic designer to put together an infographic that will generate shares.
6. Master social media
Your blog posts are only one part of the process; they create information that you can then share with your social media followers. Make sure you set up a professional, active social media presence on the sites where your target demographic is likely to be. Then share your posts with appropriate hashtags and interact with any followers who comment on it.
In addition to sharing interesting content, you should put time into interacting with others. If you’re treating social media as a two-way street, you’ll get better results than if you just spam everyone every time you have something to promote.
7. Be consistent
It isn’t enough to post only when you have a new product out—you should make an effort to keep your social media account active. If you can post something at least once a day, you’ll get better results than if you disappear for weeks at a time.
Experts use content calendars to plan their posts months in advance. You can account for daily activity, but you can also plan to accelerate your posting schedule in the days surrounding a major event, such as a product launch or special promotion. Once you have a schedule, use a scheduling tool that will let you write posts ahead of time and schedule them to go live automatically.
Blogging can bring fresh content to your website, helping you reach new audiences. It’s important to integrate your social media efforts with your blogging schedule to make sure you’re maximizing the promotional potential of every post.
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