Blogging has become an increasingly popular option for businesses to share their knowledge and the latest news with their audience. Whether it’s for educational or entertainment purposes, this type of content marketing can offer a range of benefits.
Writing a successful and engaging blog isn’t always easy and can be time-consuming. So, it’s important to plan your strategy in order to make the most of the blogs you’re writing for your website. You will need to research your topic, especially if you’re including facts, and keep the message and tone of voice consistent throughout.
Before you write your blog, there are some important considerations to make in order to make sure you’re hitting your target audience, creating the right message and, ultimately, hitting your business goals.
Here are our top questions you need to ask before writing a blog for your business.
1) What will your blog do for your business?
When writing blogs for your business website, it’s important that you start with a clear purpose. Is the article to inform your audience of a news topic, generate engagement and conversation or generate leads?
A business can gain multiple positive actions from producing blogs and often the purpose can simply be to connect with your audience.
Answering both common and complex questions for your readers can position your brand as an expert in your niche. By providing knowledge that helps your audience, you can demonstrate that you know who you are and what they need as a customer.
Another purpose of uploading blogs to your website could be to increase enquiries. If your blogs are correctly optimised in line with your SEO strategy, they can benefit your website greatly. Not only can you increase traffic, but if your call-to-actions are placed correctly and clearly within the text, you are likely to generate more leads.
Lastly, blogs can increase your creditability as a brand. How often do you click off a site if they seem like they don’t have the right depth of knowledge to help you? Producing blogs for a range of users can help add credibility to your brand, increasing loyalty and, as a result, the likelihood of a purchase.
Think about what you’re trying to achieve before writing your blog. It will be easier to write a clear message for your customers and set the right tone of voice.
2) Who is your audience?
Once you’ve set out your objectives, you’ll want to know who your target audience is so you can structure your blog and topic accordingly.
Spend some time researching your current and potential customers to find out what they’re interested in. You can use tools such as Google Analytics and Search Console to investigate their interests and potential search terms they’re using. This can help you find the questions they’re asking online which can turn into a blog that they will engage with.
You can also take a look at your followers on social media to see what groups or communities they have joined, depending on which platform works best for you.
Once you’ve got an idea of who your audience is, their personas and what they’re likely to be interested in. This can help you plan your titles and strategy to fit them.
3) What is your strategy?
Identifying relevant blog titles for your audience needs planning and research before you even begin to write. You’ll need to come up with a compelling title and then plan the content that you’ll cover to structure the article accordingly. Ideally, you’ll aim to provide valuable information to your audience – that’s why research is key. Especially if you’re including facts.
If you have trouble thinking of what your blog piece will be on, do some research on what your audience is interested in and what they’re reading. This will help provide you with ideas on what your potential customers are interested in. Alternatively, try including some news about the company or recent events, a customer case study or simply an outline of the services offered.
4) What are your competitors doing?
Another way to come up with blog ideas is to research what your competitors are writing about. The internet is scattered with blogs covering a range of subjects, meaning that it can be hard to stand out in a crowded space. If you want your blog to be seen, then thoroughly researching the subject is a great way to start.
Ask yourself, how are your competitors addressing this subject? What have they written about it? These questions will help you shape your content. It may be a case of producing a blog on the same subject but angling it in a way that hasn’t been done before. Making your blog stand out doesn't have to be a strenuous task, it’s about producing something unique you can share with your customers.
5) How will you structure your article?
The structure of your blog can be a key element in creating engaging content. You’ll want to position yourself in your customer’s shoes so that you can write something they’ll want to read. That way, you’ll be able to answer their questions more clearly and structure your blog in an easier way to be consumed.
Breaking up your article under clear headings can help readers find the information they want and, in turn, becomes more readable. Key information can be placed in bold, whilst paragraphs need to be short and clear so they’re easier to digest.
Voice search is still on the rise too, so structuring your article to answer key questions can be a great resource for your potential customers, whilst also giving your SEO a boost.
6) What’s your tone of voice?
Setting out your tone of voice can be a key part of blog writing. Not only do you want to provide relevant and engaging articles, but you also want to have a clear voice that is recognisable to your brand.
This can be a little tricky when you have multiple content writers covering topics on your site. But setting out your tone of voice within your brand guidelines can help get everyone on the same page.
The tone of voice used can be different for B2B than it is for B2C. Often B2C companies can have a more casual tone of voice, whereas B2B may often want to have a more formal ‘thought-leader’ approach. This all depends on the type of business, of course.
If anything, it’s important to remember you’re writing for humans, so you want to make sure your tone of voice is engaging, informative and easy to read.
7) How do you promote your blog?
It’s all very well posting your blog on your website, but getting it seen by your audience and potential customers can be another hurdle to overcome, especially if you’re a new business.
Blogs can help boost traffic, so the more consistent and engaging you are with your posts, the more likely you will increase visitors to your site.
However, there are several other ways that you can promote your blog in addition to simply posting. Understanding how your audience wants to consume this type of information is key to getting them to read it.
It could be that you promote your posts through your social media platforms, such as Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook. Or your audience may prefer to digest this type of information via a newsletter or e-shot. If this the case, then an email marketing strategy could be a wider part of your content marketing strategy and can include the promotion of blogs and the latest news.
Lastly, if you think your blog has enough resources and valuable information to gain traffic, then it may be worth creating Google Ads to increase potential visitors.
Before you get started
It’s important when writing blogs for your website that they are well thought through and written with the reader in mind. Creating a thorough strategy, researching your audience’s interests and competitors’ actions can help you plan easily and create a consistent and engaging blog for your readers.
Are you struggling with your content marketing strategy? If so, please give us a call on 01794 725 454 or make an enquiry and we’ll be happy to help. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
