If you are looking for new customers, you might want to consider blogging. When most people start looking online for information, they often find different blogs. If yours are filled with useful information, you just might find some new customers!
It can be really overwhelming when you start a blog. Whether you have a lot to say or not, you have to approach your own blogging with a plan. Here are some blogging tips for small business owners.
Be consistent with your blog
When you are first getting started, you need to come up with a plan. Do you want to blog once a month or once a week? More than that? Once you decide how often you want to blog, you need to decide what days you are going to publish your blogs. Once you are established, your readers are going to want to know when to expect new blogs from you so try to publish every week on the same day (and close to the same time). This helps to keep your readers coming back!
Write your content in advance
It is always helpful to write your blog ahead of schedule. If you get into a writing groove, you might want to write a whole month’s worth of blogs at a time. This will save you from worrying about writer’s block. Because you already have some blogs ready, if you get busy and run out of time to write your blog that day, you already have a backup (or two) blog that is ready to go! This will help reduce stress and writer’s block, which is why many blogs fail.
Remember that quality counts
Readers are looking for high-quality posts. They will be turned away from posts that are not very good. Because of this, if you are struggling to come up with good content, you shouldn’t just write a post to keep up with your blogging schedule. You could lose your readership by publishing low-quality posts. Your readers may unsubscribe or stop visiting your site.
Know who your readers are
You really need to know your audience before you begin blogging. Really think about who you want to reach. Learn everything that you can about them – including their likes and dislikes. Know what types of content they read on other blogs. Find out what images catch their attention. By targeting your audience and creating each blog for them, you are more likely to catch their attention. This will also help to keep them coming back for more!
Write to your audience
Many businesses are highly technical and filled with their own jargon. That is great for you to know but most readers won’t understand it. Make sure that you write in a way that they will understand what you are saying. Put it in layman’s terms like it is often called or you will lose a lot of readers.
Look at your competitors
You can really learn a lot by looking at your competitors. Read several of their blogs and try to see who they are trying to reach. See which posts get comments and which don’t. Look at their style of writing. Write blogs similar to theirs that are getting the attention that they want. However, you can’t copy them. Make each blog unique and different. You may even find out that you disagree with them so you can write your thoughts on the subject!
Listen to your comments
Part of blogging is getting to know your readers. Many post comments and ask questions so you should try to respond to them as quickly as possible. In order to get more comments, you may ask a question at the end of the post. This might be able to help you decide what to write about next! Or just be enough to get a good discussion going.
Don’t add fluff
Many people wonder how long their blog posts need to be. Longer posts often get more attention but if you add too much fluff, it can hurt your SEO. So, make it as long as you can without adding unnecessary words.
Promote your posts
Blogging is not just about writing these days. In order to get the word out about your business, you have to promote your content. Share each post on social media and ask your readers to share it also. The more shares that you get, the more people will see it. Unfortunately, most bloggers miss this step and their blogs are not seen by as many people as possible.
Guest blog to reach even more people
Guest blogging will help you grow your customer base. By putting some really high-quality content on other sites, you can really expand your reach. Try to get your posts on some of the most influential blogs and you will really see a difference.
Blogging can be hard in the beginning. Your blogs may not get any comments until you start to get a following. Many people give up before they get a chance to get their blog rolling.
You need to start with a plan if you want to be as successful as possible. Come up with days and times that you want to post and stick to your schedule. Your readers will come to expect your next blog and they might be upset and move on if it doesn’t come. That being said, you can’t just write a blog to post one. Your readers will know the difference between a good post and a hastily written one. You could lose a lot of readers that way.
Once your blog is posted, your work is not done. You can’t forget to promote your blog on social media and other places. You may also want to consider guest blogging. Done right (and on the right website), you can really improve your reach with even one post.
To learn more about how to improve your marketing strategies, give us a call at 661-702-1310!
