All businesses need a blog, regardless of the industry they are in. Some inbound marketing businesses try to justify not having a blog by saying they are in a boring industry. They fear that no one would want to read what they have to say because it is too complex. Instead of focusing on how difficult your topic is for the average person, you need to find ways to target your audience and keep their attention. This doesn’t just help your engagement levels, it helps your search engine visibility. If you are trying to gain leads or sales through your website, use this quick guide to learn how to make your blog instantly interesting.
Write with Your Goals in Mind
Before you start blogging, you need to think of the ultimate goal for your website, not SEO. Is your website designed to get leads, encourage people to sign up for a mailing list or just make sales? The inbound marketing techniques you are adapting should be clearly visible in the content you are producing. A complex or boring business may be tempted to just bog their client down with information, but this isn’t always the best tactic to use.
Search engines measure the amount of time people spend on your website and use the information to judge how “interesting” you content is. Interesting content gets a boosted rank.
If your goal is to get people to call you and place an order, your topics need to show off the benefits of your product or service. For example, a pencil salesman might write Why Your Office Needs Pencils orThe Importance of Lead in Number 2 Pencils. They would then present the reader with useful information, then ask for the sale. This keeps the reader on the page, rather than them just seeing a number to call.
Simplify Your Blog Posts
When you first start writing, you may be tempted to start by including overly-complex statistics or benefits. This can confuse your reader, even if you are trying to target highly educated people. When people browse your blog, you want them to feel relaxed. You want them to have a very clear understanding of what you are trying to say. After all, you never know who is reading each post.
Try to avoid overly-complicated topics and posts. These can cause people to click away, increasing your bounce rate and hurting your ranking. Instead, focus on easy-to-read topics that still contain some good, quality information. For example, you should avoid a topic like 3 Different Components Found in European Pencils. A general audience might be interested in this highly-specific information, but it could get very complicated very fast. Instead, write something like 3 Things You Didn’t Know Where in Your Pencils.
Use Analogies
Analogies help give your audience a better understanding of what you are trying to say. Because your goal is to get the reader to contact you or take the next step in the sales process, you need to ensure they have a clear idea of what you are offering them. Analogies help people make more personal connections with ideas, even if they have no idea what they are. Analogies also give you a chance to sprinkle some humor into your blog or show off your personality, helping you stand out against others in your “boring” industry.
Keep It Easy to Read
Even if you still want to throw a lot of facts or statistics at your reader, you need to make sure you are doing it in a way that won’t bore them. This means paying close attention to your formatting and making sure your website isn’t just a giant block of text.
Here are some things to try:
Use shorter sentences that get to the point.
Try to limit paragraphs to 3 or 4 sentences.
Include pictures and video to break up text.
Use headers and subheaders.
Anyone can create a successful blog, even if they are in a very dull industry. If you are trying to get inbound marketing leads while increasing search engine visibility, you need to get creative and make your content very easy to understand. To learn more about blogging and inbound marketing, please contact us today.
To learn more about what goes into writing captivating blogs give us a call or send us a note today at Small Dog Creative 661-702-1310!
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