Are you trying to get better at blogging? Struggling to drive people to your website?
Welcome to the club, my friend.
We’re all searching for ways to become better bloggers.
In this post, you’ll discover best practices to follow for better blogging.
The state of the blogosphere:
Bloggers today have to work hard – like, REAL HARD – to generate awareness and attention.
The blogosphere is highly competitive and saturated, even for ultra-niche bloggers.
This means that as a blogger in 2017, you have to get creative with how to drive viewership.
What are some ways to do this?
One way is to guest blog; create high-quality content for reputable sources.
Guest blogging is a great way to get discovered and connect with others in your industry.
However, you don’t want to put all of your eggs into the guest-blogging basket.
Creating value through content:
If you want to increase your brand awareness and credibility, you need to blog on your own website.
Guest blogging might help drive people to your website, but it’s up to you to keep them there.
Merely blogging consistently and sharing that content to social media isn’t enough.
If you want repeat website visitors, if you want to generate a loyal tribe of readers, you have to provide value.
How do you do this?
Below are 7 best practices to follow to increase the value of your blog posts:
- Solve problems: The best blog posts are ones that present a problem and propose a solution. Think about the frustrations and aspirations of your audience. Don’t make your fans guess; spell out the tools and tactics they should try.
- Audience awareness: Think of exactly who you want to reach with this post. Using language and terminology that resonates with your audience will keep them reading. Understanding what your audience needs allows you to create content that resonates.
- Be brave: Provide a unique spin to the stories and concepts you share. Tackle new tools or tactics that you find helpful. Think outside of the box for creative concepts that relate to your brand or business.
- Authority: Share your credentials and show (through case studies and statistics) why you’re trustworthy. Be short and sweet; don’t overexplain. By establishing yourself as an expert, you make your content more credible.
- Ask questions: Asking your audience what their pain points are is a great way to show them that you care. The answers to these questions can serve as great material for your next post.
- Imagery: Your blog cover photo and graphics should match the content. They should be high-quality and branded with your fonts, colors, and logo. Write your posts before picking images to add to the post to ensure they fit the content. Investing in design is always worth it.
- Give stuff away: Don’t be afraid to give away good ideas, tools, and tactics on your blog. The content that you’re nervous about sharing for free is the same content that boosts your credibility. Evergreen, long-form content is memorable and marketable.
Asking your audience questions gives you an understanding of their struggles.
Pairing posts with high-quality graphics positions you as a professional.
Sharing great resources earns the trust of your readers.
All 7 best practices listed above are effective in creating content that makes your audience feel cared for and catered to.
Do you incorporate any of these 7 best practices into your content creation efforts?
Share your favorite tips to betting blogging in the comments below!
