6 things you need to know for more successful blogging

12th, Jun 2017

Do you have a blog or want to start one? Blogging has many proven benefits as an integral part of your marketing strategy. However, if you want to be more successful at it (no matter how you define success), you need to consider these 6 fundamental questions.

1. Who is your audience? Think about the ideal person you want to read your blog. What kind of topics would interest them? How can you engage them? You should strive to be helpful and speak their language – that is, write in a style that is appealing and they understand. If you want an effective blog, it has to be written for the specific reader you had in mind, not for you, the writer.

2. Why do you want to blog? What do you want to accomplish? There are many excellent reasons to blog including improving your Google search ranking, increasing online visibility and web traffic, building credibility, demonstrating expertise in a particular area and staying top of mind with contacts. If you have a clear reason for blogging, it will keep you motivated to continue. It will also help you set appropriate goals and measure your progress.

3. How often will you blog? I encourage clients to try to blog twice a month and then as they get more comfortable increase to weekly. The more frequently you blog, the better results you’ll get. However, it’s best to come up with a schedule you can maintain. Starting and stopping is not a good strategy. You need to be blogging regularly so it’s better to start slow and build up over time.

4. Who will be responsible for blogging and do you have sufficient resources? One of the biggest reasons blogs fail is that the firm didn’t devote adequate resources to getting it done. That means time and money. Even if you do all the work internally (write, edit, publish, promote), there is still a cost involved. The individuals who do the work could be doing other work so there is a lost opportunity cost. You have to be committed to setting aside the people and hours needed to blog. If you don’t, and you just hope that it will magically get done, you will fail. You also need to consider how to assign and delegate work. Look at skill sets and make sure the right people are doing the right job. Everyone should be making the highest and best use of their time. That means partners or managers shouldn’t be doing work that could be delegated to someone else internally or externally with a better skill set.

5. How will you promote your blog? Just because you blog doesn’t mean people will see it. You need to actively market it. Make good use of social media and email. Encourage everyone within the firm to share it with their individual networks. You can also use various SEO tactics to make your posts more likely to be found.

6. What will you write about? As discussed above, you need to think about your audience and your motivation to blog. However, you also have to turn that into actual ideas. Think about trends, frequently asked questions from clients, new developments, etc. Periodically brainstorm topics with others or ask clients and referrals sources what type of information they want. Set up Google alerts, sign up for newsletters, and follow companies, publications or industry news to gather ideas for content. Then create an editorial calendar where you plan out topics at least 3 months in advance so you’re not scrambling on a weekly basis to come up with something to write about. If a news item comes up, that’s fine. Write about it and move your pre-scheduled topic to another week. Whatever you write about, remember the number one rule is that your content must be useful to the reader.

Before you start a blog or stop doing one you started, consider these issues. You’ll end up with a better blog that helps you market your practice more successfully.

Need help with your blogging? Contact us for a consultation.

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