How to start a successful blog in 2021

15th, Dec 2020

A blog is a proven way to attract and retain clients. It provides a platform for regularly sharing helpful information that your audience wants to know about. When done effectively, it drives traffic to your website, enhances your credibility, and helps you stay top of mind with referral sources. The good news is that blogging gives you significant flexibility in creating something that will help you get more business. If you are considering a blog or you already have one, but it isn’t meeting your expectations, check out these tips:

1. Develop a plan. Who is your audience for the blog? What topics will you write about? Who will write the posts? How often will you publish? What are your goals for the blog? What resources do you need to keep it going? How will you market the blog? Before you start, you must answer these questions. Put it in writing to keep you accountable and help ensure your blog will help your business.

2. Decide where to host your blog. Most people have it on their business website, which has many advantages. However, there are also services that can host and help promote your blog. A good example is LexBlog for legal blogs.

3. Create an editorial calendar. One of the toughest aspects of blogging is figuring out what to write. Ideally, try to brainstorm at least 3 months’ worth of topics at a time. For advice on developing blog topics, read 5 Tips To Help You Develop Great Blog Post Topics. Once you decide on topics, put them on a calendar. That means set a due date and assign responsibility to the appropriate author/editor. Build in time for reviewing and editing the material and add reminders to your calendar before the due date.

4. Include a mix of timely and evergreen posts. Evergreen content is information that doesn’t go out of date. It is always of value to people reading your blog and it can continue to drive traffic to your website for years to come. In contrast, timely posts are on a current development or trend. While they may give you a big boost in the short-term because people want that information, there is less long-term value.

5. Don’t be self-promotional. People don’t want to hear about how great you are. They want helpful and practical information that answers their questions and assists them in avoiding or minimizing problems. By giving free advice, you will be demonstrating that you are knowledgeable, so you don’t have to “sell your services” overtly.

6. Focus on quality over quantity. Yes, it would be great if you could publish a post at least once a week or even more often. However, every post must be good. It’s better to publish high quality content less often than low quality more often.

7. Improve your communication skills. Maybe you’re not a great writer. If you have good ideas, you can work with a writer to develop well-written content. Alternatively, if you are comfortable speaking, you can create videos, which can also be transcribed and edited so you have both oral and written formats. If you want to try to improve your skills on your own, here are several posts on how to make your writing more effective.

7 Tips For More Effective Blog Writing For Your Business

5 Do’s To Help You Create Content That Your Audience Wants To Read

5 Things Not To Do If You Want People To Read Your Content

8. Leverage all marketing channels. On your website, your blog will help with your search engine optimization. When people are searching for information online, Google looks to deliver high-quality relevant content. The more effort you put into your blog posts, the more likely your content will appear in search results. However, your social media and email marketing are also important ways to promote your posts. In addition, you may also want to consider some form of paid advertising.

9. Include a call to action. What do you want readers to do after reading your blog? Contact you? Sign up for something (newsletter, webinar, eBook)? Make sure to have a clear next step for the reader. You’re using the blog to help your marketing, so you want to encourage people to continue to engage with you in some way.

A blog can be an effective marketing tool for your business, but you must make a commitment. If you need assistance, a professional writer can help you develop compelling content as well as promote it to the right audiences, so you get results.

If you need help with blog writing or marketing your existing blog, contact us for a consultation.

 

Tagged: editorial strategy and planning, writing