In 2016, the blogging market is looking to be extremely competitive. Ten or even five years ago this was a completely different story. A blog is a vital marketing tool, offering a place to highlight specific topics related to your industry, as well as educating your audience on your expertise. Whether it’s a company or lifestyle blog that you run on the side, keep these five surefire tips in mind to get your blog noticed:
- Content: Focus on your industry and your sweet spot. Whether it’s marketing, technology, entrepreneurship, or even office culture, there is always something to write about. The key to creating great content is figuring out your audience and what they want to read. What are these individuals searching for and enjoying? The easiest way to create great content is to follow major news stories for your specific industry. Write about what’s buzzing right now, whether it’s professional or lifestyle orientated, you’ll catch someone’s eye by choosing a specific angle that looks at the topic in a fresh light – add enthusiasm and character to your post and you’ll be on the road to success.
- Images: Grab your audience’s attention! Adding visual elements to your blog post makes for an easily scannable, engaging read. Visuals are very important in today’s world as the average attention span of an adult is only 8 seconds. What better way to grab a reader’s attention than with a clever image. Another important aspect of adding images to your blog post is making sure to utilize alt text. As best practice, alt text will help search engines better understand your context when your images can’t be read.
- Scheduling: Define a blog schedule. Publishing consistently will help you grow your blog. Whether it’s once a week every Friday, or once a month, having a consistent schedule makes it easier on you as the curator. The more content that you post, the better chance you have at boosting your SEO game. But be sure to focus on quality even more than quantity. Frequency is only on your side if the content catches on.
- Distribution: Share, share, share! Whether your distribution plan is paid or organic promotion, you’ll find that your channel of choice depends on your audience. Think about who will be reading your posts. Will they find your content on Facebook or search for it on Google? Target your messaging for the right reader on the right digital platform. Most social channels have the option of promotional posts. Paying a few extra bucks to push your rich content can go a long way. Assess your paid posts’ performances to ensure your efforts are indeed paying off.
- Industry Followers: Stay in the know! As mentioned earlier, part of creating great content is keeping up with current events, news and topics. Scour websites and blogs specific to your industry and expertise to get your mind thinking of your next post. Add an extra step in your research phase and follow industry-related companies on social media.
- Here are just a few blogs LoSassin’s read to stay in the know:
- Public Relations: Bulldog Reporter
- Design and User Experience: Designmodo and User Testing
- Online and Digital: WordStream, PPC Hero and Search Engine Land
- Content Marketing: Content Marketing Institute
For more content marketing tips, be sure to check out our free e-book, The Content Strategist’s Workout Plan.
