James Spillane
Hopefully, you read yesterday’s post on content marketing which highlighted why your company needs a blog to increase your prospects and leads. Whatever you do, don’t jump the gun and start posting all over the place if you’re just getting familiar with the process, though! That’s a surefire way to LOSE prospects, conversions and (most importantly) respect for your business.
Nick Baylis, who wrote Learning from Wonderful Lives states that you have to invest 10,000 hours to become an expert in anything. Blogging is no exception. It takes practice. That’s why today’s post is all about what you need to know before you write and post your own compelling blog posts.
Today’s marketing methods are scientific processes, NOT artistic endeavors. The very same principle applies to blogging for your business. We’ve explained the importance of having a plan before you start executing any marketing tactic. The same goes for writing a blog.
To get started, think about how often you need to be posting to keep readers wanting more. The more you post, the more your lead generation and nurturing efforts will benefit. Consistency is an absolute must! If you start out blogging daily but then dwindle down to once a week or so, you’re definitely going to see a corresponding decline in the level of engagement with your content. Once you know how often to post, it’s time to get start on your content strategy. Create an editorial calendar for the next several months. Come up with tentative topic ideas and headline titles so you can start writing without getting stuck in a blog content crunch.
Once you’ve got your editorial calendar laid out, it’s time to make sure you know how to write a great blog post. Following the analogy of marketing as a science, a blog post is similar to human anatomy: you need the right parts, structure and systems so that your posts deliver views, shares and, of course, those all-important leads.
Here’s a quick dissection of good blog post anatomy:
- You need an eye-catching title that makes an emotional connection with the reader, making him or her want to know exactly what you have to say…NOW.
- Size matters. Make sure you make your point, but do so in the most concise manner possible (and don’t forget proper grammar and spelling, either!) – we recommend about 500-800 words for each post.
- Include images within your posts as a great way to increase visual appeal and engage your readers’ interest.
- Your blog post is incomplete without in-text links to relevant content and landing pages. By linking to related content within your company’s website through in-text links, you create an even greater opportunity for the reader to click through to different areas of your website and learn more.
- Make sure you have social media sharing buttons. Social media sharing buttons allow readers to effortlessly share favorite posts to their own social media networks extending your reach beyond your fans to your reader’s friends, followers and connections.
- If you want leads, you need a call to action in each blog post to focus a reader’s attention and inspire them to convert.
Keep an eye on the data or the stats associated with your blog. How many subscribers do you have? Make sure you are promoting “sign up for your blog” prominently on your website’s home page. Watch the posts and track views. This helps you see what content is more interesting to your readers. More views, more interest. Use this to focus your writing.
To learn more about blogging and using content to generate leads for your business click here to download 9 Steps to Creating a Content Marketing Program for your Business Today!
This article was written for Business 2 Community by James Spillane.
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This is really good article about blogging using editorial calendar.
Thanks for sharing. Please check the website http://www.ezedcal.com to manage your editorial calendar professionally and its 100% free.
Thanks
Jo