A lot of people and business have blogs these days. But all blogs are not created equal. In fact, only a select few people stand a chance at really thriving with their blog.

But what's the key? What's the key on how to make your website popular? What are the keys to creating a successful blog to get your name, business, or service out there?

Though everyone's blog is a little different, there are several proven methods for making a popular. Do your research and see how these tips might fit for you so that you aren't wasting time and money creating something no one else will read.

Let's take a look at 4 proven methods for driving traffic to your blog.

1. What's Your Niche?

Whether you own a website or are planning to start one, this is a question that needs to be answered right off the bat.

Most of the successful online business people will tell you - the riches are in the niches. What this means is that good blogs aren't apologetic about the few things they problems or skills they can solve or teach well to an audience.

Why is this important to understand? Well, for one, it's counterintuitive. Most people start a blog thinking they need to write posts that help as many people as possible so that they'll be discovered by more people.

The opposite is actually true. If you hope to be a pro blogger, you need to understand that starting small is the only way people eventually grow big blogs.

As you grow, there's always going to be time to expand. For now, worry about being good with one or two topics.

Example

If you wanted to create a blog that helps college students, you should pick a specific topic that can help college students. Don't just create a "college student" blog.

Why? If you went to college, you could make a list of how many problems they need help with. Student loans, financial aid, housing, food, etc.

You get the point. Pick one of those topics, and start there. Master that topic and become an authority blog for it, so people know you are truly an expert in your content.

2. Strong SEO

You may still be figuring out the basics of blogging. Admittedly, it's a lot. But the next most important thing you need to start understanding and implementing is search engine optimization (SEO).

If you want to understand how to increase blog traffic, it starts and ends with search engines being able to find you. While you can pay for things like Facebook ads to drive traffic to your site, a website well-designed for SEO will drive traffic organically (for free) to your site. This gives you a chance to solve a strangers problem and to help them discover you.

Understand that SEO, like all things about online traffic, is a bit of a wormhole. You never "perfect" it. Still, there are plenty of best practice strategies and plugins that can help your site be discovered.

A good one to start with if you're using Wordpress is a true SEO plugin like Yoast SEO. The plugin will help sites discover you and also teach you what websites look for when it comes to picking up blogs for their search engines.

3. Use Social Media

The next best way that answers "how to drive traffic to your blog" is by using social media. The truth is, most people get their information from social media networks these days. In fact, two out of every three Facebook user reports that they get their news from their morning scroll through the newsfeed.

You can use social media to leverage your blog and to grow a following. One key is to pick one or two social media platforms at first and build those up slowly. Conventional wisdom says "be everywhere." But if you're posting non-valuable stuff on six platforms and no one is clicking, it's not worth the time.

One thing to keep in mind is that all social media platforms are a little different. If you decide to promote your blog on Instagram or Pinterest, for example, you'll need a lot of pictures on your site and posts. Conversely, YouTube or Snapchat will require videos to help draw people in.

Basically, master one or two platforms at a time and cater to that specific network. This way, people find your stuff valuable and may even share it on other platforms.

4. Email Marketing

One of the biggest mistakes you can make as a blogger is to wait a bit before starting an email marketing campaign.

Even though social media and search engines take up a lot of time and attention, people still perceive email differently. It's a medium where giving away their information means they want you to share what you create with them.

Use this to your advantage by creating "exclusive" deals or freebie giveaways for your email readers, and market this on the site. Your email list may grow slowly, but it's an asset you own forever, unlike social media.

And it's also a great way to drive traffic to your blog, which is ultimately the goal. Software like ConvertKit, AWeber, and MailChimp make it easy to collect emails if you don't mind paying a few dollars each month (though Mailchimp is free).

How To Make Your Website Popular: Wrap-Up

When you consider how to make your website popular, you should keep a few things in mind. A good blog is valuable to readers, easy to navigate, and easy to share or be discovered on search engines. When you master these things, you stand a great chance at growing a very popular blog.

Remember to start small and grow slowly, and always keep your reader's best interest in mind. Check out our blog for more tips about growing your blog.

Maintaining a blog is an easy way to bring attention to your business and promote your services. 55 percent of companies say new blog content is one of their top priorities moving forward.

And blogging continues to evolve. Posts have become longer to encourage social sharing. Furthermore, bloggers report better results when they spend more time on a post.

Posting frequently maintains search rankings, increases targeted traffic, and establishes a brand voice.

Here are the top reasons that active blogs are necessary for your business website.

You Provide Customers with the Information They Want

By keeping content fresh, you provide customers with the information they want. You'll find that certain blogs make more money but no matter what type of blog you run, new content keeps your readers coming back for more.

These are a few ideas for blog posts:

• Trends in your niche
• News related to your products or services
• Research articles and yearly statistics
• Updates and sales events
• The benefits of specific products or services
• Answering common questions that customers have in more detail

Business blogs need to update regularly. If your blog is inactive, people will turn to other sources to find the information they need. Keep engagement high by posting new and interesting content.

More Content Creates More Internal Links

New posts create internal links. These links help with site navigation and define the architecture of your website. Successful internal linking also boosts your page rankings on search engines.

Inner linking connects your pages in a meaningful way. It makes clear pathways for Google to crawl your site. And the more posts you write and publish on your blog, the more chances you have to create that web of internal links.

Internal linking also distributes page authority across different pages on your site. This also helps with search rankings.

But rankings aren't the only reason you should have more internal links. They also make it easy for new readers to find certain parts of your website such as contact information.

You Demonstrate and Share Knowledge

The more you post the more your content might appear in other locations. Your posts may appear on other websites with authority, creating quality backlinks.

Eventually, people will consider you a leader in your subject. Readers will want to hear what you have to say and place value in that information. Achieve this by keeping your posts relevant and answering customer questions.

What's the benefit of publishing information on your blog for free? Readers will appreciate the information and are more likely to share it with others. In fact, 94% of people share a post because they think it's helpful.

This is a key reason for updating your blog. By providing useful info such as how-to articles and beginner guides, your posts are more likely to be shared. Mix it up and try different types of blog posts.

Active Blogs Help with SEO

One of the biggest reasons a business keeps their blog active is to maintain their rankings. If you publish content on a regular basis, Google understands that your blog is active and posting useful content users might enjoy.

Keywords included in your website copy can only help so much. Maintaining a blog is a much easier way to increase your SEO ranking.

It also matters what type of content you publish. Engaging in keyword stuffing isn't going to help your website rank. Instead, focus on putting out useful and interesting information that contains long tail keywords.

More Content Means a Bigger Audience

Whether you're new to blogging or you want to expand your audience, publishing new content attracts more readers.

And the more you write, the more you learn. This leads to content with great value. If you can answer questions or provide information that your blog followers want, they are more likely to share that content with others.

As you keep blogging, you'll discover which posts get the most attention and you can adjust your strategy. The more you post, the more your business benefits.

Don't give up if you have a new blog but you don't get traffic, instead learn how to grow your audience from scratch.

You Get an Increase in Targeted Traffic

Increasing your traffic is great, but posting more content attracts your targeted traffic. What's the difference between regular traffic and targeted traffic?

Let's say you run a parenting advice blog and you want more traffic on your website. There are two kinds of visitors you may get, parents or parents-to-be and random visitors. You want to focus on parents, expecting parents, and people connected to your niche in some way.

By publishing more posts on your blog, your visitors know what to expect. They come to your blog for a specific reason. They might even share your content or subscribe to your newsletter to learn more.

Blogging Establishes a Brand Voice

Creating a persona for your brand humanizes your business. Blogging establishes that voice through tone of voice, personality, and even vocabulary choice. A specific voice also helps define what your business is all about and what makes it stand out.

The more you post, the more your readers learn what your brand voice is like. Whether you go for a humorous tone or an educated one, your followers will connect with your content more.

If you're not sure how to create a brand voice, start with your customers. Find out what types of people visit your website or use your services and work from there.

These tips for establishing a brand voice should get you started.

Keep Your Blog Active and Your Business Benefits

If your blog isn't generating the results you want, don't get discouraged. Increase the frequency that you post content and keep it relevant and interesting.

The more posts you have, the more likely you are to bring in targeted traffic and increase social sharing. Active blogs help with SEO, internal linking, and site authority.

And if you're too busy to post every day or even every week, you can have writers create content for you. Check out our services page and reach out to us if you have any questions.

So you have worked day and night to build your business into something you're proud of. Your products and services are excellent, and you have a smart new website.

So what next? How are you going to get people looking at your website or talking to you about your services?

You probably have some marketing strategies for advertising your business. But if blogging isn't one of them, you should think again.

Recent statistics have shown that businesses that blog regularly generate 55% more site visits. They also get 97% more links to their websites and their pages get indexed a massive 434% more often.

And, get this -- over 400 million people read online blogs each month.

So there has never been a better tie to start blogging for your business. Read on for 10 reasons why blogging is important.

1. Bring Traffic to Your Website

Every business wants more website traffic. There's no point having a website if nobody is looking at it. So how do you get those clicks and those eyes on your site?

The main three ways you get traffic to your website are:

• Search engines
• Social media
• Blogging

And those three things are all interconnected. Here's how...

Every time you write a blog post, you're creating more fresh content for your website. Content is picked up by search engines (we'll discuss how this is optimized next).

Social media posts all need content. Blog posts provide that content.

So you could say that blogging is the backbone of your web presence. Without that content you are struggling for things to share regularly on social media and also to fuel those search engine algorithms.

2. Blogs Post Are Great for SEO

So we know that blogging is great for content. But how does that content help your site appear on search results?

In short, search engines love good quality content -- and they reward you for it. Blogging is the best thing you can do to enhance Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for your website.

When a business creates regular blog posts, it's feeding the search engines with content to index. And if you're smart you'll insert helpful SEO indexing terms in your blog posts.

These are the terms that search engine users enter to try and find what they want. The more of these words you have on your website, the more likely they are to find you.

3. Describe Your Business in Detail

One of the great things about blogging is that you can write as much or as little as you like. Your blog posts, your rules. And with that freedom comes the opportunity to spend some real time describing your products and services in detail.

Tweets are all well and good -- as are adverts and fliers. But sometimes your business deserves a bit more.

Blogging offers you the chance to write profiles of your staff, detailed descriptions of your services, and stories behind how your products came about.

And as we just discussed, long-form articles are great for SEO.

4. Demonstrate Your Authority

So, we've established that content is good.

And what is even better than content? Good content.

Recent statistics have also shown that blogs are the 5th most trusted source for content online. So it goes to show that writing authoritative, well-written articles about your industry will leave the reader thinking one thing: that you're an expert. And people trust experts.

If your blog posts aren't just interesting but genuinely useful, they'll become go-to web content for your industry. And all of that equals web traffic to your site and positive brand enhancement for your business.

5. Develop Your Voice

So, we've got good, high-quality content with authority that the search engines love. What else do we need?

Well if we want people to actually read it, we need it to be engaging.

Developing your voice is a very important part of brand identity. Writing in an engaging, casual, yet authoritative style is easier said than done though and does require practice.

But once you have found a unique voice that you are comfortable with, readers will come to find it familiar and will create positive associations with your brand.

Using techniques like asking questions in your blog posts, even making some jokes, can all help your customers feel at ease with your style. You want your blog to be the one they look forward to reading.

6. Customer Insight

So now we're engaging with our readers. Great! How does that help us?

Well apart from keeping them interested, and therefore keeping them on your website, you can start to have a conversation with them.

While you are giving your readers lots of helpful information about your business and your industry, you can also be getting information from them. To start with, you can offer a subscription form, so right away you're getting names and email addresses.

Most blog platforms offer analytics about the clicks, referrals, and customer engagement with your blog.

7. Keep the Conversation Going

Right, so we're getting to know who our readers are, which is awesome. We can also have conversations with them via our blog.

Adding comment fields means that your readers can share their thoughts on your blog posts or ask further questions about the content.

8. Opportunities for Sharing

When you read something inspiring, informative, or just fun, the first thing to do is share it with people.

Blogs are great for sharing. Their format is really user user-friendly and you can incorporate social media buttons on your posts to make it even easier.

Then you can sit back while your customers spread the word for you!

9. Link to Other Relevant Content

As we've discussed, one of the joys of blogging is having complete control over the content. So you can link to whatever you like.

The most sensible thing to link regularly to is obviously going to be other relevant content on your own site. Whether that's connected blog posts, product pages, or contact forms. You can help direct the traffic on your site to where you want it to go.

10. Blogging Is Fun and Free

There are many aspects to running a business and there's nothing preventing them from being fun!

Once you start developing your own voice, you'll soon start to look forward to writing your blog posts. Thinking of ways to engage your customers and be creative with your writing is fun.

And it's free.

Yes, blogging costs nothing more than your time. So what's not to like?

That's Why Blogging is Important

So there are 10 reasons why blogging is important. Pretty convincing, huh?

Seeing as it's free and there are obviously so many benefits, why waste time? Start blogging for your business today.

Don't forget to check out our blog for loads more hints and advice on the world of blogging.

Up to 81 percent of all consumers trust information and advice found on blogs. That alone is a pretty compelling reason to begin a blog for your business.

However, even if you have decided that "Yes! A blog is just what's needed," the problem may lie in actually creating the blog. If you are like many other business owners, adding one more thing to your already overloaded plate just isn't an option.

While there is the option to delegate this task to someone in-house, how do you know if they are really going to capture the spirit of your message? If this is the case, then you may be searching for a better option.

One to consider is to hire a blog writer.

If you are still on the fence regarding if you want to hire this professional, the information here may be able to help you make an informed decision.

Why It's a Good Idea to Consider Hiring a Blog Writer

Do you currently have a blog, but want to monetize it? Or, do you already have a blog that's helping you make money, but want to make it grow as much as possible?

If this is the case, then you need to post new blogs at the very minimum one to two times per week. If you have a huge audience and following, then posting daily is even better.

While you may have no problem creating one new post per week when things get a bit tricky is when you try to increase this frequency. This is especially true if you already have tons of other work to do.

At this point, you basically have two options:

• Take time off from the blog (and potentially lose the growth you have achieved)
• Hire someone to write the blogs for you

Keep reading to learn more about the specific advantages offered by hiring a blog writer.

Benefits of Hiring a Blog Writer

When you hire someone to take over your blog, you will see several advantages. These advantages are listed here.

More Time to Focus on the Bigger Picture

When you hire a blog writer, you will have someone to take over everything - from keyword research to writing and posting the blog. As a result, you will have more time to focus on other tasks.

Increase Your Content Output

Hiring one blogger is great, but what if you had an entire team?

Think about all the amazing content you could post on a regular basis. The more engaging, optimized content you produce, the better your rankings will be, and the more willing your customers will be to make a purchase.

New Writers Offer New Perspectives

If you have the same person writing your blog over and over again, it can begin to all run together and sound the same. With a new writer, you can bring in a new voice and new perspective.

While there are several advantages of hiring a writer for your blog, there are other situations when this doesn't make sense. For example, if you run a personal blog, your readers are going to want (and expect) to hear from you.

Also, if your blog is brand new, you may want to hold off on growing your writing pool. After all, you want the blog to bring in enough money to justify this new expense.

How to Find the Best Blog Writer

If you are ready to hire someone to help with your blog, and it has grown to the point where hiring a writer makes sense, then you need to find the right person for the job. Some tips to help you with this search are found here.

Look in All the Right Places

There are many blog writers who go to the various freelance platforms to find work, which means this could be a good place to find a writer. However, due to the volume of writers on these sites, it's often difficult to determine the best of the best.

The main issue with large freelance sites like this is that you have to make your way through countless applications. A better option may be to use a freelance marketplace that only targets writers. There are several of these out there, so check them out when you are searching for a blog writer.

Know Your Budget

Today, you can easily find a blog writer who is willing to create an article for just a few dollars. However, if you want top talent, you have to pay for it, just like with any other field. While you may be tempted to hire someone, who will work for a low wage, chances are the blog you receive is going to be subpar.

When it is time to hire a blog writer, you are going to find most writers charge by the word. This means you only pay for the work produced. Expect to pay between five and seven cents per word for a quality writer.

While this may sound a bit costly at first, consider that an article is likely going to take quite a bit of research, to begin with, which means it's a smart way for you to spend your money. Also, the more specialized topics you want, the more you need to pay for the right writer.

Hiring a Blog Writer: It's a Smart Investment

While hiring a blog writer does require you to make an investment, it's also going to free up your time and ensure you get the quality content you want and need. However, this is a decision you have to make for yourself.

If you are searching for writers now, be sure to check out our freelance site. We offer a wide array of content services, for affordable prices. Contact us today to learn more.

Whether you're blogging for yourself or for a monetized audience, getting started is half the battle. It's not easy coming up with blog post ideas your readers will care about.

For starters, your blog posts must add value to the reader. Solving problems, answering questions, and providing insights make your content worth reading and sharing.

But on the other hand, you want to write about things that interest you, too. You want to feel comfortable with a topic to do your best work.

Don't let a lack of inspiration stop you from blogging! We're sharing 10 blog post ideas to get the creative juices flowing:

1. Scope Your FAQs and Write Posts to Address Them

Your website's FAQ section is teeming with potential blog post ideas.

Addressing their most common questions in a blog can give you more room to expand on solutions. Create how-to guides, product highlights, and other relevant content that adds real value to your readers.

2. Create an Infographic

Not all blog posts ideas have to be original. In fact, many successful blogs repurpose content in different forms to deliver added value to its readers.

Considering taking an information-intensive blog post and turning it into an infographic.

Infographics are pictorial representations that display content in a visually-appealing format. These are easy ways to present complex ideas simply.

Blog posts with lots of statistics or facts can usually be transformed into an effective infographic.

As an added bonus, infographics are digital gold for backlinking and sharing.

Because users tend to skim rather than read, infographic content can be preferable to traditional blog posts. Users get more information in less time without missing out on important data.

3. Review a Product

Posting reviews in your blog can help you promote your own products, affiliate products, or just products you like (or dislike).

If you want to review your own products or services, remember that the reader may find them biased. It could be in your best interest to include user testimonials, photos, or online reviews to back up your claims.

Regardless of the products you review, it's best to stick to the facts. Show how the products work, their features and benefits, and what results they intend to deliver.

4. Interview an Expert

Interviews can be highly valuable because they highlight original content not available from any other source.

Interview an expert in your field or someone you do business with that can share insights your audience will care about.

Tailor your questions to your audience's needs. You want your readers to glean something from the interview, so consider how your expert relates to them.

Also, your interviewee may also help in driving website traffic and sharing the interview on their social channels.

5. Craft an Engaging Listicle

2014 (and 2015 and 2016) was the Year of the Listicle, but this format remains popular among bloggers today.

Some blogs have built their entire business on creating Top 10 lists. Readers love them because they're simple, easy to read, and straight to the point.

Readers don't want to waste time collecting information from various sources. They want to get the biggest impact for the least amount of time.

This is precisely why listicles are popular. Studies show that numbered lists are top performers, especially when they feature an odd number in the title.

6. Write an Opinion Piece

If you're looking for a way to foster a conversation in your blog, opinion pieces offer an effective vehicle. They offer food for thought, even if your readers don't agree.

A well-constructed rebuttal, experience, or explanation of your take on an argument can help to shed light on specific issues.

It also encourages engagement from your readers to weigh in and share their own points.

7. Create a Poll

Speaking of engagement, create a poll to get your audience to weigh in.

Polls can be valuable for crafting future blog post ideas. For example, you might use a poll to find out which topics your readers care the most about.

Remember, blog posts don't always have to be long-form. A couple of paragraphs and a poll can be just as valuable as a how-to guide or infographic, as long as it helps you reach your goals.

8. Share a Personal Story

Storytelling is becoming an increasingly large tool for marketers. Stories illustrate ideas and make them relatable. They help readers put ideas into perspective and gain a deeper appreciation and understanding of the subject.

Don't be afraid to share a personal story with your readers. You can tie in your unique experiences to a particular subject that helps readers connect the dots.

For example, if your blog centers on helping others start a blog, you might share your biggest initial mistakes and how others can avoid them.

9. Debunk a Myth or Theory

Looking at the famous show Mythbusters, it's easy to see the intrigue in proving or disproving commonly believed "facts."

You don't have to be a scientist to perform a few experiments to see if a popular fact is completely bogus.

Use your existing knowledge and experiences to put a theory or myth to the test. Document each step in your blog post to add credibility to your experiment.

10. Ask for Guest Posts

Ever wonder how some blogs find time to post five new pieces of content a day? Here's s a hint: they're not always creating the content themselves.

Many blogs rely on guest contributions to scale their offerings. Guest writers submit original content written specifically for your blog niche and audience.

And good news: bloggers are actively looking for blogs where they can contribute.

Guest posting helps bloggers to build backlinks and get their name out on other websites. You get free content to build your blog. It's a win/win!

How to Find Endless Blog Post Ideas

It's easy to come up with a few blog post ideas, but sustaining that inspiration needs a little extra work.

If you start to hit a creative wall, outsource your blog writing to iWriter. We've partnered with expert writers in a variety of niches so you're never stuck in a rut.

Contact us today to learn how iWriter can give you an endless supply of ideas and content.

We don't pick up the Yellow Pages to find a good business anymore. We Google them. In one survey, 8 out of 10 people used a search engine to find a local business.

Search engines are at the top of the marketing totem pole. Any business looking for customers must acknowledge this new trend. So, why would you neglect to plan your business marketing and advertising around it?

You won't. You realize that internet marketing is a valuable tool. Blogging is one of the most valuable tools in a good internet marketing plan.

The benefits of blogging are so huge that you need to include it in your plan. Read on to learn why.

Benefits of Blogging

Blogging is a must for anyone who wants to promote their website and business. Invest some time into blogging and the rewards will come back to you.

It's not the kind of marketing tool you need to worry about too much, either. Write a blog post once or twice and week, and you'll be on your way to enjoying the benefits.

Here are some of the most important benefits of blogging.

Low-Risk Investment

You can write a blog post and all you've invested in is some time and effort. Consider it time well spent on advertising and marketing your business.

You can pay someone to write for you, too. This is a good option for people who need a blog but don't have the time or skills for writing. The money you spend on content will return to you in the way of traffic, new clients, and sales.

Blogging is a very low-risk investment. It takes little upfront money to start and the returns are good. The main financial investment is in your website and hosting.

The rest is an investment in time. Unless you hire a writer or SEO company to do your blog writing for you. That investment is also affordable and low risk!

Increase Search Engine Rank

Search engine rankings are an important part of being in business. And not only for online business, either. If someone Googles results for a local business, you still want to be at the top of the list.

It's a fact that people use search engine results to find what they need. Blogging about your field of business can help boost your rankings in a search. Especially if you are keen on using keywords that are very searchable.

Other people writing about your field may link back to your articles, too. This is great! It generates even more attention to your blog content and opens you up to their followers, too.

Funnels Traffic to Your Website

Looking to get more traffic to your blog or website? Consistent blogging can help. Here's how it works:

1. Write a good blog article or post
2. Post it
3. Advertise it
4. People will find you

To get people to visit, make sure your blog posts direct them back to you. Each blog post should include backlinks to your website. You can also link to other articles on your blog and your sales pages.

People reading your blog will click and visit. They may share your article with friends who will do the same. This all leads to more traffic for you.

Want to increase that potential? Post your blog on social media to generate even more traffic. Boosting social media with blog content is a great way to funnel traffic into your website.

Builds Your Brand

A good logo and website announce your brand to the world. Blogging establishes your reputation and brings credibility to that brand identity. You can strengthen the quality of your brand by blogging.

How does this help? It gets your name out there in the crowd. It makes you recognizable above your competitors.

When customers look for a business, they'll recognize you as an established brand. That's what brand building is all about. It makes hiring you or buying your product feel less risky.

Establishes Authority in Your Field

Those with authority in something write about it. Published authors are experts in their field of business. So are bloggers.

First, be sure you're writing content that is useful, relevant and accurate. Your blog must be a resource in your field of business.

Share your knowledge with your customer base. Increase your authority on all things in your field of interest.

Customers will come to you with questions and concerns. It promotes credibility and generates business.

Generates Leads

Don't wait for business to come to you.Lead generation accounts for a significant amount of business.

People who read your blog can subscribe to read daily or weekly updates. This helps you capture data to use in building leads. These are leads you can follow to find potential clients.

The benefits of lead generation through blogging never go away. Your articles and blog posts will continue to generate leads as long as they are active and relevant!

Results Happen Fast

You should consider blogging as a long-term effort. The best blogs have tons of good content for readers to consider. You'll need some time to build this kind of quality in your blog.

Yet, when you blog on a consistent basis, you'll see results faster. All it takes is one click on your link, and you've got a potential reader and customer.

Imagine if that one person shares your article? Then, one click leads to 10 more clicks and readers. You can see how it can build in increments.

All you need to do is start blogging. You'll see results in a short period of time!

Start Blogging Today!

It's time to take your business marketing plan to the next level. Blogging is the way to do it.

There are many benefits of blogging, and you don't need much to get started. You can create blog content that generates business, today!

Looking for more help with creating content for your blog? We'd love to help. Send us a message!

There's a good reason why 46% of marketers have a content marketing plan. Implementing a well thought out blog strategy will save you a ton of time, and it usually forces you to craft and publish better quality content.

So, in light of that, we've compiled a handy guide for you to follow. Let's dive in!

1. Create a Publishing Schedule

This is hands down the first thing you need to do. You want to create yourself a content calendar, so you know what you're going publish, where it's going, and when.

Our best advice is to sit down once a month and write down all the blog topics you want to cover and then review all your ideas.

At the same time, you should analyze which of your current content is working best, in addition to pieces your competitors are producing and whether they're working well for them.

Print out this calendar and keep it somewhere you can, that way you're more likely to stay on track.

What Are Your Business Goals?

As you start to plan your content, you should think about your overarching business goals. Consider how you can use your blog to bring you closer to these aims. If you're unsure what you want to work towards, here are a few common targets you could set for your business:

• Boost brand awareness
• Increase customer engagement by building rapport and generating trust
• Grow your email list
• Improve conversion rates
• Get more customers

Your blogging should be part of a broader plan that enables you to achieve these business goals.

How Often Should You Post?

The more frequently you publish content, the better. It's not a coincidence that businesses that blog every day are more successful. Blogging is incredibly powerful, so harness it!

However, not everyone can commit to this level of output. If that sounds like you, instead try and attempt to blog two times a week. This a fabulous goal to begin with.

Top Tip: Ideally, post the same times and days each week. Both your readers and Google are more likely to respond to consistency.

What Should You Post?

If you're new to blogging, you'll need to do a little bit of testing to see what kind of content your following enjoys best. This means publishing a variety of article styles and formats. For example:

• How-to guides
• Listicles
• Downloadable e-books
• Product reviews
• Case studies
• Powerpoints
• Infographics
• Videos

You get the idea!

2. Research. Research. Research.

Research is key to any successful blogging strategy. This includes keyword research, creating a customer persona, and finding and using credible resources to back up your copy.

Keyword Research

Take all your topic ideas and find the best keywords for them. This is crucial to successfully SEO optimizing your content. You ideally want to use phrases that are frequently searched by your audience but aren't too competitive to rank for. Utilize Google's Keyword Planner to see what people are actively looking for.

To kickstart your keyword research, type into the search bar phrases you think your audience might be searching for. Then, compile a list of 10-20 keywords so you can refer back to them when you need them later on. Ideally, they should be longtail keywords (phrases containing four words or more). Typically, these are easier to rank for!

Create a Customer Avatar

Before you start writing blog posts, it's essential you get to grips with who your target audience is This means understanding what they're interested in, what they're struggling with, and how you can be of service to them.

Once you've gathered all this information together, you can start drafting content that's better orientated to complement the needs and interests of your prospects.

3. Get Writing

Now it's time to get writing. Give yourself a few hours of uninterrupted time so you can crack out your article.

Be sure to break your copy up into smaller paragraphs. This makes it way easier for readers to skim through your post, as many as 43% of your visitors will just glance through your blog posts.

You should also divide your article up into sections by using subheadings, links, and images- this makes your pieces more aesthetically pleasing and more manageable for readers to consume.

Top Tip: use a tool like Grammarly to help you proofread your work by checking for grammar and spelling errors. If you upgrade to their premium account, you can also check for any accidental plagiarism.

4. Promote Your Work

You need to promote your blog to get it in front of your customers. This means sharing your articles on all your social media handles.

Top Tip: You can use tools like Buffer to help automate and schedule your posts.

Handy Hack: When you publish your work, tag everyone who was involved with the creation of this blog post, and personally thank them for their contribution. Not only is this amazing for developing relationships with people in your industry, but it's also fabulous for organically promoting your work to new prospects.

Did You Find This Article on Blog Strategy Useful?

We hope this article on how to improve your blog strategy was helpful. If you enjoyed this feature, we're confident you'll love the other pieces on our blog.

Over there talk about everything from how to start a personal blog to the kinds of blogs that make the most money. Enjoy!

Alternatively, if you have a question for us about this article or blogging in general, please reach out and contact us. We'll be sure to get back to you as soon as we possibly can. Speak soon!

The internet gets bigger and bigger every year. New websites are being made every second, with an 800% increase in the number of sites online over the last decade.

The world wide web can be an amazing place to build and expand your business, but standing out amongst the billions of others online can take some real knowledge and hard work.

Most people on the web, yourself likely included, use Google and other search engines to guides themselves to new websites and needed information. That's why the keywords you use in your blog are absolutely essential to get right.

If you use your most important searchable keywords in your blog writing, you can draw new users in and stand out from the crowd. If you fail to do so, you could be lost in the big pile-up of internet content forever.

Read on, and we'll explain more below.

Understanding Keyword Strategy

Keywords are words or phrases that identify what people are searching for and define the topics and subjects that you are writing about.

Ideally, web users searching for information will find that information directly and clearly displayed on your blog. It's essential to use the most relevant and searchable keywords in your posts so that they actually can reach those looking for such information.

What are searchable keywords and how do you decide which to use? There are a few different strategies and processes you can employ.

Going To The Source

Google is the most popular web search engine in the world. It's what most web users to find information. As such, it's a great place to start your keyword research.

You're likely already familiar with Google's suggestion feature, which offers up a small list of frequently Googled queries as you type.

These suggestions can be a great place to steal strong keywords from. Simply begin typing in the subject of your blogs, and see what kind of popular search requests pop up.

Google also offers their Keyword Planner tool which can help you determine how far of a reach your suggested keywords might have. At the bottom of every Google page, they also list related searches. This can be another good source to borrow from when creating your own keywords.

Other Popular Sources of Help

While Google is the reigning king of the internet search world, there's a number of other resources that can help you get the best keywords for your website.

Digging through popular pages based around the subject you're writing on can give you a wealth of ideas. Try scrubbing through Wikipedia articles, Amazon reviews, or other frequently visited websites and see what phrases and terms seem to repeat.

Another thing to keep in mind is the idea of questions. When users go to the web to look for information, they are doing so because they have a question in mind. Being able to determine what those questions are can help you both with your keywords and your blog writing in general.

Answer The Public is a wonderful resource that allows you to type in any topic and see a huge database of questions people online are asking about it. It can be another stellar place to get some great keyword blog suggestions.

What Makes A Good Keyword?

As you are sure to discover during your research, not all keywords are created equal. And if you want your blog to find people and succeed, it's essential that you are using only the keywords that are the best and most searchable.

One of the most important traits of a good keyword is specificity.

Let's say you're writing a blog on new cars available on the market. You could just use keywords such as "cars" or "automobiles." But as keywords, these are so unspecific and broad that searching them would turn up an insane amount of results. The chance of you ranking high among them is incredibly low.

The more context you add to your keywords, the more you'll decrease the number of search results and make better connections with searchers. Instead of one-word keywords, fight to reach three or four words.

For example, "best 2018 car models" is likely to put you in a much smaller pool of results. It's also more likely to connect you with searchers who need the specific information that you are writing about.

Where To Include Your Keywords

You're including the best keywords on your blog to help you connect with and build an audience. But to make sure you'll make contact, you need to include these great keywords in relevant places.

Using your keywords in the title of your article is highly recommended. Not only will it increase your chances of ranking high with Google, but it should help to easily catch the attention of those looking for such information.

The meta description should also include these keywords as well. If you don't use a special SEO tool, the meta description of your page is usually the first 160 words of your blog post. Like with your title, the use of your keywords here helps with both ranking and orients your potential audience in the proper fashion.

And if you plan to share your post through social networking channels, don't skimp out on your keywords just because you're on a different platform! These keywords can help encourage clicks and shares.

Depending on what platform you're on, you may even consider using your keywords as hashtags. These hashtags can draw even more interested parties to your content.

Using Your Most Important Searchable Keywords

The world wide web is a competitive place. If you hope to stand out from the crowd and connect with users, you must use your most important searchable keywords in your posts. Doing so will help you rank higher and will connect you with those that need the information that you provide.

Need help taking your blog to the next level? Contact us anytime.