If you are considering the development of your own blog or would like to do a better job of an existing blog, focus your efforts on these proven optimization strategies to generate organic traffic and to build a loyal base of followers. Today’s most effective blogs depend on a loyal base of readers and advocates who share content willingly.
With the addition of social media sharing and other ways to “spread the word,” engaging blogs can grow quickly. If you want to effectively develop your blog, consider implementing the following blog-winning strategies.
With the addition of social media sharing and other ways to “spread the word,” engaging blogs can grow quickly. If you want to effectively develop your blog, consider implementing the following blog-winning strategies.
1. Create expert-generated content. One of the most essential aspects of any blog is creating sticky content that attracts both existing customers and generates interest among your target audience. Focus on utilizing experts to create content that meets and exceeds the needs of your target audience. Make sure that experts provide something to your blog that’s truly unique as opposed to the same advice they give over and over. The more unique the information, the better. When posting, use bullets, italics and other formatting that make your posts easy to read.
2. Make regular updates. Each year, millions of blogs are created and quickly abandoned. This is because blog managers quickly realize that launching a blog is the easy part. The more challenging aspect of blogging is producing content updates on a frequent basis. To be effective you must have a plan for making content updates. Consider how frequently content will be updated on your blog, and who is responsible for posting. Having a specific owner that makes content updates is one of the most important roles associated with blogging success.
3. Focus on social media engagement. From a user’s perspective, consider how quickly and easily they can share your posts, images and other blog-related assets with their various networks. From Facebook to Pinterest to plain old email, remove all obstacles to social sharing.
4. List building. Another great way to leverage a blog is through list building and lead capturing. As readers engage with blog content, it’s important to offer multiple opportunities for opting in or converting through some lead-capture device. Something as simple as a newsletter sign-up or free download is a great way to build a powerful list that can be used for marketing, research and referrals. Consider what type of resources and information appeal to your audience and consider no-cost offers designed to build a list. Blog readers tend to be highly responsive when given offers that are relevant to their needs.
5. Monitor user-generated content. Encouraging visitors to leave comments, share articles and interact with different sections of your blog can change the dynamic of your blog. The one caveat is that user-generated content must be carefully monitored. This is easy with moderation tools offered by blogging platforms, but they must be turned on. Although user-generated content shouldn’t be edited, blog managers can benefit by considering which content is relevant. A blend of positive and negative comments can encourage additional engagement and dialog.
6. Manage promotional activities. Blogs serve to communicate value-added information and provide resources that are appropriate for your market segment.Making offers and running promotions through a blog can be effective if the delicate balance between information and promotion is managed properly. Too often however, once a blog has built a large or loyal following, bloggers tend to push promotions in favor of valuable content. This can turn off your audience and negatively impact engagement. Before running a promotion, consider how it may be viewed among your audience.
A blog goes a long way in helping you develop an expert role with your audience. Blogs need consistency, planning but above all
provide (potential) clients with quality content and information.
Starting with a well through-out strategy that meets or exceeds the needs of your target audience is the best place to start. Blogs can only be effective if proper planning is utilized to leverage experts for quality content and information is updated regularly.
As individuals engage with your content, encourage them to share across social networks and provide feedback. This helps to direct future content generation and interaction among your target audience. Blogs are an essential platform for any business to communicate with prospects and customers, engage their audiences and improve site visibility.
You can read the full article written by Michael Fleischner here.
