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Do You Blog Purposefully or with Hope?
The Sprocket Report
Writing blog content in the hope that someone will read it and be inspired to buy from you is not a good strategy. Instead, write on purpose to further your marketing plan.
Did our last article on SEO reasons for blogging inspire you to hit the keyboard? Even the most successful blogs need a little pre-planning, so read on for a few basic points you should cover when writing your next blog post.
Research terms your readers use
We once had a prospective client whose website used industry descriptions that were totally different from the words his customers actually used. As you would expect, traffic was dismal. Don’t assume how your customer is searching for your product or service – go look at the data and know for sure. Google Search Console is a free tool that provides that data.
Once you log in to your Search Console report, click on “Performance” in the left side menu and “Queries” in the main pane. The phrases listed there are the terms people used in their online searches. “Impressions” are the number of times your website link showed up on a result page. “Clicks” are recorded when someone goes to your website from a result page. Search terms that have a high Click Rate are the ones that are resonating best with your readers.
Find new terms to use
There may be better search terms to include in your blog posts that haven’t occurred to you. One way to get that research is with Google’s Keyword Planner. This is part of the Google Ads platform, but you don’t have to pay for ads to use the Planner.
List a couple of single words or phrases under “Find new keywords” and click “Get started.” The tool gives you Keyword Ideas that you can browse to find terms you may not have thought of before. It also shows you how popular these terms are so you can choose the ones that will get you the most attention.
Write better headlines
Remember how often the headline “This One Weird Trick” was used as clickbait? While you shouldn’t aspire to that kind of spam glory, you do want to write headlines that entice readers to click for more. If you google “headline analyzer,” you can find several free tools that will evaluate your word choice, word count and sentence structure to help you write more persuasively.
Don’t forget a Call To Action
Since all this content creation is for your business, remind your readers what you would like them to do. Maybe you want them to “buy now,” but other CTAs could be “sign up,” “call,” or simply “now go to this page.” Don’t just hope people will do what you expect – make it easy for them by spelling it out clearly.
Add an eye-catching image
Cool graphics make folks stop swiping for a moment, giving you a chance to interest them with that carefully-crafted headline. Images that relate to your post help with continuity, but shoot for something a little unique. Obvious stock photography can imply your article is also blandly mass-produced. There are options for free imagery, but double-check the permissions to be sure you are using them correctly. Or take your own photographs. Not only are there no copyright issues, they will be totally unique as well.
Your blog is a showcase for your expertise. How you share your knowledge online is just as important as the information you are providing, so it only makes sense to optimize your efforts rather than just hoping you will reach the right readers. But if you are busy with other duties, consider working with a writer to get those articles written and published consistently. Sprocket has several writers on staff that would be happy to help. Give us a call today to talk it over!
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Kate Gingold
I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.
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I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.
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