How to Use Blogging to Improve Your Marketing & Grow Your Business

How to Use Blogging to Improve Your Marketing & Grow Your Business

Aerio Staff

If you already have a blog, then you know it’s a fantastic platform foreducating others, building trust and establishing yourself as a subjectmatter expert.

If you are blogging for your business, kudos to you! Are you making the most of this channel byoptimizing your blog posts, creating user-centric content and using keywordresearch that adds relevancy to search engines? These are just a few of thetechniques you can build into your process to increase engagement, drive traffic and boost your business through blogging.

Let’s get started with some suggestions to strengthen your bloggingstrategy.

Write with Your Audience in Mind

When you deliver content that is timely, relevant and speaks to yourreaders' needs, you establish yourself as an expert in your field and buildcredibility. Worthwhile content that solves problems for your audience gets search engines to sit up and take notice and helps you meet your business objectives.

By doing your keyword research and incorporating as appropriate, you can drive more traffic and be sure to address the needs of your readers.Understanding these concepts is basic, but creating great content to regularly feed this machine might feel like a time-intensive struggle.While you need to keep content fresh, it does not have to be 100% original content that you labor over for hours.

Here are some ideas for content thatis engaging yet simple to develop:

  • Industry updates covering trends or news within your niche
  • Surveys & Polls
  • Online Contests/ Promotions
  • Product Tutorials
  • Book reviews of books that are relevant to your audience
  • Interviews with others from your industry
  • Case studies, success stories & testimonials
  • Engaging How-to videos
  • Top 10 lists

Calls-to-Action (CTAs)

Engaging content is great, but what is your objective? Are you seeking togain new followers, sell a product, nudge search rankings, increase socialshares or build your email list? Create a call-to-action that provides a benefit to the user AND supports your objective.

While a clear and succinct CTA SHOULD appear at the end of your post, thatdoesn't have to be the only place it appears. A CTA can be inserted in atop bar, or casually appear using a slide-in technique after a reader hasscrolled past a certain point. These are effective yet more subtle than apop-up style CTA.

When you build your CTA into the end of your post, don't bury it in copy.It should stand apart and offer value. This is a great example of a visual CTA that doesn't get lost in text:

Word Count & Formatting

In past years, recommended blog post length was shorter. Not so much thecase these days, but not because people want to read more - it's all in thescience. In 2018, studies from sources like the Search Engine Journal showthat search engines are favoring long-form content. Actual recommendationsvary from 1,600 - 2,000 words, depending on the study.

Other tips to keep in mind:

  • Use clear and compelling headings
  • Use bullet points whenever possible
  • Keep text simple and easy-to-read
  • Conversational copy is best for blogging
  • Search engines can't read images; use labels/ meta tags

Use Anchor Links in Your Blog Posts

Linking to other posts or pages on your website is an effective way to help readers navigate your website and see the valueyou're providing - plus interlinks can drive SEO value.

Interlink Tips:

  • Use only if relevant to the post
  • Use a reasonable number per post
  • Update older posts with newer links to keep content evergreen
  • Include links to "related articles" at the end of posts

Add Share Buttons

Share buttons make sharing your content simple and help to grow your online presence. You should be sharing your own posts via social media and other online channels, but one of the biggest benefits of being a trusted brand is having brand advocates who help spread your message andinfluence their own networks on your behalf. You need their help to buildyour community, so make it easy! Building tweetable quotes into your copyis a fantastic way to get readers to share your content in one click.

Remember to keep your blog content fresh, stay on topic and listen to whatyour audience is telling you they want and need. Use analytics tools to measure successes and continually test new ideas and improve your processes. Managing a successful blog might seem like a lot of work, but bystaying focused on a few key ideas, you can grow leads, build loyalty andultimately increase profits!