Blogging is one of the best things you can do for your business’s SEO. Not only will it help your business appear in a multitude of search terms, but it will also signal to Google that your website is high quality. Blogging also provides an opportunity to educate your consumers, providing them with valuable content that will be helpful to them and will build trust in your brand. If you’re just starting the blogging process, it might seem daunting to figure out what to write about. So what is the best way to start a BLOG? We’ve compiled a list of tips to help get you started.
1. What is the best way to start a Blog? BRAINSTORM!
The first step you should take is simply to brainstorm. Write down everything you can possibly think of that relates to the overall topic of your blog. Don’t worry about the topic making a good blog post right now, just get all of your ideas out. Once you brainstorm ideas, it will be easier for you to narrow something down into a solid blog idea.
2. Consider Your Goals
What are your goals for the blog post? Do you want to educate your readers? Make a connection with them? Are you looking to drive extra traffic to a certain service offered on your website? Determining a solid goal for your post will help you come up with a topic that will help your overall company goals.
3. Consider Other Blogs
Look at your other blog posts and see which ones have driven the most traffic to your site. Try to pick out common themes among these posts. Did they all have a similar structure? Similar topic? Maybe they all had a similar goal in mind. Determine the techniques that made previous blogs successful and figure out how to replicate these techniques in your newest blog.
4. Think About SEO
When choosing a topic, consider what types of topics are SEO-friendly. Look at the “also searched for” section of Google to get an idea of what topics will rank well. Headlines with more action words than nouns tend to rank higher, as do well-structured blogs. Always consider the SEO potential of your blog before selecting a topic.
5. Check Out Your Competitors
It never hurts to see what your competition is doing. Consider what blog topics are successful on your competitors’ sites. You shouldn’t ever copy your competitors’ blogs, but seeing what they write about and what types of posts do well can help you come up with a good topic for your own blog.
6. Read Your Audience’s Conversations
It’s a good idea to check out what your target audience is talking about online. Find out what they’re interested in, what they comment on, and what they are. These considerations will help you come up with relevant topics. Find out what their problems are as well. When you identify your audience’s problems, you can choose a blog topic that will address these issues, making your audience more likely to read your post.
7. Talk to Sales/Customer Service
If you need help identifying issues that your customers have, who better to talk to than the people who deal with these issues? Consulting your sales and customer service teams can reveal to you problems you were unaware of. Once you’ve identified these problems, you can choose a blog topic addressing one of these issues.
8. Survey Your Subscribers
A great way to get ideas for new blog topics is to consult your existing readers. Send out a survey asking what types of topics they would like to read. It’s important to remember that many of your subscribers won’t respond. Consider adding an incentive such as a gift certificate or a chance to win a prize in order to increase the number of responses.
9. Look at What’s Trending
A topical blog post will typically do well when created and shared immediately. Look through popular news stories or other trends that can be seen throughout the web. Figure out a way to relate your blog to a trending topic. Choosing something topical will increase your chance of clicks and shares.
ImageWorks, LLC | CT Blogging and Inbound Marketing
Would Inbound Marketing help my business grow? When it comes to attracting, converting, analyzing, and integrating, there is nothing that is out of the reach of our capabilities. As a leading CT Inbound Marketing firm, ImageWorks LLC uses state of the art techniques and is focused on the success of your business. We work with you to improve your current marketing plan, overcome your challenges, achieve your goals, and meet deadlines. By creating content specifically designed to appeal to your dream customers, inbound attracts qualified prospects to your business and keeps them coming back for more.
