If you are like many entrepreneurs and small businesses out there, you are adding blog posting/writing to your marketing mix. Crafting quality blog posts however is no small task however there are some essentials that make up a successful blog post. In this post we will cover the approach for writing posts, creating the ideal post, and best practices for blogging.
The Approach:
From my experience, I see two approaches (I’m sure there are many more these are just the two I see the most) when its comes to writing.
1. Leverage keywords then write the blog
2. Write the post then optimize for keywords and search.
I personally prefer the second approach as I feel much less restricted when I write like this. It really depends on how your brain works and what is easiest for your to write. Most of my clients like to leverage the same approach I use as it is easy to take relevant content from what is going on in the world or their industry.
Creating the Ideal Post:
When crafting blog content I like to make sure that it passes the test…is it relevant (current), prevalent (universal-it makes sense for the general public), and is it sense making (does it make sense for my business). If the topic I want to write about passes that test…then I am off to the races.
Blogs posts should be at a minimum 250 works. I like to write mine around 400-500 words. This has been a good formula for my particular brand but if you are just getting start just be sure you hit the 250 words as that is when google will recognize the post.
When writing I try and think of the title of the post first while keeping in mind keywords I want to use for the post. As you can see this post is all about crafting quality blog posts, you will notice I’ve used it several times within this post as it is the focus keyword for my article. This is important to keep in mind as it is a best practice for SEO.
The blog should start with a summery of what you are writing about (I always do this last). Next you should get into the meat and potatoes of what you are writing. Posts with ” 5 Tips” or “7 Ways” or “10 tools” are especially popular, because they set an expectation for the reader of how long the article is before they even get into it. Leveraging these types of posts are great for when you are first getting starting. It helps to create structure about what you are writing about.
If you aren’t using a numbered post then write any where between 2 and 7 paragraphs about your topic. Then close with a summary paragraph, which will give you another opportunity to use your keywords.
Best Practices for Blogging:
There are a few things I wanted to share about my blogging.
- Use a SEO Plugin on your wordpress blog. I highly recommend Yoast SEO. It’s a free pluging and it helps you make sure your posts are optimized for social media.
- Great blogs need great imagery. I use a program on my phone called Typorama. They offer free stock images and you can add some text and a watermark.
- Posting Times: If you are repurposing your blog content for Linkedin think about posting times. It’s not great to post at night on Linkedin so wait until the next day to post.
- Add a Email Optin: Add an email option for people to opt into your receiving your blog posts.
- Create a schedule: I find this is THE most important piece for me. I like to hold myself accountable for blog posting. I add what I want to blog about into my social media scheduling calendar so I know when I need to post and produce content.
- Find your ideal writing time: I like to write in the early morning. My house is quiet and no one interrupts me. I grab a cup of coffee and get to work.
- Write Multiple Posts at Once: Another practice I leverage is writing multiple posts at once. WHY? Once I get into the groove of writing it is so easy to simply bang out another posts. While I don’t always use it that very next post but I build up a library of posts so when I’m not feeling inspired I still have content to post.
- Be Consistent: This is the hardest part of blogging for myself and for my clients. If you are going to blog you need to be consistent. Once a week, twice a week, monthly, whatever it is that you choose to do stick with it.
While I know this is a long blog post this covers the basics of getting started with blogging and how to craft quality content for your blog posts. Still have questions? Email me at jamie@outliermarketinggroup.com