Blogs, articles, and other web content are great ways to attract new clientele. Blogs and articles keep your followers informed. This article is exactly what you are looking for if you would like to learn more about the best blogging practices.
Do you struggle with the idea of attracting new clients? Has your business hit a plateau? Does your company lack a solid customer base? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you should be optimizing your web content. One of the best ways to attract and maintain clients is through fresh, meaningful, and unique blogs. Not only is blogging good for search engine optimization (SEO), it will also help you establish yourself as an industry leader.
Best Blog Writing Practices
1. Focus on Quality
A well-written blog is the best way to attract and maintain customers. Though an article filled with keywords may be attractive to a search engine, it will disrupt the flow for the reader.
2. Attract the Reader
Fresh and unique content is key when it comes to blogging. If your piece is boring, confusing, or lackluster, clients will notice. To maintain interest, write creatively, use thought-provoking facts, or encourage discussion.
3. Make It Aesthetically Pleasing
A long-winded article with lengthy paragraphs and minimal spacing is not attractive to a reader’s eye. If you take the time to make your article aesthetically pleasing with elements such as bullet points, spacing, and section headings it can capture the reader’s attention and make them feel like they are reading a quality article written by someone who took the time to pay attention to detail.
4. Create a Scannable Blog
Readers don’t have a lot of time on their hands, so ensure that they can get the gist of your article by making it scannable. Your customers may be cooking dinner, waiting in line, or taking a quick lunch break while they read your piece, so make sure they have the ability to get through it quickly.
5. Write Like an Expert
If you want to attract customers, you must write as though you are the authority in your field. That being said, you shouldn’t get too technical, or else readers won’t understand. Show your customers that you are an industry leader, but also a relatable and friendly business.
6. Sell Yourself
At the end of the day, the goal of blogging is to sell your product or services. Don’t be cheesy, just inform the reader about your brand and its benefits.
7. Stay Relevant
No matter how much you may be interested in a certain topic, if it doesn’t pertain to your business, you won’t attract clients. Readers are looking at your blog for information on your company, so avoid distractions. Off-topic information also won’t help clients find you through search engines!
8. Know the Length
A good blog will be at least 300 words. If you say less, customers may find it aloof, non-informative, or disengaging. So, make sure you pick a topic that you can speak about at some length.
9. Add Keywords…
How will a search engine find you and put you at the top of the results list? Keywords! Ensuring that your articles utilize the proper and relevant keywords will enhance your SEO strategy.
10. …But Not Too Many
A good article will focus on one specific idea, and will use a keyword (or its variants) 2-5 times throughout. Not only will this help keep readers engaged, it will also help search engines pinpoint your article.
11. Add Keywords in the Right Places
Keywords can be in titles, headings, and body content. Putting keywords towards the top of your blog will reinforce the nature of your piece and help search engines find you.
12. Use Links
Generally, linking to relevant, high quality, and well-known websites is an excellent way to prove your legitimacy and to help you remain at the top of search engine results.
13. Hyperlink Keywords
To make your keywords stand out, it is important to remember to place hyperlinks on relevant words. When referencing more than one outside source in your blog, try linking to different words that are of key importance to your topic.
14. Add Images
Images are attractive to the eye, can add interest to your piece, and can be useful for search engine optimization. Furthermore, add a title to your image (instead of simply “Image1.jpeg”) to help boost your search engine ratings.
15. Consider First Impressions
Understanding how to open your article is essential to your web content strategy. If the first line does not attract a reader or grab their attention and bring them in, they are unlikely to continue reading. For that reason, starting with an interesting fact, a question, or a thought-provoking statement can help attract a reader’s attention and make them stay for the length of the entire article.
16. Create a Meta-Description
A meta-description is a short description of your article that is meant to entice readers. By adding in relevant terms, it will also ensure that you remain at the top of search engine results. However, make sure that your meta-description is no longer than 155 characters.
17. Perfect Your Call To Action
What do you want readers to do after completing your article? Purchase a product, employ your services, browse the rest of your website, donate to a cause, or register for email promotions? Whatever your goal, persuasively ask readers to complete the task at the end of your piece.
18. Show Them Your Accomplishments
Blogs are a great way to slip in some self-praise. If you represent a well-known company, were featured in a news article, won an award, are participating in an event, or have special certifications, feel free to add these to your article.
19. Edit Your Piece
First, start by writing a quality piece, then re-read the article silently with an eye on keyword placement and flow. This is the time to ensure that your piece sounds legitimate, and not written specifically for SEO purposes. Afterwards, read the blog aloud to see how it may sound to others. Finally, make sure you check for all the basics, including spelling and grammar!
20. Evaluate Your Performance
Are your blogs producing income for your business? You will only know if you check on their performance. If you aren’t seeing the right results, make some tweaks to your strategy and check again.
21. Encourage Discussion
By opening your blog up for discussion, you are generating a buzz about your brand. Therefore, letting readers comment is a must. However, it is important to moderate the discussion to avoid spam or inappropriate content. Responding to comments is also a great way to engage with customers and to encourage people to continue the conversation and comment in the future.
22. Use Social Media
Potential customers can find you via Google, Yahoo, or Bing, but don’t limit yourself. For that reason, share your piece on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, or other social media sites to ensure a large audience. Encourage readers to share your blog on their own page.
23. Think on It
To ensure the best quality blog, you may want to take a step away and come back to it later. When you read it over with fresh eyes, it can make all the difference.
24. Check Out the Competition
Keep on top of your competitors’ web strategies. Understanding who your competition is and what they are doing on the web can be very useful. Once you understand what your competition is doing, you can try to rival or beat their web quality and offerings. Indeed, it may just give you the competitive edge.
25. Carefully Consider Topics
To remain ahead of your competition, and at the top of search engine results, it is important that your topics are unique. Along with relevance, you should strive for fresh and meaningful themes. Search engines (and readers) are adept at picking up plagiarized or reproduced material.
26. Stay on Top of Your SEO Game
You should always know the latest tips and techniques when it comes to web content optimization. As such, take some time to research the field and follow some experts.
27. Remain Organized
Before you begin writing, it is important to organize your thoughts. Compared to an organized one, a jumbled article will come across as such and your viewership will diminish. Additionally, you can organize your blog, for easy navigation, by date or topic.
28. Have Fun
When you write with excitement and enthusiasm about your topic, readers will follow suit. While it may be difficult to balance normal business operations with marketing strategy, it is important to inject some fun and inspiration into your blogs.
Blog writing is a crucial part of your overall marketing strategy. So if your business could use a boost, please contact us today for the best results in web content development.