29 Nov 2019
Blogging is a highly effective tool for turning potential customers into paying ones. For many though this is a daunting prospect, and above all confusing.
But it doesn’t have to be, as whatever fancy name a business might give it, it all does the same thing. It is about creating and sharing content to build up a business in order to engage with an audience, bring in more leads and increase recommendations.
Content, including blogging, regularly brings in more traffic and improves a company’s position for SEO. Although this isn’t a new concept, it is one that people don’t always understand, so at Vantage we are educating our clients on why content is a central part of their visibility strategy.
Content creates visibility, and thanks to social media pointing consumers towards websites, a blog is necessary for trying to bring people to a website and above all make them want to come back. To help businesses get it right, Vantage has broken down the major points businesses need to consider:
1 Get the content right
The content needs to be closely related to what a business does, therefore educating, informing and entertaining potential and new customers. A large proportion of efforts should be on ‘evergreen’ content, which is relevant all year round. Most businesses tend to focus on ‘live’ content because of what they are doing in the here and now, but forget about keeping their website updated the rest of the time.
2 Take content seriously
Content-writing is not something that can be done part-time or left to an already busy employee. It requires thought and a schedule, and because time can quickly come around between updates it needs to be a dedicated person’s responsibility.
3 Think about what customers want
Their questions are the best source of inspiration for a blog post, especially at the beginning. Thinking can then be extended to include what the business would like its customers to know about the industry.
4 Use industry news for ideas
To obtain the reputation of being a leader in their field, companies need to use developments within the industry to inspire their blog posts. Customers will be impressed with comments on major advances, current news and suggestions on how the industry itself can improve.
5 Discuss themes that go wider than just one business
Choosing themes that go further than just what a company offers will help to make content more engaging and gain a lot of respect within the industry.
6 Be realistic with expectations
Businesses need to be prepared for the sheer amount of content available and understand that nothing will happen overnight. It might take 12 months or more to start seeing a noticeable difference, but each blog will increase traffic and spread the word about what the company does. Having a PR programme in place is ideal for helping with this.
7 Short and snappy
Short paragraphs made up of three or four sentences, subheads, bullet points and quotes work because they are informative enough to keep visitors interested but vague enough that the reader will want to learn more, meaning it is likely that they will visit the site again.
8 Really utilise the content
Repurposing and reusing content again and again will help to get maximum value from it. This could be anything from pulling out key quotes from a blog post, editing and using different images to give the piece a new angle. This can then be circulated on social media over and over again as something fresh and interesting for the company’s followers.
If you would like to discuss how regular or ad hoc copywriting services could benefit your company, get in touch with us today at pr@vantage.uk.com
