These days, online presence is everything.
There are around 4.1 billion internet users worldwide: that's over half the global population.
Of those 4 billion people, around 91% of them are using search engines on a minimum of a monthly basis.
If your company isn't coming up in those searches, then you aren't very likely to see the growth you'd like to be seeing for your business.
It's not enough to have a simple landing page: if you really want to see the traffic on your website grow, you'll have to constantly be adding new content. This will increase your company's SEO, or search engine optimisation, making new users more likely to stumble upon your site.
If you're not familiar with the term, SEO refers to where your website lands on someone's search results. The higher up you are, the more likely you'll be to gain traffic.
There are a few different ways to increase your company's SEO, but posting on a blog is one of the most effective. If you're not sure where to start, or what a blog even is, we've got you covered.
Read on to learn more about creating great blog posts to boost your company's SEO.
What is a Blog?
A blog is a webpage that's regularly updated. Typically, it's written in an informal, conversational tone and designed to be highly readable. Think of it as your company's journal of sorts.
You can go in a number of directions with your blog, but the key to great blog posts is presenting new information to interest readers, drawing them in. From there, you are able to redirect them to different pages on your website, increasing both lead generation and web traffic.
Blogs and SEO
In order to provide the best and most useful information, Google uses an algorithm that picks up "keywords" on webpages. A "keyword" is the phrase or word that someone enters into a search engine. The more these keywords appear on your website, the more likely you'll be to rank higher on someone's search results.
Coming up with great blog posts is one of the best ways to feature your industry's keywords on your website, which in turn boosts traffic to your page and grows your company's online presence.
Writing Great Blog Posts
Now that we've gone over how blog posts can boost your SEO, let's go over what it takes to actually write a good blog post. After all, if your blog doesn't have interesting content, then you won't be captivating your audience and inspiring them to do more.
The following are some of our best tips for creating great blog posts.
1. Consider User Intent
Great blog posts are centred around user intent. Think about your target market and what topics they would be interested in. For example, if you're targeting executives and decision-makers, then entry-level information won't capture their interest. Instead, look for more advanced and niche topics to write about.
2. Attention-Grabbing Title
Even if your blog posts rank high on someone's search results, you still need a snappy title to get them to click. If it sounds generic, then you're much less likely to draw them in.
For example, let's say you're publishing an accounting blog post. A poor example of a title would be "Income Tax Deductions." This sounds boring and generic. It also doesn't tell us much about the blog's content.
Instead, consider this title: "To Deduct or Not to Deduct? A Complete Beginner's Guide to Income Tax Deductions." This example sounds snappy, authoritative, and highly clickable.
3. Good Introduction
Once your title draws your audience in, you'll need a good introduction to keep their attention and inspire them to read on. This is where you'll "hook" your reader. It should sum up the information in your post in a concise and interesting way.
4. Industry Keywords
Before you can come up with great blog posts, you need to figure out what keywords you will be using. Think about the search terms your target audience would be using and go from there. You can also consult Google and look for what terms bring up the most results.
5. Subheaders
Great blogs posts are "skimmable" in nature. Your reader likely won't be reading everything, so you'll need to break it up into subheaders that make the piece more digestible and easy to follow.
6. Well-Written Body
The body is the meat and potatoes of your blog posts. It should be well-written, concise, and highly readable. An informal and conversational tone is a good method to adopt.
7. Links and References
If you're making claims, look for relevant data to back them up. This will make your piece more compelling and authoritative.
8. Pictures
Pictures break up walls of text and add visual interest to your blog post. By adding just a single image, you're making your content much more likely to be read.
10. CTA (Call-to-Action)
Great blog posts end on a CTA (call-to-action) that inspires further action from your reader. For example, you can direct them to your product pages or your contact page.
9. Conclusion
Your conclusion is where you wrap up your content and inspire your reader to do more. It should reinforce the information in your blog posts, summing it up in a way that makes it "stick" long after they've started reading.
Coming Up with Topics to Write About
For your business's blog, you should consider topics that are relevant to your product or service, but also highly clickable to draw in new readers. Great blog posts tend to be informative in nature; in other words, people are looking to learn useful information rather than be sold something.
For instance, if you were publishing a blog for (X) Plumbing Company, then you wouldn't want to write a post called "Why (X) Plumbing Company is the Best Choice on the Market." Immediately, that reads like a marketing piece, and it won't be likely to grab the interest of passersby on the web.
Instead, consider this alternative: "What to Look for When Selecting the Right Plumbing Company." This will grab the interest of potential customers who are already considering hiring a plumber. Then, once they click, they'll be right on your website.
Once your great blog posts bring people to your page, you can add subtle links to redirect them to your products. Your blog topic drew them in and now you have an opportunity to close the sale.
Don't be afraid to get creative with topics for your blog. If you're still struggling for inspiration, why not check out what your competitors are publishing? You can use a search engine like Google to find relevant topics and go from there.
Start Posting Great Blog Content Now
Coming up with captivating blog content is one of the best ways to enhance your company's online presence. Now that you know what makes up great blog posts, start publishing content to your website today!
Contact us now for assistance in creating great blog posts for your page.
