Blogs are important for your business. Especially good blogs. We all want to be better bloggers. I wanted to provide some blogging tips that worked well for me and my clients, with the hope that they help you maximize your own blogging efforts. These are just quick hit tips, nothing too in depth. If you want to learn about how to write blogs better, check out Blogging Strategy – 9 Steps to Better Blogging. This article was written to accompany that piece.
Blogging Tips
These are in no particular order. The level of detail in this article is intentionally short. Everyone is different but I hope you find some of these tips useful. If you did, or you were inspired to make your own blogging tips, I’d love to have you share them on our Facebook Page.
- Don’t force it! – Sometimes we start a blog and struggle to stick to the outline or topic. Sometimes we lose our focus. Writer’s block is a real struggle. Whatever the case may be, never force the writing. Your readers can tell if the tone of your words isn’t genuine. They can also tell if there’s no passion. Only write when you’re ‘feeling it’.
- Forget what you learned in school – This is a hard one for some. Writing content for digital marketing is different than what writing we may be used to writing or reading. For younger generations, this may be less applicable. Don’t write in your blogs like you would in a novel, or an MLA college paper. Write like you’re communicating with your audience in a conversation, not like a formally published piece. This is one of the really important blogging tips as many have a tendency to do this in their content.
- Environmental inspiration does the trick – Do you write from the couch? Have you ever written to blaring music? Is it possible to find you in a coffee shop or cafe, pecking at the keyboard after people watching? The stimulus that I find inspirational changes by the day, I’m guessing it does for you too. Find the environment you’re craving for your writing pieces.
- Pajama’s anyone? – Reclining with feet up. Sitting on a chair. Standing at a bar top table. Are you in a suit on one day and in PJ’s the next? Do exactly what makes you feel comfortable during the time you’re writing. Change it up as often as you need to during each content piece.
- Trust your audience – The readers that you have will play an instrumental role in helping you understand what content they find most engaging. Use this! Use your analytics and any other data you have. Despite its value, this is one of the most overlooked blogging tips.
- Write for yourself now and again – Writing FOR your target audience can make some writers feel burned out. Write something you want to write with less focus on audience, SEO, and structure. Let your readers know this is a piece you’re writing for yourself and let yourself go. Just make sure it properly reflects the message and professionalism you want to convey.
- 80/20 is the perfect formula – 80% of your content should focus on stimulating your audience. Educating them, inspiring them, adding value to them. Only 20% or less of your content should focus on sales or anything sales related. Make the bulk of your efforts about the audience, not your revenue. Of all my blogging tips, this is my favorite as it’s applicable to any content and platform strategy.
- Be digitally social – When your audience engages with you on your blog, your social platforms, in an email, etc. it’s imperative that you interact. Respond and engage them further. Never ignore anyone who’s taken even a few seconds to provide an opinion on your content.
- An action is calling – Your Call To Action is important, especially considering it’s such a small part of your content’s focus, size wise. Check your analytics, keep track of your leads, and always be mindful of how to improve this. If you don’t know where your leads come from, you can’t improve your CTA!
- Be like Santa – This is one of those blogging tips where I get the hesitation. The point of blogging is to give value. That value may be a sample product, or it may be in obtaining knowledge. In my case, it’s knowledge, mostly. I often give away time to my readers when they reach out. It’s important to give some of ‘you’ away. Give, give, give in your blogs.
- Be yourself! – Your personality should be allowed to be reflected in your content pieces. Your customers are more interested in you than your products or company. Make sure you have some content where they can get you and your personality. Of all blogging tips, don’t forget this one.
- The turtle, not the hare – This cannot be stressed enough. Blogging is marketing, and most marketing requires time to work. Marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. Be the turtle, not the hare. Allow time for digital marketing to do its thing.
- Push the limits – SEO requires 300 words. Most bloggers will recommend 500 words. I, like HubSpot and others, prefer 1,000 or more words. I’d rather educate you thoroughly than leave you feeling like you have more questions than notes/takeaways. Don’t overdo it, but please, pretty please, educate your audience.
- Challenge yourself – If you are experiencing writer’s block, or you want to improve your writing, you have to challenge yourself. When I feel stuck, I tend to do some content pieces for friend’s businesses to help me get my groove back. If you’re in earlier phases of writing blogs, you can do the 30 Day Writing Challenge (see below.)
It’s not much, it’s not beautiful, but it’s the blogging tips I promised. I like to look back at this list every few blogs to remind myself of simple, yet important things, that have really worked for me over the years.
If you have writer’s block, or want practice content sessions to be a better writer, try this 30 Day Writing Challenge. Spend 30 days writing, in detail, about each topic for that day. Starting with day 1.