Writing a good, unique blog post should not be the aim of your content marketing strategy. Good, unique content is no longer good enough to cut it in the content world, as competition grows and SEO algorithms change – as explained here by Rand, the SEO wiz at Moz.
Every blog post should exceed the standard of current content about that particular topic, answer every query that the audience may have and be written exquisitely! Check out our 5 tips to make your blog posts the best they can be:
- Outline the objectives of the blog post
Decide what the aim of the blog is. Is it to generate signups for a newsletter, increase brand awareness, or to simply inform? (Note: Blog posts should always be SEO optimised to attract organic traffic, so keep this in mind).
The aim of content should never be to increase monetary conversions. Why? Because it rarely ever happens. Audiences will visit content regularly and many times before they even consider making a purchase, and when they do, it may only be when they have the need for it. It is very rare for a consumer to read one piece of content and think ‘Wow, that was so informative, I’m going to buy their product’.
- Determine a brilliant idea for a blog post, not a ‘good’ one
Start brainstorming ideas with colleagues now you’ve picked your objective of the blog post. Take your ideas and Google them, checking out the top search results to see if there are similar blog posts already. Buzzsumo is a great tool for finding trending content and content that has the most shares – which is great if the aim is to share it on social media.
Once you’ve found top performing content, scan it and note down what questions are being asked and answered, what sort of user experience is provided (rendering, design, time speed), what is the detail and thoroughness, use of visuals, quality of writing, what sources are included and are they good quality and finally – what’s missing? The last item is where your blog can offer more than what is already out there.
- Become a better writer
A study found that developing internal content creators to become stronger writers was the lowest ranked priority for marketers, which is comical considering the importance SEO places on content. How can you expect content to be informative, appreciated and shared if it’s not written well?
- Optimise the content
Make your content visible in search engines by optimising it for SEO. This includes keywords, inserting useful links and a relevant call to action. Read our previous blog post to learn how to do this effectively!
- Make the blog post fantastic
With your research, improved writing skills and SEO optimisation knowledge, begin to write your blog post. Use your notes from the top performing content to ensure that you provide the audience with all the answers they need – and more. Ensure you add visuals, videos if appropriate, quality external links and finally, determine what every other piece of content has missed and include it.
At Upperdog we are pioneers in content marketing and offer blog writing as part of our SEO services in Bournemouth. Get your brand and website out there with our digital marketing expertise today by getting in touch on 01202 798 820 or send us a message with our online contact form.