A Professional Bloggers Best Advice
Let’s talk tips for blogging.
So you have a blog – or want to start a blog?
Great.
Getting started is always the first step.
Here’s the thing though. Blogging is all great and well but don’t let it be a total waste of your time. If you don’t follow a few basic rules, you may not see the results you wanted or it may become more trouble than it is worth.
In no particular order, here are my top 10 tips for blogging.
10 Tips for Blogging
1 – Consider NOT Adding Dates to Your Blogs
There are exceptions for this but, in general, I recommend not adding dates to your blogs.
Why?
Because one of the most common reasons for blogging is to show you are active in your industry.
And to show you are active you need to be consistently posting.
If you are like most people and blog sporadically, having dates on your blog may make it look like you aren’t active or aren’t staying caught up on your work.
Without dates, unless you get a lot of returning readers, your website won’t look out of date at first glance.
The exception? If you are very consistent at blogging, keep the dates on. There is some data that suggests it may help your Google ranking if you put dates on your posts. It isn’t going to have a massive effect on your rankings but enough to where it is worth leaving the dates on… if you can keep up.
2 – Reuse and Recycle
Don’t reinvent the wheel. Once you blog, reuse the content over and over. You can’t rewrite the blog as another blog (Google hates this) but you can reuse that content on other platforms.
Think Instagram, Facebook, YouTube videos, podcasts, and even Pinterest.
And always, always, always, link between the platforms. Google loves links to your website.
3 – Keyword Targeting
Pay attention to this one. It is hands down one of the biggest mistakes I see creatives making and one of the simplest things you can do to increase your SEO rankings in Google.
Don’t target the same keyword on multiple pages.
You want a unique keyword on every page and every post.
If you have 12 pages/posts on your website with the same keyword, it just confuses Google. Your pages start to compete against each other and it will counteract your goals.
Instead, you want to have keywords that, while unique, also complement each other.
For instance, let’s take a Seattle wedding photographer.
You don’t want to target the keyword “Seattle wedding photographer” on every page. Instead, focus on that for your home page and then use complimenting keywords for other pages (PNW photographer, Sodo Park wedding photographer, etc).
This also takes away the need to post every wedding. You don’t want to have 12 blogs about one venue. Now you can still blog every wedding but you want different SEO focuses for each blog, rather than just the venue (maybe focus on the florals, the theme, or the season).
4 – Approve Comments
I always recommend that my clients approve comments. This keeps all of those annoying spam comments off of your page and gives you the ability to respond. Google loves interaction and you should too – the more people interact on your blog, the more invested your audience is… and this is what you want. You know you are doing something right if you start getting comments from real people!
5 – Plan, Plan, Plan
The best way to consistently and effectively blog is to plan ahead.
By planning ahead, you can find ways to create relevant blogs (seasonal, holidays, etc), to create blogs that connect together (which keeps people on your site together),
I recommend mapping out at least 6 months of blogs so that you have a clear idea of where your content is headed. I devote one week per quarter to knocking out my content. 1 day for outlining, 2 days for writing (but I do write quickly), 1 day for uploading and scheduling, and 1 day for reusing the content for social media.
6 – Research Thoroughly
In the same vein as planning, make sure you research your blog topics. Don’t just guess.
Research what your ideal clients are asking Google and what other people have already written about it. A little competition is never bad… just try to do it better than everyone else.
A few of my favorite research tools are:
Instead of thinking up questions that you think people may be asking, try answering questions you KNOW they are asking. Some resources actually tell you how many people search that topic every month. This way you can see which blog ideas could have a better return on your time.
7 – Don’t Forget to Make Updates to Your Blog
As information changes, your opinion changes, or you learn more about a subject, always update your posts, as well as the links.
Not only does Google like this but as your post gets better, so will the response to it.
8 – Link Away
Once you have the blog posted, it’s time to share it.
Share it through your emails and social media, and even try to get other websites to share it (backlinks are the bees-knees for SEO).
Google will find your blog without you sharing it, but you’ve worked so hard, get as many eyes on it as possible.
9 – Have a Call to Action
Blogs are not usually the place to hard sell (leave that to the sales pages, sales emails, and websites). But you can strategically use blogs to link to sales pages, product pages, etc. You can have a call to action that helps bring your offer to the attention of your audience.
Every blog should have some call to action – from following you on social media, to subscribing to your email newsletter, to reading another blog. Keep them interested and keep them engaged.
Not having a call to action is like having a great trailer for a movie… but then never releasing the movie.
10 – Be Consistent
Consistency in the eyes of Google is key. This isn’t to say everything will fall apart if you skip a few weeks of blogging but, as with most areas of business, consistency is always best.
I always recommend my retainer clients do at minimum 2 blogs a month, preferably 4.
I will not do just one blog a month. This is virtually useless.
Shoot for 4 blogs a month and give it 6 months and see where you are ranking. I think you’ll be very pleased.
What Are Your Tips For Blogging?
So there you have it – my top 10 tips for blogging, allowing you to effectively using your blog to grow your business.
What other tips do you use?
Hi! I’m Megan and it has come to my attention that you really need help with your copy.
Well, aren’t you glad you found me?
Let’s get to work. I offer 3-4 VIP days monthly and am available for more extensive projects as well.