Blogging: What’s in it for You

A blog is a salesperson that never sleeps.

You have an established business, a brand and a website. You want to rely on the Internet to gain more business. You’re trying to catch up to your partners, suppliers, distributors or even competitors. You don’t have the time or resources to do the 25 things that most marketing consultants typically recommend you do. You’ve invested in marketing efforts in the past but did not see real results. You just want a practical, affordable and scaleable plan to help you make your website stand out online. I’m with you.

Blogging Power

Among the long list of factors that would help improve the ranking of your site, the most important factor is the quality of your content. How does that relate to blogging? Blogging is a tool that allows you to continuously create quality content by sharing your thoughts and expertise in a specific field. And because of their value, blogs are

• one of the most trusted source online
• a powerful tactic in attracting targeted website visitors
• relatively easy to kick off

Search engine optimization (SEO) was ranked high in 2015 because Google would rank high, sites with SEO. In 2017, that has changed. Although SEO is still a factor in higher ranking, Google now condemns pages loaded with keywords and offer little value. According to Inviso Marketing, “SEO have to work hand in hand with content marketing to create great content”. And when you have great content on your site, you leverage your social media channels to promote your content and draw traffic to your site. That way you’re not only engaging with your audience but are also offering substance in the messages or updates you are posting.

Blogging does not have to turn into a chore. You want to make engaging with your customers online easy, fun and rewarding. After all, it is a powerful way to connect with existing and potential customers. As a small business, you can’t afford not to blog.

Blog Definition

Just for fun, I ran a search on “what is a blog” and went where no man has ever gone before: the 2^nd, 3^rd and even 4^th page of Google result pages. Needless to say, results on this topic are countless. But here’s a brief, yet clear, description of what a blog is:

• • A blog is a section on your website that ideally falls under https://www.company.com/blog.

• A blog is made up of a series of individual posts that you (one or more experts) create and publish regularly.

• Each post consists of a new web page, e.g., https://ifarah.ca/2017/11/01/about-ifarah/
• A post is an informal piece of writing ranging from 400-800 words (always debatable).
• A post may also include images or a video.
• A post includes links that point to areas of interest on your site as well as on 3^rd party sites.

Blog Anatomy

Now that you know a little more about the blog value and what a blog is, let’s look at what a blog post consists of. When you blog, consider including items on this list:

• a catchy title that makes your audience want to click and read more
• a sub-title with supplementary keywords, clarifying further the topic in your post
• a clickable or decorative image to enhance the overall look and feel of your post
• a format that is easy on the eyes, which may include sub-headers, bulletted lists, and so on
• keywords, including long-tail strings, in the blog post address, title, sub-header and body.
• links that point to other websites that you referred to for quotes or statistics or that give users additional information on a related topic
• links that point back to sections within your own website that are relevant to the topic and help users find out or learn more
• an action that your reader can take to move on to the next step after reading your post, in other words, a call to action.

Some of the things you want to avoid include the following:

• writing for google instead of your readers
• over-using keywords
• using images with no alt tag or text tag, which means an image that Google can’t read
• attempting to cover multiple topics within a single post

The blog anatomy is a critical factor of converting your blog post from a communication tool into an effective marketing tool. If you have any questions about the do’s and don’ts, feel free to ask in the Comments section below. Also make sure you follow our blog; simply click on the blue Follow button over on the right or, if you’re using a mobile, then find the button further below.  We plan to continue exploring the topic of blogging, SEO, what quality really means, and other topics related to making your business thrive online.