How to achieve good blogs and why they matter
Blogging isn’t everyone’s idea of fun, especially when you have a lot to do for your company, and little time in which to do it. Even if you don’t mind blogging, maybe it isn’t even accomplishing what you had hoped it would, which is to increase site traffic to your website.
Great blogging is an important arm of search engine optimization services, or SEO. It’s worth noting, as Social Media Today points out, that 77% of internet users read blogs, and companies that blog report having 97% more inbound links (which help with Google rankings). So how can you get your blogging on par with this statistic? Here are some tips search engine optimization companies might give to people to get more traffic to their blogs.
Write for readers, not for sales
As Entrepreneur points out in a related article about search engine optimization firms, “Are you writing your blog for your company or for your readers?” Instead of trying to be a salesperson on your blog, try to be a mentor for the reader. Don’t give them a list of “top reasons Joe’s plumbing is the best.” Instead, give them a list of “five ways to try and get a ring out of the sink before you call the plumber.” This helps to build your online legitimacy, and helps to actually generate web traffic and leads — which is the ultimate point of blogging, rather than strict sales.
Incorporate images and infographics
When it comes to processing images versus words, our brains are much more quickly drawn to images. Having a well-matched image for your blog can be the difference between someone navigating away, and staying to find out more. Notice we said well-matched: engaging pictures will relate to your blog and help to outline your post, not confuse the reader as to why a plumbing site uses photos of ducklings. Infographics can be a great boon to company bloggers because they’re often free to use, so long as you credit the source, and can be a great draw for viewers: search engine optimization companies say that publishers who use infographics grow their traffic an average of 12% more than those who don’t.
Follow popular blogging conventions
Here’s one easy fact to remember: the only place people want to see endless blocks of text is in a book. One big mistake many bloggers make is not bothering to format their text for easy reading. This is a problem, considering that adequate white space has been shown to increase reading comprehension by 20%. Web design firms recommend breaking your blog up into short paragraphs, employing bullet points, and using sub-headings to draw readers’ eyes down the page. Brevity is valued: if your blog ends up 900 words long, you either have a lot of fluff, or enough material for two blog posts rolled into one.
Why are blogs so important for your site?
These days, it seems that everybody and his brother has a blog, and while it sometimes seems that a blog is just a way for people to hear themselves talk, it is actually one of the cornerstones of content marketing that can make a big difference in a business’s visibility and credibility in its field.
There are several goals to keep in mind when starting a blog on your website. You’ll want the blog to achieve the following aims:
- Increase traffic to your website
- Boost your website’s SEO ranking
- Keep customers, or potential customers, on your site longer
- Convert website visitors to actual customers
First impressions are everything
Creating a blog is an easy thing to do. Creating a quality blog that truly informs and entertains is a bit more challenging. For a business website, blogging has become part of the package. Prospective customers go to a website for two primary reasons: to buy or to learn. If they can accomplish both, that’s even better. But in order to keep people coming back, you need to look good. That’s why custom blog design and an editable website are so important.
When you’re dealing with web marketing for a growing business, you can’t be content with making a good first impression. On a regular basis (daily if you’re doing things right), someone will discover your business website, including your blog, and will be impressed, or not. Those who are turned off might not return; they may consider you unprofessional and seek out your competitor.
By working with IBIS Studio, an interactive design and marketing agency, your blog can become more than just a place to share your thoughts. Among other things, we provide our customers with custom blog designs that are eye-catching, allow for plenty of interaction with readers and make a real impression. We’ll also help you manage keywords within your blog that will bring more traffic and more positive word-of-mouth advertising from satisfied visitors.
The only constant is change
One of the unwritten rules of business, especially business on the Internet, is not to get too comfortable. You may spend a lot of time and effort on your website, and it may look wonderful, but at some point, something needs to change.
By having a regular blog with a custom blog design, you are automatically bringing change to your website. While this is good, it’s also necessary to have an editable website. No one wants to hear about the special you had two years ago. An active business always has something new to offer. This not only helps keep customers engaged on your website, but it tells search engines that your business is staying on top of your field.
Turning lurkers into customers
If a customer wasn’t interested in the product or service you were offering, they wouldn’t be browsing on your website. Some don’t know when they are ready to buy and need a bit of a push to give customers a chance to act. Because of this, a call to action is an essential part of quality content marketing. For many, it is the invitation they need to move forward.
What do you think search engine optimization companies would advise for better SEO blogging? Let us know in the comments.
