Yes! Blogging is absolutely still relevant in 2022. In fact, roughly 450 million internet users read about 22 billion blog pages monthly. This is why 55% of marketers prioritize blogging as their primary content marketing strategy
Here are some crucial tips for your Blogging
1. Identify Your Content Target
Before starting your blog , determine what subject matter your audience would find imporant, relevant and interesting. Before you begin, don't forget these 3 questions. Make certain you answer “sure” to all 3:
- Will my blog content benefit my target audience? (Your article needs to have a good takeaways for the reader.)
- Do I have some thing new or intersting to share on this topic? (“new” can be your very own experience. Tell a story about your experince or how you helped someone to provide them a better experience.
- Do I have a clear understanding of who my audience is? (Keep the profile of your target market in mind. Write as if you were talking to a member of your target audience one on one and in person.)
2. Write a Capivating Headline
How do you get people to begin reading your article? Pull them into your article with an effective headline.
The headline is where the journey begins. Your intention is to get the reader to travel down your article to the closing statement and Call to Action. Remember that your published blog headline is the primary hook people will see and make a decesion to read further. It will be the breadcrumb that will be seen in:
- Your website blog archives
- Social media
- Search Engine Results
- Emails sent out to promote the blog.
A capivating headline works in any channel in which on your potential targeted readers discover them. There are a few specific techniques to help craft the best headline. You won`t need to use all of those with each headline.
Here are some successful headline writing strategies:
Benefits Focused headline - When a person discovers your headline via a website browser search or social media share. If they see that the information can provide them some benfit or advantage, there`s a very good chance they will click on in your hyperlink to discover ans read your blog.
Dog lovers are going to click on headlines like “Airline Travel Tips for Traveling with Your Dog” Another headline used in popular bolgs about dogs may be "People Foods That are Healthy Choices to Supplement Your Dog's Diet"
Question Focused headline -
Using a question like “What Should You Do if Your Dog Has Eaten Chocolate?" sparks interest and curiosity. Questions are even more powerful when they are written as if talking to one individual. I’m a big proponent of using the word “you” in blog copy.
Choose Power Words -
There are certain words which have been used to capture people`s interest for many years. Free remains a powerful word in a headline, due to the fact getting some thing for nothing creates an automated reaction in many humans.
Here are some more Power Words to make your headlines more capivating:
- Secrets –always alluring to people. We want to know what others don’t know.
- Easy – people are obviously attracted to the path of least resistance. “3 Easy Steps” attracts readers` in.
- Discover – Who doesn`t like to “discover” things? Whether it`s a buried treasure or a brand new life hack you didn`t know that will make your life easier, this phrase works.
These Power Words can be used to create a a detailed phrase of controversy or debate. In reality a controversy can pull in readers. You might not consider this at first, however bloggers that try and please every body get less readers. Many successful bloggers will take a controversial stance on a subject but making sure to back-up their position with good examples and facts.
3. Creating the Opener
Your headline has captured your target audience and they are beginning to read your blog. There are strategies you can use to insure they read the entire article.
One is to again write a compelling question….same approach as using a question in your headline. Just don’t use this one if you already have a question in the headline. That feels redundant.
Sales professionals, both in-person reps and copywriters, use a method recognized as “Getting your prospect to YES ”. What I mean by a YES question is asking the reader something that pretty much guarantees the reader will say yes—“Do you want to make more money next month?” or “Are you ready to find the success you deserve?” These are two examples.
Yes questions grow enagemnt of the reader to the contnet of your article, encouraging readers to continue.If you plant numerous YES questions via your copy, the reader may be a great deal greater receptive on your CTA.
Another approach to kicking off your article is by springing a surprise on them—say something unusual or share a story about a topic you don’t discuss much—“We found the greatest dod when we heard our neighbor's dog had puppies" grabs the reader with a personal story. As long as your opener relates to the topic of the article, your reader will read on.
You could also start with a benefit that your reader will want to know. Finding the right benefit requires an understanding of your blog audience. The more you research your target audience, the quicker you will know their needs.
At some point you will want to test opening your article with a statistic or two. If I started out a blog post with “3 out of 4 Bloggers Succeed Using this Little Known Tool,” you would likely want to read more.
Of course, there’s a reason why most blogs include a eye-catching image at the beginning…photos and illustrations grab attention. If you find a photo that compliment the topic and is interesting your article will be a winner.
4. The Close: Finish Strong
Getting your article off to a great start is important….and so is how you finish. Hooking your reader into a post and then losing them half way hurts the success of the blog.
Know Your Article's Goals - Do you know what you want to achieve before you start writing? This really helps your writing process if you begin with the end in mind.
Ask yourself these questions to help pinpoint the goal of the article:
- What’s the main point to communicate?
- What do you want the reader to do after they finish reading?
- What emotions do you want the reader to feel?
- What’s the take away your reader gains from this post?
Close with a Call to Action - CTA
Thing of CTAs as friendly reminders and helpful encouragements. Some bloggers don’t understand how a call to action works and how to put them into their blog article. When the blogger learns the skill of treating readers with respect and friendliness, they discover many of their readers are happy to respond to their requests…
- More comments on your blog post? Ask readers to comment.
- Taking an informal survey about something blog related? Ask readers to participate in the survey.
- More email subscribers? Encourage readers to opt-in.
- Have something to sell? Share with them the benefit to buying now. Include a deadline to create urgency or make a special offer of some kind to get more interest.
Your call-to-action should has these traits:
- Stays on target with your blog post goals
- One or maybe two calls to action. Don't use more then two!
- Keep the CTA simple. A complicated call to action gets few results.
- Make your CTA have impact. Use a larger font. Even bold it. Treat it like a subhead of headline.
- Try different locations in your artile for your CTA. Many times the call to action works well at the end. But occasionally place it in the middle or even up front so it doesn’t become predictable and easily ignored.
Once your CTA is finished and then you have edited and proofed your article to satisfaction… Publish it. Share it every where you have potential readers, colleagues and influencers who may share it with their networks. Then get planning on your next blog.
