Blogs: The Unsung Heroes of Digital Marketing
Many clients think blogs are like online magazines. They think they are just another way to talk to customers, inform them about their products, and share company news.
And blogs can be all those things, but blogs also allow businesses to consistently update their websites, which boosts SEO. They also allow marketers to add lots of keywords and related content, which also helps increase search rankings. Blogs also provide opportunities to add internal and external links, images, and videos, which search engines also like. In fact, blogging can be one of the most effective ways to improve your website’s search engine ranking.
However, blogging isn’t always easy. Which topics should be covered? Who has the time to create one or two (or more) blogs every month? Who is going to develop topics and outlines? And what about writing, creating images, proofing, and posting?
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the thought of consistently blogging, but with a little planning and discipline, you’ll find almost any company can fit blog development into their busy schedule. Here are a few tips to get you started.
Plan Your Blogs Quarterly, or Even Annually
Most businesses know the kind of topics they want to cover over time, so why not create a chart of the content month by month, for the next three months, or even the entire year? This kind of annual content calendar doesn’t have to be detailed. Just choose a topic, add a few bullets to keep track of points you want to make, and you’ve got a calendar. If you need help creating your annual plan, order some pizza and invite the team to a brainstorming lunch.
Create Your Business Blogs in Batches
Why not take advantage of economies of scale? Instead of constantly starting and stopping each month, plan to tackle at least three months of blogs in one sitting. When you write blogs in batches, you’ll avoid repetition, write more, faster, proof consistently, and spend less time on approvals. Whether you plan to write one, four, or 12 blogs a month, creating, proofing, and approving in batches saves time and helps the team avoid last-minute deadlines.
Create an Assembly Line
Once you have a content calendar in place for your blogs, simplify the process by automating each part of the blog creation. Instead of tasking one person with every part of blog development, assign the writing to one person, task another person with creating images or videos, designate an SEO expert who will make sure the blog is formatted to increase search rankings, find a person to proof, and find another person to post the blogs. When you assign parts of “building” the blog to a group of people, no one person is overwhelmed, and each understands their role and can complete it quickly, even if there are a dozen blogs to get through.
In all fairness, writing the blog is the most time-intensive part of the process, so give your writer plenty of time to complete the tasks. But try to keep the blogs together in batches. Resist the temptation to start creating one at a time–that is a recipe for failure.
The assembly-line approach not only saves time but also fosters consistency and feeds the blog funnel, making it less likely that you will “run out” of blog content.
Want to Make Blogging Even Easier?
Of course, hiring a blogging expert like Cup O Content is the easiest solution. We start by thoroughly learning about our clients’ businesses. We handle the heavy lifting of blog creation for many clients, including creating the calendar, writing, developing images and videos, SEO, proofing, and posting. We work hard so you don’t have to.
What are You Waiting for?
Whether you choose to do it in-house or hire an expert, there are many strategies you can use to simplify blogging and create hard-working, high-quality content consistently. So, stop stalling and start blogging! If you want to talk more about your existing or potential blogging program or want to talk to Cup O Content about ways blogs can help you grow your business, contact us today.
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