Can you believe the first ever blog was posted in 1994? At first, blogs were seen as irrelevant posts, created by people who have too much time on their hands. 28 years later, they’re an essential part of content marketing and covering every industry including travel blogs, fashion blogs and lifestyle blogs. With over 600 million active blogs, they’re now used to provide information about specific topics, inspire audiences to act and increase a brand’s visibility through SEO and shareable articles.
But with so many blogs and so many industries, there can’t just be one blog to master them all, right? Exactly! The great thing about blogs is you can tailor them to suit your purpose and business goals. Let me explain…
What is a blog?
A blog is an online, written piece of content. Each blog should have a particular purpose which the copy, images and links all relate to. Blogs are a fantastic way to increase a company’s authority within their sector, build brand awareness and connect to their audience.
There are lots of different types of blogs but let’s start with the top 5:
Think of your favourite teacher and EDUCATE…
Your business is full of subject matter experts (SMEs in the biz). You have a fountain of knowledge waiting to be utilised and optimised. Also, what a fantastic confidence boost for your team too – they’re great at what they do and you need them to share their expertise to promote a product, explain a service or share all the great things your company’s doing. If they’re not flourishing authors, don’t worry – that’s what copywriters are for!
Provide useful and INFORMATIVE advice…
Think about any time you purchase an item, especially big-ticked ones, you want to make sure you’re investing your money wisely. How do you do this? Through research! By providing informative blogs, buying guides or ‘how tos’, you’re helping customers find the reassurance they need to commit to a purchase.
INSPIRE your audience to do something…
Whether it’s booking a trip, redecorating a room or finding a personalised gift, inspirational content can help your reader make a decision! The headlines you choose, words you write and images you share can spark a sense of excitement; encouraging them to buy, book or ‘add to bag’ for later.
Create honest REVIEWS of products or services…
People value honesty, and customers will align their loyalty with brands they trust. Testimonials and customer ratings are great, but to enhance your reach (and include more of those helpful SEO phrases) blogs dedicated to how something works is ideal. Don’t exclude the negatives though! Advise the costs, size or how much noise it makes; customers appreciate the truth and then it’s their choice whether to stick with it or not.
Share a story with real-life CASE STUDIES…
These could either be included in your blogs or as standalone articles. Either way, they’re a great form of content to showcase your business. By using real-life scenarios, customers can relate to a problem, witness how it can be resolved and appreciate the benefits. Again, it’s an honest review and builds that customer trust.
Do I have to stick to one type of blog?
Absolutely not. In fact, the wider the mix the better! Keep your audience on their toes with a variety of informative, inspirational and fun posts. Blogs should be enjoyable to write and share, so don’t put too much pressure on yourself.
Why you should be blogging
I get writing doesn’t come naturally to some people, like cooking doesn’t come naturally to me! Seriously, I live off pesto pasta. But blogs are a fantastic source of content digital marketing. Some of the content you create can be evergreen; continuously meeting popular keywords, trends and Google searches. You can also repurpose the information across multiple channels. The one key thing to remember is consistency! Google and your followers love regular content to consume and if you fall short, they’ll start looking elsewhere.
If you need any support in creating a blog strategy or writing blogs, I’d love to help you out.
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