Little Book of Confusables

6 devilishly good tips for brilliant blogs

Whatever business you’re in, blogging should be a vital part of your marketing strategy.

Perhaps you’ve vowed that this will be the year you start a blog, or post more regularly.

These 6 tips will help you do it well.

 

1)   Tell, don’t sell

A well-written, thought-provoking blog is your chance to share your expertise, answer potential customers’ questions, and position yourself as an expert in your field.

Your blog should be informative, knowledgeable – even entertaining.

It shouldn’t be a thinly veiled sales pitch. You don’t like being sold to, and neither does your reader – and they’ll quickly switch off and go elsewhere.

Sure – sign off with a line or two about how your product or service solves the problem you’re writing about, but don’t make your sales message the purpose of the article.

2)   Stay on topic

Your posts should always be relevant to your market.

For example, a recruitment agency could share top interview techniques, ways to motivate staff, to improve retention, or share their take on the latest changes to employment law.

It goes without saying that you shouldn’t be posting the latest movie news if you’re a firm of accountants (however much of a Marvel nerd your marketing assistant is).

Brainstorm ideas for relevant posts with your team, and use the resulting list to create a content schedule.

Commit to posting regularly, but don’t set unrealistic goals – one quality post a month is a great start.

3)   Keep it fresh

Quality blog posts boost SEO and can help drive traffic to your website.

Every blog you add to your site is another page of fresh content for the search engines to index – that’s another chance for you to show up in potential customers’ Google searches.

Keep working those keywords in.

By using your company’s Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn feeds to link to your latest blog, you’re creating shareable content that’ll raise awareness of your business, and help to position you as a trusted authority in your field.

4)   Hello, new customer!

Chances are your target audience will stumble upon your blog because they want advice, information, or answers to a problem that’s bugging them.

Blogging gives you the chance to educate readers and present your expert opinion on the issues that matter to them.

Once they’ve established that you know what you’re talking about – and that your business has the knowledge, skills and solutions to solve their problem – you’re on their radar when they’re ready to make a purchase.

To increase the chances of taking the next step and converting your readers to customers, make sure every post contains a call-to-action and up-to-date contact details so they can get in touch if they need to.

5)   Create a conversation

Regular blogging gives your business a voice – creating a dialogue around current topics that are relevant to your industry, and your customers.

Thought-provoking, informative articles encourage comments and feedback from readers, many of whom will be potential customers.

Welcome any interaction as a chance to find out more about the problems faced by your target audience, and always respond to comments.

Remember – dialogue is the first step in converting prospects to customers.

6)   Finally – in the immortal words of Wham! – if you’re gonna do it, do it right

Your blog represents your business. Think of it as your shop window.

Having a badly written, error-filled blog – or posting for the sake of posting – is worse than not posting at all.

Make sure your thinking is eloquent, well-structured, and well written… and that it supports your brand.

Always read your blog carefully before posting – or get a colleague to do it for you – to catch spelling and grammar mistakes and iron out clumsy language.

Mistakes in your posts show a lack of professionalism and care, and you risk driving your target customers into the open arms of your competitors.

If you don’t have the time – or the skills – to write great blog posts yourself, hire a professional copywriter to ghost-write them for you.

PRO TIP

There’s little point investing your time and effort into a blog with the aim of driving traffic to your website if your web copy isn’t working as hard as it should be. 

well-written website works for you 24/7 with no geographical boundaries.

Is your website working hard for you?

No? Get in touch – I’m here to help.

The Little Book of Confusables by Sarah Townsend

No more confusing words!

The Little Book of Confusables is jam-packed with simple, memorable, fun spelling tips for 600 commonly confused words – from ACCEPT + EXCEPT to YOUNG + YOUTHFUL.

Supercharge your vocabulary with the 2023 GOLD award winner, described as The perfect book for anyone who ever has to write anything!”.

BUY NOW

Your fun guide to confusing words
The Little Book of Confusables
Buy Now