by Andy Ditchburn | Feb 15, 2018 | Blogging |
Content is a crucial part of marketing strategy! Without great content, you’ll struggle to captivate and engage anyone.
Creating content for your digital marketing strategy can be a time consuming task. Most small businesses that I work with are pressed for time and need to work smarter to implement their digital marketing strategy.
It’s well worth setting aside time for content. You’ll benefit from better results and a higher return on investment if you produce great content regularly.
I recommend that most of your content should start on your blog. Your blog is an important digital marketing tool because it’s likely that this space is ‘owned’ by you. When you ‘own’ a digital marketing space, you have full control over what happens in this space. You don’t ‘own’ your social media accounts. All of the major social networks could make significant changes to the channels tomorrow or shut your page down completely.
Obviously your content can be appropriately repurposed for your social media channels and email marketing campaigns, but I think taking the approach of creating content initially for a blog is the best option.
It makes sense to put most effort into ‘owned’ digital marketing space!
Here are 2 approaches to help you to consistently produce great content –
Have a blogging day (or half day) –
Simply set a day, or a half day aside at regular intervals throughout the year. This could be monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly – depending on how much content you need to produce.
This day or half day should be set in your diary in advance.
Any mobile devices (or anything else that will distract you) should be switched off.
Having time set aside where you can work with no distractions will encourage maximum productivity.
I’ve worked with clients who’ve taken this approach and then chosen to schedule all of the content that they created in these sessions.
Having content scheduled in advance is a great place to start from. This allows you to check into digital channels for a short space of time throughout your working week just to engage with people.
Discover how to blog like an expert. Check out these other blog posts.
Set yourself the 1 hour blog post challenge –
Procrastination and the constant search for perfection can often hinder content generation strategy.
This approach is more appropriate if you don’t feel able to set aside longer time slots. It relies on more frequent 1 hour slots. These slots would probably need to be set weekly or fortnightly.
Essentially you have 1 hour to write, publish your blog post, then share on social media.
Discover how to blog. Check out my mini guide – Who else wants to blog like an expert?
I’ve recently worked with clients who’ve benefitted from both of these approaches. Which one would work for you?
Adopting one of these approaches will help your content! But producing great content will always be easier if you have a content strategy and plan.
You can find me on Twitter at Perro_Andy. #freemarketingtips
Download my FREE workbook – How to do great marketing and win more customers.
by Andy Ditchburn | Nov 2, 2017 | Back 2 Basics, Blogging |
Everyone should learn how to blog! If you’ve already started blogging, then there’s always room for improvement!
A blog will naturally take some time and effort to set up, but when you’re up and running it’s a great marketing tactic that can support and enhance your overall marketing and digital marketing strategy.
Blogging is a great way to cost effectively market your business! Publishing regular content will help to improve your overall online presence and drive more traffic to your website. Becoming a better blogger will bring personal satisfaction as your writing skills improve. Blogging is also one of the fastest ways to become recognised as an ‘expert’ in your field.
Blogs are a highly reliable and trusted source of information online. Around 80% of online users read blog content.
Here’s my back 2 basics guide on how to blog quicker, smarter and more effectively –
Why should you learn how to blog?
If you start a blog, you will –
Become a better writer.
Learn more, as you naturally research for your posts.
See things from a new or different perspective.
Boost your digital marketing strategy.
Increase self confidence and achieve personal satisfaction.
Increase self discipline.
Push you further, or completely away from your comfort zone (this is a good thing!).
Stay in touch with your personal online community.
Improve your seo and help to drive more traffic to your website.
Build and engage with a wider audience.
Create unique content that can then be shared on your social media channels.
Build credibility and authority.
Help you to become an expert, or the ‘go to’ person in your field.
Inspire and help others.
Check out this recent blog post –
How to be inspired to write amazing blog posts
I’ve created a simple 5 step approach to help you to get started with blogging –
If you’ve already started your blog then it’s still worth revisiting this list.
Step 1. Choose Your Blogging Platform
Step 2. Set Up Your Blog
Step 3. Decide What To Blog About
Step 4. Publish Your First Post
Step 5. Continue To Publish Great Content
Steps 1 and 2. Choose Your Blogging Platform and Set Up Your Blog
I generally recommend that WordPress is the best platform to use for a blog. Unless you have a unique specific requirement that WordPress can’t accommodate, I’d start with WordPress.
WordPress, the worlds most popular content management system, currently powers around 75 million websites. It’s often the ‘go to’ platform to start blogging from.
WordPress bloggers need to choose between WordPress.com or WordPress.org. This often causes confusion, as there’s some important difference between the 2 options.
On WordPress.com it’s free to set up and host your blog, but overall functionality and flexibility is limited. Also, you would need to have ‘.wordpress’ in your name, so you can’t even control or move your own blog.
I advise bloggers to use WordPress.org and self-host their blog. There’s a small monthly fee associated with domain name registration and hosting, but increased functionality helps to create a more professional appearance. Unlike on WordPress.com, you actually ‘own’ your blog and have flexibility to move in the future.
Here are some of the other main benefits to using WordPress.org to drive your blog –
WordPress is very easy to install. Most hosting providers now have an automatic WordPress installation feature.
Content is easily managed and updated through a simple interface, which is very similar to standard text editing software.
If you do get stuck and require additional support, then there’s lots of material available from magazines, books to blogs and online forums.
There are many templates and themes available to customise the look and style of your blog.
There are lots of other compatible online tools and plug-ins, integration with these is often seamless.
Excellent search engine optimisation principles ensure that WordPress blogs rank highly on search engines.
Find out more at https://wordpress.org.
Discover how to blog like an expert. Check out these other blog posts.
Step 3. Decide What To Blog About
Blogging is all about connecting with your audience. It’s important to understand who your audience are and what they want (or need) to know.
Your audience should be niche. If you try to communicate with everybody, you’ll end up communicating with nobody.
Some considerations might be – How can you engage an audience? What tone and style of language should you use? How can you solve their problems?
I recommend creating around 6 – 10 ‘topics’ or ‘categories’. These should help to drive new ideas for blog content.
Here’s some popular choices –
How To
Tutorial
Case Study
Product
Solve A Problem
The List
The Check List
Myth Buster
A Glossary
FAQs
Infographic
Fictional
Research
Guide
Inspirational
A to Z
Series
Behind the Scenes
Opinion
Interview
Story
Review
Recommendations
Questions and Answers
Step 4. Publish Your First Post
What should be included in your blog posts –
Headline
Think carefully about your headline! The main purpose is to influence and encourage your audience to ‘click through’ and read more.
Find out more about the importance of the headline –
How to write headlines that will encourage your audience to read your blog posts
Intro
Your intro is usually the next section to be read after your headline. It should concisely communicate what your audience will ’take away’ from your post.
Images
The quality of your images can make or break a post. All blogs don’t need to have images, but they should be used whenever possible.
Video
As with images, it’s a great idea to embed (as professional as possible) video in your blog posts.
Text
Try to use short paragraphs to make your posts more inviting and easier to read. Headings, sub headings and captions can also be used throughout to not only improve the appearance, but to make your blog posts easy to read.
Links
Your blog posts should contain appropriate links. Don’t give your audience too many options – only use links that you really want to be clicked on.
Social Media Sharing
Your posts should include social media sharing icons. This will encourage and make it easier for your audience to share your content.
Comments
Allowing your audience the chance to leave comments is a good idea. Your blog platform should allow you to approve comments before they are displayed.
The ‘Call to Action’ –
A ‘call to action’ (sometimes referred to as a CTA) is an instruction intended to provoke an immediate specific response.
It should be the next ‘natural’ step that you want your audience to take. Therefore, it’s important that the ‘call to action’ is strong, visible and appropriately positioned within your post.
The ‘call to action’ is usually (but not always) displayed at the end of a blog post.
In digital marketing and on a blog post, a ‘call to action’ will usually direct the audience to ‘click’ on something.
Your ‘call to action’ could be –
Other blog posts that your audience might want to read
A link to your website or social media platforms
An eNewsletter sign up or opt in form
A link to your online store, with a discount or coupon code
A free download or a free limited period offer
Here’s some tips to help your blog posts to get found on Google –
Establish a relevant key word or key phrase
As part of your overall marketing strategy, you should have a list of key words and key phrases that you plan to be found on.
Select only 1 key word or key phrase for each blog post. It’s important not to ‘key word stuff’. If you select multiple key words and phrases and pack them into a single blog post, then it’s likely that Google will penalise the post.
Include your key word or key phrase into relevant parts of your blog post –
The headline (or title) of your post
Headings, sub headings and body text
The url of your blog and / or the individual post
Categories and tags
The name, alt tag and descriptions of your images
Please note: It’s important that you don’t ‘key word stuff’. Always write firstly for your audience not for Google. Ensure your content is well written and authentic. Key word stuffing will annoy your audience and ensure that your posts are penalised by Google.
Some other tips to help your blog to get found on Google –
Make sure your blog is mobile responsive. Websites that aren’t mobile friendly wouldn’t rank as highly on mobile devices. As traffic from mobile devices is set to increase even further in the future, it’s important that your blog is fully mobile responsive.
Include internal links. It’s a good idea to include links to other relevant pages within your website or blog. This will show authority on your chosen key word or key phrase. You could also include external links.
Make sure the length of post is good length. As a general rule, your post should contain between 300 – 700 words. Less than 300 words won’t provide enough content for Google and more than 700 words will probably discourage your audience from reading.
Step 5. Continue To Publish Great Content
Follow these tips to become a better writer –
Be authentic – Write for your audience, not for yourself, your peers, or Google.
Don’t sweat the headline – Leave your headline until the end – a great headline will become more apparent when the copy is complete.
Get organised – Use the same notebook or an app like Evernote to record your thoughts and ideas.
Get to the point – Be concise. Don’t waffle.
Create your routine – Find the best space to work from (this will be different for everyone).
Get on with it – Don’t stare at a blank page for too long! Get some ideas or a rough outline down as soon as possible.
Have a blogging day – Write and schedule several posts in one day.
Be disciplined – Sometimes it’s easy to ‘overthink’ things. Sometimes it’s best just to ‘get on with it’!
Start with the words – Pictures, infographics and video should be added to the end of a finished piece.
Use consistent language – Develop an ‘appropriate’ list of adverbs and other phrases that you will frequently use.
Research and be inspired – Subscribe to and read other interesting blogs.
If you’re still learning how to blog or are a more experienced blogger – these are my top blogging tips –
The headline is crucial! Craft intriguing and interesting headlines that will encourage your audience to ‘click through’ to read more.
Use social media sharing icons on all of your blog posts. Encouraging your readers to share your posts is always a good idea. The sharing icons should be positioned prominently on the page.
Ensure your blog posts are fully optimised for Google. Your blog posts should contain your key words and phrases in areas including the headline, first line of text, headings and sub headings, categories and links, alt text on images and other internal and external links.
Use a strong ‘call to action’ (CTA) on all of your blog posts! Don’t neglect the call to action! CTA’s are the best way to encourage your visitors to do exactly what you want them to do!
Share your blog posts at least once on all of your social media networks.
Publish your best posts on platforms like Medium.
Guest blog! Approach other bloggers and ask if you can create content for their blog.
Maximise email marketing. On a regular basis email all or even just your best blog posts to your subscribers.
Repurpose your blog content. Your blog posts can easily be transformed into a series of social media posts, infographics or video.
Keep an eye on your statistics. If you know what topics, categories and type of posts work well, then you should be creating more like this.
Here’s how to blog smarter and more efficiently! The best tips to repurpose content
Discover how to blog. Check out my mini guide – Who else wants to blog like an expert?
It’s easy to slip into bad habits. Here are some things that you should avoid (or completely stop) doing –
Constantly Selling
Your goal should be to generate valuable content – don’t try to sell to your audience at every opportunity.
Misunderstanding Your Audience
Do some research – find out more about what your audience want or need to know. Don’t always assume that you already know this.
Constantly Reposting Old Content
It’s really o.k. to reuse the occasional old post. If you do this, I recommend revisiting, adding to or rewriting the post. If you are copying and pasting existing content, then try to improve it.
Posting Anonymously
People connect with people. To successfully engage with your audience, you’ll need to let them know who you are.
Publishing Really Long Posts
Don’t rant! Get to the point! Make sure your posts are concise and not long essays.
Including Too Many Adverts
Don’t go overboard. Avoid anything that doesn’t reflect your personality and values. If you have monetised your blog by selling advertising space, then tread carefully and be selective.
Ignoring (or using poor quality) Images
Images make a huge difference. If your posts use images, they’re more likely to be read and shared by your audience. Preview your post before publishing to ensure that your image hasn’t distorted or pixelated.
Forgetting About Social Media
Include social media sharing icons on your posts and encourage your audience to share your posts.
Keyword Stuffing
Everybody wants (or should want) to get found on Google. If you concentrate on generating quality, authentic content, then Google will automatically index your blog appropriately.
Posting Incomplete Content
Don’t forget to add things like categories, tags and other data that will help your audience to find your posts.
Neglect Call To Actions
It’s important to strike a good balance! No one wants to be constantly sold to, but it is important to include a relevant CTA. Don’t be afraid to ask your audience to take the next step.
Ignoring Comments
how to blogDon’t start something if you don’t intend to finish it. If somebody comments (however positive or negative) then you really need to respond.
In Conclusion –
I hope you enjoy writing, publishing and sharing content! Like many other things in life, if you don’t start doing this now, in a years time you’ll certainly wish that you had!
When I’m working with someone who is starting a new blog, my advise is always to develop a strategy and set realistic targets and objectives. However, sometimes it’s a good idea to jump in, make some mistakes and learn a lot from the experience.
Your strategy is important, but you’ll learn so much from experience!
Share your experiences of blogging. Let me know if you think something should be added to this blog post.
Lets get connected! You can find me on Twitter at Perro_Andy. #freemarketingtips
Download my FREE workbook – How to do great marketing and win more customers.
by Andy Ditchburn | Sep 13, 2017 | Blogging |
Creating content for your blog and digital marketing strategy can be a time consuming task. Most small businesses that I work with want to learn how to blog smarter and more efficiently.
Content is the heart and soul of any blog. Most bloggers spend hours or days trying to create great content that their audience will relate to and therefore want to engage with.
Your content has a shelf life! If you frequently create and share new content, then older content very quickly starts to fade into the background.
Repurposing allows you to adapt and develop older content to be used again, only in a different format.
Your old content could be repurposed into free downloads, infographics, courses, video or social media posts.
Here’s how to blog smarter and more efficiently! The best tips to repurpose content –
Repurpose text into audio, video or an infographic –
It’s good to experiment with different types of media. Your audience might respond better and therefore engage more with a certain type of media. It’s a good idea to do this to your older most popular blog posts.
Update your older posts –
Things naturally change and evolve over time. If some of your older popular blog posts are a little out of date, then it’s a good idea to update and reuse them.
Discover how to blog like an expert. Check out these other blog posts.
Combine older posts to create new longer posts –
Several shorter older blog posts can be combined to create one newer longer post. This will support your SEO strategy as Google prefers longer content.
Share all of your blog posts on social media –
As soon as you publish a new post, share the link across all of social media networks.
Turn old blog posts into social media posts –
Blog posts that contain a list of items or tips are ideal to turn into a series of social media posts.
Turn presentations into blog posts –
If you’re used to giving presentations in PowerPoint or Key Note, then check through some of your older slides and presentations. You’ll probably find content that you can adapt and use in your blog.
Repurpose a series of blog posts into an ebook –
If your blog posts fall into specific categories, then it might be a good idea to take a series of posts and turn them into a downloadable PDF or ebook.
Publish your very best content on platforms such as Medium –
Creating content for platforms like Medium doesn’t have to be a standalone activity and therefore require more time and effort. Your very best content can be adapted for different publishing platforms.
The main benefit of repurposing content is saving time. Instead of starting from scratch every time you need to create content, when you repurpose content a lot of the hard work has already been done.
Other benefits of repurposing content include –
Your messages will be communicated coherently and consistently.
You’ll find new methods to communicate your messages.
Your audience might respond and engage more effectively to different types of media.
Creating more content will support your search engine optimisation strategy.
Discover how to blog. Check out my mini guide – Who else wants to blog like an expert?
Everyone should create great content and learn how to blog!
To find out more check out my Mini Guide – Who Else Wants To Blog Like An Expert.
You can find me on Twitter at Perro_Andy. #freemarketingtips
Download my FREE workbook – How to do great marketing and win more customers.
by Andy Ditchburn | Aug 16, 2017 | Blogging |
Learning how to blog is a great way to cost effectively market your business! Blogging is one of the fastest ways to become recognised as an expert in your industry or field.
Setting up your blog, figuring out how to blog and publishing great content are the important first steps! Understanding how to use your blog to drive traffic to your website is when you start to really maximise your blog!
Some people think of their blog as being the place where content eventually ends up. They typically publish content on social media channels before it makes its way to their blog. My approach works on the basis that your blog should be the place where your content actually starts its journey.
I also believe that your blog should be ‘owned’ by you. Platforms like Blogger and Tumblr are great for amateurs or hobby based brands. But if you want to be taken seriously, then it’s worth investing a relatively small amount of money to operate on a platform that you have total control of.
Here are some great strategies – how to blog like an expert and drive more traffic to your website –
The headline is crucial! Craft intriguing and interesting headlines that will encourage your audience to ‘click through’ to read more.
Use social media sharing icons on all of your blog posts. Encouraging your readers to share your posts is always a good idea. The sharing icons should be positioned prominently on the page.
Discover how to blog like an expert. Check out these other blog posts.
Ensure your blog posts are fully optimised for Google. Your blog posts should contain your key words and phrases in areas including the headline, first line of text, headings and sub headings, categories and links, alt text on images and other internal and external links.
Use a strong ‘call to action’ (CTA) on all of your blog posts! Don’t neglect the call to action! CTA’s are the best way to encourage your visitors to do exactly what you want them to do!
Share your blog posts at least once on all of your social media networks.
Publish your best posts on platforms like Medium.
Guest blog! Approach other bloggers and ask if you can create content for their blog.
Maximise email marketing. On a regular basis email all or even just your best blog posts to your subscribers.
Repurpose your blog content. Your blog posts can easily be transformed into a series of social media posts, infographics or video.
Keep an eye on your statistics. If you know what topics, categories and type of posts work well, then you should be creating more like this.
Discover how to blog. Check out my mini guide – Who else wants to blog like an expert?
If you’re not already blogging, then why not? You should learn how to blog! It’s a fantastic way to drive traffic to your website!
Starting a blog will take a while and some effort to set up, but when you’re up and running it’s a great marketing tactic that can support and enhance your overall marketing and digital marketing strategy.
To find out more check out my Mini Guide – Who Else Wants To Blog Like An Expert.
You can find me on Twitter at Perro_Andy. #freemarketingtips
Download my FREE workbook – How to do great marketing and win more customers.
by gordon | May 4, 2017 | Blogging |
Everyone should start a blog! If you’re not blogging, then why not? You should be!
I often meet and speak to people who want to start a blog, but are scared to do so. There’s really nothing to be scared of! It will take a while and some effort to set up, but when you’re up and running it’s a great marketing tactic that can support and enhance your overall marketing and digital marketing strategy.
Blogging is easy to implement and a cost effective marketing strategy for you personally or for your business.
Blogs are a highly reliable and trusted source of information online. Around 80% of online users read blog content.
Discover how to blog like an expert. Check out these other blog posts.
If you start a blog, you will –
Become a better writer.
Learn more, as you naturally research for your posts.
See things from a new or deferent perspective.
Boost your digital marketing strategy.
Increase self confidence and achieve personal satisfaction.
Increase self discipline.
Push you further, or completely away from your comfort zone (this is a good thing!).
Stay in touch with your personal online community.
Improve your seo and help to drive more traffic to your website.
Build and engage with a wider audience.
Create unique content that can then be shared on your social media channels.
Build credibility and authority.
Help you to become an expert, or the ‘go to’ person in your field.
Inspire and help others.
I’ve created a simple 5 step approach to help you to get started with blogging –
Step 1. Choose Your Blogging Platform
Step 2. Set Up Your Blog
Step 3. Decide What To Blog About
Step 4. Publish Your First Post
Step 5. Continue To Publish Great Content
Discover how to blog. Check out my mini guide – Who else wants to blog like an expert?
Find out more in my marketing mini guide – How To Blog Like An Expert.
Like many other things in life, if you don’t start doing this now, in a years time you’ll certainly wish that you had!
Let me know how you get on! Send me a link to your blog! Share your favourite blog posts with me!
