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Every business should have a blog. Whether you’re selling a brand, producing tangible products, or delivering a service, you gain greater exposure and a wider client base when you invest in SEO blogging. But not all blogging is effective. To ensure that your blog benefits your business, you have to approach it intentionally. Here are four things to consider before you start a blog.
Audience
Before any other blogging decisions, you need to clarify your goals. Why do you want to begin a blog? Is it to gain new clients? To inform your current client base? Perhaps you want to become an authoritative voice in your industry, or regularly roll out new products and services. More than likely, your vision for a blog is a combination of several different goals. These goals will assist you in pinpointing your desired audience, which is an essential part of SEO blogging. Your chosen audience influences the tone of your blog, the keywords you choose, and the topics you explore. Once you clarify your blog’s audience, you have a foundation to build upon.
Authors
Another essential piece of SEO blogging is knowing who will be writing your content. While a blog is an excellent tool for business, only quality content will benefit your organization. Having posts written by your marketing department is a frequent choice, as is a rotating system of expert bloggers from various departments. However, many companies find that their best potential in-house bloggers simply don’t have the time or resources to dedicate to writing posts regularly. Additionally, SEO blogging requires a certain measure of expertise to drive traffic, meaning that without appropriate training even the best thinkers in an organization may not bring in the readership you’re hoping for. If you don’t have in-house writers trained in SEO, consider looking for professional writers to create content for you.
Blogging Platform and Hosting
Your blogging platform is the scaffolding in which you arrange your blogging content. Some blogging platforms, such as WordPress, also serve as hosting services, but not all. If you are looking to start a blog from scratch, be sure you secure both hosting and a quality platform. However, if your organization already has a website, you likely already have some sort of hosting capabilities there. Also, beware free hosting services. While you can’t beat the price tag, they may cost you by limiting your blog traffic. Free hosting services are typically slower and use domain extensions that diminish your SEO.
Traffic
As a final consideration before beginning a blog, make a plan for how you will drive traffic to your site. Good content is what keeps readers, but marketing is what gets them there in the first place. This means that you need to put real effort into drawing readership, not just hope that interested parties will stumble onto your blog by chance. Consider finding assistance from specialists who understand SEO blogging and web marketing. Also, use your presence on social media to promote and distribute your posts as you publish them. Similarly, creating an email list with teasers of new posts is a great way to drive blog traffic. Smart, targeted advertising is another way to bring new readership when you’re really looking for growth.
Every modern company needs a blog, and every blog needs a plan. By considering these four key aspects of SEO blogging, you will be well on your way to establishing an online space that grows your business through thoughtful and high-quality content. Need help creating the blog that you want? At Quill Marketing, our blogging and content specialists craft quality content that drives traffic to your website. Contact us today for more information.