Writing blogs consistently for your brand takes a lot of resources, effort, and time and we all know that time is money! So is it worth your time to actually create a blog?

YES! 

But only if you take the time to research key topics, utilize targeted keywords, and structure your blog properly so Google can efficiently crawl your website. All too often, we see brands slap together random blogs that weren’t written with any real purpose, but they just wanted to “get something up.” Sure, that’s probably better than nothing, but if you’re going to take the time to build a blog, do it the right way!

To put things bluntly, blogs are search engine optimization (SEO) tools that brands use to improve their search engine rankings. Well crafted blogs can be one of the best sources of SEO

So what can a blog do for you and why do you need it?

Drive Interested Traffic

First and foremost, blogs are created to drive interested, organic traffic to your website. But what kind of traffic should you be driving? We’ve found that the sweet spot for blog content is value-added, educational content that answers questions that people are searching for, not necessarily sales-driven content that screams, “buy, buy, buy.”

Let’s illustrate this with an example.

Let’s say you’re a direct-to-consumer (DTC) meat company. Instead of creating a blog that revolves around your meats, make something that’s more applicable to your audience and what they are searching for. Instead of writing, “Why Choose XYZ Farms” you could write about the, “Top 6 Ways To Cook A Tomahawk Steak.” Then you can shamelessly plug your brand in the ingredients list. Nobody is searching for why they should choose your meat brand, but millions of people are searching for how to cook a better steak.

Get the engaged people in the door with value, then hit them with a call-to-action to learn more about your products.

Drive Sales Or Leads

This is where quality writing and real value comes into play. Anybody can put together a 500+ work blog packed full of keywords (which is half of the battle), but if you can’t use your content to position your brand as the market leader, you’ll have a hard time transitioning blog readers into leads or customers.

To add real value for your readers, offer insights in what’s working in your industry or practical ways to solve the problems that your readers have. For example, if you run a med spa that offers facials, create a simple to follow skin care routine for people to use at home. This will build value with your audience and will show your readers that you are truly an expert at what you do, which will translate into more trust and authority in your industry.

Build Trust With Your Audience

Trust is everything in 2021. If people don’t trust your brand, you’ll have an incredibly difficult time making any headway towards your profit goals. By providing answers to the questions that people are searching for instead of just pitching people on your website, you can show your audience that you actually want to help them, not just profit off of them.

To take it a step further, if your audience uses your blog to solve their problems, you can best believe that they are going to trust you when they see you again and more often than not, they will actively search for your blog again for their next question.

Give Yourself More Content For Other Platforms

Let’s shift gears and talk about how your blogs can fuel micro-content on other platforms. In addition to being an SEO magnet, blogs can help you craft weekly content for other platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Tiktok, Clubhouse, and YouTube.

To put this into a practical perspective, you can create micro pieces of content such as images/graphics, short form videos, or short or long form text snippets that break down specific sections of your blog. Then you can use that content for daily posting to add value on other platforms while driving people back to your website to learn more and check out the complete blog

Give Your Audience A Reason To Come Back To Your Website

When you put blog content on your website, you are giving your brand a reason to reach out to your email lists and say, “Hey! Thought you might be interested in this. Come back to our website.” New blogs give you something to talk about which means that you’ll have a valid reason to contact your customers.

Instead of being that “annoying company that sends a million emails,” you can be that “informative company that sends interesting emails.” Here’s the difference… One company looks bad in the customer’s eyes and probably won’t earn more business, whereas the other company becomes a market leader in their industry. 

How To Make A Blog On Your Website

To help you make the most of your blog, here is a crash course, step-by-step process to making a high-performing blog on your website. Every platform is different, but here’s everything you need to get started.

• Keyword research - This will help you determine what to write about what content needs to be in your blog
• Blog Title - Something engaging and structured as an H1 on your blog page
• Blog Body - This should be engaging, spaced out and easy to follow
• Blog Summary - This is great for your blog overview page 
• Blog Imagery - Add at least a thumbnail for your blog but ideally some more photos, videos, or graphics throughout the blog to illustrate your ideas
• Call-To-Action - Add in some form of call to action at the end to encourage readers to take more action
  

Now that you know how to make a blog and why you need to add a blog to your brand’s website, it’s time for action. The sooner you start building your blog, the sooner you can reap the rewards from your increased engagement and SEO.

If you need some help getting your keyword research done or if you need some help implementing your blog, get in touch with the 253 Media team and one of our website experts will help you get rolling.