Having a blog for your business is important for a number of reasons. It's pocket-friendly, helps drive traffic to your website, and allows you to build a brand voice among other things. But, are you maximizing your blog's potential? Are you just writing things to have content? Is there a purpose behind it? These are key points you should be asking yourself in order to guarantee that your blog is actually valuable on the web.
Blogging is a wide and general platform which can be easy to get lost in. Marketers sometimes tend to get overly excited and don't invest their time on necessary content planning. This in turn leads to a focus on the quantity of content instead of the quality. When the quality of a blog is lost, things like SEO, Google search rankings, traffic, engagement, visibility, and brand awareness also suffer. Therefore, making your blog essentially non-existent on the web.
So, how can you make sure you're maximizing your blog's potential? Check out these tips:
1. Be Mobile
81% of Americans own a smartphone. People are increasingly becoming connected to the digital information world while on the go thanks to their smartphones and other mobile devices. Cellphones have become a primary internet portal due to its accessibility which allows users to access the web, check emails, and perform quick searches.
Imagine if your blog had all the necessary quality content but users can't access it via their cellphones. This simple mistake can cost you a large quantity of views, discoverability, and engagement. If your audience can't see your blog on their phones, it's very unlikely that they'll wait to have access to a computer to read it. When creating your blog, make sure that your platform is mobile-friendly. Test it out before you publish it on the web.
2. Appeal to the Audience
Content marketing means you'll constantly be competing for attention. When you create your blogs, make sure it's easy on the eyes and readable. Avoid huge, chunky paragraphs.
Otherwise, the user will immediately become overwhelmed and exit your site. Start with a clear introduction and stay away from fluff because this will also bore the reader. Keep your content well-defined, straight to the point, and accurate.
You can bold your headers, include bullet points, separate your content into sections, and create lists in order to breakdown your content and make it easier on the reader.
3. Double-check SEO Quality
You may have quality content, amusing writing, and impressive pictures but quality in this case means something specific when it comes to search algorithms. Search engines are constantly modifying their algorithms as millions of sites battle to be on the first page. As you create or before you publish new content, ask yourself these questions:
- Is it a summary of information that can be found anywhere else?
- Does it have any spelling, grammar, or readability mistakes?
- Does it cover the topic related to the search question?
- Does it have negative features like repetition of words?
4. Add Keywords
Search engines depend heavily on keywords. Choosing the right ones according to your content makes all the difference when it comes to your blog's ranking.
Use the Google Search Console tool to identity keyword volume, related words, and relevance. These specific keywords must be included in your title tags, meta descriptions, and anchor text. These keywords will not only help you with your ranking but it may also help attract your audience. Certain keywords, like in your headlines, can evoke emotional triggers that make your blog more likely for a user to click on.
5. Use Meta Tags
This is a brief paragraph of about 150 words that shows up on a search engine's results page. The meta tag determines whether a potential visitor clicks on your blog. It essentially advertises the contents of the blog with eye-catching keywords and inviting descriptions.
6. Include Links
Use your keywords to link to other pages. This will encourage visitors to explore and give a hint to search engines about your credibility and ranking. Make sure not to over do it by using the same keyword to link multiple times, keep it natural and organic for the reader.