Contrary to popular belief, more goes into writing a blog than banging on a keyboard for 45 minutes every couple of days. It’s a lot of work and effort, but these are mandatory sacrifices for having a quality blog that your audience enjoys!

I’ve never been a fan of vague advice, so I’m going to walk you through the specific things and people you’ll need to have a great blog. Let’s get started!

1. Research
Nobody is interested in your surface-level analysis. If you’re not doing real research on your topic, then your audience has probably heard the same tired take a thousand times before. Really dive in! That extra effort will pay off when you’re able to offer nuanced perspectives that are actually valuable to your audience!

It’s also going to save you time in the long run since it’ll be easier to write once you have a lot of ideas floating around in your head. You can’t bleed a stone, and you can’t write a blog if you don’t have a comprehensive understanding of the topic!

2. Edit
When you’ve gotten the first draft of the blog written, it’s tempting to breathe a sigh of relief and step away from the keyboard. And that’s fine, provided you come back to the draft with a critical eye. No matter how well-written or well-researched you think the blog is, there are certainly going to be edits that need to be made.

I always suggest giving yourself a minute to breathe then going back and editing the draft yourself. Consider whether or not the information is presented in the most logical order, make sure there aren’t any awkward sentences, and overall just polish it as much as you can.

Then hand it over to an editor.

No matter how well you think you’ve edited your draft, I promise you you’ve missed something. And it’s not your fault! You wrote the draft, so it’s naturally harder to notice issues because your brain fills in the gaps that you might have forgotten to write down. Having another editor ensures that the blog makes sense to more people than just you, so I’d strongly advise you to never publish anything that hasn’t gone through editing (preferably multiple rounds)!

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3. Visuals
A good blog goes beyond just having great text. Without visuals, your blog isn’t going to be half as appealing. After all, who’s inspired to learn more by a wall of text? Nobody! I recommend having at least one image at the top of each blog post; something related to the topic that clues your reader into what you’ll be talking about while making the page more aesthetically pleasing.

If you plan on sharing your blog on social media (which you absolutely should), you’ll need visuals to accompany the post! Plain text is less likely to get clicks, so having an accompanying visual for your post is key to getting people reading your blog.

Where do you find these images? There are several free sites with stock photos, and some of my favorites are Pixabay, Unsplash, and Pexels. These are all great resources for finding visuals, but if you want to make them unique to your brand, they’re going to need some editing. I highly recommend that you delegate that task to a graphic designer who will be able to match your brand’s style!

Blog Away
Creating a blog is a pretty big deal, but now you know everything you need to be successful with it. If you want your audience to take you seriously, a blog is a must-have. Use this advice to make sure your new blog is successful and adds value for both your business and your audience!

Do you still have questions about how you can get a blog up and running? Schedule your consultation with The Go! Agency and we’ll talk about it!

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If you’re reading this, then you already know that blogs are great! They spread useful information and act as industry-specific news sources. Just because you like blogs, though, doesn’t mean you understand why your business needs one, specifically.

That’s why I’m here! I personally know how great a blog can be for a business, so I’ll explain some of the advantages of blogging that you’re missing out on!

Establishes Expertise
A blog is a platform in which you can show your audience how much you know. Sure, I can go on Twitter and tell you that I’m a great marketer, but why would you believe me without some proof?

Hence, a blog! I delve into topics related to my industry and get to show my audience that I know what I’m talking about. This way, it’s harder to write me off as another internet blowhard, and you’re more likely to take me seriously.

This isn’t exclusive to me, though—virtually every business’ blog works this way. If you’re going to claim to be an expert in your field, you’ll need to show some industry know-how and insight! A blog is the perfect platform, since you can tailor it to your business’ unique interests and voice!

Gives You Content to Share
If you’re really trying to promote your business, you might not want to link to outside sources like news articles. After all, you worked hard for those clicks, and you want them to go to your site. If this sounds familiar, setting up a blog is a great idea!

Your audience gets the news they need, and you get to keep them on your website. This makes it more likely that they’ll look around your website, which in turn means better odds of converting your visitors into customers! You’ll find that this strategy is far more preferable than just inundating your audience with endless promotions!

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Keeps Your Readers Engaged
Whatever your online marketing strategy is, it can’t be entirely comprised of promotions for your business. Your audience needs something to keep their interest, and blogs are a great tool for that. Since you’re presumably marketing to people who are interested in relevant topics in your industry, writing timely blogs is a great way to create value for your audience by offering them your unique insight on these issues!

Balancing out your promotions with valuable blog posts is a great way to make sure your audience isn’t just tuning out your posts. And on sites like Facebook, the more attention they’re giving to your interesting blogs, the more likely they are to have your promotions appear organically on their newsfeeds!

Helps You Stick With Your Marketing Schedule
As a professional marketer, you should have a set marketing schedule. For example, what you share in April should build on what you shared during March, and all of it should come together to make a cohesive buyer’s journey for your audience.

Blogging is a great way to develop topics for your schedule! When your social media updates and blog content are all presenting a cohesive message, it makes it much easier to get your point across to your readers. Having more places for your audience to see the message of your content marketing strategy is never a bad thing!

It’s Worth the Time
I hear a lot that people are too busy to blog, and I can’t help but wonder how busy you’d have to be to give your digital marketing strategy less than 100%. If you want to have digital marketing support your business’ goals, then having a blog really is non-negotiable. Blogs are a lot of time and work, sure, but there’s no denying that they’ll help your business!

Are you interested in discussing how a blog can help your business? Schedule your free consultation with The Go! Agency!

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