There is no better way to build trust and credibility than through a well written and thoughtful blog. Here are five tips to make your website a true information resource.
Commit to Quality
Blogs are free, but time is precious – don’t waste your readers’ time with mediocre content. Evaluate every blog post to make sure that it passes the “so what” test:
- Do I give my readers a reason to care about this topic?
- Does this blog post provide immediate value for my readers?
- Is this blog post in a useful format for my readers?
If you can’t answer “YES” to the three questions above, revise until you can.
Make Connections
Guest blog posting is still an amazing resource for growing your audience. Grow your presence within the online community by reaching out to others in related industries. For example, if your company specializes in fitness services, you might reach out to various nutrition bloggers to offer to post.
Likewise, solicit input from other bloggers who have interesting perspectives and valuable information to share with your audience. By building these relationships steadily, you can become an influential voice in your niche.
Plan Ahead
Set up a monthly or even quarterly editorial calendar with topics to write about. Planning ahead gives you the ability to create excellent content with ample time for research into what your audience is most interested in knowing more about.
An editorial calendar also gives you the flexibility to create content related to current events and breaking news while still having interesting topics posted on a regular basis. This means you can ‘write ahead’ and schedule new content when it’s most relevant to your audience.
Experiment with New Formats
Interviews, video blogs (vlogs), podcasts, webinar summaries – these are just a few of the ways to reach out and get your audience excited about your content.
This year, commit to creating content in a new format at least once every quarter and test the results. Do you get more traffic from videos and podcasts? If so, how does that traffic convert? Once you find a new format that resonates well with your target audience, add the new format to your editorial calendar at least once a month.
Find Your Voice
Often, businesses struggle with striking the right balance between being professional and being “genuine” on their blog posts. One of the easiest ways to address this is to use your company culture to set the tone.
If you are a young, fast-paced startup, your blog posts should reflect that energy and flexibility. Likewise, if you are a family-owned business with generations of experience, your blog posts should reflect those values as well.
Having a consistent voice makes it easier for your website visitors to trust you and your messages. And trust is the first step towards building long-standing customer relationships.
We’d love to hear how you’re planning to grow your Blog following in 2015!