This is the first of a 5 part series that will clearly illustrate and define the steps that you will need to help you take your blog to all new levels.
I will be giving you four steps that you need to incorporate into your content creation strategy as soon as possible. You already know the importance of blogging, but are you truly blogging effectively? These four steps, along with the tips and advice contained in the steps, will help you save on your most precious asset in business, your time. Use these steps to your advantage, and you will not only see an overall improvement in your blog, but you will notice that your blog will actually be working for you, and for your business.
Blogging is, at its core, the essence of social media. With every post, you are engaging potential customers and interested parties interactively – they have the opportunity to respond and contribute to the conversation. Blogging is what caused the massive social media revolution in the first place, after all (and don’t forget, Twitter was first described as “micro-blogging”).
TRUST – the real value that blogging brings to your business
We know that more and more people every day are turning to the web to find products and services – and the great majority of them are using GOOGLE for those searches. Google has altered the way we use the web and as we all know too well, their search algorithm has changed drastically over the past decade.
One thing that has not changed is their core focus: the USER. Google strives to provide the absolute best user experience each and every time someone performs a query, with no exceptions. In order for your website to index for searches, Google needs to be able to trust you.
This emphasis on TRUST has been the impetus for every algorithm change Google has made – they want to ensure that their rankings are populated by sites that are trustworthy, credible and meet the needs of the person performing the search. Trust is what makes the time you dedicate to blogging so valuable. Value is what the search engines want readers to get out of your blog posts, and measuring that value is vitally important to search rankings.
Key Point: Google is trying to measure your digital ‘trustability’
When you read a powerful article or blog post that really drives home a key point for you or helps you solve a problem you have, what do you do? Do you interact by leaving a comment? Do you share that post with friends on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn? Maybe you +1 the post or click a “like” button. All of these “social signals” are indicators of the value that you found in that particular blog post – the same holds true with blog posts you build that share valuable insights or present how-to’s to your target market.
Well crafted, targeted blog posts that hit the pulse of your customers “pain” points not only build credibility, authority and trust with those customers, but they also do the same with the search engines. And, unlike many other marketing activities, those blog posts can be relatively “evergreen” and continue to drive traffic, new leads and help your search rankings for years.
A Degree in Content Generation with a Minor in SEO
Blogging effectively to build trust and increase your search rankings hinges on your ability to generate keyword rich content that is also compelling. It’s not easy – as you probably already know. That being said, there are some important techniques and best-practices that will be shared here that should help you hone your blogging skills and build content that has maximum impact.
Avoiding the dreaded “Time Suck”
The urban dictionary defines a time suck as “Something that’s engrossing and addictive, but that keeps you from doing things that are actually important, like earning a living, or eating meals”. Unfortunately, this is often the way that many people view blogging and writing in general as compared to other revenue generating or business activities. The truth of the matter is that the creation of GREAT blog and truly evergreen content can happen quickly.
In my next post, I will introduce you to Step 1. “How to Choose and Prioritize Great Topics.” Make sure you sign up for my blog posts, or like me on Facebook to get the latest!
