CrazyLeaf Editorial Sometimes writing isn’t as easy as it seems it should be. Even professionals go through a funk from time to time.
Sometimes it’s just for an hour or two, others, the lack of motivation looms heavy for days at a time.
And, chances are if you’re writing blog posts, you’re probably managing a whole host of other tasks, too.
There are social media accounts to keep up with, customers to connect with, and digital analytic reports that, well, need to be analyzed.
Long story short, blogging is a beast. But, one you can manage with the right tools and tricks up your sleeve.
Here are ten blogger help tips to get you started and help you keep writing engaging posts.
1. Give Yourself Space to Brainstorm
One of the useful blogger help tips is setting aside time to brainstorm. The thing about ideas is, most of them aren’t really very good. Setting aside thirty minutes or an hour here and there to consider topics relevant to your unique offering.
Say you’re creating a blog about social media marketing–start by listing a selection of broad topics like how to write for social. From there, you can talk create guides for writing Instagram captions, Twitter headlines, and compelling Facebook posts.
2. Research, Research, Research
You need to be a thought leader in your space. It doesn’t matter if you fix dryers for a living or help small businesses set up their websites, you need to know the ins and outs of your business and how to communicate that stuff to the public.
While you may be an expert in the micro sense, you’ll need to do some research on the issues affecting your space and be able to talk about them in a way that demonstrates authority.
Join online groups like Quora, Reddit, LinkedIn Groups–anywhere people discuss the goings on in your industry.
3. Know Your Audience Really Well
Understanding your audience means that you’ll be able to cater to those people who can best benefit from your knowledge base.
If you haven’t done this already, taking the time to create buyer personas is a good way to make sure you’re writing for the right people.
A buyer persona is a fictionalized, general representation of your ideal consumer. Taking the time to understand your ideal customer means you’ll be able to weed out unqualified leads from the people who are prepared to sign up for your newsletter or buy your products.
You can go about collecting persona information in a few different ways. For one, it’s a good idea to look at competitors, read other blogs related to your industry, and monitor comments on social media.
You can even conduct surveys with your existing customers to learn more about them.
4. Generate a List of Topics
Blogging is interesting in–the idea is you want to offer valuable information to users, but demonstrate a freshness, a relevancy to your readers.
So, you’ll need to come up with a list of topics–divided into two categories–evergreen content versus timely takes on current events.
The latter category builds over time and focuses on stuff that never goes out of style. Examples of evergreen content are things like how-to guides or recipes, pieces that aren’t dictated by trends and expiration dates.
But–if you’re blogging a lot, referencing recent news items in your industry can help you connect with your audience, giving them talking points they can engage you with.
From there, fill in your content calendar–assign posts to specific writers and set deadlines.
5. Spend More Time on your Intro and Headlines
Just as a general rule. Blog posts need a hook and a headline that captures your readers’ imagination. While the meat of the article is important, getting that punchy first impression right means people will be compelled to read more.
6. Don’t Write for Google
It’s very tempting to try to rise through Google’s ranks by filling your posts with keywords. Some bloggers have been taught that you must fill the intro, the titles, and the subheadlines with as many keywords as possible. While you should focus on keywords, Google is more impressed by the useful content.
The keyword stuffing days are over, today, you need to address your audience and answer their questions thoughtfully. If your audience finds your content to be useful, that signals to Google that your site is worth pointing to.
7. Stick the Landing
We mentioned that you need to spend a good chunk of blogging time writing a headline that makes people click and an intro that hooks them.
But, the conclusion is a big deal, too. This is where you set up your call to action and reiterate the points you made in the meat of the article.
It’s also a good place to ask the audience a question, relating the content back to them.
8. Want Blogger Help? Look Toward Your Email List
If the purpose of blogging is to drive business, create a following, or provide information, you need to build an email list.
Even if you’re not actively selling anything, periodically sending an email blast featuring updates, new posts, and more is a way to ask people to look at your content directly.
But, keep in mind, you must demonstrate your value in these emails and your blog content. Otherwise, you’re just spamming your following.
9. Organize Your Blog Post
You want to get the bones right. So, before you start writing, outline your post and determine the structure. This way, you’ll have a list of all the points you need to cover, and a sense of how all sections fit together.
Additionally, you’ll want to make a list of the main takeaways you want to impart on your readers. All this will keep you on task as you write. Read more now about tips for making your website and blog posts more attractive to your audience.
10. Always Edit Your Posts
First of all, don’t edit and write in the same sitting. You need to get some distance from a piece before making those final tweaks. We recommend getting those drafts out first, then spending 30 minutes editing each piece before hitting publish.
Blogger Help 101: Conclusion
We hope these blogger help tips provide some inspiration for your company blog. With writing, like all skills, practice makes perfect.
You’ll probably need to write every day to work out that muscle — but before you know it outlining, editing, and coming up with catchy headlines will be second nature.
For more blogger help and website info, have a look through our content.
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