Content marketing. Storytelling. Content strategy. Tailored content. We could toss around buzzwords all day but what it all boils down to is this: more and more people are realizing the importance and value of well-written, relevant content on a website. Good content makes a difference in search engine optimization and it makes a difference in how sticky your website is for your target audience.
One tool that TBH Creative recommends to our clients looking to “up their content game” is blogging. Whoever said blogging is dead was wrong. Blogging has certainly changed, maybe grown up a bit, but one thing’s for sure it’s alive and well.
One tool that TBH Creative recommends to our clients looking to “up their content game” is blogging. Whoever said blogging is dead was wrong. Blogging has certainly changed, maybe grown up a bit, but one thing’s for sure it’s alive and well.
When done well, blogging is a conversation, a sharing of opinions, and a teaching tool. When written effectively a blog post will draw traffic to your site – the right kind of traffic – and make them want to stick around and learn more. So just how do you write an effective blog post?
Know your audience
Like any good writing project, it starts with your audience. Learn everything you can about your audience. Their likes and dislikes. Their issues related to your product or service. Their comfort level with technology. Keep all of that in mind when you come up with your article subjects and even more so when you actually start writing.If your writing doesn’t connect and engage your audience, it’s not an effective blog post. Seems simple, but it’s easy to forget. After all, it’s easier to write about something that you personally are interested in. It’s also easier to write about your product as if the reader already knows all the ins and outs and funny acronyms that you and your coworkers toss around. But if those aren’t common topics with your audience… you’ve lost them.
Tell a story – in an engaging yet concise fashion
Once upon a timeEveryday
One day
Because of that
Because of that
Until finally
Look familiar? It came from The Pixar Pitch and is an excellent way to guide your writing into more of a storytelling fashion. An effective blog post tells a story with which readers can identify. The Pixar Pitch is one example of a clean, simple way to organize your story:
Once upon a time I became tired of reading shallow blog articles that didn’t tell me anything new. I decided that I wanted to make sure my writing didn’t fall into this murky bad blog trap. Every day I read articles, watched talks and listened to podcasts about content marketing via blog posts. One day I decided to take this knowledge and try to help people write more effective, engaging blog posts. Because of that, we added the topic to our editorial calendar. Because of that, I started putting my experience and thoughts into an article. Until finally, that article was published as its own blog post. A blog post about blog posting.
No, that paragraph on its own doesn’t make a compelling, effective blog post. However, it does tell a story. Reveals a few things about the author. Makes the tone of the article a bit more personal. Storytelling does that. So if you can tell a story on your blog, you can connect with customers in new, better ways.
Call to action
One of the best things about the Internet is its connectivity. Everything you write on the Internet has the capability to connect with other related articles or facts or ways to learn more. For a person who loves to research and learn – the Internet is like one big playground. Do yourself a favor, make sure you give people plenty of places to play. Link the reader to related resources so they too can learn more about the topic.And above all – don’t leave the reader hanging. If they are interested enough to read through your entire article, give them ways to connect with you to keep the conversation going. And it doesn’t hurt to thank them for reading. After all, blog writing is a communication piece and you need more than one party to truly communicate.
Thank you for reading. We’d love to talk more about blogging and effective content marketing and the impact they can make on your website. Drop us a note and we’ll be in touch.
