Blogging can support your company as long as it informs and entertains your audience. When properly executed, your blog can connect you with your prospects and customers on a personal level.
If you first started your blog a long time ago, you might feel as though the online environment has changed since then. It has. The tactics of yesteryear have probably caused your blog to lose its luster and value.
Fortunately, you can breathe new life into your company blog by learning from and applying the following tips.
Make your blog visually appealing
You have many competitors who probably all have websites and blogs. Therefore, standing out among the crowd should rank as one of your top priorities. One of the best ways to do this is to give your blog a distinctive appearance.
Aside from the basics of design, including fonts, colors and structure, other factors, such as visual clutter can affect your site’s appeal. For example, a common problem is displaying too many advertisements near or within your text.
Generally speaking, when you increase the visual appeal of your blog, you also make it more readable. In other words, you can use short paragraphs and bulleted lists to help your readers quickly find the information they need. In your blog posts, you can also use highlighted text to call attention to important points. Additionally, your on-screen elements such as buttons and scroll bars should be easily accessible, especially for tablet and smartphone users.
Finally, make sure you include visual content such as photos and videos to help communicate with your audience. Infographics can also help your blog by making complicated concepts easy to digest.
Tone down self-promotion
Self-promotion can bore your readers and even cause them to leave. So, to keep your audience interested and engaged, make sure you emphasize the delivery of value. If you do this, sales will eventually come.
You can include a smidgen of detail about your business, but make sure your blog primarily caters to customers. Spend your blogging time showing people how to solve problems and discussing other issues that affect your readers.
When you have a clear picture of your readers, you can use it to keep your content properly focused. Create a persona that reflects your audience. Include a definition of that person’s problems, needs, and desires. Anticipate the questions your customers will ask and proactively answer them.
It’s all about making a connection
You need people to make your company successful, so use your blog to connect with readers on a personal level. To do this, you need to show the humanity of your brand along with its great personality. Furthermore, you should take every opportunity to demonstrate your honesty and transparency.
Rather than talking about bland facts, create content that your readers can relate to. Make them want to visit your blog by frequently updating it with new information. Also, take your readers behind the scenes of your firm to let them get to know you and your team better.
Another fantastic way to keep your blog alive is to use it to solicit the opinions and experiences of your readers. By inviting feedback and acting upon it, you give your readers a higher purpose and a sense of value. For example, if you are thinking of developing a new product, consider launching a series of blog posts on the topic to keep your audience interested and engaged. You can then use the information you receive to create products your audience will love or make design improvements to your existing prototypes.
In the end, creating connections with your audience gives you a chance to call them to action. At the end of each post, ask your readers to respond by using the social media buttons, signing up for your newsletter or making a transaction.
Update and promote your older content
To minimize the time you spend blogging, make sensible use of your existing content. In many cases, you can update old articles with new information and promote them. Additionally, you can often repurpose old content by converting it into new formats. For example, a tutorial blog post can easily become a video or a slideshow presentation. Similarly, you can convert a slideshow into infographics and articles.
Using multiple platforms can also help you reuse old content. After all, some of your social media audience may never visit your blog. Similarly, some of your blog readers might not frequent your social media profiles. Without much effort, you can often extend the reach of your brand by promoting your older content on social media.
In summary, despite the changing online landscape, your blog can still contribute to the success of your brand. However, to make it relevant, you need to make it visually appealing and customer-centric. By following the above tips, you can breathe new life into your company’s blog and use it to build personal relationships that can last a lifetime.
