The following is a sponsored post from Kristin Savage.

 

So, your business blog is on life support? There could be plenty of reasons for this:

• You’re not the creative type, and you hate to write anyway
• You’re too busy to keep it up
• You don’t understand how blogs should be structured/written, so you just write walls of text
• The topics you choose are over-worked, and nobody cares about them anymore

 

It doesn’t have to be this way. And a business blog is pretty important, actually. It can bring in customers, and customers bring in money.

 

Let’s get your blog fixed right now.

 

First, the Tips

1. Get a Writer

If you aren’t a good writer, or if you just don’t want to write, why are you doing it?

There may be someone on your team who is good at this.

If not, then hire a freelancer who has a history of success in blog writing. Try several out until you get one who “gets” you and your business.

 

2. Get a Schedule

Whether you are creating your posts on your own or using someone else, get a regular schedule.

Humans are funny – they like structure.

If they know you are posting once a week, then they will expect that, and they will come to see what you have to say when you are supposed to say it. Don’t disappoint.

 

3. Stop Selling

Blogs are not for selling. They are for entertaining, inspiring, or teaching.

If you know your customer base (you have already created a buyer persona, right?), then you should know what they want.

You should know the type of humor they appreciate; you should know what their needs are; you should know what they value and how your products or services will give them that value. These things should drive your topics, your language, and your style of writing.

Face it: senior citizens looking for solutions to aches and pains have different needs than millennials looking for household gadgets that will ease their lives.

And language and style have to be very different too.

 

4. Simplify

You may have an advanced degree and a sophisticated vocabulary. Your customer does not. And even if he did, he doesn’t want to read an academic treatise.

Simplify your language. Short sentences and paragraphs with simple vocabulary will do.

You can still be an “expert” and speak the language the “commoner” will understand.

 

5. Add some Color

We are all visual people.

Black on white is boring.

Don’t be afraid of color. Embrace it.

Choose a couple of colors that speak to your brand and use them in your posts – sub-headings, points you want to emphasize, etc.

 

6. Ah…the Visuals

Don’t put into words what you can say with a visual.

Blog posts that capture audiences use plenty of them, and you must too.

These include photos, infographics, charts, videos, and, yes, even augmented and virtual reality experiences (this is easier than you think and more on that later).

Today’s consumer would much rather see than read, so give him what he wants. If you sell deck staining and painting materials, then get some “how to” videos in your posts. Or get your happy customers to send in their photos and videos. Nothing like having a bit of “social proof” to show your value.

If you want to know a bit about brain science, know this. The human brain processes visual content far better and retains it more than text. So, why are you creating walls of text with no visuals?

 

7. Break Up Text

When you do create text, let it be snackable.

Your online audience is impatient and usually checking things out on the go.

When you break your blog content into definite sub-headings that tell your audience what the next paragraph or two are about, you give them the option to read that or move on to the next point. Trust me. They will appreciate your efforts to do this.

 

8. Mobile Friendly

Yes, you must. Your website and your blog have to be accessible on mobile devices. If you have not already done so, then get thee to an expert who can make sure that you are “responsive.”

If your blog is not easily viewed on phones, tablets, and laptops, then you will not have an audience.

 

9. Tell Stories

Who are you? What does your brand stand for? What do you value? Are you doing other things besides selling products or services?

Your company has a history; your team members are all humans with their own stories; your customers have stories to tell.

Are you helping to save the planet? Are you contributing in some way to a social cause? When you use these as topics for blog posts, you personalize your brand and make people feel good about you. When people feel good about you, they are more inclined to buy from you.

 

10. Don’t forget the CTA’s

When a follower comes to a post you have created, he wants to be inspired, educated, or entertained.

After you satisfy this need, what’s next?

It’s time for you to get a bit assertive and ask that follower to do something. Do you want that person to share your post with his tribe? Sign up for email delivery of future posts? Link to a page on your site where the product or service is fully explained and can be purchased? Do you want comments or feedback?

Tell that viewer what you want him to do and give him an easy way to do it. (and maybe even an incentive, like a discount, if he follows through). Your readers are not mind readers – tell them what to do next.

 

Now the Tools

While all of the tips above should get you on your way to blog health, you will need some help along the way. That’s what technology is for. Help is out there in the way of some amazing tools to use in content creation. Here are just a few of them.

 

1. Headline Generators: Any journalist who has ever written an article or story for publication will tell you this: the headline is what grabs an audience and “forces” them to read on. In short, if you don’t “connect” with a headline, you are pretty much screwed.

So, access some great headline generator tools (many are actually free), and get yourself a compelling headline for each post. Usually, you will insert some keywords or phrases about your topic and then let the tool do the rest of the work. You can even designate whether you want a humorous or serious title.

 

2. Canva: If you want to create amazing diagrams, charts, infographics, and more in your posts, this is the tool for you. You have a slew of options with this tool and it is so user-friendly, even for a beginner.

 

3. Buzzsumo: Stuck for topic ideas? This site is pretty much the “holy grail” of topic generators. All you have to do is insert some keywords about a potential topic, and the site does the rest. It will pull up the most popular articles, posts, and news articles on that topic. Your job is then to review those and curate that content into something that will reach your audience. the point is this: you want trending topics, and this is how you can get them.

 

4. Grammarly: OK. So, you have finished a post. Before you think about publishing it, go to this site and check out several things. Are any parts of it liable for plagiarism? Are your grammar and punctuation right? Have you simplified the text enough? What is the reading level (most experts agree that it should be no higher than 7^th grade)? All of these things can be checked by just uploading your post onto the website and asking for the “checks” you need. 

 

5. Hemingway Editor: One of the tips above is “simplify.” This means several things. Use short sentences. Avoid a lot of modifiers (aka adjectives and adverbs). Paragraphs should be short too. If you upload your post to this tool, your complicated sentences and “uppity” vocabulary will be pointed out. You will also be given suggestions for fixing your “sin.” If you’ve ever read anything by Hemingway, you will understand the term “simplify.” 

Here’s a list of free writing tools to help you write better today!

 

6. Pick Writers: If you are engaging an international audience, then you need your site and blog translated and content localized for those foreign audiences. This site provides detailed reviews of translation agencies, so you can choose one with a good history in your target languages. You don’t want to make a major goof by having language, symbols, or visuals that are offensive to your foreign audience. Many big companies have made some pretty crazy mistakes. How about this one?

 

Coors Beer had a slogan – “Turn it Loose.” It launched a marketing campaign in Spain and had that slogan translated word-for-word. Unfortunately, the literal translation means “Suffer from Diarrhea” in Spanish – epic fail.

 

7. Creating Videos: Anyone with a good smartphone and mic can create a video. And consumers like informally created videos that don’t have a feel of “professional” production. They are more authentic, and you come off as a more genuine person. So, create those amateur videos and use video editing tools to add music, and another background flair. The newer tools are easy to use. And don’t forget that you can ask your customers for videos too. Posting those on your blog will garner even more authenticity.

 

8. Experiment with Augmented and Virtual Reality: Any video gamer has experienced these two technologies – they’re pretty cool. And the new virtual reality headsets that have been a Christmas gift rage for the past few years have exposed non-gamers to this technology too. Everyone thinks it’s pretty cool. So, why not use it too? Think it’s beyond your level of expertise? Think again. There are now AI and VR creation tools for students that any adult can easily use too. Have some fun and let your audience have some fun too.

 

9. SEO Analytics: Blog posts need to be found, as consumers look to find answers to their problems. They conduct generic searches on Google using keywords and, most recently, longer phrases to pull up sites and blog posts that relate. Search engines rank sites and posts based upon very specific elements. You need to know what elements will get your posts indexed and ranked highly. There are tools to do this. Seobility is a free service that allows business owners to check their sites and posts for SEO strength. Use it or another tool and take the recommendations that are given. And if you are using WordPress, be sure to install the Yoast plugin and follow its recommendations.

Also, check out this 5 best tips to improve your on-site SEO.

 

Are You Overwhelmed Yet?

You may think this is a lot to take in. It is. Good blogs take time, effort, creativity, and are not for the “feint of heart.”

 

You are a business owner. If you are a small company, you have to figure out how you can maintain a blog with everything else you have to do.

 

My advice? Find a great writer who understands how to create a great copy, who “gets” your business, and who understands how to market that blog.

 

If you have a large business, you should have a content creator on board who is really good. Otherwise, you are wasting your money. Above all, blogs should be marketing tools that don’t look like marketing tools.

 

• They exist to educate, entertain, and inspire.
• They exist to present you and your brand as a giver of value, as a human-based company, as a genuine and trustworthy enterprise.
• They exist to provide enough value that readers/viewers will want to share what you have to say
• They do not exist for you to sell your products or services. Build relationships first, then you can go in for the “kill.”

 

Go forth, now, and revive your old, boring blog. It will pay off over time.

 

For further reading:

• How to Blog yourself into popularity plain and simple…
• Outsourcing for Beginners – Can it Work for You?
• 5 best tips to improve your on-site SEO
• 6 best free tools to help you write better today

 

Kristin Savage nourishes, sparks and empowers using the magic of a word. She is practicing regularly while reviewing new translation services at Pick Writers and constantly contributing to other educational platforms. Along with pursuing her degree in Creative Writing, Kristin was gaining experience in the publishing industry, with expertise in marketing strategy for publishers and authors.