Developing a blog content strategy to get found online.
Notes
What is a blog?
- A page on your website that is updated regularly Company News
- Helpful information
- “Your business diary”
What is a blog for?
Insight into your business Passive helpdesk Credibility / Influence Search optimisation
Why should we write one?
- Get more leads
- Educate our customers
- Improve SEO to key product pages
- Support sales / tech support
Who will read it?
- Who you are writing for?
- Think of your best customers
- Pay well, friendly, good referrers
- Understand what they like
Three types of content
- Helpful – long lasting and specific
- Topical – relevant but short lived
- Product (or service) – sales content
Content type examples
- Helpful (about them)
- How to file VAT return
- How to plan your business cashflow
- How should I price my services?
Topical (about them)
What does Auto Enrolment mean for me?
What is IR35 and how will I know if it affects me?
Product (about you)
Do I need an accountant?
Benefits of cloud accounting with Xero
Topic ideas
- Questions that clients ask Hints and tips
- How to
- Clever ideas
- Insider info / secrets
- What makes you different?
- Something you want to learn or be better at
Use answerthepublic.com to get topic ideas
Content checklist
- Is it based around a relevant topic?
- Am I adding value?
- Do people desire to see it?
- Will they share it?
Focus keywords and SEO
Build a keyword list
Use Google Trends for simple comparison or Google Keyword Planner for detail
Add keywords to the blog title and copy
- (most important areas of on page SEO)
- Title
- URL
- Heading 1
- Keyword research
- Use Yoast SEO WordPress Plugin in WordPress to edit on page SEO
Blog styles
Example style and formats
daringfireball.net (simple design, linear format)
loudandclearaccounting.co.uk/blog (linear format with images)
ratherinventive.com/blog/ (blogs in two columns)
hellopippin.co.uk/copywriting-blog/ (main/popular blogs high-lighted)
communionarchitects.com/articles/ (broken into categories with popular blogs)
Writing tips
Allocate time
Create a regular event in your diary
Find a place that removes distractions
Make a routine, start small
Keep it focused
Write for your audience
Write the snippet first
Read around the subject
Ask for action
Email signup
Find out more
Buy related product
Get in contact for help
Images and video
Increases page views
Helps people scan content
More visible in a social feeds
People more likely to read
(Make sure you check the image license, can you use it for business?)
pexels.com / pixabay.com (free image library)
giphy.com (animated images, mainly silly)
selmach.com/news/going-the-extra…tooling/ (example of video in post)
