Lots of companies are starting to question the existence of blogs as most of them aren’t getting read and not generating any wanted leads at all. The truth is, the sweet fruit of blogging takes time to be achieved – you don’t just put a block of text and expect it to be a sensational hit. Successful blogging takes a lot of hard work.
People who dismiss it and say it’s part of the past aren’t perseverant enough to be in the industry. You should know that consistency and persistence are required with this digital marketing tool, as realized by some of the top bloggers today.
If you’re operating a digital marketing company in the Philippines and you’re beginning to fail to see of importance of blogging, look at the following points to help restore your confidence!
Blogging is more than just text
The first thing to keep in mind is that blogging is more than a stack of paragraphs filled with well-researched information and fancy wordplay. While this is true in the early days of blogging, the same thing can’t be said today. With the continuous advancement of technology, more and more innovations are being added in blogs, like:
- Video embeds
- Infographics
- Podcasts
- Social media post embeds
- Other multimedia displays
Simply put, blogging has become more interactive and attuned to the modern way consumers read and advertisers promote. As a digital marketer, you should take advantage of this. The fact that blogging continues to be innovated simply means that it’s still as important as before.
Why blogging is still important in marketing
While fairly new, blogging has some rich and impressive history:
- In 1999, at least 23 blogs were existing in the internet.
- During the early 2000s, there’s a sudden rise of interest in blogging: political articles, how-to guides, and pop culture pieces are some of the most popular ones.
- By 2006, there were 50 million blogs in the World Wide Web.
The evident leap of numbers show how widespread and ingrained blogging is into the general media and while more people are saying the best types of marketing medium today are videos, it looks like blogging isn’t going anywhere as it only has reached its peak, on traditional format. There are more to discover about it in the future.
Aside from the given responsibility to provide insights and pieces of advice, we do blogging because of the technical and business side of things. Here are some reasons that made blogging important since it first came out and they’re still relevant as of today.
SEO and link building
Blogging is good for SEO as it helps your site rank on search engines. When a blog satisfies both the reader and the knowledge graph of Google, then you’re doing well.
Furthermore, blogging increases site visits through link building. Just a single blog post with the right amount of link building can earn you a multitude of visits that your site needs.
Branding
When you blog, you talk about your services or the company as a whole. And if you display your expertise in the field through these topics, the credibility and awareness of your brand are built up.
Distribution network
Blogging can also be a channel to release information about your company and services. It also helps fill up content on your social media handles. Your blogs can be tweaked and be fed off as social media posts or micro blogs. These improves SEO, link building, and social media presence.
Audience insight
In a way, blogging can also help you gauge what your audience actually wants. Your first few blogs can be a little tricky because you’re not completely aware of their interests then.
Look at your most read or most shared blogs and the ones that got the least attention to know your market and the topics getting responses. Through doing so, you’ll know how to approach your writing better.
Techniques to create rewarding blog posts
If you feel that your constant blogging isn’t going anywhere, you could be doing something wrong with your methods and techniques. Look at some of the best practices when blogging to improve returns:
Have the right writer
The best blogs come from the heads of the business, may it be the CEO or the owner as they have the complete grasp of the mission and vision of the business. In our previous blog, we’ve told you the story of Marcus Sheridan, owner of River Pools and Spas. He used blogs to show his expertise, the key to revitalize his business, and it should inspire you to do the same.
If the head of the business doesn’t have the time or capacity to write a blog post, select the most capable writer who can absorb information from both the owner and external sources, and integrate it into one valuable blog post.
Contemplate the titles and topics thoroughly
The best blogs have provoking content. Ponder on your titles and topics comprehensively and make sure that what you write feels like a conversation, one that provides unique user experience and translates the message of the blog properly.
Start with the solution
Mix it up and offer the solution to the problem on the outset! But be careful not to give away everything – a sliver of it will do. As the blog goes on, gradually provide proofs of the solution before wrapping it up precisely at the end.
Maximize the first 8 seconds
One of the things that many bloggers miss is injecting the value of entertainment. If you’re not enriching your blogs with images, videos, and other multimedia embeds, then you’re missing out as it’s known that most people will only stay for at least 8 seconds in a single blog. If they don’t find it engaging at all, they will opt out.
Retaining visitors can be challenging but one technique you can try is to use bucket brigades as popularized by Brian Dean. Bucket brigades are words or brief sentences that catch the attention of a reader to keep them interested.
Here is a video from Brian Dean about the said technique:
Focus on consumer stories
Our current society values human stories more than ever. You can see different companies integrating this into their digital marketing strategies and you can do the same. Try featuring accounts of past customers, iconic people, or ones unknown to many, to tap into the emotions of your readers as humanity is still one of the best elements in digital marketing. This is one reason why blogging is created in the first place: to satisfy the needs of humans.
There are still a lot of uncharted territory when it comes to blogging and as a digital marketer who aspires to thrive in the field, you have to be passionate and patient enough to reap your desired benefits.
Redkite is a digital marketing company located at 2nd Floor Veluz Building 1, Emilio Aguinaldo Hwy, Dasmariñas, Cavite, Philippines. Our contact numbers are 858-480-7688 and (046) 416 2483. Learn of our digital marketing services today!