Blog, Blog, Blog

These days every other person seems to have caught on to the digital phenomenon that is blogging, whether it be via one of the many social media platforms readily accessible, or through their own blog page and a clever marketing move it is, as it encourages expression, creative writing and of course is a strong part of any businesses marketing strategy for many reasons. 

Here I explore the basics of how to get started...

1.      Choose a Platform - There are lots of free options out there offering a quality and free platform to which to start your blogging journey such as Wordpress, Blogger, Tumblr and TypePad, all of which offer free templates and easy to follow guidelines, so take the time to explore and find the one that works for you- you may need to watch a few video tutorials to get off the ground...

2.      Integrate- Its most certainly worth considering integrating your blog into your existing website for SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) purposes, with the aim to drive more traffic towards your site and make the search engines happy - after all it is all about content, so a blog is perfect for this.

3.      Write About Your Passions- It's easy to write about what you love, so use this as a guideline when choosing the content of your blogs- keep them as positive and interesting as you can - people love to read about experiences and to learn, so keep them descriptive and informative too.

4.      Remember To Market- It's all well and good writing an amazing blog, but if no one sees it, what's the point? You have to be proactive and launch your blog out there to the masses - use social media as a free tool to get started and chat to other bloggers on forums, leave comments and get yourself known as an expert in your industry- you could event contribute towards other organisations blogs as a 'guest blogger' or e-zines to spread the word of what you are trying to achieve.

5.      Encourage Interactivity- Ask people to leave comments on your blog and leave comments on theirs, try to gain feedback and in turn you will build your own community of business contacts that read and enjoy your blogs and hopefully share them with others- letting them do the marketing for you.

6.      Be Visual- Use images in your blogs- people love to look at them, so dot them in-between your text and use a cover feature image that relates to the article to encourage people to read in the first place- be creative and try to stand out from other bloggers.

7.      Keep Track- It's important to check your analytics regularly, so that you can see how many people are landing on your blog, how long they are spending on it and where they are finding you, so that you can see what is working and what isn't, allowing you to make the necessary corrections.

8.      Check, Check & Check Again!- Use spell- check and proof read your blog before posting more than once each time, ask others to check it first if possible too, as a fresh pair of eyes is always a good idea, particularly when you have been writing for a while, it is easy to miss obvious typo's and errors, when you have been staring at a screen for a while.

9.      Keep It up- Blogging is a commitment as it requires regularity for it to be most effective, so try to set yourself time slots during the week to blog and get into a routine- treat it like a diary or a journal and then it won't seem like a 'chore' - ideally blog daily and you won't go far wrong- in particular for SEO purposes.

10. Rise Above the negativity- On occasion you may come across negative comments about your blog- but don't let it put you off continuing, simply respond in a professional manner and move on- or delete it- whichever makes you happiest!