Whether you’re just starting out on the road to blogging, or your a seasoned blogger looking to get back to basics, reviewing a few blogging best practices can almost always prove a useful exercise in ensuring your blog is living up to its full potential.
That is why we’ve put together a few of the basic blogging best practices every blogger needs to know, no matter what industry or niche you find yourself writing for.
1. Pick the Right Keywords
When it comes to blogging, you want your ideal audience to be able to find your blog. And if your not using the right language, it makes that nearly impossible. Selecting the right keywords means discovering the language your audience uses, and incorporating it into your writing in a way that is natural and useful for your audience.
2. Research Before You Write
Failing to do your research beforehand can result in some embarrassing and obvious blunders. Instead of diving head first into your next blog, take the time to research what is being said about the topic and how you can add your own insight and perspective to what has already been said.
3. Read Often
Reading and writing are very closely related. The more you read, the more you pick up on writing techniques or mistakes that you can use or avoid in your own writing. Reading gives you new perspectives and new ideas to incorporate in your creative process.
It is also key to read a variety of genres. Reading fiction or research articles can produce a wider array of ideas and help you become a better writer in your area of focus.
4. Blog Consistently
Create a schedule and stick with it. But be realistic in what you commit to as it is easy to get burned out far too quickly. If you don’t have other writers helping you, know your own creative process and writing speed and choose attainable goals for your writing creation.
5. Vary Your Length
A great way to avoid burn out is to keep things fresh and interesting by varying the length of your posts. Create long listicles, indepth how-to’s, or short informative posts. Your audience will appreciate the variety, and so will your writing chops.
6. Include Powerful CTA’s
It’s simply not enough to write a great blog post. You need to let your audience know what to do next. Maybe that means reading another, related blog post. Maybe you want them to sign up for your newsletter or download a free e-book. Whatever the case may be, including strong CTAs is essential to getting more out of your blogging efforts.
7. Write for Your Audience
You will not only write about different topics, but also with a different style based on your audience. You wouldn’t write about the same things in the same way to the CEO of a company as you would to the junior copywriter of the same company. They both have different concerns and job functions, which results in different blog posts.
8. Be Visual
Even if you don’t have extensive graphic design skills, there are still a lot of ways you can beef up your blogs with capturing images and graphics. This may mean taking your own photos, learning to identify captivating stock photos, utilizing screen shots, or using simple online design tools.
9. Have an Editor
While you most likely don’t have a professional editor, having a second set of eyes to edit your work can make a huge different in your blogs. A second opinion can point out areas that aren’t clear, or errors you didn’t catch the first time you wrote the post.
10. Provide a Subscription
Including an option for your audience to subscribe to your blog is essential in growing your readership. This allows your readers to get your latest content directly in their inbox, and gives you valuable insight into what topics really get your readers excited and entice them to visit your website.
11. Be Social
Another great way to connect with your readers is to leverage social media. Attract new eyes, or discuss your most recent piece with your dedicated audience. Social media gives you a platform for creating new interest in your blogs and allows for indepth conversations.
12. Optimize for Search
And the final best practice to make this list? Optimize for search! Selecting a keyword or two for your blog is only the first step. You must optimize your blog posts (titles, meta descriptions, alt text, etc.) in order to make it easier for those interested in your topics to find you.
Utilizing these 12 tips can help you grow your blog traffic and increase conversions from your blog posts. While this is just the tip of the iceberg, it can get you on the right track to blogging success!