The 3 Must-Haves for Every Blog Post
If you’ve been following me for any length of time, you know that blogging is at the core of my business, and I’ve been doing it for years. When I started out, I had no clue how to effectively use blogs to make money or attract new customers, so I just wrote about my life. Fast-forward to today, and it takes a lot longer to craft the perfect blog post…yet it’s 10x as effective as it was before I paid more attention!
Most business owners have no idea how to write an effective blog post, and I often see people writing just to write. While there’s nothing wrong with that (and YAY to those who are creating content regularly!), it’s simply not the best use of your time…and your blogs could be doing SO much more! Before you get started on your next blog, here are the 3 things you should do for every post you write - and I’ll tell you exactly why you should be doing them, too!
1) Keyword Research: Maybe you know what you want to write about, or maybe you don’t. If you’re unsure, one great place to visit is Google Trends. Look up a topic related to your business and get inspiration from what’s currently trending. If, however, you know what you want to write about, take a few minutes to type your blog title or topic into Google…then scroll all the way to the bottom and see what other people are searching for related to your topic choice. As naturally as you can, incorporate a few of these key words into your blog. You already know people are searching for these terms, so you might as well use them!
2) Great Content: I know this seems obvious, but if everyone did this I wouldn’t even bother writing about it! There’s a lot to be said for consistency, but if your content is only so-so, you won’t get new readers…and those you currently have won’t click on the next blog post. The best way to create great content is by planning ahead (if you’ve never planned in advance, grab my free marketing template to get started!). Spend an hour or so per month to brainstorm topics, series, and new content that will grab the attention of your ideal client.
3) A Compelling Title: The title of your blog will not overcome bad content, but if you don’t write an attention-grabbing headline, people might not make it to your website in the first place! Don’t feel pressure to come up with the title beforehand - you can always change it later! Write your post, figure out what the main theme is, then find a way to make the content sound appealing to your audience. If you’re stuck, check out this list of blog title examples for inspiration.
I know that time is elusive for business owners, and you might read this and think that you just can’t take any more precious minutes out of your day to prep for your blog posts. My argument is this: if you are spending time to create content that nobody reads, it’s a much bigger waste of time than adding 5-10 minutes per post to better attract your ideal customer.
The bottom line: you can’t afford not to prepare for your blog - the sooner you start doing these three things, the better!
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