A-Z of Blogging: The Ultimate Guide

Blogging provides many benefits for businesses. An effective blog can help build brand awareness, improve SEO, establish you as an expert and increase website traffic.

The A-Z of Blogging was originally created in 2017 as a series of 26 blogs, which later formed the foundation for the book, A-Z of Blogging. 

Since then, we’ve updated some of the content to ensure the content still remains relevant. And we’ve collated all 26 posts into the ultimate guide to blogging.

Table of Contents

Purple square with text: A is for Analytics

A is for Analytics: Use analytics to measure your results

Measuring your results helps ensure that your blog is working for you and reaching the right people. 

Most businesses start a blog because they want to get results. The main objective could be to generate more social media engagement, drive more traffic to your site or encourage people to make an enquiry.

Establishing the purpose of your blog helps you build a strategy and give your blog direction, but how do you know if you’re achieving your goal? 

When you set sales targets, you keep track of whether they are being met. Marketing is just the same; you need to measure the outcomes to ensure what you’re doing is working.

Understanding your analytics allows you to identify what type of blog content your audience engages with most and which posts aren’t generating as much interest. This can help you focus your blog to ensure that you attract your target audience.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is essential if your goal is to increase website traffic. As well as being able to check if the number of visitors is increasing, there are other useful metrics too.

You can see where your traffic is coming in from so you can focus your marketing efforts more effectively. You’ll also get insights into the behaviour of your visitors; which posts get the most visitors, how long do they spend on your site and are they taking the desired action?

Google Analytics can be confusing at first but fortunately, there are loads of great guides that can help you get to grips with the ins and outs of it all.

The Google Analytics course for beginners from Google covers all the basics in an easy to understand video format.

You might also find the following articles helpful:

The Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Google Analytics (Moz)

Understanding Google Analytics: A Simple Guide to Advanced Terms (RazorSocial)

How to Use Google Analytics: Getting Started (Social Media Examiner)

 

Social Media Analytics

If you blog then you probably share your blog posts on social media. The great thing about social media is you can see at a glance if people are engaging with your posts through the number of likes, shares, follows and comments.

However, if you really want to understand exactly who is engaging and whether your call to action is working, then check your analytics.

The use of social media as a marketing tool for businesses has increased substantially so most platforms now offer plenty of insights into your audience and their behaviour.

Twitter

Twitter’s guide to analytics

5 Helpful insights you can find using Twitter Analytics (HubSpot)

LinkedIn

How to view your LinkedIn company page analytics

How to measure your LinkedIn activities (Social Media Examiner)

YouTube

YouTube Analytics basics

Measure your success with YouTube Analytics

Whatever you want to achieve from your blog, you need to measure the results. If you don’t measure then you won’t know what works. Understanding your analytics helps you make more informed decisions about the content you share and how you share it.

Red square with text: B is for Backlinks

B is for Backlinks: Build good inbound links

A blog can be a useful way of building quality inbound links. Backlinks can improve SEO and increase website traffic. 

Backlinks are hyperlinks linking from one web page to another. Occasionally you see the URL in its full form but usually, the link is included in relevant anchor text.

Quality backlinks are great for improving search engine optimisation (SEO) because they show the search engines that your blog or website has content that people want to share. Backlinks also help search engines crawl your site and index pages faster.

Not all backlinks are good

Not all backlinks are good. Firstly, backlinks should be relevant. You wouldn’t want someone linking to your blog about growing tomatoes using the anchor text ‘learn how to get rich quickly’. When the reader clicks the link, they will see the content doesn’t match and click straight off your site.

Paying for links can also be a bad idea and can land you in trouble with Google. Avoid inbound links from spam sites, porn sites and automated sites. 

For more information on avoiding bad or negative backlinks check out these articles:

Google: Quality Guidelines Link Schemes

Link Building: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

 

How to get good inbound links

The good news is there are lots of ways to earn quality inbound links.

Creating quality content that people want to share is the most natural way of getting inbound links. Blog posts that are informative, interesting or entertaining will earn more links organically.

Guest blogging is also an effective way of building links but there are some things to watch out for with this. You should only guest blog for sites or companies that you trust.

If you’d like to learn more about link building then we recommend these in-depth guides:

The beginner’s guide to link building (Moz)

The beginner’s guide to understanding backlinks (SEO Web Designers)

Link Building for SEO: A Complete Guide (Search Engine Journal)

 

Outbound links

As well as getting quality links to your site, you need to ensure that you are only linking to reputable sites yourself. Avoid links to spam sites or companies that you do not know or trust. You may be penalised for linking to poor quality websites.

Blue suqare with text: C is for call to action

C is for Call to Action: Tell your readers what to do next

A call to action (CTA) is a direction to the reader telling them what to do next.

In sales, marketing and advertising it is usually an instruction such as ‘buy now’, ‘order today’, ‘subscribe’, ‘donate’, ‘sign up’, ‘join now’, ‘register’, ‘click here’, ‘add to basket’ and so on. On a website, this is often in the form of a button or hyperlink.

Include a call to action in your blog. Ask the reader to subscribe, follow, share, comment or buy. 

Why does a blog need a call to action?

Business blogs are usually used as a form of marketing to attract the attention of your target audience, build a relationship and eventually turn them into a customer or client. Having a call to action helps keep readers engaged for longer and moves them to the next stage of the process.

Your CTA might differ depending on where you have acquired the reader and whether they are a new or returning visitor to your blog, a potential customer, repeat customer or ongoing customer.

The purpose of your call to action could be to:

  • Ask readers to follow your business on social media
  • Subscribe readers to your blog
  • Link to a product or services page
  • Direct readers to related blog posts
  • Encourage comments on your blog by posting a question
  • Persuade readers to download a document/catalogue/brochure
  • Get readers to make an enquiry or contact you
  • Request readers’ email addresses

Try to make sure that your call to action relates to your blog post so that it is a logical step for your reader. You can use more than one CTA in a post to lead readers towards different actions.

This article from Hubspot covers different types of call to action in more detail.

 

Creating a stronger call to action

Top tips to make your CTA stronger:

  1. Use strong verbs; “buy now”, “order today”
  2. Offer something free: “download a free copy of our latest e-book”
  3. Use emotion; “book a holiday your family will love “
  4. Keep it simple, give one instruction rather than a choice
  5. Make your CTA stand out by using bold, coloured or large font or creating a clickable button

 

Measure results

The purpose of a call to action is to get a reader to take that action. To check how effective your call to action is, you should measure your results. You can use Google Analytics to see exactly how many visitors you are getting to your blog post. You can then compare how many of those readers are taking the required action and work out how successful your call to action is.

Purple square with text: D is for direction

D is for Direction: Make sure you have a blog strategy

Without a defined blog strategy or clear direction for your blog, it is very hard to know if your blog is effective. After all, if you don’t make it clear what results you want, how do you know if you are achieving them?

Defining exactly what the purpose of your blog is, what outcomes you expect and how you will achieve them, means you are more likely to get the result you want. If there is more than one contributor to your blog then the blog strategy will act as a guide to ensure everyone is working toward the same goal. It also helps simplify decision making such as choosing subjects for your blog posts.

What your blog strategy should include

If you want results from your blog then take time to put together a strategy. The first thing you need to decide is what you want to achieve:

  • Increase online presence
  • Attract larger social media following
  • Build brand awareness
  • Establish yourself as an expert
  • Generate leads/enquiries/sales
  • Get more website traffic
  • Improve SEO

When you establish what you want to achieve you can build your strategy around this. Things you need to consider are:

  • Who is your target audience?
  • How will you market your blog?
  • How will you generate ideas for your blog?
  • Which format will you use?
  • How often will you blog?
  • How will you measure your results?

 

Implementing your blog strategy

Once you have a clear direction for your blog then you need to stick to it. Write down your strategy. It doesn’t have to be a fancy document, as long as you answer the above questions. Refer to this document every time you are generating ideas or writing your posts. This will help you keep your blog on track so you get the results you want.

Red square with text: E is for editing

E is for Editing: Write first - edit later

Editing your blog is the most important stage. Nobody sees your first draft so it doesn’t matter if it is badly written. The editing stage is where you perfect your post and make it the best it can be. We recommend that you don’t try and write and edit your post at the same time. Write your post and leave it overnight before going back to edit. If you can leave it a week then that’s even better.

If you leave a break before editing, you go back to it with fresh eyes. It’s easier to spot mistakes and be more objective.

Top tips for editing your blog

Deliver on the headline

Does your blog cover what the headline suggests? Have you covered the subject sufficiently? If you promise a solution to a problem make sure you give a solution. Don’t specify ten tips and only give nine. Read your post through the eyes of your target audience; would your post meet their expectations?

Cut out waffle, word repetition and jargon

When you write, it can be easy to repeat yourself as your ideas flow onto the page. The editing stage is where you cut the waffle and remove any repetition. Be wary of any industry jargon you have used; use reader-friendly terminology.  Avoid repeating words at the start of a sentence or using the same adjective multiple times.

Eliminate words and phrases that don’t add anything.

If you can remove a word without it changing the meaning of the sentence then just delete it. Quite often we include words that don’t really add anything. Eliminating them makes your copy stronger. Words such as “really”, “very” and “quite” can be easily cut.

Make headline and intro stronger

Headlines are a crucial part of your blog post and you should take time to get them right. Once your headline is strong enough to draw readers in, don’t lose them with a weak intro. When you get to the editing stage make sure you pay particular interest to your first paragraph and make it as engaging as possible.

Summarise and include a call to action

Don’t let your blog post fizzle out. Summarising the key points is an effective way of ending a blog post. Include a call to action at the end; invite readers to comment, ask readers to share your post or subscribe to your blog, suggest other related articles and include links.

Proofreading

Proofreading is a vital stage of the process; you don’t want your blog to be let down by spelling mistakes or stray apostrophes. We recommend leaving your blog for a day after editing then giving it a final check before sharing it. Don’t rush the process, write then edit then proofread. This ensures a higher quality blog post.

Blue square with text: F is for format

F is for Format: Which formats are right for your posts?

What format will you use for your blog? How-to, list, review, case study, open letter?

Different blog formats work better for different types of businesses so you need to decide which is right for you.

You may choose to stick to one format for all your blog posts, or you may prefer to switch between a few different types of blog post.

List posts

List posts are the most popular type of blog post. They provide useful information and are easy to scan which makes them more appealing to readers. List posts have a higher click-through rate than other types of post especially when a number is included in the headline. Examples of list posts include:

  • Top 10 tips for bloggers
  • 101 worst movies of all time
  • The 15 best UK cycle routes for beginners
  • 5 best podcasts for business start-ups

Instructional

“How to…” posts and tutorials provide readers with valuable information and give businesses a chance to demonstrate expertise in their field. These kinds of posts work well as video, text or a combination of both. Step-by-step guides and checklists also make great instructional posts.

Informational

Industry news, tips and techniques, research findings and explainer posts are all types of informational blog. Many people search the web for information; if you can provide that information you establish yourself as an expert whilst building awareness of your brand.

Other types of blog

For further examples of types of blog, check out these detailed articles:

52 Types of Blog Post (ProBlogger)

73 Types of Blog Post (Optinmonster)

How to choose a blogging post format (Hubspot)

Whatever format you choose for your blog, you need to make sure it is right for your target audience.

Square with text: G is for guest blogs

G is for Guest Blogs: Give readers a different perspective

Guest blogs are blog posts written by an outside source. It could be an industry expert, a specialist in your area or someone that offers complementary services to yours.

For example, a web designer may ask a copywriter to provide a post on top tips for writing homepage copy. This is useful content for the web designer’s target audience and helps the copywriter promote their services.

A guest blog can be you creating a post for somebody else’s blog or inviting somebody else to write a post for your site.

Guest blogging is not the same as ghostwriting, content writing or copywriting where you pay someone to create content that will be attributed to you or your company. Guest blogs are attributed to the person writing them and usually include a link back to the author’s own site.

 

Benefits of guest blogging for another business

More exposure

Your blog will be seen by readers and subscribers of the company blog you are writing for. The company will also be sharing your post on their social media pages which will raise your online profile and attract more followers for you.

Establishes your credibility

If you are invited to guest blog for another company it shows you are considered an expert by that company. This helps you build credibility and brand awareness.

Creates inbound links 

Your guest blog will include a link back to your website. Quality backlinks are good for search engine optimisation and will also increase your traffic, especially if the blog you are writing for has a high readership.

 

Benefits of inviting someone to guest blog for you

Attract new visitors

If someone writes a post for you then chances are they will share that post on their social media pages which will bring new visitors to your site.

Provides a different viewpoint

By asking somebody else to write about a subject, you give your readers a new viewpoint. This helps keep your content fresh and interesting.

Associate your company with other experts

If the company guest blogging for you has a good reputation in their industry this helps you build credibility. It shows your readers and their readers that they are happy to be associated with your company.

 

Tips for guest blogging

Whether you are guest blogging for someone else or inviting someone to write for your blog, there are a few things to remember.

Be selective

Guest blogging for the sake of guest blogging is pointless. Not only is it a waste of your time, but it can also be detrimental. Linking to or from spammy sites or non-reputable companies is bad for SEO and your reputation.

Establish topic/length/style/format of post

If you are writing a post for someone else, ask if they have specific requirements for the topic, format or word count. It is also important to understand who their target audience is so you can make sure your content is relevant.

When asking someone else to guest blog for you, make sure you give them any requirements you have; set the expectations.

Agree on a deadline

If you are asked to guest blog, find out when you need to send the copy and ensure you meet this deadline. If the company has a publishing schedule and you don’t deliver on time, then you could damage your relationship with them. 

Share

One of the benefits of guest blogging is it increases the online presence of both the company hosting the blog and the company writing the post. Once the post has been published, make sure you share it so that you reach more readers. Ensure the other company is also sharing the post so that you both benefit.

 

Guest blog for companies you trust

Guest blogging is an excellent way of getting exposure but make sure you only associate your business with businesses you trust. If you are approached about guest blogging, take time to research the company before you agree. Don’t guest blog for companies you don’t feel comfortable with and don’t post anything on your blog you aren’t happy with.

Square with text: H is for headlines

H is for Headlines: Create attention-grabbing titles

Blog headlines are often hailed as the most important part of any blog post.After all, if nobody is clicking on your post in the first place, then nobody is reading it.If nobody reads your blog, then all the hard work you put into researching, writing and editing goes to waste.

Consider how many headlines people are exposed to online every day as they scroll through news feeds and social media. If your headline doesn’t grab their attention, your post goes unread.

Statistics show that on average, only 8 out of 10 people read a headline and only 2 of those people will go on to read your post. A powerful headline will increase that number so you get more clicks, more readers and more shares.

Top tips for creating blog headlines

When it comes to creating headlines, there are some things that you should always remember:

Be clear

Make it clear to the reader what your post is about. What will the reader get from reading your post? What’s in it for them? If the reader cannot work out from your headline what the post will be about then they probably won’t read it. The reader wants to know what to expect.

Be honest

Don’t be tempted to lure readers in by using misleading headlines that don’t match up to your content. There’s no point grabbing a reader’s attention with click-bait headlines only to lose them straight away when they realise your post doesn’t deliver what you promised with the title.

Be concise

Headlines longer than 70 characters will get cut off in search engine results so it’s important to keep headlines as concise as possible. Cut out unnecessary words to make your headlines stronger. For example, change; “These top 10 tips for writing blog headlines will help you get more readers” to; “10 tips for creating click-worthy headlines”.

Optimise

Your headline should include a keyword or phrase. This helps more readers find your post, improves SEO and makes it clearer what your post is about. Try to include your keyword at the start of your title when possible. Using a colon can make this easier. For example, if your keyword is ‘blog titles’ then instead of; “The ultimate guide to writing blog titles” try; “Blog titles: the ultimate guide”.

Headlines that work

There have been many studies into what makes a headline more effective. Researchers have looked at everything from how many words should be in a headline to which words and phrases get the best response. Here are just some ways to create stronger headlines:

Use numbers

Various studies have shown that using numbers in headlines improves the click-through rate.

Examples include:

  • 10 tips for…
  • 7 ways you can improve your….
  • Increase your sales by 350% by…
  • Only 27% of businesses…
  • 101 ideas for…

Use emotion

Using emotion is effective in any kind of copy. Power words like “free”, “limited”, “rare” and “bargain” appeal to our greed or fear of missing out. Words such as “love”, “delighted” and “amazing” inspire positive emotions and words like “useful”, “practical” and “interesting” draw readers in too. 

Use negatives

Research shows that negative headlines have a higher click-through rate than positive ones. Headlines containing words such as; “worst”, “avoid”, mistakes”, “never” and “don’t”, get a better response.

Offer solutions

Blog posts that offer a solution to a problem are extremely popular. “How to” posts work well as do top tips, checklists and step-by-step posts. Give advice that makes something easier, quicker, simpler, faster or helps improve, reduce, fix or increase something.

More on creating blog headlines

If you would like more information on creating effective headlines then we recommend these useful articles.

These headline templates are great if you are stuck for ideas: 74 Attention-grabbing blog titles that actually work (Inc.)

This guide has some interesting statistics and includes some fantastic tips for creating effective headlines: The step-by-step guide to writing powerful headlines  (Neil Patel)

This report contains the findings of an analysis of 100 million headlines. It gives lots of detail on the headlines that work best for Facebook and Twitter as well as other useful statistics: Most shared headlines study (Buzzsumo)

With text: I is for images

I is for Images: Don't get caught out by copyright

Using images in your blog posts makes them more visually appealing. On social media feeds, posts with images attract more attention than those without.  If your blog post is long, then images break up the text.

Copyright

When you use images on your blog or website you must ensure that you do not infringe copyright. Copyright infringement can lead to legal action and even criminal prosecution.

Photographs, images and illustrations are automatically protected by copyright. Unless the creator gives permission for their image to be used, you are not permitted to share, copy or distribute that image.

Usable images

Using images for your blog may sound like a minefield but the good news is there are plenty of images you can use without fear of copyright infringement.

Public Domain

Public Domain images are free for use. These include images where the copyright has expired or the creator has waived their rights. You can use these images for personal or commercial use. The only exception is where the image includes a recognisable person as you may need permission from the model to use the photo.

Creative Commons licences

Creative Commons licenses allow creators of images to waive some or all of their copyright rights. There are six different CC licences. Look for images with a CC 2.0 licence which means you can use the image if you give attribution or a CC0 licence which means the creator has relinquished all copyright rights to the image.

Royalty free

This means that you pay a fee for the image and are then allowed to use it without paying additional royalties and fees or giving attribution.

Attributing images

When attributing images, you should include the title, details of the author, the source and details of the license. You should also include details of any modifications you have made to the original image.

Check out this article from Creative Commons if you want further information on best practices for attribution.

Sourcing free images

Fortunately, there are hundreds of websites offering public domain, CCo and royalty free images that you can download and use for free. Here are just some of the more well-known and popular sites:

Pixabay

Pixabay offers royalty free and CC0 licensed photographs, illustrations and graphics for you to use for free. You can search their images by category, tags or even colour.

Unsplash

Unsplash offers a large collection of high-res images all available for free under their Unspash licence. Search by collection or category.

Pexels

Pexels images are available under the CC0 licence so you can download and use for free without attribution. You can easily search photos by category to find suitable images.

Public Domain Archive

Public Domain archive offers a range of images available for free download. 

Skitterphoto

You’ll find a range of public domain photographs available for free on Skitterphoto. You can browse photos by category and download quickly and easily.

Canva

Canva is a great tool for designing unique graphics. You can create infographics, social media banners, blog headers and document templates as well as many other graphics. Canva is extremely fun and easy to use.

Foodiesfeed

Foodiesfeed is a collection of photographs all related to food. The images are downloadable for free under the CC0 licence. Ideal for food-related blogs.

Check the terms

It is your responsibility to ensure that you use images in line with the permissions that have been granted. If you use a site offering free stock images, check their T&Cs or licences before sharing any images that are not your own.

As long as you choose images that you have permission to use, you can include these in your blog. Include at least one image in every blog post, even if it is just as a header.

Text reads: J is for journalism

J is for Journalism: Think like a journalist

You don’t need formal qualifications or training to become a blogger but that doesn’t mean that you don’t need certain skills to be successful.

Just like a journalist writing for a newspaper or magazine, you must present information in a way that is interesting to your reader. Master these key journalistic skills to improve the quality of your blog.

Be able to generate ideas

A journalist has to be able to source news stories and ideas for features; similarly, you need to generate ideas for your blog posts. There are many types of blog format to choose from. Sometimes the format of your blog may dictate the subject whilst other times the subject will determine the format.

Conduct research

If you are blogging about a widely covered topic then you can set your blog post apart by going into more detail and offering more facts. This requires a little more effort at the research stage but will give your readers a better experience. You need to do research to ensure the information in your blog is accurate, especially if the subject is not one you are completely familiar with.

Interview effectively

You may not always need to interview for your blog post but, if you do, then it is worth taking time to learn effective interviewing techniques. This ensures you get the most from your interview so you can create a better blog post. Make sure that you present any quotes correctly. 

Report accurately

Providing incorrect information, misleading statements or false claims can be very damaging. At the very least, you look dishonest or uninformed. At the worst, you will incur legal action against you or your company. Depending on your industry, you may be breaching compliance regulations.

Write, edit & proofread

Whether you are writing for a newspaper, magazine or blog, you need to write clearly, edit effectively and proofread carefully. Having a good command of the language you are using is important. You should at least learn the basics of grammar and punctuation if you want to write quality blog posts. We recommend you leave gaps between the writing, editing and proofreading stages.

Create attention-grabbing headlines

Journalists use headlines to grab the attention of the audience. Whether the story or feature is for newspaper, magazine, radio or TV, the headline is important. Writing a strong headline for your blog post is equally important. When you share your post, you want to attract readers and a well-written headline helps you do that.

Text reads: K is for Keywords

K is for Keywords: Choose relevant keywords

In search engine optimisation (SEO), keywords are words or phrases that provide an overview of the content of a web page.

They help search engines match your web page to the search term that someone has entered.

They are typically made up of two or three words but can be longer phrases. Longer terms are referred to as long-tail keywords. Long-tail keywords are more specific.

Why are keywords important?

Using keywords can make it easier for potential customers to find your pages. When they enter their search query, search engines crawl websites to find the closest match. If your web page includes these keywords then search engines use that as an indicator that your page is relevant.

The more relevant search engines decide your page is, the higher it will rank on the search results page. The higher you are on the results page, the more visitors you are likely to get.

Your page will rank organically for terms if it is deemed relevant to the search. This is the desired result for businesses; ranking organically means you don’t have to pay for ads and the pages that rank on the first page of search results get the most clicks.

How to choose keywords

Think about the type of language your target audience would use rather than using the technical terminology used within your industry.

There are a number of free and paid tools available to help you select the right keywords. Check out these useful articles to find out more about keyword research:

Beginner’s guide to SEO keyword research (Moz)

How to choose the right keywords (Search Engine Journal)

The 9 best keyword research tools (Hubspot)

How to choose SEO keywords for your business (True North Social)

Including keywords in your blog

It’s important not to stuff your blog post full of keywords but there are some places where you can include them to optimise your content for search engines. These include the headline, first paragraph and a subheading. You should also use keywords in your Alt Tags if relevant.

Although keywords are important, you should write for the reader first. If you choose the right topics then keywords will naturally fit into the copy without you having to force them in. This makes your blog more reader-friendly. If readers feel like you are writing for them and not just the search engines, they are more likely to subscribe.

Text reads: L is for layout

L is for Layout: Make your post visually appealing

Your blog layout is important. If the blog post isn’t visually appealing then you can lose visitors before they even read a word.

The way people read from a screen is different to how they read form a page and you need to be aware of this. Reading from a screen is more tiring and readers tend to scan so your blog post should be skimmable.

Take some time thinking about the blog layout, paying particular consideration to the following:

Headline

Your blog post should have a title and this should stand out just like a headline in a newspaper or magazine. Your headline will be the thing that grabs readers’ attention so you need to make it stand out. Put your headline at the top of your blog post so that readers know what your blog post is about. Include keywords in your headline.

Images

Images help visitors to your blog understand what the post is about without having to read it all. You can use infographics, photographs or illustrations to break up the text and make your post more visually attractive. You should try and include at least one image on your post even if it is just at the top as a header. Make sure you have the correct permissions or licences to use any images you choose.

Subheadings

Subheadings break up the text. Readers tend to scan a post before they read it in full. The subheadings will tell them if it is worth reading the entire text or help them pick out the key points. Try and include keywords in some of your subheadings as this can help with SEO. Make your subheadings stand out by bolding them or making them bigger than the main text.

Font

Don’t use too many different fonts in your post as this can look messy and confusing. Sans-serif fonts are more popular for online text; evidence suggests they are easier to read on a screen whereas serif fonts are better for print. Use larger fonts for subheadings and titles.

Capital letters

When we read, our brain recognises the shapes the letters make. Capital letters break this flow and slow our reading down. Capitalising entire words or phrases can look like YOU ARE SHOUTING AT THE READER so avoid doing it. If you need text to stand out use bold text or indent a paragraph. Avoid overuse of capital letters. Make sure you are consistent. If you use a capital letter for every word in one subheading then do it in all the subheadings.

Make key points stand out

You can make key points in a sentence stand out by using bold text. 

If a reader is scanning the page, indented paragraphs will indicate to the reader that a key point is being presented because that paragraph is laid out differently to the main text.

Use different coloured text to draw attention to a key point

A sentence in large font in the middle of your post will grab attention

Background

If you are using a background colour, image or pattern for your blog post then you need to make sure that the text is visible over the top. Light text on a light background or dark text on a dark background will not be easy for a reader to read and they will probably give up. Make sure that readers can easily see the text on the page. 

Link to other pages

Include links to other blog posts, pages on your site or external websites that are relevant to your post. Don’t just copy entire URLs into your post like this: https://makeyourcopycount.com/copy-consultation/. Instead, include the link within your text like this, so it doesn’t detract from the content.

Don’t go overboard

It’s important that your blog layout is visually appealing but don’t be tempted to go over the top with graphics, images, text boxes, pop-ups and highlighted text. This can put readers off and detract from the actual content. The most important thing is delivering the key messages to the reader. If your content is not useful, engaging or interesting then it doesn’t matter how pretty it looks, the readers won’t come back.

Text reads: M is for marketing

M is for Marketing: Let people know about your blog

Marketing your blog is vital if you want to get results. Simply writing a great blog post and publishing it on your website won’t get you many readers. You have to let people know it is there.

Fortunately, there are plenty of ways you can promote your blog and many of them are completely free. Here are some of the things you can do to help generate more traffic to your blog.

Optimise

Optimise your blog posts. Ensure that search engines can crawl your website pages so that they index your posts and they get listed in search results. Choose good long-tail keywords and include these strategically. Getting found in search engines helps you generate organic website traffic.

Email and newsletters

Email your contacts when you have published a new blog post to let them know it is there. Send out a regular newsletter letting your clients, suppliers and associates know that you have been sharing useful content. If your post is short in length, you may decide to include the entire blog post in the email body. For long posts give a summary or the first paragraph and include a read more link. If you are blogging frequently then you could do a collation of your most recent posts. For example, if you post a blog each week, you could send a newsletter once a month with links to all the posts from that month.

Social media

Social media is a fantastic way of promoting your blogs but you need to make sure that you reach your target audience. Sharing your blog post on the right platforms, at the right times and in the right way needs a bit of planning.

Guest blog

Guest blogging is another effective way of generating interest in your own blog. Choose companies with a similar target audience to you. By writing a post for their site, you can tap into their followers and subscribers. There are many benefits to guest blogging, especially when you are trying to build your following.

Contact influencers

Find influencers on social media or within related industries and ask them to promote or share your blog posts. Make sure that you connect with influencers that have a similar target audience to you for maximum results.

Here are some in-depth guides to influencer marketing:

7 steps to get influencers to share your content (Entrepreneur)

How to Encourage Influencers to Share Your Content (Social Media Examiner)

The definitive guide to influencer targeting (Kissmetrics)

How to Identify Your Social Media Influencers (Sprout Social)

Blogger outreach

Similar to influencer marketing, blogger outreach is about getting other people to share your content. You do this by asking other content creators to include links to your content from theirs.

There are two main approaches to blogger outreach; mass templates or highly personalised emails (shotgun or sniper). This article from Ahrefs covers blogger outreach in detail, including how to use the sniper approach for better results.

Paid advertising

You may decide that you want to invest in some paid advertising to help with marketing your blog. There are a couple of ways you can do this but invest some time in research before you start spending loads of money on adverts.

PPC ads: The complete guide to building your blog audience (Quicksprout)

Facebook ads: How you can use Facebook Ads to promote your blog (Get Response)

LinkedIn Ads: How to run LinkedIn Ad campaigns: A beginner’s guide (Hubspot)

Paid discovery/outreach: You can pay to reach more people using sites such as Outbrain and Taboola

Get subscribers

Marketing your blog effectively will help you attract more readers. Once you have attracted new readers, you want to keep them coming back so you need them to subscribe to your blog. Make sure you give readers the option to subscribe. You can collect their email address so you can email them when a new post is published or give readers the option to add your site to their RSS feed.

Getting your readers to subscribe to your blog means that you build a following and you can share new content far more easily. Sharing useful content helps you build a relationship with potential new customers and keep existing customers engaged with your brand. The better the relationship you have with your blog subscribers, the more likely you are to increase your sales.

 
 
 
Text reads: N is for news

N is for News: Utilise latest news in your blog

‘News’ is defined by the Oxford dictionary as; “Newly received or noteworthy information, especially about recent events”. 

The news is a fantastic source of ideas for blog topics and there are many ways in which you can incorporate news into your blog.

Types of news

There are plenty of types of news that bloggers can utilise:

  • Company
  • Industry
  • Local
  • Regional
  • Nationwide
  • Global
  • Celebrity
  • Financial
  • Business
  • Political
  • Environmental
  • Music, film & TV
  • Sporting
  • Property
  • Legal

Choose news stories that relate to your business and that will be interesting to your target audience. Here are some ideas of how to blog around news:

Company news

Blogs are a good place to share any company news. If you have developed a new product or service, taken on a new employee or had a major change to your business, create a blog post around the story. Sharing company news is a great way to build relationships with customers and potential customers because it gives them an insight into your business.

Industry news

Sharing industry news is a fantastic way of showing your readers that you keep up to date with the latest developments. If the news is particularly complex, you can explain it in a way that your readers can understand. You can also give your own insights on the news which shows your expertise in your field.

Newsjacking

Newsjacking is a term used when you take a breaking news story and create content around it. This is very popular in marketing, especially since the rise of social media. If you can relate a story back to a product or service then you can capitalise on news whilst it’s generating interest. Newsjacking is very beneficial when done effectively. You need to be quick off the mark so you must be up to date with the latest news and be able to put content together fast.

For more information on newsjacking see these articles:

What is newsjacking and how can it benefit your small business (Small Business Trends)

The Inbound Marketer’s Complete Guide to Newsjacking (Hubspot)

14 Tips to Newsjack Effectively with Your Content Marketing (Small Business Trends)

Future events

Keep on top of the latest news announcements so you can plan blogs around upcoming events that will feature heavily in the news. Doing your research, planning and writing in advance means that you don’t have to try and generate content quickly when the event is actually taking place. Give yourself plenty of time to come up with unique ways of tying your products and services into an event. Look out and plan for the following:

  • Celebrity and royal engagement announcements- plan content to go out at the time of the wedding
  • Celebrity and royal pregnancy announcements- plan content to go out around the birth
  • World Cup/Olympic bids- plan content for when results are announced
  • Capital of culture- plan content to go out for when a particular city is the designated city
  • Changes to laws- have content ready for when they come into effect
  • Elections/referendums- have content prepared for possible outcomes

Newsletters

You can adapt news posts into articles for a company newsletter. Alternatively, collating your blog posts as a newsletter and sending it out by email can be a great way of marketing your blog.

Keep it relevant

The most important thing to remember when using news stories as subjects for your blog posts is to make sure that they are relevant to your target audience. The blog posts you write must be interesting to your readers otherwise they won’t want to read the post or subscribe to your blog. Whatever you choose to blog about, always remember your blog strategy.

Text reads O is for optimisation

O is for Optimisation: Optimse your posts for search engines

When we enter a search into Google, Bing, Yahoo! or any other search engine, they crawl the internet to find the web pages that are most relevant. 

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the process of enabling search engines to understand what your web page is about so that they can decide where to rank it in searches. You can optimise your blog posts to help your target audience find them.

SEO is a complex subject; this is mainly because nobody knows for sure exactly how the algorithms work. Google is constantly updating the way it ranks pages to ensure that it consistently provides users with the most relevant search results. If it provides results that are not relevant, then users will start to move to other search engines. Google keeps its algorithms secret so that people don’t try and manipulate results.

For more in-depth information on SEO, we recommend The beginner’s guide to SEO from Moz.

Helping search engines understand what your content is about, makes it easier for them to determine how relevant your post is. Here are some ways you can optimise your blog post:

Keywords

Search engines will crawl the text on your page and pick out words that match the search terms entered. You can optimise your blog post with the keywords you want to be ranked for. This doesn’t mean sticking keywords into your blog post as many times as you can. Readers don’t like this as your post won’t make much sense. On top of that, search engines will penalise you for trying to play the system. You need to choose keywords that actually match your content and that people will be searching. Use your keywords tactically.

Headlines

Optimise your headline by including a keyword and making it clear what your post is about. Try and put your keyword at the start of your post if possible. Think about what people would be searching when you choose your headline. Your headline could be an exact match to something people would actually search. 

URL

URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator and is your website address. You can optimise the URL for your blog post by using keywords in the URL. When your web page appears in search results the URL is displayed. 

Meta descriptions

A meta description is the short bit of copy that comes up under your headline and URL in a search result.

You can optimise your meta description by including keywords and a good summary of what your post is about.

This article from Search Engine Watch explains in more detail how you can optimise meta descriptions: How to write meta descriptions for SEO

Alt tags

Alt tags are the description you give to an image. If a visually impaired person is using a screen reader on your site it will read this description out to them. If your image doesn’t load then it will be replaced with the description from your alt tag. Make sure that you give your images descriptions as the search engines will crawl these and this will be taken into consideration when deciding how relevant your page is. Leaving them blank is a missed opportunity to optimise your blog.

For more detail on alt tags check out this article from Yoast: Image SEO: alt tag and title tag optimisation

XML Sitemap

Adding an XML sitemap to your website can make it easier for search engines to crawl your site and index the pages. 

Yoast

Yoast SEO is considered the most comprehensive SEO plugin for WordPress users. It uses a traffic light systems to indicate how optimised your post is for search engines based on your main keyword. It also lets you know how optimised your blog post is for readers by scoring your post for readability based on a number of factors. If you are creating blogs in WordPress then Yoast is a fantastic tool for improving your SEO.

Linking

Backlinks to and from your website are good for SEO as long as they are quality links. This means not linking to spammy sites. You should also link internal pages on your site. This not only helps the reader navigate your site more easily but it helps search engines crawl and index your site faster.

Add content regularly

Search engines constantly crawl the internet looking for new content. If they see that you are adding new content to your site regularly they will reward that. It shows that your site is still active and that you are sharing useful content. 

Optimise for readers

Getting found in search engines is important so you do need to think about SEO when you write your blog posts but don’t forget about your readers. There is no point being ranked number one in search results if your readers aren’t interested in reading your post.

The best way to naturally optimise your site is to create content that is useful, engaging and interesting for your target audience. If you choose subjects for blog posts that are related to your industry then you will naturally include keywords in the copy.

Text: P is for proofreading

P is for Proofreading: Proofread your post before publishing

Proofreading your blog post before it goes live is extremely important. You don’t want all the hard work you have put into the researching, writing and editing to be let down by a stray apostrophe or accidental typo. There are a number of reasons why you should do a thorough proofread of any copy before you publish it.

Errors can change the meaning

Incorrect punctuation or spelling can completely change the meaning of your copy, as in these examples:

  • Woman: without her, man is nothing
  • Woman, without her man, is nothing
  • The doctor had no patients
  • The doctor had no patience

Errors can put readers off

Your readers may forgive the odd mistake here and there but if your copy is littered with spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and bad use of punctuation then it will put readers off. Your copy will be too hard to follow and if you can’t put the effort into checking it, why should readers put the effort into trying to decipher it? 

Errors can detract from the content

Unfortunately, many people tend to focus on the negative. You could write the most engaging, informative, interesting blog post ever written but if it is full of errors that’s what readers will pick up on. Make sure your content is remembered for the right reasons.

Common mistakes

There are some common mistakes people make and these can be easily picked up on. Watch out for these when you’re proofreading your blog post.

Typos

Whether you’re inexperienced at typing or type at speed, it’s all too easy to hit the wrong key or hit them in the wrong order. Don’t rely on a spell check tool to pick up on typos. Typing ‘form’ instead of ‘from’, ‘fiend’ instead of ‘friend’ or ‘manger‘ instead of ‘manager’ can easily slip through unnoticed.

Apostrophes

Lots of people find apostrophes confusing. there are two main uses for an apostrophe:

  1. When there is a letter or letters missing, usually when two words have been merged together. The apostrophe replaces the missing letter. For example; don’t (do + not), you’re (you + are) he’s (he + is)
  2.  When you’re indicating that something belongs to a thing or person. For example, “it was his sister’s car” (the car belongs to his sister), “it was her friend’s birthday” (the birthday belongs to her friend) or “he could hear the car’s engine” (the engine belongs to the car).

When you’re adding the letter ‘s’ to a word to turn it into a plural, you do not need an apostrophe. For example, “he had three sisters”, “many of her friends would be there”, “the showroom was full of classic cars”.

Homophones

Homophones are words that sound the same when spoken but are spelt differently and have different meanings. They catch a lot of people out. Some commonly confused ones are:

  • Your and you’re
  • There, their and they’re
  • To, too and two
  • Whether and weather
  • Bear and bare
  • Complement and compliment
  • Stationery and stationary
  • Affect and effect

Capitalisation

Capital letters should be used for the first letter of a sentence or subheading. They should also be used for proper nouns (names of people, countries and cities, for example). Abbreviations are also capitalised (for example; search engine optimisation= SEO).

Top tips for proofreading your blog post

Leave your copy overnight

We recommend three stages to your blog writing process. The first stage is to write your post, the second is to edit and the third is to proofread. You should leave at least one day between each stage as then you are going back to it with fresh eyes and are more likely to spot mistakes. 

Read out loud

Reading your post out loud will help you identify mistakes more easily. You will notice any awkward sentence structure, grammatical errors and missing words.

Get a fresh pair of eyes

Get a friend or colleague to give your blog post a final check before you publish it. They will be more likely to spot mistakes as it will be the first time they have read the post. Alternatively, hire a proofreader who will check your work thoroughly. 

Use Grammarly

Software like Grammarly is very useful for picking up errors in your work. It shouldn’t be used as a substitute for manual proofreading but provides an extra check. 

 

Text: Q is for quantity

Q is for Quantity: Consider frequency and length of your posts

“How often should you blog?” and “How long should a blog post be are two questions we get asked. 

The answer will depend on what works for you and your audience. 

Here are some things you should consider. 

How often should you blog?

How much time can you dedicate?

Blogging takes time. You need to plan, research, write, edit and proofread your post. On top of that, there’s the time it takes to promote and share your posts. Before you commit to a daily, weekly or fortnightly blog make sure you have enough time to dedicate to it. You might find it more manageable to create one in-depth, high-quality post each month. 

How fast-paced is your industry?

If you are in a fast-moving industry then you may need to blog more frequently to keep your readers up to date. Daily posts or weekly round-ups of the latest developments could work well. 

How long and in-depth are your posts?

The length of your posts can dictate how often you blog. If you are writing short, snappy posts then you might find it realistic to write a post every day. Longer more in-depth or ultimate guides will take a bit longer to create so you might prefer to post these less frequently. Having a mixture of content length is another option. A short weekly blog and one long post each month or a short monthly post with a long, in-depth post every quarter can be a nice combination. 

How long should your blog post be?

The other question we get asked about quantity is “how long should a blog post be?” Again, the answer is dependent on several factors such as how often you are blogging and what you want to achieve from your blog.

Your blog post shouldn’t be less than 300 words if you want it to rank in search engines. Posts less than 300 words don’t give search engines enough content to determine how relevant your post is.  

Longer posts of over 1000 words rank higher than shorter posts. This is usually because you automatically include your keyword and variations of your keywords more naturally so search engines can determine more from the copy. There isn’t really a limit on how many words you can go up to, but you need to have good writing skills and a strong subject to keep your reader engaged for over 1500 words.

If you are creating long posts then you need to think carefully about the layout of your blog post. Include plenty of subheadings, images or graphs to make it more visually appealing. 

The format of your post may determine the length of your post. If your post is a “quick guide” to something then readers will expect it to be short. If you are creating an “ultimate guide” then readers will expect plenty of information. 

The key thing to remember is to write enough to comprehensively cover your chosen topic but don’t waffle. 

Go for quality over quantity

Don’t write blog posts for the sake of having a blog post and don’t add paragraphs of content purely to make up a long word count. You should always aim for quality over quantity. Readers will be more likely to read, subscribe and share if they feel that they are getting quality. 

Text: R is for research

R is for Research: Good research means better content

Carrying out thorough research ensures that you have an accurate blog post and the content is interesting and useful to the reader. The more facts, statistics and new information you can offer compared to competitors, the more likely you are to win a bigger readership.

Even if you know your subject inside out, it pays to research facts and figures to make sure the information you give is up to date and correct. If you misquote a source or give incorrect information, you could open yourself up to problems. Depending on your industry, you could be breaking industry regulations or compliance. If you have written something about someone that is false and perceived as damaging to their reputation, you could be accused of defamation and get caught up on libel charges.

Top tips for carrying out research effectively

Plan your research before you start

Ask yourself what questions you want answering. Having a clear plan for the information you need to find will help you keep your research on track.

Magazines and books

Magazines and books around your chosen subjects provide a wealth of information. You can pick the most relevant sections and use the information for your blog.

Google

Online searches are a quick and easy way to get the information you need. Just be wary of the sources as not everything on the internet is true. If you aren’t using a reputable source then check your findings against other sites to make sure your information is correct.

Government websites

Government websites are reputable sources of information. If you need to research laws and legislation then government websites are a great place to start.

Academic reports

There are a wealth of academic research papers and reports available to draw information from for your blog posts. You can use Google Scholar to search published papers.

Interviews

Conduct interviews with experts on the subject you are writing about. They can provide unique insights and add extra credibility to your blog post.

Other people’s research and studies

You can use papers and research findings from other companies if you reference your source. The easiest way to do this is to include a hyperlink back to the original source.

Stay on track

It can be very easy to get distracted when researching. If you come across interesting materials that aren’t related to the subject you are writing about, bookmark them and go back to them at a later stage. Don’t let yourself go off on a tangent with your research otherwise, you may spend hours reading and be no closer to writing your post. If you want to research effectively you need to stay on track.

How to use your research effectively

Present information clearly

Put information in a way that makes sense and that is accessible to your target audience. If your subject is complex and you are trying to simplify it for your audience then use concise language. Analogies can also be an effective way of explaining something.

Make sure it is accurate

Check your facts before you publish. There are several websites that allow you to check your information is accurate:

FullFact

FactCheck.Org

Checkdesk

Link to sources when necessary

If you are using other people’s research or quoting a source then you should attribute correctly. Hyperlinks are the easiest way to reference your source as the reader can click straight through.

How to cite sources & not steal people’s content on the internet by Hubspot, goes into more detail on how to correctly cite sources.

Make your blog post unique

Don’t just rehash information you have found. Present it in a new and interesting way. Put your own spin on the topic or get experts to give their views and insights.

Text: S is for sharing

S is for Sharing: Get your blog post in the right places

Sharing your blog posts on social media is an excellent way of generating new readers and building brand awareness. Choose the right platforms, post at the right times and engage with the right audience for better results.

Which platforms should you use?

There are so many social media platforms available it can be hard to choose the right ones. Managing a social media account successfully takes time and effort. You need to update, share and engage with your audience regularly. If you do not have a dedicated social media person then we recommend choosing just one or two platforms and doing them well, rather than trying to be on every platform and not engaging with your followers.

Here are some of the most popular platforms:

Facebook

Facebook has the most users of any social media channel. You can build a business page where you can share your blog posts and any other content. You can also create paid ads on Facebook to help you reach your target audience more effectively.

Twitter

Twitter is a fast-paced platform. You share Tweets which anyone can see. Tweets are short posts and can include links to your blog. Users can follow the people whose posts they want to see more of. You can follow anyone on Twitter and they can follow you back if they choose.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a business and employment-related social media platform. If you offer business to business products and services then LinkedIn is a good platform for you.

Pinterest

Pinterest allows you to create ‘boards’ where you pin posts, images and other media content. You can share your boards and allow anyone to view your pinned content or you can make boards private.

Instagram

Instagram is a very visual platform. Anyone can follow you and find your images. You can use hashtags to make it easier for people to find your content. If you have a visual product or service then Instagram is a good platform for you.

YouTube

YouTube is a video sharing platform. If you are including video on your blog posts then embed the YouTube link into your blog and include links to your blog posts on your YouTube channel.

Feedly

Feedly is a news aggregator app. Choose subjects you are interested in and you will get a feed of blogs and articles related to that subject. Feedly is a good tool for finding content to share with your audience and researching for your own blog.

Medium

Medium is a free platform where you can share blogs and articles. Blogs that get more likes and comments appear higher in feeds so the quality of your blog post is very important.

Tumblr

Tumblr is a micro-blogging site where users can share media in short blog posts. Users can follow other users’ blogs. You can add tags to your posts to make them easier to find.

Reddit

Reddit is an American social news aggregator. You can share links or text posts. Registered users vote submissions up or down which determines where your posts appear in a feed.

Snapchat

Snapchat is a mobile app that allows you to share photos and videos with your audience. The images and videos “self-destruct” once viewed. Snapchat attracts a younger audience and is gaining in popularity as a marketing tool.

With so many social media platforms available, it can be difficult to choose the best one. We suggest choosing the platform that your target audience is using. If you are looking for a younger audience then Instagram or Snapchat might work for you. If you are a B2B company then LinkedIn is a good platform. Here are some more in-depth articles on the different demographics and benefits of using the different platforms:

Social media demographics to inform a better segmentation strategy (Sprout Social)

How do Instagram and Snapchat compare for promoting your blog? (Forbes)

Top social network demographics 2017 [Infographic] (Social Media Today)

How often should you post?

The number of times you share your posts will depend on the platform you are using. On Twitter, it is more acceptable to share the same post several times whereas LinkedIn users won’t appreciate you saturating their feed with the same post over and over again.

The key thing to remember is to share a combination of your own content and other people’s content.

For more detail on how often to share check out these articles:

How often to share your blog posts on social media (Blog2Social)

Average time spent daily on social media-2019 data (Broadband Search)

 

Using images

Including an image makes your post stand out more in social media feeds. On more visual platforms like Instagram and Snapchat, an image is essential. Make sure you use original images or images that you have the correct permissions or licences to use.

Automation

You can automate the sharing of your blog posts using apps like Hootsuite which allows you to write your social media posts in advance and schedule when you want to publish them. You can schedule all your posts for the day or week ahead saving you time and making sure you don’t miss key sharing times.

Tracking results

Use your social media analytics and Google analytics to track which posts are getting the most engagement. This allows you to see which blog posts get the most click-throughs and which social media platforms are driving the most traffic to your site, so you can market your blog more effectively.

Influencer marketing

Influencer marketing is a way of reaching a bigger audience. Find people or companies that share your target audience and ask them to promote your blog posts on their social media channels. By getting them to share your content, you widen your reach.

Other ways of sharing your blog post

Social media is a fantastic way of sharing your blog for free but there are other ways to market your blog too. Share via email newsletters, join blogging communities or use paid advertising.

Get started in social media

If you want to use social media to promote your blog but don’t know where to start these guides will help:

Facebook Marketing: A comprehensive guide for beginners (Kissmetrics)

Beginners guide to Twitter (Mashable)

LinkedIn for business: the ultimate marketing guide (Hootsuite)

 

 

Text: T is for target audience

T is for Target Audience: Who are you writing for?

Understanding your target audience is absolutely vital if you want a successful blog.

If you don’t know who your target audience is, how can you know what they want to read about?

Identifying exactly who you are trying to reach through your blog will help you generate blog ideas, find more readers and build a stronger following. 

Identifying your target audience

The target audience for your blog may be more specific than the target audience for your products. You have to consider who you can actually reach with your blog. If you sell to all sizes of business then it may be easier to reach small business owners with your blog than CEOs of international companies. You can use other means of marketing to target those clients. 

Before you write each blog post decide who you are writing for. 

B2B

 If you offer business to business products or services then consider the following about your audience:

  • What size company are they?
  • How many employees do they have?
  • What is the average turnover?
  • Are they start-ups, SMEs or corporates?
  • Is location important?
  • Are they a specific type of business (i.e. solicitors)?
  • Do they work in a particular sector (i.e. construction)?
  • Who are their clients?

B2C

If you sell products or services directly to consumers then consider the following about your target audience:

  • Are they male or female?
  • What age are they?
  • Is location important?
  • What kind of income do they have?
  • Are they homeowners?
  • Do they have children?
  • What is their marital status?
  • Are they drivers?
  • Do they own a specific item (i.e. car)?

Finding and engaging your target audience

Knowing as much information as possible about your target audience can help you understand where to find them. You can research which social media platforms your target audience use most, which websites they visit most often and the times of day they are most often online. Use this information to market your blog more effectively.

If you have taken time to understand your target audience then this will come across in your blog. You will be able to write directly to your audience and answer their questions. Readers will be able to relate to your posts and this will help you create a more loyal following and build better relationships. 

Text: U is for uniqueness

U is for Unique: Make your blog stand out

It can be hard to make your blog stand out. Those in niche markets often struggle to think of subjects to blog about, whereas those from saturated markets feel like there are no original topics left.

Creating a unique blog doesn’t necessarily mean you have to have a unique idea. It just means you have to present your idea in a unique way.

Controversial

Can you make your blog post unique by being controversial? Do you have a differing view to your competitors about a new industry development? Maybe you offer a totally honest and open narrative in a sector that is often under scrutiny or suspicion. Are you willing to discuss the issues that your competitors avoid, or address common myths or misconceptions about your industry?

Extra detail

Make posts about common topics stand out by providing extra details, additional advice or more in-depth analysis than your competitors. This may involve extra research but will give your readers a more comprehensive understanding of the subject and show that you care about providing useful content.

Personal opinion

Every business has a unique personality. Put some of your personality into your blog posts by offering your own personal opinions on a subject. Instead of sticking to a factual review, include your own experiences, real-world examples and stories.

Unique point of view

Offer a unique point of view on a subject. That could be your own point of view or an industry expert. If there is a change to legislation, interview someone who has been directly affected by the change. Get guest bloggers to write posts to give your readers a change. 

New research

Make your blog post unique by including new research findings. This could be research you have carried out yourself through interviews and surveys or someone else’s research presented in an original way.

Unique style

The tone of your blog posts could be what makes them unique. If your blog posts are more funny or entertaining than similar blogs in your industry, then you will attract more readers because you are offering something different.

Dare to be different

It doesn’t matter what industry you work in, you can be creative with your blog. As long as the information is not misleading or defamatory, you can present it in a way that appeals to your target audience and makes you stand out.

Text~: V is for video

V is for Video: Include videow content in your blog

Including video in your blog is a great way of making your blog stand out. Videos are brilliant for sharing on social media and they engage a bigger audience than text-only posts. Blogs containing video content generate more backlinks than those without so they can help with your SEO too.

You can do video only blogs (vlogs) to post on a video sharing platform such as YouTube or Vimeo or to share on your website. However, combining video and text, as we have in this post, provides more benefits than just using text or video alone.

Having both video and text means you cater to a bigger audience. You appeal to people who find it easier to take information in from watching and listening as well as people who take information in through reading. 

You don’t have to include a video with every blog post but adding a video every now and then keeps your blog fresh and interesting.

Ideas for video content  

Presentations

If you have conducted a presentation, workshop or training course, then why not repurpose the slides by turning them into a video presentation. SlideShare is a hosting service owned by LinkedIn designed for sharing presentations.

You can use PowerPoint to turn your presentations into a video by adding a voiceover to your slides. This can then be uploaded to YouTube or other similar video sharing platforms.

To turn your PowerPoint presentation into a video, open the file, click on ‘Slide Show’ and then click on ‘Record Slide Show’ and start recording your video.

Save your completed video and upload it to YouTube. You can then embed the video into your blog.

Interviews

Interviews make good videos. It can be useful to let the interviewee know the questions in advance if they are not used to being filmed. This allows them to prepare answers so there aren’t long pauses and they give more structured answers.

Case studies

Showing before and after footage or time-lapse videos of your projects is a fantastic way of showcasing your services. Lapse It is a mobile app specifically for creating time-lapse videos on your mobile phone.

How to

Explainer videos are very popular. Show your client or customers how to do something or how to use something in a step by step video.

Reviews

Videos showing you using products and reviewing them as you go makes your reviews stand out. Customers can see the results for themselves so they get a more comprehensive view of the product.

Top tips

Create short, snappy videos sharing your top tips on a particular subject.

Testimonials

Video testimonials can be created to add weight to claims about a particular product or service you offer. They show that you are credible.

Promotional

You can use video for promoting your services. These can be live action or animated. Check out our promo vids below.

Filming

Creating a video doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive. Most mobile phones and smart devices have a built-in camera allowing you to make basic videos. You can purchase tripods and microphones for a small cost to enhance your mobile videos.

Built-in webcams on laptops, Macs and PCs are another option. These are great if you are just creating a short video where you are talking directly to the camera.

Most digital cameras also have a video option and depending on the quality of your camera, you can create a high-resolution or HD videos. Again, you can buy tripods, microphones and other accessories to improve your video.

Go-pro cameras are great for filming active videos; running, cycling, climbing, skiing etc.

If you want a professionally filmed video then we can recommend some excellent videographers and production companies depending on whether you want live video, studio shot footage or animated video. 

Editing

There are hundreds of options for video editing software, some free and some paid depending on what level of editing you need. Here are just some of the popular options available:

Almost all of these offer a free version or a free trial so you can test them out before deciding which to go with. 

If you would prefer to get your videos filmed and edited by a professional videographer or production company then we can recommend some exceptional companies. 

Text: W is for writing

W is for Writing: Write for your ideal clients

If you want to build a blog that gets results, then you need to write engaging blog posts.

There’s no point coming up with great ideas and spending hours writing loads of words if nobody is interested in reading what you’ve written.

Planning and research

Before you start writing, it’s worth taking some time to plan your post and research your topic.

Build a brief

Refer to your blog strategy to make sure you understand what you want to achieve from your blog. What is the purpose of your blog post? Do you want to promote a specific product or service? Are you trying to gain a bigger social media following? Who is your target audience for this specific post? What action do you want them to take after reading your post? Building a brief will help you choose a subject.

Generate ideas and choose a format

What problem will your post solve or what question will you answer? What questions would your reader have about the subject? How can you make your post unique? Come up with ideas for headlines based on the subject you have chosen. Decide what format you will use for your post. Do some research around the keywords people are using.

Research your topic and collate information

Conduct research on your chosen topic to ensure your blog post is accurate and contains useful information. Collate all the information you gather and decide what you will include in your post.

Writing your posts

Once you have a general idea of what you want your post to be about and you have done some research you need to write your post. The hardest part is usually getting started. Once you get going you find the ideas start to flow more easily. Here are our tips for writing your post:

Set aside time to write

The first thing to do is plan a time where you can concentrate on writing your post. You may decide to do this outside of normal working hours or quiet times where you won’t be distracted by phone calls and emails. Alternatively, switch your phone to silent and close your emails down whilst you write.

Write first and edit later

Don’t try and edit your post as you go. Writing the first paragraph will take far longer if you try and make it perfect. Instead just get your ideas down, no matter how badly written, then go back through and improve it. Nobody sees your first draft apart from you so it doesn’t matter if it isn’t any good.

Find your writing style

Some people start by jotting down bullet points and then filling out the information. Some people write their introduction last. Other people just write from start to finish and then reorder the information afterwards. There is no right or wrong way to write; do what works for you.

Write to your reader

Write as though you are having a conversation with your reader. This doesn’t mean write how you speak and it doesn’t mean using informal language if that doesn’t fit with your brand personality. It simply means that you should make your post sound natural.

Think about the structure

Think about the layout of your post. You should use headings and sub-headings to break up the text. Think about what images or videos you will include and how you can incorporate these. Consider what other blog posts or pages on your site you will link back to and how you will fit the links into the copy.

Use appropriate language

Don’t use industry jargon or technical terminology if you aren’t writing to other people in your industry. Try and keep your language as simple as possible so that your post is easy to follow. Avoid offensive terms or words. Use a tone that is suitable for your company whether that is formal, informal or somewhere in between.

Keep it logical

Keep your ideas in a logical order and stay on track. Don’t jump from one point to another and then back to a point that you started out with. You may have to change the order of some of your paragraphs once you’ve written the post or cut copy out where you have repeated an idea. 

Editing & proofreading

Once you have written your blog post leave it overnight (or longer if you can) before going back to edit it. Editing is where you have the chance to perfect your post. Think about whether you have covered your subject as well as you could. Is your blog useful, interesting or entertaining? Could you add something else to make it even better? Are there bits you can cut to make it stronger. 

Once you have edited your post, leave it again and then give it a final proofread before publishing it. This allows you to go back to it with fresh eyes, making it easier to spot mistakes. 

Editing and proofreading your post before you share it with your readers ensures a better quality than if you just rush to post something out. Your blog represents the kind of company you are, so make sure it shows you in the best light. 

Text: X is for XML sitemap

X is for XML Sitemap: Make it easier for Google to crawl your site

An XML sitemap is like a roadmap of your website for search engines. It helps search bots crawl your site more easily and index the pages. This lets them find new content quicker and makes it easier for them to determine the relevance of your pages in search queries, improving your SEO.

Google likes to understand every page on your site and an XML sitemap makes that easier. 

Benefits of an XML Sitemap

A sitemap is useful if your website or blog is new as you won’t have built many quality backlinks to help search engines to discover the pages. A sitemap helps search engines crawl your site more efficiently. It points search engines to all of your content. 

If you have a website where you have a lot of content, a sitemap improves the visibility of your site by allowing search engines to interact more effectively with your site. The XML sitemap should include modification dates which will tell search engines which pages to crawl and which ones haven’t changed. 

A sitemap lists all your URLs including the pages that aren’t discoverable by search engines or that they might miss when indexing. You can also tell search engines which pages are a priority so they can order the crawling.

Your sitemap can give search engines information about how important a page is in relation to other pages, how often you make changes to your site and when the last update was. An XML sitemap keeps all this information in one place so the search engines can find it easily. 

Do you need an XML Sitemap?

You don’t need a sitemap as Google can usually crawl your site if your pages have been properly linked. However, there are some sites that benefit from the addition of a sitemap. This page from Google summarises the sites that benefit most which are:

  • Sites with a complicated structure or lots of pages
  • New sites or sites with very few links
  • Sites with lots of isolated or archived pages
  • Sites using rich media content or dynamic pages

For more information on XML Sitemaps check out these in-depth articles:

What is an XML Sitemap and why should you have one? (Yoast)

The importance of an XML Sitemap in SEO (OnCrawl)

What are the SEO benefits of XML and HTML Sitemaps (Crazy Egg)

Text: Y is for Yoast

Y is for Yoast: The Number One WordPress SEO Plugin

Yoast is a company that specialises in search engine optimisation (SEO). They developed the WordPress Plugin, Yoast SEO, in order to help WordPress users optimise their web pages more effectively. Yoast SEO is now hailed as the world’s number one WordPress SEO plugin.

Yoast also offers other WordPress plugins to improve more specific SEO such as local SEO, news SEO, video SEO and E-commerce SEO. As well as their plugins, they also provide online SEO training and other services plus lots of useful articles on various elements of SEO.

Benefits of using Yoast SEO for your blog

Using Yoast SEO for your blog is beneficial. It helps you identify the areas you need to pay attention to so you can optimise your content. It also lets you know if you have already used a keyword on another page on your site so that you don’t duplicate keywords between pages.

SEO Analysis

Yoast SEO works on a traffic light system. Once you have written your post and selected your keyword, Yoast will score your content as red, amber or green. Green means that your post has good optimisation, amber means it is ok and red is poor.

 Yoast SEO gives you a breakdown of the areas you need to pay attention to. This acts as a good checklist to ensure you have fully optimised your post.

Readability Analysis

Yoast SEO also scores your readability with the same traffic light system which shows you whether your post is optimised for readers. In other words, how easy is it for them to follow? The easier it is to follow, the more engaged they are likely to be. 

It shows you exactly where you can make improvements to your post to make it as reader-friendly as possible.

Preview and edit metadata

Yoast SEO also allows you to view and edit your URL, title and meta description before you post goes live.

It shows you where your keyword is appearing in the titles and meta description so you can improve the optimisation.

Customise social media snippets

As well as customising your snippets for search engines, you can also customise the snippets that appear when someone shares your blog post on Facebook or Twitter.

SEO management

Yoast SEO has a lot of features that take care of the more technical SEO aspects of your site. There is a lot of background stuff that Yoast can do for you so you don’t have to worry about doing it.

These articles from Yoast explain exactly how they help with your SEO:

Why every website needs Yoast SEO

Yoast SEO Hidden Features

Do you need Yoast SEO?

It isn’t essential to have Yoast SEO but if you do have a WordPress site then it makes sense. After all, you want your post to get found by search engines so why wouldn’t you get help with SEO?

This article explains how to set it up:

How to Setup & Use the Yoast SEO Plugin 2019 Guide (Caseo)

There are other SEO plugins available but Yoast is the most highly rated. Some other SEO plugins available include:

All in one SEO pack

SEO Ultimate

SEO Squirrly

If your website isn’t built in WordPress then you should speak to your web designer about compatible plugins or SEO management for your blog.

Z is for Zzzzzzz: Don't bore your readers to sleep

The last thing you want to do is send your readers to sleep with dull, boring and uninteresting content. Create blog posts that engage readers by making your posts useful, entertaining or interesting.

Always remember that your blog represents your company. Do you want to be known as boring? Do you want readers to think you haven’t put any effort into your blog? Are you happy with just posting out any old rubbish on your blog?

If you want blog posts that engage readers then you need to put a bit of effort in. Choose the right subjects, do thorough research, write well, edit effectively and proofread before publishing.

How to create blog posts that engage readers

Understand your target audience

We cannot make this point often enough. Whenever you create any sales, marketing or advertising materials, the first thing you need to do is identify your target audience. if you don’t know who you are trying to reach, how do you know what will interest them, where to find them, or how to engage them?

Choose relevant subjects

Once you know who you are writing for it makes it easier to choose subjects. What is your target audience interested in? What problems do they need solving? 

Think about how much knowledge they already have. Are you targeting beginners or are you writing to people who already have a good knowledge of your industry? 

Create unique content

Don’t just rewrite the exact same posts that have been written a hundred times before. That doesn’t mean don’t cover the same subjects, it just means do it in a different way. Make your post stand out from your competitors. Add extra detail, put a different spin on it, add some of your own personality.

Don’t use boring, repetitive language

Even if the subject is boring the way you write about it doesn’t have to be. Don’t just waffle on and on; put some passion behind your blog. Add examples, stories, statistics, testimonials or case studies to make your copy more interesting and relevant.

Simply saying “you should do this” without explaining why or giving examples of where it has worked won’t make your blog post very useful to the reader.

Minimise industry jargon and clichés.

Choose the right format

The format of your blog can help you present your information in an interesting way. If there is a new development in your industry you can approach it in different ways. You could write it as a news story, do an interview with an expert on the subject, collate opinions from those affected or do a prediction on what it will mean for your clients.

Take time planning the layout

Don’t just write a load of copy and stick it on a page. Think about the layout of your blog post. What sub-headings will you include? Are you going to use images, graphics or video? How will you link you post to other posts or pages on your site? How your blog post is presented can attract the reader or put them off before they even read a word.

Be interested

It helps if you are interested in the subject you are writing about yourself as this will come across in your blog post. Think about why you are writing your blog. Do you want to help your clients? Have you got useful information to share? Do you want to entertain people? If you have a purpose behind you post it makes it more enjoyable to write.

Blogging for Business

Blogging for Business is a self-paced online course for freelancers and small business owners who want to use their blog as a marketing tool to generate leads.

What’s included?

  • Downloadable Course Workbook
  • Module One: Understanding content marketing
  • Module Two: Your Strategy
  • Module Three: Your Audience
  • Module Four: Adding Value
  • Module Five: Blog Titles
  • Module Six: Writing & Structuring Your Posts
  • Module Seven: Editing & Proofreading
  • Module Eight: Increasing Your Reach
  • Module Nine: Your Next Steps
  • Further Reading Recommendations

Enrol here for only £99 (inc vat).

Is this course right for you?

If you are a freelancer or self-employed business owner and you haven’t got a blog or aren’t using your blog consistently, then this course is for you. This course doesn’t teach you how to monetise your blog, but if you are starting a blog from scratch, you may still find the content beneficial.

It takes you through the basics of content marketing, creating a strategy for your blog, coming up with ideas, writing, structuring and editing your post, and maximising your reach.

By the end of the course, you’ll have the skills and confidence to create blog posts with purpose.

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Hi – I’m Lisa

If this is your first time here, thanks for reading. 

I’m Lisa – owner of Make Your Copy Count Ltd, and author of the ‘A-Z of Blogging’ and ‘The Freelance Fairytale‘. 

I help freelancers and small businesses attract more of the clients they want by providing copywriting training and business mentoring. 

If you’d like to get to know me a bit better, sign up for my daily email here.