Blogging For Non-Bloggers: A 5-Step Intro to Producing Great Content

Nearly 30 years on from [probably] the first published blog, and content is still king.

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A prime way to reach prospective and existing customers, ideal for gaining traction across your digital channels, great for building brand integrity, and practically everything in between.

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There's a reason blogs are still undefeated in their benefits and abilities. And a reason why it's still one of the most sought-after marketing services for businesses looking to grow.

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Another key feature of the blog? It's accessible. So if you want to start producing your own content, or upskill your teams, here's a simple and effective way to ease in…

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Step #1: Know Your Audience

Writing content for the sake of content is where most brands fall down. As much as blogs can boost your SEO and authority, it won't mean much to your customers if they're not at the centre.

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Understanding who you're communicating to and why is the first step to writing content that will perform. That means getting down to their pain points, needs and wants, decision-making behaviour, and so on. The more you know, the more effective your blogs.

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Tip: Draw insights from how your customers interact with your services or products to hit the bullseye.

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Step #2: Be Goal-Oriented

Are you looking to drive sales, or generate new leads for the business? Have a new product or service to promote this quarter? Or even demonstrate team expertise in your brand sector?

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All of your content - big or small - needs to be underpinned by that end goal. It'll determine the angle and tone you use when writing, the details you highlight to your target audience, and of course, the all-important call to action you include at the end of your blog.

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Tip: If you're stuck, call back to what you most want your audience to take away - and remember.

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Step #3: Think Technical

For all the creativity and colour (more on that below), there are still the technical aspects of writing a best-practice-blog. So it pays to familiarise yourself with a few core SEO needs.

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If you're new to content writing, start small. Research the keywords your demographic is searching for, and include these in your titles and copy. Adding links to other site pages will inform search engines that you're a trustworthy, relevant source, and increase your chances of gaining organic traffic.

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Tip: See what blog topics are performing well to infer what your audience could be interested in next.

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Step #4: Add Colour

Call us biased, but writing content is a great chance to exercise some creativity. And - within reason - the more creative you are with your blog, the more likely your readership will stay engaged.

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Characterful writing might look like adopting a colloquial tone of voice across company blogs, choosing a unique structure, intelligent use of analogies, metaphors or wordplay. Make sure to include some imagery too. It's engaging, and will keep your readership scrolling.

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Tip: Align your tone with your brand to create a recognisable style, and keep your presence holistic.

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Step #5: Don't Forget the Promos

Less about the writing, and more about post-production. Promoting your great piece of content in the right ways, across the right channels will help it reach the right people.

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Once it's live, use your brand's social channels to publicise your new blog with a few succinct lines of copy as a teaser, and tag any relevant partners or people in too. That'll help with performance and reshares. It's also a good idea to promote content to internal teams to encourage engagement.

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Tip: Research what hashtags could be applicable to your audience to help with social performance.

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Final Words About Words

The beauty of blog content is its flexibility. Flexibility in what it can achieve, how it helps shape your brand, and of course, in the way you approach it yourself.

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Being a beginner in the blogosphere is like being a beginner in anything else. Commitment to consistency and character will get you far, and trial and error is far superior to perfection. Put it this way: there are countless words online. You may as well play around with yours.

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And if you're interested in the next step up, let's talk. We offer free consultation and workshops, as well as content services themselves. Get in touch.

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