Source: Search Engine Journal
1. Create Really Shareable Content Assets
You need to ask yourself this question, all the time. A new post doesn’t guarantee ‘shareability’. If it’s not good enough, it won’t get shared. So, you need to come up with a blogging plan that helps you come up with shareable assets. For that to happen, you must push the blogging envelope. Diversify and focus on posts that will help you earn more traffic and shares. For example, how-to’s and lists are the kind of posts that will always work.
However, don’t limit diversification to the ‘types’ of blog posts. Extend it to the kind of content formats you choose to publish. Videos, infographics, and even podcasts should be a part of your monthly publishing calendar. Mix it up.
Thumb rule of business blogging: Don’t be boring; let your creativity run wild.
2. It’s All in the Appeal
Is your website blog appealing? And I mean really appealing. This appeal isn’t just about the visuals. It is also about the kind of information you are offering on your blog.
Look Both Ways is Ann Taylor’s website blog and a text-book example of an “appealing” blog. It has great visuals, but the focus is on delivering information that will appeal to its audience. It packs a punch with its guest blogs, DIY articles, gift ideas, and a whole lot more. It’s the kind of blog that Ann Taylor’s target audience will love coming to, again and again, regardless of whether they shop from Ann Taylor or not. It acts like a comprehensive fashion resource that is updated daily. This is the essence of its appeal.
Now, take a look at your blog. While it might look appealing to you, do you really think it delivers recurring value to its target audience? If the answer is NO, it’s time you overhauled your blog.
3. Expert Speak
If you want your blog to function as an industry mouthpiece and a thought leadership resource, you must get experts into the act. These experts are niche influencers and it makes perfect sense to either ask them to write for your blog or have a presence on it in some form.
But why should they want to publish posts on your blog? One word – influence! If they believe an article on your blog will help their personal branding efforts, they will definitely take up your offer to publish posts on your blog. It’s important to remember most ‘industry experts’ are looking for an opportunity to showcase their expertise; and if your blog looks like a good opportunity to improve their visibility, they will grab it with both hands.
In the event they are not willing to publish, you could even think about interviewing them on your blog. Think of innovative ways and means you could have expert presence on your blog. This will help improve brand reputation and trigger conversations centered on your brand.
4. Approach the Right Blogs
Another question for you – If you are publishing posts on third-party websites/blogs (guest blogging), are you making the right choices? You must pick high authority blogs/websites reputed for the quality of information they bring to the table. Getting your posts published on these blogs isn’t easy -but don’t give up.
One of the reasons why a business’s blogging efforts fail to deliver returns is they give up. If the high authority sites are not accepting their posts, they publish on low quality sites, not realizing that in doing so, their reputation is taking a hit. What’s more, the posts on these sites are delivering zero value to them.