Get much blogging done in 2020?
Sorry, we’re not trying to reopen old wounds. It’s a real question. Some businesses took the opportunities of last year as a time to focus on content creation. Other businesses were barely able to cope with the consequences of COVID and a year that felt like it was ushering in the apocalypse.
We know how difficult last year was, we’re not trying to downplay it all (trust us, we were in the thick of the nightmare too!). But our businesses must continue if we’re going to keep putting food on the table. The show must go on and your business must continue to create content to drive traffic.
There’s an old saying “When fishermen can’t go to sea, they mend their nets.” For many businesses those nets are blogs. Whether 2020 was a great year for your blogging and content creation or a year that you are actively trying to blot out of your memory, it’s worth taking a look at your year in blogs so that you can be your best blogging self in 2021.
Why you need blogs
If you’re still on the fence about blogging, we’re just going to be point blank with you: your business needs blogs, no question, no follow-up comments.
Here are the main reasons why.
SEO: search engines are the real power brokers in business these days. If you’re not getting found on search engines, you’re not getting found. There’s still plenty of room for referrals, word of mouth and other age-old avenues for stirring up business. But without great SEO, you will struggle to keep up in 2021 and for the foreseeable future. Blogs are one of the best ways to boost your SEO.
Giving the people what they want: Consumers aren’t interested in traditional ads anymore. They’re sick and tired of being harassed and manipulated and they’re getting savvier. Consumers want to learn about brands from content. They want solid information to answer their questions. If you provide this for them, they will be more likely to trust your brand and become loyal customers.
Capturing and converting leads: 67% more leads monthly. Interested? And when those leads read your blog and begin to trust you and look to you as the expert they inherently build loyalty to your brand. Loyal consumers are ready to become converted leads.
A shareable content creation machine: Blogs are mines of information and marketing content for all of your content strategies across all platforms. You can link to blogs in posts to drive traffic to your website and you can mine your blogs for quotes, pictures, videos and other valuable content. By creating a blog you are creating content for all of your platforms.
Blogging to-dos for 2021
So, now that you’re chomping at the bit to get your blog on, make sure you’re studying up on how to write an effective blog for your audience. On that note, make sure you know who your audience is, inside and out.
Also, don’t forget to build a content calendar to make sure your blogs are consistent and quality.
Take a look at the previous year(s) in blogging and notice what got the most hits and responses. This is a good indication of how to fashion your content to meet your audience’s needs.
Lastly, make sure you’re doing your research. You need to thoroughly research your audience to know what topics they want information on, then you need to comprehensively research those topics.
Ready to blog? You got this!
And if you have any questions or are looking for some blogging savvy, you know where to find us.