I wrote a blog a week ago offering some advice to answer just those questions. Check it out.

Once you can lay out a sound strategy in your schedule to blog and develop a content calendar the next step is making sure your blog is well written.

To overcome some headaches you might encounter later, I want to offer some tips to get the most out of your blog so that you are not scratching your head later wondering why your traffic is not where you want it to be. 

1. Make your article irresistible – Starting your blog is a step to demonstrate how your business is a thought leader in your market. To do that you must strive to produce content that is informational and educational with little internal promotion. Also, the blog re-establishes your web site from a static URL to a dynamic content hub. So focus your content around your own industry and keep out personal activities and interests. The length of your articles should vary but be no more than one page to avoid people from glazing your article over. 

2. Setting up your blog domain – There are many blogging tools and platforms out there. Just make sure that your blog set up DOES NOT include the name of the platform in its URL, for example: mycompany.wordpress.com. It is highly recommended and best practice to have your company name in the URL, for example: mycompany.com/blog. This is very, very important so that you do not have to manage multiple sites or confuse your brand.

3. Create catchy titles – Many copy writing experts suggest that if you spend 30 minutes writing your article, spend another 30 minutes writing your title. It should be catchy and for some reason articles do better promoting lists (8 tips to do xxx better, 10 lessons from the experts, etc.) Also, many blogs can end up on RSS feeders, email auto-generated from your own blog site, or a Google search so make sure it would be something you would click on if you came by the title

4. Subscribe and comment on other blogs – There is a reason behind this and it has its paybacks in what bloggers love to see – inbound links. Find a decent RSS feeder and spend at least 20 minutes every morning reading blogs from your industry. Just scan through some of the more interesting titles and take the extra step to give a comment. It really doesn’t matter how enlightening or profound the statement but it does one thing more – it provides a link back to your blog for extra traffic. What’s more, the traffic will be more qualified for your industry and topic making the chances of a better lead as well.

5. Measure your blog performance – Finally, to know if any of your blogs have traction or are making waves among your readers you must know how to read your blog results. First, measure the number of subscribers over time (blog + email). Next, track the number of visitors to your blog over time, the number of qualified leads, and the number of new customers that found you via your blog. Take the visitors/leads/customers via the blog metric and compare that to other new channels such as Google and social media channels as well as all other advertising channels such as trade shows, cold calls, and others. After about 6-12 months you will find your blog will outrank as the best sources of customers you have.

Don’t hesitate to ask for help if you get overwhelmed. There is help to be found whether you are looking to develop  blogging strategies for Tulsa business owners or not. Look for someone in your area or from a source you feel comfortable in reaching out to in order to get some ideas on tips to a successful blog set up. Many times, it takes more than one set of eyes to see how things are going and suggestions and teamwork is the best recipe for success in this industry.

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