5 Titbits Of What You Thought You Knew About Blogging – But Didn’t
Blogging seems like a relatively easy task to undertake – and you know it’s something that your business needs to implement as part of its content marketing strategy.
So you start.
Problem is, your blogs aren’t getting the response you anticipated. They’re just not generating the influx of views you thought you’d get and of those people actually reading what you have to say – well – they aren’t converting into tangible sales.
All of a sudden, what seemed like a simple content plan suddenly becomes a little bit hazy.
So we decided to put together a handful of tips – those little nuggets of crucial titbits – that will help you better understand the direction that your blog needs to take so as to achieve measurable results from your hard work.
These 5 titbits are by no means an all-inclusive list in terms of optimising your blog but will certainly assist in getting a better understanding of what you should be aiming for:
#Titbit 1
Is your headline catchy enough for someone to want to click on it?
Here’s the thing – just because you like your headline doesn’t mean everyone else will.
And according to HubSpot who looked at the headline strategies of Iris Shoor, co-founder of Takipi who herself reviewed posts from some 100 blogs, this is what you need to take note of:
- “The words “no”, “without,” and “stop” helped generate more shares. (Example: “Apple Is Not The Most Valuable Company In The History” was the #2 most shared post on TechCrunch enterprise)
- The words “kill,” “fear,” “dark,” “bleeding,” and “war,” as unconventional as they may seem, also generated a lot of shares. (Example: “Big data is dead. What’s next?” was the #1 most shared post on the Data/Cloud section of VentureBeat during the time of her research)
- Other recurring words used in viral titles include: “smart,” “surprising,” “science,” “history,” “hacks,” “huge,” “big,” and “critical.”
#Titbit 2
Are you curating content in a way that still retains originality – authenticity?
We all run out of things to say. It’s a given.
What you need to remember though is, whilst it’s easy to write about the stuff that everyone else is writing about – the trick is to always put your own unique spin on it.
Don’t regurgitate what’s already been written. And most definitely don’t copy.
If you want your message heard above the already screeching online chatter out there, you need to maintain your own sense of individuality – something that differentiates you from everyone else.
This means you need to add your perspective to the topic you’re blogging about – your insight – your solution – not someone or everyone else’s.
#Titbit 3
How well do you really know your audience and are you actually answering their questions?
Ah yes, the cardinal rule when creating content – know your audience – their persona. You aren’t writing for yourself. You are writing for your readers which means you need to understand their wants and needs.
Every single web user has one common purpose during online search – to find a solution to their “problem” – to acquire an answer to their question. This means that your blog needs to contain the information they’re looking for.
Simply put, generating content that resonates with your audience can only be achieved by knowing that audience well.
And once you’ve made that connection, only then will your blog gain traction in terms of views and engagement – thereby attaining the results you actually want.
#Titbit 4
Consistency and credibility – are you achieving both?
Readers respond to consistency – and how many times a day, week or month you post has a massive impact on traffic to your blog.
According to HubSpot, companies who post more than 16 times a month get 3.5X more traffic and 4.5X more leads than companies who post between 0 – 4 times a month.
Clearly frequency matters.
The same could be said for credibility. Yes – people need to believe what you say in order to become loyal followers.
This means that you need to be sure that what you publish online is credible, accurate and contains data that is actually of value to the person reading it.
Quoting other thought leaders in your particular field or doing your own research are just some of the ways of enhancing your authority.
# Titbit 5
Creating content doesn’t mean sticking to just text
Yep. Truth be said – not everyone likes to read. Some prefer looking at pictures – others respond better to watching a video.
This being said, it stands to reason then that a blog that incorporates a blend of media will have more universal appeal.
Diversity will help you engage a wider audience and ultimately – isn’t this what you want?