The easiest way to share your expertise today is to blog. But after spending hours writing and re-writing your articles, do you feel disheartened when your stats show people aren’t reading your insightful thoughts?
Blogging is vital for building expert status, connecting with your prospects and customers, and keeping your website content fresh, which drives more traffic to your site.
So, what can you do to make all this “work” worthwhile? Start with these savvy strategies to get people interested and reading your content.
#1 Write an Enticing Keyword-Rich Headline
Your headline is what gets your articles read, so make sure it grabs your reader’s attention.
Consider the last time you picked up a magazine and scanned the headlines on the cover or in the index. The most intriguing or captivating headline will make you choose one article to read over the others. Make your headline the one they choose.
The purpose of your headline is to get your article read. The purpose of the first paragraph is to get the next paragraph read, and on it goes. Make every word count. And when emailing a newsletter, it’s your subject line that gets the message opened.
#2 Know Your Audience
Are you writing about something you are interested in or something your audience wants information about? Your content must be relevant to your reader’s life. Ask your current customers and prospects what they want to learn about? Or easier yet, keep a list of all the questions they ask you – and write a blog post with your answers.
#3 Write Amazing Content
No one wants to read a user-manual if they don’t have to. Get personal! Instead of giving a list of facts, share how your information impacts them. Engage them. Use emotion. Tell a story. People remember things based on emotion, not facts. When you use emotion, you bring your words to life and hopefully, they will be shared.
#4 Keep it Short
Keep your blog posts short and conversational. Write at a grade six or seven level and use short sentences and short words. People like to skim, so include subheadings and bulleted points whenever possible.
Adding relevant photos, infographics, or other graphics will also make your content easier to read – the keyword here is “relevant.”
#5 Don’t Sell
The minute you try to turn your blog post into a sales pitch, you’ve lost your reader! Your article should contain useful information and not be a blatant sales pitch to sell your stuff (that’s an advertorial). When you attempt to promote within your article, everything you wrote before that promotion is then considered biased and untrue.
Add a separate resource box at the end with your name, mini bio (one or two sentences), and a reason why they should go to your website for more information.
#6 Market Your Content
You’re not finished once the writing is done! If no one can find your blogs, they won’t be reading them, so spend time marketing your content.
Re-use your content to write tweets and social posts, turn your words into a YouTube video, create a “Flipbook” for LinkedIn, and send your blogs out to your email subscribers. If you haven’t started building a subscriber list, do it now. Then consistently send them your impressive and insightful content.
