BLOG PUBLISHING 101 – EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

You should start with a plan. This plan can be a short term, to get the ball rolling, or you might want to think long term, it’s going to be dependent on your subject, or subjects.

A good start to creating a blog plan, is to consider the different categories you could use. This helps to break down the blog but also to keep it interesting. It’s quite easy to get caught up writing about one subject so by using categories, you can keep it varied, holding your readership’s interest.

In researching blogs by competitors or by publications related to your industry, you can work out what topics are hot. Keeping your content up to date and relevant means it is more likely to be seen.

Once you’ve decided on your subjects, work out a title that entices the reader. Your title should indicate what sort of content the blog will contain. You can use questions, such as Can this or How to, lists like Top 5 or The 10 best and finally statements and teasers, e.g. Everyone should be using or This is how to.

Adding choice keywords related to your business, as well as links to relevant information from trusted sites and a few backlinks to keep the bounce rate low is going to really put your blog to work. Following guidance on blog writing will also help your blog rank.

Finding both short and longtail keywords for your blog will help it rank. You should look to use your keywords in the title, body of the text but also in your H2 and H3 headings. A range of popular and less popular keywords can play an advantage. Finding less popular longtail keywords that relate to search terms around the topic can often bring success.

The digital marketing overlord, Google, likes content that is easy to read and holds the users focus. In the fast paced, scroll-happy world we live in, that requires short sentences and short paragraphs. As a rule, we like to aim for sentences of no more than around twenty words and paragraphs with no more than three sentences. This may feel like you are writing below your ability, and you probably are, but this is how Google prefers your sites content, appealing to and readable for the majority of users. How many words you use in your blog plays an important role in its success. You should always aim to write over four-hundred words as a minimum, the upper limit really depends on the subject and your dedication.

Trying to write more words than necessary will do you no favours. There is no point in waffling, your readers will lose interest. Finding subjects that need a more thorough understanding can take you anywhere upwards of two-thousand words. These kind of blogs can work great in conjunction with other blogs linked, explaining smaller parts of a process, in finer detail.

Using lists and bullet points within your writing is a good way to help drive your intentions home. When your blog is information heavy, technical or to be used as a guide, lists and bullet points will make for great reference points and drive blog engagement.

Finding an external link or two, relevant to your topic, such as the H2 & H3 headings link above, offer further reading for the user. They also have the benefit of pleasing Google. With content such as video, you can add links with the option to open in a new window, meaning the user stays on your site, continuing to help your metrics. Backlinks to your own site also present benefits. Feeding users back to either landing pages, buy now buttons or other blogs mean more site interaction. You may be using the blog as part of your sales funnel, here, backlinks are an essential.

Again, in the world of endless scrolling, holding interest is key. Breaking up large bodies of text with relevant images keeps user focus and can improve their interaction with your site. We recommend using around two to three images every five-hundred words. Likewise, infographics can increase engagement. Breaking down large bodies of text, into smaller blocks and adding some colourful, pleasing on the eye imagery around them makes learning enjoyable. Links to YouTube or images from social media should always follow the above rule – open in a new window.