10 Blogging Tips For Your Content Marketing

Content marketing isn't only about blogging, but it is one of the easier forms of content marketing that ANY business or organization should be able to implement on a regular basis. There is a lot of clutter in the blogging world these days, so you must work to cut through that clutter. Here are 10 blogging tips for your content marketing strategy!

1. Write for the user first, search engines second, sales 3rd.

The reason you should be blogging is to provide value to your readers. It's that simple. If you're keyword stuffing for SEO or all about the sales pitch, your visitors won't stick around. If you are writing to provide value, the other aspects will come naturally.

2. Write for YOUR audience.

Your audience should be your ideal buyer. If you don't know who that person is, start developing your buyer persona, it will help you focus your content marketing. Just because you are writing for your buyer, it doesn't necessarily mean you should always write about your products. Your content marketing blog posts will be used to educate, answer questions, provoke thinking, share market data, etc. It's not to sell them on product data.

3. Keep your blog posts short(er).

This is not always easy to do and we're guilty of writing really long blog posts as well. There's no magic number here, just make it long enough to say what you have to say. There's no need to be wordy.

4. Blog regularly and get others involved.

Make a habit out of blogging, but don't forget tip number 1. If you blog 5 times a week, your goal should be to provide value to readers 5 times a week not just to get 5 new blog posts. It is incredibly helpful to create a schedule with deadlines you have to meet. And remember, blogging doesn't have to be the responsibility of 1 person. If you get others involved you are bringing in different areas of expertise, adding a different voice to the mix, and spreading out some of the responsibility.

5. Use images and/or video.

All text blog posts make people not want to read them. We're very visual these days so simple images can help capture our attention and not make the article appear so intimidating.

6. Use headings.

By using headings it breaks the content up and makes it easier to read than a bunch of paragraphs.

7. You don't have to be a professional writer, but pay attention to grammar and spelling.

You're building trust through your content marketing. If your content is difficult to read because of poor writing, grammar mistakes or spelling, you are making trust building much harder on yourself. Nobody expects you to be perfect, but at least re-read your blog post before going live.

8. Cite sources.

If you're referencing another article, market data, or other stats and information, a quick citation of the source goes a long way. It adds to the credibility of the article you are writing and it gives credit to the original source.

9. Be unique.

You can read through blog posts from others in your industry, but don't take an article and post it word for word. Add your own take on the article, why you think it's import, a different spin or something else that makes isn't a carbon copy of another article.

10. Think about SEO.

Yes, you are writing for a user first, which is most important. That doesn't mean that focus can't be placed on SEO. Determine the keyword(s) you'd like to rank for the article and be sure it's used in the appropriate places such as the URL, title, headings, and content. You don't have to overuse it, but if you are hoping to rank for a keyword it has to be somewhere!

Now Start Blogging

Don't tell me you don't have anything to write about...that just isn't true, it's an excuse. Take these 10 tips and start brainstorming topics. In no time your business will be a blogging champ! If you're still unsure, there is always help available for your content marketing strategy.