How to Start Blogging the Right Way

So you’ve got yourself a business web site that’s built-out and functioning, but not quite getting the traffic you’d like.

You think you should start blogging to attract visitors and get better ranking from Google. 

Problem is, you’re not a writer and you don’t know how to start blogging nor what it entails. What to do?

First off, you are correct about the blogging part. 

Blogging is the best way to attract attention online and not just because it helps to position you as an authority in your business niche.

To paraphrase the Bonnie Raitt song, blogging “gives them something to talk about.”

Blog posts are the preferred method to promoting yourself on social media, which has become the standard for how society communicates these days. 

Since you can’t post your static About or Services pages more than twice without turning your followers off, you have to update your site with current posts that readers can relate to and find solutions. Blogging helps create a following that will possibly convert into customers.

Essentially, if you don’t start blogging, you’re not promoting.

Here’s how you can get your blog started:


Write Posts Conventionally

perfectblogpost1Blog post writing is less of an art than a science. So much has been written about how to write blogs, you can practically follow a diagram. Here’s one:

Just remember the conventions for successfully blogging:

  • Perfect spelling and grammar
  • Minimum 300 words (sez Google)
  • Use good images
  • Use short paragraphs
  • Have an opinion
  • Use humour wherever possible
  • Entertain and inform
  • Be correct with facts
  • Explain jargon and technicalities
  • Avoid colloquialisms and obscure cultural references
  • Include links both internal and external

Relevant Topics 

If you are at a loss for topics when you start blogging, there is no end to the number of suggestions out there. Check out these:

100 Blog Topics for Your Business
5 Topics for Business Blogs
How to Think Up a Year’s Worth of Blog Post Topics in an Hour

After you blog for a while, topics will start coming to you in your sleep.

Create an Editorial Calendar

Once you have some topics in your pocket, it’s a good idea to create an editorial calendar. With that, you’ll have a map to guide your writing. 

Organize your calendar to coincide with important dates and trends within your industry.

Have a rotating menu of topics for each week of your weekly blog. 

For instance: Week one – How To, Week two – Interview, Week three – Product Review, Week four – Employee profile. Repeat.

Boom, you have an editorial calendar!

Post Frequently and on Scheduled

The key to successful blogging is doing it regularly. Sure, every day is awesome and will shoot you to page one, but unless you’ve hired a marketing person to produce original content every day, it can be too time consuming. 

Consider 2-3 times per week, or the old standby, once a week. That way, you are not overdosing your (soon-to-be) growing list of email followers with updates.

By scheduling the publication of your posts in advance, you won’t ever be worrying about posting quick to stay regular. Keep ahead of the game with a few weeks worth of posts scheduled so you can be relaxed about writing posts for the weeks ahead.

Optimize with Keywords

Despite the change in Google algorithms over the years, keywords are still important. Research the best keywords for your business and stick with them.

Here are some search tools:

Google Keyword Planner
Word Tracker
Best Keyword Research Tools 

Basically, your focus keyword needs to appear multiple times in the body of your blog post at about a 1% ratio to the word count. 

Plus, the keyword must appear in the post’s Article Heading, the URL, the Title, and the Meta Description.

I recommend the WordPress SEO by Yoast plugin for help with the task of optimizing keywords on your posts and pages. It’s a killer plugin that is fun to use once you learn how.

Use Attention-Grabbing Titles

Your title is the book cover of your post. You have to make it interesting enough for someone to click on your link among the thousands that appear in any given news feed.

Your title has to grab ‘em!

Blog titles is also another well-studied science and whatever I say about it is merely derivative. Check out these posts about titles:

74 Compelling Fill-in-the-Blank Blog Post Titles
A Simple Formula for Writing Kick-Ass Titles
How to Create Clickable and SEO Friendly Blog Posts 

Start Blogging Now!

Once you’ve written your first blog post, you may still be shy about promoting it. Don’t be shy. Get it out there and pump it on social media.

Social media is the right-hand man of blogging, providing a conduit to sharing your thoughts with the world. You gotta do it.

As soon as you start blogging, put links to your posts in every social medium you can. Facebook, Twitter, Google +, as well as Pinterest and Instagram are the top places.

How do you promote your blog on social media? Now, there’s a blog topic for me, possibly for my next post. 

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