There are thousands of blog posts talking about launching a new blog and hundreds of blogs about blogging. This is an industry that spends a lot of time on introspection (or navel-gazing). Blogging continues to change and we’ll focus on what you can do to be successful with your new blog.
What the best blogs do right
The truth is that much of what we think of as the “rules of thumb” for successful blogs simply aren’t true anymore today. And some of them never were. You don’t need to publish on your blog daily. You don’t need separate blogs for different niches. And optimizing for SEO isn’t the only thing you’ll need for your blog to be successful, it’s only one part of a larger puzzle.
There are some things that great blogs and bloggers consistently do well:
- They understand their audience. Who are your writing for? What’s your goal for communicating with them? Most importantly, what do they want that you can provide?
- Write the posts that your audience wants. This seems obvious, but making the shift from “what I want to tell them” to “what they want to read” is harder than you think!
- Find the fuel that grows the fire. Once your blog is working to engage your audience, it’s time to start growing that audience. Every strategy is different, but most include social media, email marketing, guest blogging and paid advertising.
- They understand content is king. There’s no substitute for great content that your readers want to read. Well-written, valuable content will make it worth their click.
- They pay attention to the details. Getting the content right is important, but it’s just as important to optimize URLs, create catchy headlines, and write to put the best material at the beginning.
Keys to a successful launch
While it’s important to have a good strategy for your blog once it’s underway, there are some tricks to making certain that your blog launch sets the stage for future success:
- Prime the pump. An empty blog is a sad sight. Publish five blog posts before you launch and have another three ready to go to ensure that you’re publishing new content regularly right off the bat.
- Keep a calendar. Create an editorial calendar with at least two months of posts. If you can’t come up with two months’ worth of content, you probably need to spend more time understanding the needs of your audience!
- Formalize process and roles. Very few professional blogs use a punch it out then publish approach. Determine which team members are pitching topics, approving topics, writing, editing and publishing posts.
- Watch the numbers. Get some analytics on your new blog and learn how to use these tools before you launch. This will not only tell you how much traffic your blog is receiving, but will also provide insight for which posts are most successful.
Remember that blogging is a long-term play and it will take time to build your audience and a reputation for thought-leadership in your space. Getting the details right from the start and creating content your audience craves is a sure way to set your blog up for success and turn it into a cornerstone of your overall content marketing strategy.
By Ben Dillon | June 7, 2016
SHSMD Digital Engagement Task Force Member
Chief Strategy Officer
Geonetric
Cedar Rapids, IA
ben.dillon@geonetric.com