Engaging and fresh content is the ideal way to get your brand seen and heard, but the marketing game can be a tricky one to navigate if you don’t know how.
Blogs are proven to drive organic traffic to websites, but they need to be done correctly to ensure this happens. Agency Stack has made a list of things you need to understand before drafting that perfect blog. If you’re still stuck, a white label digital advertising agency could be the answer to your marketing problems.
Your Audience
Understanding your target audience is key in choosing a topic. Think about what your audience wants to read and what will be engaging and interesting to them. Identify the age, interests and education level of your audience before you get started. Put yourself in their shoes and think of fresh and engaging content that would be relevant to them but still on brand to your business.
The Purpose of Your Blog
Identify the purpose of your blog. Do you want to teach your audience something with a guide or how-to blog? Do you want to drive conversion to products or services or generate leads? Will your blog increase traffic to your site or simply be used for entertainment purposes? Without a clear purpose, your blog may not be as impactful.
Content
There are two main types of blogs: publications and libraries. These two types play different parts in your content rollout. Publication blogs cover trendy topics and the latest industry news, whereas libraries offer timeless or evergreen content, meaning it is always relevant to the reader. You should use both types in your content plan, just work out which percentage of each will be more pertinent to your audience.
Pillars
Creating pillars is a great way to form an umbrella of ideas around your brand. Pillars group your content into categories that can be broken down into sections and materials. These usually cover a general topic plan and can form multiple ideas for you to follow.
Each time you need a topic, you can turn these pillar concepts into blog ideas. For example, if you’re an outsourcing agency, one of your pillars could be “reasons for outsourcing” and your topic could be “Save Time With Outsourcing”. If you have a fashion brand, one of your pillars may be “style guides” and a topic could be “The Ultimate Capsule Wardrobe”.
Pillars can be anything from three to 10 ideas. This can give you a big range of options when you begin writing your blogs. If you are broad with your pillars, there should be at least 10 content ideas that fall under your pillar umbrella.
Topics
If you have your pillars in place and the knowledge that comes with whatever it is that you’re selling, topic brainstorming should come pretty easily. Grab a team if you have one or even a friend if you work alone. Brainstorming is always easier with people as you can bounce ideas off each other. Even if someone has an idea that may not be the right one, it may spark a better idea in someone else’s mind.
Topics should be general as titles can come later. Make sure your topics are factual and correctly align with your pillars and your brand. Come up with the crux of what you want to explain or the story you want to tell, then add the title.
Keywords
Understand the search-ability of the topic you have chosen. Google it or use keyword tools to see if your blog will gain organic traction. Topics should have a fair amount of search volume so ensure it is search engine optimised.
Still Stuck?
See what others in your industry are posting! You may see a blog that you think you could shed further light on or an interesting take on a topic that’s already been done. All sound a bit too much? Outsourcing your blogs and marketing is a great way to ensure your content does well. Outsourcing provides you with all the tools and knowledge to get ahead in your industry and you don’t have to do anything! Contact Agency Stack to ensure your blog is ahead of the rest.