You have probably heard that in the present having a blog is a must for driving your business forward online. A well-designed blog can be a real boost for your company. If you have a good blog you will gain more customers, it is that simple.
To put it simply, without a blog your SEO could fail miserably. You could end up with nothing to promote your business on social media. Without being on social media your rivals will gain marketing advantages over you no matter where in the world you are based.
Without the social media presence, you will have no clout at all with your potential customers, and if you cannot attract their interest in whatever you are selling they will go to another site and act on their call to action buttons or links instead of yours. Without those leads from the links, your rivals in Singapore will do better than you.
Okay, hopefully by now you are starting to realize the importance of having a company blog. Yet I speak to many people like you, and they all come with a laundry-length list of reasons as to why they are not blogging already. Or why if they already have a blog they could not be bothered to change or update it. An out-of-date blog is almost as useless as not having one at all, so get writing.
I appreciate that writing or updating business blogs are not on any list of things people running businesses like to do unless they like business blogging. While blogging about your company is not as much as much fun as blogging about books, films, movies, or your favourite football team it will drive your sales forward.
Anyway writing in whole sentences, and then turning sentences into paragraphs that could market your goods or services is not a fun way to spend your day in the office or store.
There are many people around the world in the same situation as you, and often the first hurdle to get over is finding where to start from.
Save time creating blogs by using these free templates
Well, the time for time-wasting and making feeble excuses is now up.
What is a blog?
People talk about blogs all the time without always being clear as to what they are and why they should be used.
A blog is actually the shortened form of a weblog and its use started in the early 1990s in the earliest days of the internet. The blog was a way to post articles and thoughts so that users could share each other’s thoughts. These days blogs are not so personal and are more about businesses.
Now people all in kinds of professions and with different interests post blogs every single day. If you want customers to know what you and your business are doing in Singapore then update your blog regularly. Use your blog to show your customers and readers that you are an expert in your particular area.
Once you have finished reading this there is no reason why you are not telling the world what you are doing in Singapore on a daily basis.
Once armed with all this blogging know how you have everything needed to be able to blog daily. When combined with your expertise of the goods or services you are selling you have all you need to have a successful ongoing blog.
If you wish to learn all there is to know about applying blogging and any other kind of writing to the application of marketing your business in Singapore go to the Hub Spot Academy. All you have to do is visit their online marketing training and resource page for sound advice and really useful tips.
How to write a blog post
These tips will tell you all you need to know:
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Understand your target audience
Ideally, you need to have a good understanding of the characters of the people who visit your website. They must be fairly interested in the goods or services you offer in Singapore to have visited your website in the first place. Consider what you already know about your visitors.
For example, you need to tailor your blog to what they do not know and wish to find out about. People want to read something new and informative so avoid writing stuff they already know in detail. Do not waste their time and your effort by simply telling generic things they will already understand.
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Go Create Your Blog Domain
As soon as you know your target buyer audience you need to get your blog domain sorted out alongside a Content Management System (CMS) in order to have a host for your blog.
Sign Up for a Content Management System
By signing up to a CMS your blog will gain a host. Any CMS you sign with will let you have a domain for your website, or a subdomain if you are putting the blog on to a pre-existing website.
If you opt to become a HubSpot customer then you can host your blog through their CMS. A fairly popular alternative choice is to opt for a WordPress CMS and domain combination. Such a combination is run from the WP engine. Whether picking a full domain or a subdomain you will have to pair it with a CMS and a hosting server.
This is the reality for any company or individual who decides to start their own blog on their own business website. If you do it well then it is definitely worth all the effort you put into it.
Registering your domain or subdomain
Once you have arranged for your own blog domain it should be like this: www.yourblog.com, wherever you are based sites that end .com are always the most commonly searched. The precise name between the two periods is entirely up to you, but you can only use an original name.
You can create a subdomain for your blog instead. This can be done either as part of your website, which would look like blog.yourcompany.com, or you can have the subdomain hosted on the site of your CMS provider. If you pick the first option then you will need to register the name of the subdomain with the website host you decided to use.
The majority of web hosting providers only charge a really modest monthly fee for using their services, say the mere US $3 a month for an originally named domain. That is a really modest outgoing when you consider the marketing potential for a blog.
Five of the most common website hosts:
* GoDaddy
* Bluehost
* HostGator
* iPage
and some more well-known web hosts found in Singapore such as Vodien, Cybersite, and Exabytes.
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Customise your blog’s theme
It makes a lot of sense to customise the appearance of your blog once you have decided upon its actual content.
Ensure that the colours in the background or the foreground of your blog fit in with what your blog is about. For example, if blogging about the environment pick green as the main colour as that is the one most people would link with the issue.
If your website is already up and running then make sure the new blog fits in with the site. There are two aspects you should make sure are consistent:
* The logo – if your company already has a logo then make sure the one in the blog matches the one on the rest of your website.
* The “About” Page – the about page on your blog should be an extension of the about page on your main site. You may want to keep the message and the theme the same, even if you decide to make it a little shorter.
Whether the about page is the shorter one on the blog or the full version on your website it should be well worded as it is your mission statement.
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Identify the subject for your first blog
You need to take care before choosing the topic for your very first blog. Before writing a single word you should decide whether to write a general introductory theme or go straight into a specialised area. There may be the option to write about a specific country like Singapore, or more generally for the whole world.
You need to think of going straight into the heart of what business stands for and does, or you may wish to provide readers with a more gentle introduction. For instance, a plumber could go straight into how they would fix a tap. Or they could start off with a general introduction into what can go wrong with taps.
If a plumber uses the template to make the first blog on how to fix a leaky tap then the other four templates could give four more blogs:
* List based post – e.g. “5 ways to fix a leaky tap”
* Curated collection post – e.g. “10 tap and sink brands you should consider buying”
* Slide share post – e.g. “5 taps you could use to replace your tap (with pictures)”
* News post – e.g. “a new study shows that X % of people do not replace their taps as soon as they should”
You can find more examples of blog topics at the very end of this step-by-step guide.
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Think of a working title
Sometimes you may think of several different working titles. Once you have done so, you will find writing on some topics will flow more naturally than working on other ones. Coming up with a working title gives you more substance to a topic so you can begin blogging about it.
Take as an apt example a real blog with the title of “How to Choose a Solid Title for Your Next Blog Post”. The general topic would have been “blogging,” before it was decided to go with the title above.
The blog will often evolve and change as you write it. If the topic changes while you are writing then remember to change the title if the original working title no longer fits with the finished content of your blog.
Do not be surprised or alarmed if the blog you have written does not fit with the working title, just go with the flow, and have you have completed the blog read through it, and give it a new title that fits with the content. So go with the flow if the original “taps in Europe” has changed to “best tap fitters in Singapore.”
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Write an intro that captures the attention of the reader
In order for your blog to work, you will need a snappy introduction that grabs the attention of the reader and does not let go of it until after they have read the whole of your blog. In fact, you want the reader’s attention to be so grabbed that they cannot wait until your next blog is published on your website.
You need to find a method of grabbing their attention and make sure they do not stop reading after a few sentences, or even worse, just a few words. This is when knowing your customers and the people most likely to read your blogs come in useful. A bold headline, a joke, or a fact about what goods or services you specialise in.
Whatever you decide to start the intro with it needs to make your blog stand out from the crowd. You need to show that your blog is the one to read first ahead of any of your rivals. The key is to convince readers that you understand their problem, and even better than that you have the ability to fix their problem.
We appreciate that writing an intro can be difficult, amateur and professional writers often suffer from writers’ block, especially when they know how important getting it right is to the overall reception to what they have written. When writers know the virtues of a strong intro it is no surprise that writing one is the thing that they are most to get a block over.
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Organise your content with an outline
People can often get their blog wrong by not organising its content before they write. It is a moot point for you to be the best writer in Singapore, or the worst writer anywhere else if your blog is so chaotic people what should be read first, and what should be saved for last.
How a blog is organised and presented makes the world of difference as to how good or bad it looks. Nobody wants to look at, let alone read a blog that consists of several thousand words of texts not broken up into paragraphs, or interspersed with pictures, graphs, or logos.
If you know that your blog is going to contain a great deal of text you must organise it so that it does not immediately put off your reader. Put the text into different sections and subsections, then put images and pictures in between the sections of writing. So if you are based in Singapore post pictures of your store, office, or workplace and maybe a local landmark or two.
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Start writing that blog of yours
After all this planning, organising, and thinking about what to include it is now time to write that blog of yours. Just follow the tips we have given you, and think about everything you already know about what you are selling, and who you are selling it to via your marketing blog.
Stay focused on what you want to achieve through your blog, you know who needs to read it, and you have the knowledge to sell them any of the goods and services that you provide, whether they are Singaporeans or from somewhere further afield.
At this point, it is worth checking out the tools you can use to write the best blog you possibly can. You will need to find accurate information and know-how to cite or quote it. If quoting someone or paraphrasing their words you need to acknowledge who said or wrote it originally.
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Proofread it, do not let typos ruin your blog
After finally writing your blog you need to check it, or maybe even double-check before you publish it to your website. It is really easy to miss a spelling mistake, or use the wrong words, or put the right words into the wrong context.
Just doing a quick spell check is not enough to make sure your content not only reads right but is also spelled correctly. Sure you want people to talk or mention your blog on social media but you want them to do so for the right reasons. You want them to talk about you having the best blog on selling antiques in London, or serving the best burgers in Singapore, yet you do not want to be ridiculed for being the worst speller on any blog in the whole of your country.
Then you need to consider the visual aspects of your blog, it needs to look good, without distracting your readers. You need them to focus on the parts of the blog, which benefit you the most. for instance, the links that drive your sales forward, or get the reader to sign up to a link that pays you for each person who clicks on it.
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Do not forget to include the Call To Action (CTA) feature
Ultimately your aim for taking the time and the effort to write a blog is to generate marketing leads or to make money from the people who read your blogs.
To do this you are best advised to include a CTA feature in your blog. Until your read press that button or click on that link in your blog then that blog has not yet served its main purpose. As soon as one reader clicks the button or the link then all of your efforts have proved to be worthwhile. The more clicks that are made the better use of your time and resources writing blogs have proved to be done.
You may need to work out how to make the CTA more attractive for your readers to activate the link or press that button on their screens. if you operate in one country only then you need to make the whole site tailored to the tastes and the requirements of the people who live, work, and perhaps most important work there.
As blogging continues to evolve and grow enormously, there exist simple, practical ways to set up and grow your blog successfully. However, do not try everything at once, more so when driving traffic, growing your audience, and promoting your blog.
Blogs can help you convert traffic into leads and establish authority in your niche, resulting in your business growth. This research indicates that brands and businesses are 13x likely to witness positive ROI by prioritizing blogging.
Why is blogging important?
Builds traffic for your blog
The main objective of creating blogs is to attract and drive traffic to your site. Your page gets indexed when you create blog posts that lead to your website appearing on search engines. Regular content creation indicates to search engines like Google that your site is regularly updated with content.
After posting a blog post, ensure to promote and share it on social media. That increases your social media reach by attracting new audiences to your blog.
New traffic provides an opportunity to convert visitors to leads
Attracting new visitors to your site offers a chance to generate leads. Ensure you have clear Call-To-Action to keep the new visitors engaged and guide them through the buyer’s journey that is awareness to purchase.
You can use the CTA button can also be used to lead visitors to another relevant blog or page with information about your products or service.
Blogs enhance your brand online
Blogs present excellent ways to create a personality and develop your voice online. Hence, earning audience trust and improving your brand’s credibility. Therefore, don’t shy away from creating exciting and timely blogs on new relevant topics and market trends. It is crucial to write blogs with your target audience in mind to relate to your content.
Blogs are long term
Give your blogs time to generate audience interest even after weeks or months after publishing. It is, therefore, crucial to write timeless blogs that will constantly create views, ensure to blog about on topics that will be interesting to your target audience that will increase their chances of resharing on their platforms.
Let’s dive in and explore top non-fail blogging tips
Top 12 No-Fail Blogging Tips for 2021
Identify What Resonates with Your Target Audience
For your blog posts to be successful, they should be relatable to your target audience and be compelling enough to encourage them to take action. Put into consideration your audience’s needs and the activities you would like them to perform.
To achieve this, identify and define your buyer’s persona; this will enable you to address their challenges and curate content that will address exactly that.
Your blog posts should align with the brand’s growth objective
The main idea behind blogging is to offer solutions, grow your target audience and increase your business conversion rate. Ideally, your blog posts should encourage growth. They should address specific challenges and offer solutions or information that is beneficial to your audience.
Here are a few reasons why your blog posts should align with your overall brand’s growth objective;
- Establish a long-term lead generation.
- Tap into a wider audience and gain new customers revenue.
- Acquire and nature email subscribers.
- Improve customer retention.
- Enhance customer loyalty.
- Improve target audience for retargeting.
- Increase your brand’s authority.
Avoid Beginner Mistakes
Identify common blogging mistakes and avoid them. Here are some of those:
Being a perfectionist
As much as you should not publish everything you write, a perfect blog does not exist. Ensure to find a middle ground between nonchalance and nit-picking.
Self-promoting
When blogging about your business, products, and services, curate valuable content that attracts your audience’s attention; this will have them achieve your desired call to action.
Not advertising
Take your time to promote and advertise your posts on various platforms; this will enable you into a wider audience, improving your brand awareness and generating more traffic.
Not interacting with your target audience
Your work shouldn’t stop after you hit publish. Interact with your readers frequently and respond to their comments. In return, enhance your audience loyalty and trust.
Not sticking to the schedule
Ensure consistency by publishing blog posts regularly. Create a schedule, write consistently, and develop trendy topics that make them look forward to your next blog posts.
Choose The Right Niche
When choosing your blogging niche, here are two essential pointers you should consider:
- How knowledgeable are you in terms of the topic you will like to tackle?
- The depth of the niche you have selected and how popular it is.
Identifying the right niche is a process that bloggers can fully explore. Right down several that you resonate with and narrow down your choice.
Here are a few things to consider:
- Identify your interests and passions.
- Identity challenges you can tackle.
- Conduct research on your competitors.
- Determine the profitability of your niche.
- Review and test your ideas.
Brainstorm And Organize Your Ideas
When searching for great topics for your blog posts, brainstorm and write them down. Use note-taking tools like Google Keep, Trello, and Evernote to keep your ideas organized.
Unexecuted ideas are worthless. Therefore, work on your ideas. Begin by figuring out how knowledgeable your audience is about the topic; this way, you can determine the scope of your content. Take your time to capture what is on your mind.
Create A Content Strategy
As a blogger, you need to develop a content strategy; this is a framework with a clear path to achieve the end goal. Start by defining your purpose. Is your writing for marketing purposes or to inspire your audience? You can set and measure milestones through conversion rates and social shares.
In each step, understand your target audience and whether the ultimate is to convert them into your brand’s loyal fans or customers. With this, you can choose suitable content formats and platforms that will help you reach your goals.
Ideally, a content strategy should assist you;
- Define what you are trying to accomplish.
- Identify your target audience.
- Decide what content type you want to publish.
- Define how your content will support the brand.
- Establish ways to promote and amplify your content.
- Identify metrics that will measure success.
Create Content Schedule
To boost your audience growth, you need to create a consistent blogging schedule. Establish an optimal frequency for content publishing and remain consistent.
If you are managing a blog alone, ensure to brainstorm, conduct research on new topics, design a plan, publish and promote your blog posts across multiple platforms.
A content calendar is an effective tool for planning; it will help you spend less time wondering what to write and instead focus on curating the content. Below are ten tips for creating a content calendar.
- Define your content objectives.
- Create a template for the calendar that includes;
- The channels for publishing blogs.
- Blog topic.
- Type of content.
- Date and time for publishing.
- The person in charge.
- A follow-through.
- Select your platforms or channels.
- Add your content; this may include; theme posts, serial posts, press releases, etc.
- Highlight the evergreen content.
- Set time limits and publishing frequency.
Write-In Your Voice
For your blogs to be compelling and keep the audience engaged, you need to write in an effortless style to read. Be conversational in your writing that will encourage your audience to enjoy reading.
“Voice” refers to the ability to be able to speak as yourself. That is, your perspectives and personality describe the world around you. Tapping into this uniqueness will make reading more compelling.
You can define your voice by reading and taking notes. Explore different media such as blog posts, social media content, billboards, etc. To understand and gain perspectives on how other content achieves given objectives when written in ways that the target audience consumes.
Consider a few things below when you come across different pieces of content;
- Did you enjoy reading it?
- Does the content remind you of anything?
- What are things you would have done differently?
- What struck you most in that type of content?
- What worked for you and what did not?
Reading and exploring media will help you improve your voice and keep up with the communication trends.
Begin With a Particular Working Topic
Topics that are too general contain too many details, and with such, it’s hard to tackle specific challenges and offer appropriate solutions. More particular topics attract smaller, targeted audiences, are higher quality hence can easily convert prospects to potential customers.
Remembering having a specific working article gives firm grounds to keep your writing on track and focused. Hence making it easier to write creative and cutting-edge blog posts.
Use Specific Blog Type, Create an Outline and Use Headers
Your blog post needs to have a good structure since most of your audience will scan through it, not read it. Thus, it needs to be organized well.
First, choose the type of blog post you intend to write. Is it a list-based report, a curated collection post? Or a SlideShare presentation? Once you have decided on this, it is easy to write down your outline then.
To write an outline entail organizing your thoughts to create a logical flow in your post. Use clear and precise headers to make it easy for readers.
To develop a good outline for your blog, list down crucial takeaways for your readers and break them down into larger section headers. Write two paragraphs under each heading. That way, the blog post becomes easier and enjoyable to read.
Learn how keywords in a header text improve SEO.
Give Your Audience Value
The main objective for content creation values that means your content should be helpful to your readers. They can use it for reference to develop solutions for challenges they face or for research on specific topics; this may be curated in the form of “how-to” to implement a particular strategy or suggest specific tactics or tools.
Take 30 Mins to Edit Your Blog Post
Most first drafts are not that great. Take some time to fix the typos, proofread the sentences for any mistakes. Ensure your content flows as in the outline. Once you are satisfied, just hit “publish.”
Here is a highlight of the best blogging platforms.
WordPress
Wordpress.org is one of the most popular blogging platforms. It powers more than 41% of all websites on the internet.
It’s a free, open-source, free blogging platform that allows users to build websites or blogs using already existing templates.
Webcam
Webcom.com is a well-known website builder platform that consists of built-in features that you can use to add a blog section to your online store or business website. It has dozens of pre-made templates that you can use to customize your blog’s layout.
Wix
Wix is a website builder platform that uses a drag and drops feature to build small business websites. Add a blog section to your website by adding the Wix Blog app. There are no prior coding skills required as there are already pre-existing customizable templates for use.
HubSpot CMS Hub
HubSpotCMS Hub is an all-in-one blogging platform; It’s built on top of HubSpot’s marketing and CRM tools. You can create a website, get more subscribers and manage your customer list all in one platform.
You can customize your website layout and personalize content based on your target audience’s past behavior.
Blogger
Blogger is a platform by Google that provides free blogging services. It provides a faster and straightforward means to build blogs. You will need a Google account to start a free blog on Blogger.
It’s free to use, easy to manage for non-techies, and it’s secure and reliable.
Conclusion
Blogging is a crucial part of content marketing strategy. Build your brand identity by identifying your target audience, curating content that they can resonate with, and ultimately gain value.
Ensure to build a framework that you can use for all published posts. Leverage tools such as Trello, google calendar, and Evernote to get more organized when curating content.
Like everything else, give it time and practice. Writing gets better with formatting, being more intentional, and selecting the right visuals for your posts.
