Did you know that websites with a blog have tend to have 434% more indexed pages?
It’s true that 47% of consumers read between 3-5 pieces of blog content before making a purchasing decision.
After reading the above, I have four questions I would like to ask you…
- Are you making sure your content is connecting with your audience?
- Have you defined your tone of voice?
- Does your content have structure?
- Are you telling a story through the content you create?
As we are in wedding season, this is a great example of a business area that opens the door to writing amazing, trending content that has the potential to drive sales for a business. I have written thousands of pieces of content, and have won awards for both my blog content, and my book.
I want to make sure that, after reading this Content Playbook you, walk away with a better understanding about writing content that drives traffic.
Before I share with you some of my top tips, and tools to help you with your content as a digital leader , here are 10 different types of content ideas to help you get started.
- Guides e.g. the beginner’s guide to choosing the perfect wedding dress
- Interviews e.g. an interview with one of the designers you stock in your store
- Trending topics: talking about the latest dress trends, decor trends or recipe trends
- Personal stories: show your audience you are a REAL person
- What to avoid: e.g. what to avoid as a first time wedding organiser
- How-to: informative content to help your audience make the best possible decision
- Myth-debunking: e.g. why your wedding doesn’t have to cost you a fortune
- Case studies: have your clients share their stories around working with your brand
- Contests/Giveaways: use your blog as a place to talk about offers and giveaways
- Events: write about all of the events/exhibitions you are attending/exhibiting at
Here are 5 tips to help you write great content.
#1: Catchy headline: Understanding how to write the perfect headline for a blog is crucial. If 80% of your readers lose interest after reading your headline, imagine the amount of traffic, engagement and sales you could be missing out on?
Advanced Marketing Institute have a great headline analyser tool that you can use. Visit here
#2: Structure: For every piece of content I write, I follow a specific structure. I always start with a statistic followed by an introduction talking about the topic I am writing about, and what I am going to cover. I then break the piece of content down into sub headers so that it is easy to read, and follow up with a conclusion. Think about how your audience “likes” to read content, and tailor your structure to meet their needs.
#3: What’s trending?: It is important to stay as up to date as possible with trending topics in your industry. By staying up to date with the world of technology, I created a piece of content that went viral on LinkedIn Pulse, and drove thousands of visitors and prospects over to my website. Check out Google’s own tool; Google Trends to find out the interest level people have shown towards a particular topic.
#4: Create great visuals: A huge part of writing amazing content, is about having variety, and this means more than just words. All of my blog images follow a structure, and can easily be created inside of image design tool; Canva.
#5: Capture leads: For me, blogging is a great way to focus on one specific subject, and then share a guide, or free webinar that is about the same topic. Think about how you can use your blog to talk about something you are doing that will add extra value.
Turn your visitors into prospects by capturing leads. As I mentioned, I always offer a resource or link to a webinar I am running as a way to capture that lead.
Syndicate Your Content On LinkedIn
Yes, creating a piece of content from scratch may take some time, and to best utilise this, consider syndication. The one network in particular that has been the most successful with syndication is LinkedIn.
I have over 350 articles on LinkedIn Pulse documenting many different aspects of digital transformation, and have over 19,000 content followers. LinkedIn Pulse has been an amazing traffic and revenue driver for me, especially over the last five years.
It’s taken me ten years to mould my personal writing style so that I can stay consistent with the content I share. LinkedIn Pulse is a great place for me to engage with my audience whilst also increasing my presence as a thought leader and it can do the same for you too.
Remember that LinkedIn Pulse is completely free of charge for you to use, so make sure that every article you write on your website gets re-purposed and shared on LinkedIn Pulse for maximum exposure however, there is one caveat.
Here is what Google had to say:
“If you syndicate your content on other sites, Google will always show the version we think is most appropriate for users in each given search, which may or may not be the version you’d prefer. ”
To avoid Google penalising you for copying your content, and sharing it on the likes of LinkedIn Pulse, wait one month so that Google have the time to rank the post on your website.
The final part of this content playbook is about guest blogging.
Guest Blogging
As well as blogging, you also need to consider guest-blogging, and how you can reach out to industry experts and share your content to their audience.
I wrote an article for Social Media Examiner and it has received over 8,000 shares. I have had various thought leaders (including a CEO of one of the tools I talk about in my book) reach out to me, and give me a lifetime pro account completely free of charge saving me thousands.
The most powerful thing about being a guest contributor on such an influential website is that when someone shares it, I get tagged in the post. Whilst the link someone shares will send them to the article, it has my biography at the bottom with links back to my website which has already proved extremely powerful for me, and I’ve been contacted by various industry influencers with potential collaboration opportunities.
Do your research, and find those influencers in your industry that actively look for guest bloggers.
Do you feel ready to create the perfect content for your target audience?
Ready to produce game-changing digital results in your business?
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