In Part 1 of this post, I wrote: Who isn’t guilty of doing things you know you shouldn’t? Or not doing something you know you should?
Once again, this is a handy reminder of how to make your business blogging more effective than it already is.
6. Adjust the posting frequency to suit your needs.
A lot of different opinions are flying out there about how often you should post. Some blogs post 10 or 20 times a day (generally short, newsy bits), while others blog as infrequently as once a month. There are some general guidelines but there are no hard and fast rules. It depends on a number of factors, such as the reason you’re blogging and what your blog is about. It’s recommended that you post daily in the beginning if you’re just getting started with your blog and want to generate traffic. If daily posting sounds daunting, then dial it down to 3 times a week—but do post with consistency.
7. Emphasize quality over quantity
Don’t get so caught up in trying to blog so often that you start writing fillers and fluff pieces. Give your readers some meat! (Or bowls full of vibrant veggies and luscious fruits if you’re vegetarian.) You’ll risk losing your followers if the quality of your articles goes down. People might unsubscribe if you post too often, but when every piece is rich with valuable content, they’ll stick with you. (Of course, if you’re all about the latest news, then obviously your reader will expect frequent updates.)
8. Carry a blogger’s notebook
Or your iPhone, Evernote, or whatever helps you jot down all the stray ideas, random thoughts, informative tweets, Facebook posts, article links, etc., that you could turn into content for your bog.
9. Build a community around your blog
It takes a community to build a great blog. Utilize the blog’s potential for dialogue. Stay in frequent touch with your readers, interact with them as much as possible. Start discussions. Get direct feedback from your customer base about your products and services. Conduct polls, surveys, and contests, and connect with them via Twitter, and so forth. (And of course, tweet links to your new posts—but make sure that’s not all you ever tweet about!)
10. Foster trust by sharing your thoughts and insights
This goes back to tip #2 about being conversational. Let your readers feel that they can get to know you through your blog. Create a sense of intimacy, which in turn will encourage trust among your readers and customers. It will help position you as the expert, the trusted resource that people can turn to.
Great tips Cheryl. Also just want to throw out that blogging every day is likely very daunting to most! True, the more you blog the better results you will likely get, but blogging less often leads to good results too. So new bloggers might want to do a post once a week, or every other week, or even once a month. The important thing is to be consistent and stick with it.
I agree with you completely, Rachel. Blogging every day is pretty daunting! I think it’s better to blog once a month than to feel overwhelmed and not blog at all.