“I don’t know how it happened.” “I didn’t mean for it to go viral.” “I woke up one morning and my little tiny blog post had 7 gazillion views.” We’ve all seen people humble brag about these results. Some of them are probably even telling the truth. But, for most of us normal folks, we can’t expect that one blog post is going to suddenly go viral, amass hundreds of thousands of views, and take the author from unknown to rich and famous overnight.
That’s not to say that it can’t happen. In fact, a simple Google search for “blogger success stories” will give you a plethora of examples that might make you wonder what you are waiting for. I’m all for getting out there and trying your hand at instant blogger fame, but I am here to make the argument that slow and steady wins the race, especially when it comes to using a blog specifically to grow your startup or other commercial enterprise.
Read on to learn more about how a concrete blogging strategy can propel your business forward – it may not shoot off like a rocket, but it can still reach the same heights at a slower pace.
Wait, What Does Strategy Have to do with Blogging?
While blogging can (and should) be just one part of your overall content strategy, you do need to have a specific strategy for the blogging itself. This does not need to be anything overly complicated – it could be as simple as a calendar in which you map out general topics for the coming weeks or months (depending on how far into the future you want to plan at once) or as complex as a detailed spreadsheet with topics, titles, keywords, etc.
Regardless of how much detail you want to include, your blogging strategy must begin with a vision. Getting clear on what your purpose is for blogging will help drive your choice of topics, post length, and how often you post. For example, if your goal is to encourage people to take advantage of a special offer you may want to start posting a month in advance and write a blog post once a week that educates your audience and slowly but surely brings them to the point of wanting to take advantage of your offer.
Or, if your goal is for your site to rank higher in Google search, you should develop a strategy revolving around SEO and keywords and plan to write a larger quantity of shorter posts to populate your blog. These are just two possible scenarios out of many – only you know exactly what your endgame is.
One is Not Enough
In both examples, it’s clear enough why just one blog post is not going to get you to your goal. You can’t assume that by just putting out one post your entire target audience will even see it let alone decide to act on it. And one post is almost definitely not going to do anything for your search rankings.
So here’s a few reasons why you need a series of blog posts and what the impact of multiple posts can be:
Grow Traffic and Boost Search Rankings
If you don’t put out a constant flow of useful content that addresses topics that your audience is searching for, then how can you expect them (or Google) to find you? As I said above, one blog post does not a Google-first-page-ranking make. In order to increase your visibility in Google or other search engines (but let’s be honest – who uses any other search engine?), you need to post regularly.
This does not mean you should write 10 blog posts that say the exact same thing! Gone are the days when keyword-stuffing was the key to SEO. Today, you need to create real valuable content that directly addresses questions that your target audience is asking. If you truly have the answers – which you should in your own niche – then just writing naturally will likely result in including the right keywords without sounding artificial.
Attract New Readers
Not every post that you publish will speak to every member of your target audience, nor will your entire audience even see every post. The more you write and the more you address different (but still related to what you do, of course) topics and target different sectors of your desired market, the more your readership will grow.
Each post that you put out into the universe has the potential to draw new readers who can ultimately convert into new customers. It’s worth the effort to write a series of posts spread out over time and let them do their magic, rather than pin all your hopes on dreams on one post that has only a tiny chance of going viral.
Build Trust
Content is a long game – even if you write a series of posts, you aren’t going to see a huge uptick in sales overnight. What you will see is a slow and steady growth of readers who become loyal followers who then start to see you as a trusted and reliable expert and source of information in your field. A reputation as THE most trusted source needs to be earned, and one of the best ways to earn it is by consistently providing answers to questions, free advice, and useful information.
Engage with your readers in the comments, ask for their feedback and encourage honest dialogue. Let your blog become a place of open conversation and sharing of knowledge. Keep it upbeat but informative with a continuous stream of fresh content and watch your solid relationships grow and result in sales.
The More You Write the More You Can Showcase What You Offer
Finally, you probably have a ton to say about your business specifically but also the industry as a whole, or even other topics that are tangential to your business. If you were only to write one blog post, imagine how long it would have to be to cover all that you wanted to say. It would take you forever to write and no one would ever want to read it all!
Now think about how much better and more productive it would be to break down your knowledge into much smaller topics and write one blog post on each. Sometimes you can write directly about the product or service that you offer and other times you can provide insight into the industry, new problems and solutions, the possibilities are truly endless.
Next Steps
Now you know why you need to plan to write a series of blogs and not just one post, so what are you going to do next? Here are some ideas…
- First, determine your ultimate goal for what you want your blog to achieve.
- Next, list 5-10 topics that you could easily write about, just off the top of your head.
- Then, pick your top 3 favorite topics and put dates next to them. Those are your deadlines for when you will publish blogs on those topics.
- Finally, start writing!!
If you get stuck anywhere along the way, feel free to turn to us at Purple Chia for help – we are here for you!