If you’re looking for great information on social media and blogging you can’t find a better resource than Social Media Examiner. It’s a great website that is full of detailed information. They have posts, podcasts, videos and more. It’s a great community of website owners and business owners that follow the advice of writers and social media experts.
What I like about the site is they focus on the website and the blog as the center of the social media strategy. In a recent podcast Michael Stelzner discussed what would happen if Facebook changed its policies or simply shut down or if its users left. If you spend time building an audience there you are out of luck.
It’s best to focus on using social media and other referral sources to build your own audience with content on your website.
But let’s get into the details of another post.
The post is 3 Ways to Create Highly Valuable Blog Content:
- Be the resource your customers really need
- Answer the unanswered questions
- Find the questions your customers are asking
I thought it was a really good post and worth checking out. There are lots of details for each of the three points.
What I want to do is expand with three additional ways to create blog content customers want to read.
3 More Ways to Create Useful Blog Content
These will hopefully add more value to your business blogging strategy.
1. Be a distinctive voice
The biggest factor people look for from a resource like a blog is the personality of the blog. People connect with people first and content second. You need to put yourself and your brand into the content you create. Much of the content you read about social media and blogging is the same, but some blogs become more popular than others because they have unique voices. These successful sites form a connection with their target readers and target customers.
The content is important. I actually feel it’s the second most important element of your blog, but the voice and personality comes first. It’s possible to create a few posts that are different from anything else anyone is creating, but often times you’ll be creating very similar content to others. Even if you’re the first you’ll soon have copycats.
It’s essential to focus on branding yourself with voice and personality.
It’s possible to do this with multiple writers. Each can have their own personality and the blog and website overall can have a personality.
2. Create timeless content
This point is greatly helped when you have a strong personality. Your personality and blogging voice can live on for a long time. With your content, though, you really want to focus on creating content that lives for years.
Whatever your industry is there should be multiple topics and questions (see Social Media Examiner post above) your customers always ask. In fact, those questions never die (see the first comment on the SME post). This is a great point.
Maybe you’re a plumber. There will always be customers asking about how to unclog a drain. There will always be customers asking about the basics of bathroom renovation. Create content around these items and it will live forever. It creates a constant stream of traffic that brings leads and sales to your business for life.
Now, I should note that I prefer a method of blogging and content marketing that uses timeless content and more timely content. This involves more newsworthy posts along with a good mix of timeless content.
3. Write content that sells
Finally, write content that sells. This is important and I don’t want you to miss this point. You’re creating content because you want more traffic, leads and sales. This is the goal of any marketing activity. This goal is no different for blogging and creating content for your website.
Focus on leading your customer through questions, but leave them wanting more. You want to give advice and information that helps customers solve problems. This builds trust and also uses the reciprocity theory. When the time comes for your customer to ask for help and convenience you want to be there.
Make sure the customer is aware of what your business provides and how it can help them. Put this information on every page on your site. Limit calls to action on the pages. Let people share your articles, but also make sure they know you are selling something.