Your blog section should be your best engaging and up-to-date page on your website. If you want to keep readers coming back to your website, give Google new content to index and improve your chances of ranking for competitive terms, you should invest in content. Below, we’ve rounded up four ways to get more out of your blog.
1. Add a call to action
If you’re running a blog to promote your small business, then you need to work hard to push readers through a sales funnel. Add an attractive call to action at the end of every blog post to maximise your chances of conversion. It could be a newsletter signup form, a discount on a new product or service, or a free download to an eBook for data capture purposes. Not sure what your CTA should be? It doesn’t really matter– as long as you have something to encourage readers to visit other parts of your website or interact with your business.
2. Develop a content marketing strategy
If you’re serious about improving your blog and getting more customers through organic traffic and social media, then it’s time to invest in a content marketing strategy. The benefits of content marketing for small businesses are endless – not least building a name for your business as an authority figure and source of news, tutorials and information.
Take a look at what your competitors write about, see what’s trending on social media, and plan your content for the next several months, selecting appropriate keywords and sending outreach emails to influencers and authority figures to build links and recommendations.
3. Enable comments
In today’s social media-obsessed world, more websites than ever are turning off comments sections in favour of social media shares. However, a comments section can prove valuable to your business blog if you manage it effectively – especially if you encourage discussion and get involved in the action.
Ask questions at the end of your posts to get customers to engage with your business, respond to each and every comment as and when you get it, and don’t be afraid of commenting on other people’s websites to get backlinks and exposure. By doing so, you could encourage webmasters to visit your website and leave a comment, too.
4. Go back over your old posts
If you’ve been blogging for a while, then the chances are that you’ll have hundreds of high-quality posts that drive traffic to your website. Don’t rest on your laurels and expect this traffic to remain consistent – you need to work hard to keep your website ranking. Look back over old posts and see whether you can make any changes to improve readability and accuracy, and consider reworking old posts into new content that keeps customers coming back. Updating and republishing outdated blog content can offer significant SEO benefits.
Running a blog for your small business isn’t easy, but if you’re stuck in your ways and want to boost engagement, then these four tips should help. Good luck!
