To write a blog post that has longevity can seem difficult. How come you get a lot of traffic at the start and then less new audience members appear? Blogging is not a new thing, anyone who is anyone and any business who takes their digital marketing strategy seriously will be blogging at least once per week but why are some blogs more successful than others? Why aren’t you getting much traffic and why are other blogs gaining lots of comments when you aren’t? In this blog post, I discuss several ways in which to improve your blog writing skills performance.
Ensure your website has an XML sitemap
Before we even begin talking about organic search I will assume that you have submitted your sitemaps to the major search engines of Google, Bing & Yahoo. If not, I would recommend doing that ASAP otherwise it is unlikely your website will be indexed at all. If you are unsure how to create XML sitemaps this article by XML Sitemaps.com explains exactly how to create XML sitemaps.
Long-tail keywords are the key to writing a blog post that has longevity
Also, if you have any knowledge of SEO keywords have been prevalent in search rankings since the dawning of the search engine. A keyword is a word that clearly associates the content of your page or blog post with it. This is to ensure that the users can find the exact content they are looking for. So what is a long-tail keyword? As wordstream.com explains: –
Long-tail keywords are longer and more specific keyword phrases that visitors are more likely to use when they’re closer to a point-of-purchase.
So for example, if an artist was to try and advertise they have written a blog about a painting they don’t just want to put a keyword ‘painting’ to hope they will be found. The competition for that keyword will be simply too massive to even be considered to land on page 1. Instead of key phrases such as ‘painting by artist xxx’, if they are relatively famous try something different. For example, ‘ a painting about finding yourself’ if the topic is quite relevant. Or ‘a painting that describes what is like to live with mental health problems ‘. All these keyphrases are long-tail keywords and stand a better chance of being found on the top pages of google.
Write a blog post that has longevity by talking about popular problems
Longtail keywords have less searchability but with almost 3 billion people actively using the internet. Although the case, it is possible to still attract the right audience to your posts; but is what you are writing about really relevant? Are enough people likely to be interested in the blog? You need to be a little bit self-critical and analytical when it comes to the topic selection. This is because once it’s published it may be that longer down the line it doesn’t have any pulling power.
You can find out if the topic you want to write about is on the rise through google trends here.
Don’t always talk about current events
As I started my profession as a web/graphic designer I joined a company that had a well-established image. It was my suggestion that they should be blogging and using social media channels. To add videos to push their digital marketing strategy to the next stage which would be innovative compared to competitors. The problem with the blogs that were posted on their site was they tended to talk about current events.
Why is this a problem? Well, the reason it is a problem is that it generates a lot of traffic at first. Once the news has faded away, the blog becomes quite deserted with only the occasional visitor for historical reference.
Write a blog post that has longevity through education
My most successful blog posts are not ones that discuss current events they solve problems, FAQs and issues that people have when involved in my industry or looking for someone to help them with a particular issue. This in turn adds value to my users. It is believed it can help make you look a bit of a guru in your particular industry. A person who is willing to help others sometimes free of charge! People love free!
That is another useful blog type. Anything that offers free things. Free fonts, free graphics, free chocolate, free anything. These will always have a good return rate and also a good sharing capability.
I hope this brief article helps you understand a little clearer what blog articles can help generate more traffic. Have I missed something? What else would you suggest to improve your blog’s performance? Please comment in the box below.
If you need help writing your content or creating an article we can help. View our content creation service page for more information.