How to write a good blog
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With new channels of delivering content, blogs might lose their allure, but it’s still one of the most effective ways to get your message across.
With the proliferation of social media and bite-sized content, you might think the approach of getting your message across via a blog article may no longer be as relevant. But we’re here to tell you that the old but good approach of blogs is here to stay — if you write them well.
In fact, blogging is still the second most common form of media used in content marketing strategies. Blogs often lead to increased traffic to one’s site, and it helps with Google algorithms and SEO rankings.
Blogs also play a crucial role in the buying journey process; 60% of buyers will seek out a product after reading a blog about it.
How to make good blog content?
Write about what you know
Authenticity matters, and it’s crucial that you should write about what you know, based on your own experiences and knowledge.
Even if the information you provide might seem universally-known, what can set you apart is how you’ve applied it to your situation and what you’ve learnt from it. Your unique experiences allows you to delve deep and provide insights on niche topics that you specialise in, especially if they are distinct from those offered by your competitors.
Plus, you’ll come across as being much more credible if you can demonstrate your industry knowledge — which goes a long way in building trust with your consumers and convincing them that you know your stuff.
Don’t forget to back up your blog post with the happenings in your industry, be it case studies, surveys, or reports. That way you are not writing an opinion piece but a credible article supported by facts, all while enhancing your brand image as a reputable source of information within your industry.
Consider your target audience
It might be useful to take a good look at your buyer personas as a start. What are they interested in? What are some major pain points that they face? What questions do they have? Once you’ve figured out what information they need, you can evaluate what you know and what’s worth sharing with them.
Because of your expertise, you are in a much better position to inform and educate your audience regarding the latest developments in your field. Therein lies the value you can provide them, and they’ll appreciate it because you’re not necessarily asking for anything in return. (Or not yet anyway).
Apart from just content, you can also use your buyer personas to find out which channel you can best reach them on to gain the most engagement. Is it a video or a blog, or is it a social media post?
Leverage on ‘alternative’ insider perspectives
With division of labour, every company has numerous employees who specialise in different areas. Their specialities provide them with a unique point of view that you can tap on to share with your audience.
For instance, we’ve leveraged the specialties of our Lead Producer, Alex Chua, on webinars and live streaming to create blog content. It demonstrates what we can offer to the audience — we’re capable of providing the right services to allow audiences to hold virtual events in the ongoing pandemic.
Leveraging on that specialised information can give your content an edge over your competitors.
Publish content in a variety of places
Wherever your audience is, you should be there too. While Linkedin is a popular place to publish articles, you should also aim to create a comprehensive content hub on your own site, as well as cross-post on other channels like Medium.
By publishing your content on different platforms, it will be seen by more people. This will ultimately lead to better customer engagement. Reading a blog is one way your audience will find out more about your business, so writing a good and consistent piece is a must.
It also helps if you spice up written blog content with relevant infographics or videos — like this one we filmed on tips for writing good blog content.
Stay updated
If you want to be seen as a leader in your industry, you need to keep up with the times. Every new development or trend that’s just emerging in your field — you need to be in the loop. Stay up to date on topics relevant to your audience to ensure you’re sharing knowledge that’s always fresh.
Timeliness matters, and if you’re able to establish yourself as one of the ‘early’ sources of reliable information, it’s likely that your audience will keep returning to you when they need to know about the latest updates.
Use a mix of gated and ungated content
Even with a blog, for any brand, the eventual goal is to encourage conversions. But no one likes a hard sell, so use a mix of gated and ungated content to appeal to your audience.
Gated content refers to content that requires your audience to fill a form to access to it. Meanwhile, ungated content is the kind that can be publicly accessible without the need for personal data exchange.
With ungated content, there can be numerous calls to action that guide readers to explore other pages on your site, offering information about your business and easing them through the buyer’s journey.
If you’re able to provide meaningful information with ungated blog content, your audience will be convinced of the value you can offer them, and be more open to exchanging their information for access your gated content. That’s where you can generate leads.
It’s all about authenticity
In the end, the best blog content is genuine — they should always be backed by reliable information from reputable sources, imbued with personality and guided by insider experiences.
Looking to improve your blog content? Reach out to our CEO Simon Kearney at [email protected]
Read more from Click2View:
- Open rates might not be a useful metric anymore.
- Make funny content if you want it to be memorable.
- Should you pre-record or livestream your virtual event?
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Click2View is Southeast Asia’s premiere full-service independent B2B content marketing agency servicing clients like Microsoft, Google, Visa, Prudential, and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.
