Time are changing. Basic SEO practices aren’t enough anymore—and companies that want to stay top of mind online need to make some changes.
In this article, I’ll walk you through how SEO is shifting and a few basic ways to incorporate creative SEO into your company content strategy.
How SEO has changed in recent years
It’s common knowledge that SEO has shifted dramatically since the early dot-com era. In its earliest days, SEO simply meant shoving a keyword as many times as possible into your blog post and calling it a day.
Then things changed.
Competition got tougher. And Google’s algorithms got smarter. Soon, keyword stuffing was a firm no-go, and smart companies started going after long-tail keywords that were easier to rank for, making sure to use the exact keyword a certain amount of times in their copy.
And that’s where we were for quite some time.
But things are starting to change again.
SEO has been getting more and more complex in recent years. (Google’s made 36 algorithm changes in the last five years alone!) There have always been multiple factors to great SEO, like site mapping, backlinks, mobile optimization, site speed, and more. But now, the complexity is more pronounced.
Google is getting better at understanding what people are actually looking for when they type a few words into the search bar. This means when you type something into Google, your top results may not actually use your exact words—but chances are, it’s the most helpful content.
In short: Great SEO focuses on user experience and expert-driven, useful content more than ever before.
(In fact, you may have noticed that a lot of companies are now shying away from the term “blog post” and using “article” more.)
Simply searching for keywords (yes, even long-tail keywords) isn’t enough anymore. Enter: creative SEO.
What is creative SEO?
Creative SEO is a term I use to describe the new way to write incredible content that makes Google happy.
It shifts the spotlight away from SEO keywords alone and toward prioritizing creativity, expertise, and data to create the kind of content your customers actually want to consume.
In other words:
Creative SEO uses your product positioning and your customer persona to come up with article topics—then strategically incorporates the right keywords throughout each piece.
When you focus on your ideal customers first, the traffic will follow (and you earn more business).
How to use creative SEO for your company website
Creative SEO requires a little more elbow grease than bygone SEO tactics, but the benefits far outweigh the extra effort.
Here’s a basic rundown of how it works:
1. Do a deep dive into your product positioning and customer personas
Stop relying solely on keyword tools and Answer the Public to come up with blog post ideas. There, I said it.
Instead of asking Google what you should write about, start by looking inward—at your own product and customers.
I recommend taking time to analyze your company’s product positioning (where you fit in the market) and your ideal customers. You need to get really clear on your brand and voice, why people want to buy from you, and what questions they need answered before they will buy from you.
Reflect on these questions to get started:
How does your product or service fit into the market? What makes you unique?
Who exactly do you serve? Why is your product/service the best choice for them?
What things tend to keep your ideal customer from buying from you?
How can you help answer those objections in a way that educates or entertains them?
What other questions do customers have related to your product offering? What do they actually want to know?
How can customers use your product or service to make their lives better?
What relevant industry trends or news can your company provide expert commentary on?
2. Create expert-driven, high-quality content
Companies that have the best on-page SEO adopt a magazine mentality and have high editorial standards. They focus on offering helpful information, expertise, and quality writing.
My recommendation? Make that your goal, too.
Hire excellent writers. Lean on recent research. Use trusted sources and cite them. Structure your articles in a way that helps readers learn best.
3. Strategically use relevant keywords in your articles
Yes, keywords still matter! And I even recommend writing some articles based on keywords that are truly relevant to your readers. But keep them in their proper place.
It still makes sense to put exact keywords in the headline of your article (as close to the beginning as possible), use them a few times in your body heads, and sprinkle them throughout your copy.
But don’t force it. Use them organically and add a few different but related keywords as well.
The result? An article worth reading—and not even Google can deny it.
Need a creative SEO writer or strategist for your company blog?
Excellent content takes time, it’s true. And your time is probably better spent doing what you do best (growing your business, making sales, or overseeing your marketing team).
If you need content strategy or article content, you’ve come to the right place! With over a decade of writing and journalism experience, I regularly write SEO articles for businesses, including fast-growing startups and established Fortune 500 companies.
Any small business with a blog has a few key goals they strive for. And one of those is increasing their blog traffic.
But what if I told you there was a simple trick that could triple your blog traffic? (Without hours of extra promo work…)
You might call me crazy, but I watched it happen with one of my clients.
This client recently launched their blog, so they’re still testing what’s working and what’s not.
But there was one blog post I wrote for them that got 3 times more traffic than almost any of their other articles. Yes, you read that correctly—three times!
And not only that, but when we promoted that blog to their email list, we got a click rate of 11.4%! (If you look at that and think, OK, so what?, then I should mention that the average click rate for this client’s industry is 2-3%.)
My client’s audience was gobbling this content up.
But why?
Well, it started with that one simple trick I promised to tell you. And I won’t make you wait any longer.
Triple Your Blog Traffic by Writing About Your Ideal Client’s Burning Questions
After analyzing the blog and the sharing methods, I realized that what made this blog post get triple the average number of page views was simply … the topic.
Not the topic in general, which was bookkeeping. The blog post itself answered a burning question that my client’s ideal customer had.
This client is a bookkeeping/accounting business that serves other small businesses.
Turns out, many of their readers are confused about how to pay themselves correctly.
Yep. It wasn’t a sexy topic. It was actually pretty boring: “How to Pay Yourself as a Small Business Owner (And What Not to Do).”
But that’s not boring to a small-business owner. That’s a huge question they have! No solopreneur or boutique shop owner wants to find themselves in hot water with the IRS because they’ve been paying themselves incorrectly.
And there you have it … a high-traffic blog post.
How to Discover Your Readers’ Burning Questions
So let’s turn this around and apply it to your blog…
Start by thinking about your current clients.
What questions do they ask you most often?
What concerns do they have regarding your niche?
What fears compel them to seek out the answers to their questions?
That’s what you need to be blogging about.
If you’re not sure how to answer that list of questions (or if you haven’t been in business long enough to get to know your clients), don’t worry. There are still things you can do to dig up the answers.
Ask around on social media
Ask your email list
Ask other entrepreneurs in your space
Poke around on other blogs in your niche
For that last tip, keep an eye out for their most popular blog posts and note the topics/questions that drive those posts. Don’t copy their topics exactly, of course, but you can use those popular blogs as inspiration for a new topic for your own posts.
Triple Your Blog Traffic With a Solid Headline
A perfect topic is the foundation for a viral blog post. But you still need to write a great headline to get that precious traffic you crave.
But the biggest tip I can give you right now is simply this:
Make your promise as clear as possible.
Don’t hide your topic behind fancy schmancy words. And be careful with too much mystery.
If you have a blog post that touches on a topic your audience really cares about, then the best thing you can do is make it as clear as day how your blog post will benefit them.
Recall the headline for the article I wrote for my client: “How to Pay Yourself as a Small Business Owner (And What Not to Do).”
There’s no razzle dazzle to that headline. It’s really not that much to look at. But if you’ve been confused about how to pay yourself correctly as a small business owner, then you know that blog post is for you.
Of course, topics that work for my client won’t necessarily work for you. That’s why you have to get out there and get to know your readers! Then, try out different topics on your blog and see what resonates most. In no time, you’ll be on your way to triple your blog traffic.
Wondering how to use LinkedIn to promote your blog and grow your brand?
Great, because it’s actually not that hard!
LinkedIn may be one of the best social media platforms for you if your ideal client is in business in any way.
Although I’m less active on LinkedIn than I am on Facebook or Instagram, LinkedIn has still been my greatest source for getting clients.
This is likely because people on other social media platforms are simply browsing for fun. Many times, they’re not expecting (or even wanting) an interruption from you talking about your blog or services. But when people are on LinkedIn, they’re already thinking with a business mindset. This gives your business blog a huge advantage on that platform.
As of this writing, around half my clients have found me because of my activity on LinkedIn. And the best part is … this is all the result of inbound marketing. I haven’t had to sell to a single person! As a 9 on the Enneagram, I can’t even explain to you how happy it makes me to not aggressively sell. Seriously.
LinkedIn has also been a great place for me to grow my email list and increase my blog traffic. So… you’ll have to excuse my enthusiasm because I’m just a little bit obsessed with LinkedIn right now.
But the real question here is: Is LinkedIn the right fit for you? Let’s find out.
How to Know LinkedIn Is the Right Fit for Your Blog
Before you commit to learning how to use LinkedIn to promote your blog, you need to find out if your audience is even on there.
LinkedIn is likely a good fit for you if your primary audience includes:
Businessmen and businesswomen
Entrepreneurs and small-business owners
People looking for a job
People wanting to quit their job and start their own money-making venture
Keep in mind that your offer should be—in most cases—something that helps them in their professional goals.
How to Use LinkedIn to Promote Your Articles and Grow Your Brand
Now that you’ve determined that LinkedIn is a great fit for your business, let’s dive into how to use LinkedIn to grow your brand and your blog.
1. Grow Your LinkedIn Connections
The first step to promoting your blog is actually growing your following. This doesn’t mean you can’t post your blogs on LinkedIn until you have a certain number of followers. But if you have fewer than 500 connections, I would recommend focusing your energy on building genuine connections.
Focus on connecting with people who are your ideal client or who are in the same/similar field as you.
Start by reaching out to connect with 5 people every other day. (I’ve heard people say you should do it every day, but hey, we have lives, right?)
Huge tip for how to use LinkedIn to make connections: Make sure to send a personalized message with each connection request.
This doesn’t have to be long and fancy. Just be sure to use their first name, indicate the connecting link that caused you to reach out to them (friend, school, or former job you have in common), and be friendly.
Here’s an example:
Hi, Tracy. I’m Jenny Rose, a Christian content marketing coach and fellow Stetson grad. (Go Hatters!) I saw you’re connected with my good friend [Insert Friend Here]. I’d love to connect on LinkedIn. Have a great day!
Practical ways to find connections:
Go to your alma mater’s page and look for fellow alumni.
Some colleges’ LinkedIn pages have settings for you to search based on geographical location, study major, or current job title. Take advantage of these to find your ideal client.
Look at your friends’ connections.
When a new person says yes to your connection request, look at their connections.
Use LinkedIn’s search tool to find your ideal client or fellow business owners in your field.
If you have a free account on LinkedIn, you have a limited amount of monthly searches. You can only find results for 1,000 profiles or 100 pages. So make them count!
Like all social media platforms, you can’t just post once in a blue moon and expect a great return. A huge part of how to use LinkedIn is simply being active on the platform. (That includes posting and liking/commenting on other people’s posts.)
The more active you are on LinkedIn, the more your connections see you and your content.
Not all these posts have to be links to your blog. Be sure to also post content that builds relationships or offers free value without having to click away to get it.
In fact, some claim that LinkedIn’s algorithm disfavors posts with links in them.
The other alternative is putting the link in the comments instead of the post itself. Agorapulse ran a test to see how posts with links in the comments compared to posts with links in the post itself. They found that views (or impressions) were higher for posts with links in comments, indicating that LinkedIn’s algorithm shared those posts more liberally. But those same posts also had fewer comments and likes.
The fewer comments and likes could be from the fact that when you share a link in the post itself, a picture pops up that’s clickable. Like this:
When the link is in the comments, though, there’s no compelling photo or headline to attract attention.
However you choose to post your blog links on LinkedIn, just make sure to do it regularly! I recommend at least 2 to 3 posts per week, with at least 1 of them being a link to your blog.
But blog links aren’t the only aspect of knowing how to use LinkedIn.
3. Publish LinkedIn Articles
I’ve seen many people who have had great success republishing their blogs as LinkedIn articles. (I haven’t had as much success with LinkedIn articles as I have with simply promoting my blog, but this could be because I’m still growing my following on the platform.)
To do this, just click “Write Article” in the lower right-hand corner. Then simply copy-paste your blog into the appropriate fields.
A few recommendations if you choose to do this:
Wait at least 2 weeks before republishing your articles.
You want to make sure your blog on your own website has a chance to rise in the ranks on Google before adding the same copy on another platform.
Rewrite the headline.
It doesn’t have to be vastly different, but it should be different enough that people scrolling through Google’s search results won’t be confused by identical headlines.
When you publish your post, tag a connection you think would get a lot out of it or who you interviewed for the piece.
4. Tag People and Add Hashtags to Your LinkedIn Posts
If you want to know how to use LinkedIn to promote your blog, tagging and hashtags are a great place to start. This way, it’s easier to get your content in front of more eyes.
But don’t tag just anyone. Make sure it’s someone who would get a lot of out of the content, someone you wrote about in the article, or someone you interviewed for the piece.
When adding hashtags, don’t pull an Instagram and add 30. Just don’t. LinkedIn, like Facebook, does just fine with simply 1 or 2 general hashtags that people follow.
Blogging, when done with excellence, can take dozens of hours of your week. That’s a lot of time you could be spending getting new customers or, better yet, spending time with family. Thankfully, the right tools for blogging can cut your time in half—or more.
Most of these tools are 100% free. A few do cost money, but I’ll be sure to let you know which those are. Also, please note that I’m an affiliate for some of the tools that cost money. (Again, I’ll let you know which those are for the sake of transparency.) As a business owner, I only promote tools I love, so enjoy!
Tools for Blogging: The Writing Process
Grammarly for Editing
If grammar isn’t really your thing, that’s OK. Grammarly, even with its free version, is pretty good at catching basic mistakes. That includes things like spelling, incorrect verb tense, etc.
It won’t catch more complex errors, though. So if you are concerned about your writing, consider hiring a writer or a copy editor.
Hemingway Editor
The Hemingway Editor tool is pretty cool because it doesn’t just focus on the grammar of your article. It also helps you catch clunky sentences, passive voice, and any monotony in your cadence. In other words, it helps write the kind of content people online want to read.
Tools for Blog SEO
Are you trying to research SEO on your own and going over your blog again and again to make sure it’s optimized for search engines? If so, you know how it can suck hours of your precious time.
These tools can help you out, especially if you’re an SEO beginner!
Yoast SEO
If you have a WordPress site, the Yoast SEO plugin can help you optimize every single blog post. Plus, it’s just super satisfying to get that green SEO light when you’re done. 😉
If you need help learning how to work your Yoast plugin, or if you need basic SEO help in general, check out my blog post on SEO for WordPress. The basic teachings in this post will help you even if your blog isn’t on WordPress.
Ubersuggest
Ubersuggest has a free plan that will help you research keywords for your blog posts. You can also type in your site’s URL and have Ubersuggest run a test to check your website’s SEO health. I highly recommend this tool!
Tools for Blogging Graphics
Free Photo Sites
I may not be a fantastic photographer, but I love beautiful photos, especially for my blogs. If you need some sites that offer copyright-free photos that cost nothing, check out this blog post:
A lot of these sites have photos that are absolutely gorgeous. And it beats spending hours each week taking photos yourself.
Canva
I’m a teensy bit obsessed with Canva if I’m honest with myself. I introduced my mom to Canva just a few months ago and she’s hooked too!
We love it so much because it makes designing graphics and PDFs SO easy. And it saves a ton of time… seriously!
It also has a bunch of easy-to-use design templates to get started if you’re not a natural designer (like me).
I use Canva Pro and love it because it gives me access to countless more photos and templates that save me a ton of time on graphics for my business and for clients. In fact, I love it so much I’m an affiliate for Canva Pro!
I’m an affiliate for them as well, so if you use my link to purchase from them, I get a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Tools to Promote Your Blog
Later.com: Social Media Scheduler
Later is pretty great as a social media scheduler, especially if you focus primarily on Facebook and Instagram. You can easily switch between your different schedules for your social media platforms and copy/paste any posts you want to repurpose.
Plus, it gives you direct access to Unsplash, so you don’t have to go through the whole process of download the photo and then reuploading it to Later.
One more thing I really like about Later is that when you’re creating Instagram posts, it has a “Suggested Hashtags” tool that lets you find relevant hashtags for your topic.
Tailwind for Pinterest
Many bloggers get most of their traffic from Pinterest—and Tailwind is the reason why. It lets you quickly schedule dozens of posts at a time and join “Tribes” that will help share your content.
I love Flodesk’s templates. They’re beautiful and easy to use and customize to match your brand. Plus, they also have templates that are more plain if that’s what you need too.
I started out my business with Mailchimp and found it to be a little difficult for me to use with the free version. I finally made the leap over to Flodesk in June and I couldn’t be happier with my choice!
While using Mailchimp, my email open rate was between 15% and 20%, which isn’t bad… but a few weeks after switching over to Flodesk, I found my open rate increase. It’s now between 25% and 35% (sometimes 40% or higher), depending on the content.
Because I love it so much, I’m an affiliate with them. If you sign up using my affiliate link, you actually get 50% off of your monthly price–for life.
Flodesk normally charges $38 per month (and doesn’t increase as your subscribers increase like other email service providers do). But with my link, you will only pay $19 for as long as you have Flodesk.
Want to Save Even MORE Time With Tools for Blogging?
I have an entire list of 18+ different tools you can use for writing, graphics, social media, email, and more. Plus, I also have a long list of blogging prompts to get your creative juices flowing.
Are you confused about how to approach SEO for WordPress? If so, you’re not the only one!
When I first started my own blog, I admit I was a little confused, too. How do you optimize a website or a blog for search engines? How do you correctly use these plugins? What on earth is a meta description??
Trust me, I get it!
But after plenty of experience and research, I’m happy to show you what I’ve learned.
What Is Search Engine Optimization?
First, to understand SEO for WordPress, you need to understand what SEO (search engine optimization) actually is.
It’s the process of creating and shaping your content so that it’s more likely to rank in search engines. You know, those coveted spots on Google’s first page…
The higher you rank on search engines like Google, the more likely people are to find your content and click on your website.
That requires understanding the kinds of words to use, how to structure the article, and where to strategically place your keywords and key phrases.
You can go pretty far down the SEO rabbit hole because there’s a lot of tech involved. It includes domain authority, backlinks, knowing which links to set to no-follow on your blog and more…
But for today, I’m keeping it simple and giving you the basics you need.
How to Get Started With SEO for WordPress
Thankfully, WordPress makes it pretty easy for you to optimize for search engines … as long as you have the right tools handy.
Tools You Need for WordPress SEO
There are several tools I recommend you use as you approach SEO for your blog.
SEO Plugins can function like a checklist to make sure your blogs are meeting the basic requirements for SEO. They can tell you if you’re using enough keywords and synonyms or if you forgot a necessary SEO element.
Starting with Yoast is great because you get a lot of guidance, even with the free version. It helps you optimize with SEO by giving you a red, orange, or green light. Red means bad SEO, orange means it needs improvement, and green means you’re good to go!
The free version of Yoast allows you to check for one keyword or phrase. This, unfortunately, isn’t enough if you’re super serious about ranking No. 1 on Google.
That’s because search engines have changed the way they rank content in recent years. It’s no longer about making sure you’re optimized for one single keyword.
Instead, Google looks at your content as a whole.
They want to make sure that anyone who stumbles upon your blog will thoroughly enjoy the reading experience and find your content useful.
According to Neil Patel, new bloggers might have a naive view of SEO and think that it depends almost entirely on repeating the main keyword.
Instead, he says about …
40% of SEO is repeating the main keyword.
30% is your page’s design and readability.
15% is the depth and value of the content.
7.5% is using related keywords.
Another 7.5% is the topic and theme of your page.
The free version of Yoast will only help you with the main keyword and the readability of your blog. For more comprehensive help, you’ll need the paid version.
Keyword Research Tools
Keyword research tools are super important because they help you discern which keywords to optimize for.
I’m ashamed to say that in the beginning of my blog, I was not writing at all with specific keywords in mind. I was writing only for my audience. Because of that, my keywords were pretty vague and pitiful.
And while it’s important to write for your audience, if you don’t have good keywords in mind when writing, your content will fall flat.
So what is a good keyword? For business bloggers like you and me, it’s a keyword that:
Gets searches each month (at least a couple hundred to a few thousand)
Has lower competition (e.g., the competition for “eggs” is much higher than it is for “how to cook poached eggs”)
Your audience searches for on Google (it’s what they want to read about)
This is why it’s better to try to rank for “long-tail keywords” (which are more specific, like “how to cook poached eggs”) as opposed to “short-tail keywords” (which are more generic, like “eggs”).
Most of those keyword research tools above are pretty expensive to use. That’s why I recommend starting with Ubersuggest if you’re just starting out.
Neil Patel created Ubersuggest with a free version that gives you access to a limited set of features and a limited number of keyword searches per day.
Here’s how to use it:
1. Type in the keyword you think you’d like to rank for.
Let’s say you have a recipe blog and you’re thinking of ranking for “how to cook poached eggs.”
In the photo above, you see that the long-tail keyword has 2,400 monthly searches on search engines like Google. That’s good!
The “CPC” means “Cost Per Click,” and refers to how much each click likely costs if you run ads for that keyword on Google.
“PD” stands for “Paid Difficulty” and tells you how high the paid competition is for that keyword. The lower the number, the easier it is for your ad to rank for that phrase.
“SD” is “SEO Difficulty,” which tells you how high the organic competition is for that phrase. Again, the lower the number, the easier it is to rank organically for that keyword.
2. Click through the various tabs to see synonyms you can use in your article.
The keywords under these tabs may be great synonyms to use throughout your article. This gives Google a better context for what your article is about.
Pro Tip: Don’t try to rank for the same keyword in multiple articles. Instead, choose several short-tail keywords you want your website to rank for overall and use those in as many articles on your site as you can.
But make sure your primary long-tail keyword for each article is unique. This gives Google a better picture of the core theme of your site, which helps them know which searches to rank you for.
How to Write Blogs for SEO
Now that you know how to plan your blogs with keywords in mind, let’s move into how to actually flesh the content out in your blog articles.
The first things you need to keep in mind is that Google wants your content to be authentically excellent and trustworthy. That means spammy practices like stuffing your article full of the same keyword over and over will actually hurt your ranking on search engines.
That’s why you need to …
Write for Humans First and Search Engines Second
Writing only with search engines in mind keeps you from being able to think about what your reader wants to read.
When you sit down to write, think about creating the kind of content that captures your audience’s attention and makes them finish your blog with a smile on their face.
Your goal is to get people to say, “I am SO glad I found this article! It’s so helpful!”
That means using language that your audience easily understands and identifies with. And it also means using examples that they can relate to.
I encourage people to:
Choose their keywords first.
Then write the blog with their audience in mind.
Then go back through the article and optimize it for search engines.
Use Keywords Strategically in Your Blog
The secret to great SEO isn’t slapping your keyword into every sentence where it could possibly go. Again, keyword stuffing hurts your ranking!
Instead, Yoast recommends that the number of times you use your primary keyword be between 0.5% and 3.5% of your total word count.
This includes slight variations of your keyword. For instance, if you’re optimizing for “how to cook poached eggs,” then saying, “I learned how to cook the best poached eggs” still counts.
(The free version of Yoast doesn’t recognize variations, so if you’re not using premium, you’ll have to keep track of this yourself!)
Where to Put Your Keywords
When optimizing for search engines, make sure you put your primary keyword in:
1. In your headings
These are your H2, H3, and H4 headings. Don’t use H1 in your actual blog copy because that’s the same as your blog title and it’ll only confuse Google. Make sure your primary keyword is in at least a few of your H2 headings.
2. In your body copy
Sprinkle your keyword throughout the regular body copy of your blog. Google looks for this as well.
3. In your photo names and their alt text
When you’re saving your blog photo to your computer, put your main keyword in it. To use our eggs article example, a smart blogger would name the photo file “how-to-cook-poached-eggs.jpg”
A smart blogger would also add the keyword to the alt text when they upload their photo to WordPress. Here’s what that would look like:
If you’ll notice, I put the primary keyword in the section that says “Alt Text” under the photo attachment details to the right. (You’ll also notice the “Title” contains the keyword because I named the photo strategically on my computer.)
4. In your SEO title and meta description
The SEO title is the headline that shows up on Google (and if you share the article on Facebook or LinkedIn). It will automatically be the same as your headline unless you change it yourself.
You would want to change it if your headline is too long for Google. If your headline exceeds about 60 characters, Google might cut off your title in the search page.
Meanwhile, the meta description is the blurb of text that Google shows under your title in the search page. In the example below, “Jenny Rose Spaudo: Home” is the SEO title. And the phrase starting with “Through her blog…” is the meta description.
If you’re using Yoast, your SEO title and meta description are all the way at the bottom of your blog editor:
Select “Edit snippet” and you’ll see the SEO title and meta description. Yoast will let you know if you should shorten the SEO title.
For this blog you’re reading now, that’s exactly what I had to do, as you’ll see below:
How to Structure Your Blogs With SEO for WordPress in Mind
I mentioned before that one of the things Google looks at your blog for is structure. By that, I mean how you organize your blog with headings, numbers, and bullet points. These elements direct Google in how to crawl your content.
If it’s confusing for Google (or rather, their spider bots), they may show some funky formatting when showing a preview of your blog in the search function.
To prevent this kind of confusion, make sure you:
Use headings throughout your article (Yoast recommends not going over 300 words before your next heading).
Use other proper outlining markers (numbers, bullets, etc.)
Keep your paragraphs short and your language clear
Congratulations! You’re a Pro at Beginner SEO for WordPress!
Don’t stop at mastering the basics of SEO for your WordPress blog. Keep growing in your knowledge, and overtime, you’ll see real results!
Just remember: Always write for your audience first and search engines second.
Need more SEO training for your blog? I can coach you! Schedule a clarity call with me today.
I recently asked dozens of bloggers what their biggest struggles were with blogging. Hands down the most common response was: “I struggle to blog consistently.”
And it’s no wonder! We entrepreneurs are so busy nowadays serving our clients and networking that we have little time left for blogging.
The problem with inconsistency is that it kills your momentum.
When you blog consistently, you build a loyal audience. They expect you to have a fresh article at a certain time and they keep an eye out for your content.
Consistency is how you nurture your audience.
But when you start becoming inconsistent (or you go AWOL for a time), it confuses your audience and you lose the momentum you had. The point of nurturing is that it’s consistent. You lose that, and your audience quickly loses interest.
#1 Enemy of Consistency: The Mental Block
In my experience, what prevents people from being able to blog consistently has more to do with mental blocks than it does an actual time commitment.
Sometimes when we think about blogging, we get overwhelmed with all the steps and time involved in writing, optimizing and posting.
We subconsciously freak out at the mountain of tasks involved in creating a blog:
Thinking of a topic
Researching the topic
Creating an outline
Fleshing out the content
Editing and revising
Optimizing for SEO
Finding a quality featured photo
Designing social sharing photos
Posting the blog
Sharing the link on your social media
Phew! That does seem like a lot, doesn’t it?
Here’s the thing, though. It doesn’t have to be as intimidating as it seems!
Let’s walk through 3 practical steps you can take to overcome this mental block.
Create a system and use templates.
Batch your content when possible.
Destroy time-wasters.
I’ll take you through these steps one by one.
1. Blog Consistently With a System
Systems are truly amazing things. When you create a system for a complicated task, you break it down into bite-sized pieces.
Systematizing a process also allows you to accomplish it faster, more consistently, and at a better quality.
An easy way to turn your blogging into a system is by using checklists and templates.
Checklists provide you a step-by-step process for your blog. This way, you know exactly what to do right now and what to do next. It removes the guessing for you so you can walk through the process on autopilot and reserve your critical thinking for the actual content.
Write down everything you have to do to create a quality blog post and turn that into your checklist.
Templates save you time and energy as you create images for your blogs.
When I first started my blog, I purchased social media image templates from Bluchic, and I love them! I slightly tweak the images in Canva, update the headline and—presto!—I have a new image for my blog.
Here are some templates you’ll find helpful for your business:
Please note: The following links are affiliate links, meaning that if you click through and purchase, I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. As always, I only promote products I use and love!
If you’ve spent any time in the digital entrepreneurial world, you’ve heard more than one person praise the benefits of batching.
But just in case you haven’t… Batching is the process of setting aside a block of time to perform one task. Just one.
And there’s a reason so many entrepreneurs swear by it. It’s one of the most effective tools to help you blog consistently!
The reason is that when you batch, you give your mind time to get into a rhythm regarding that one task you’re working on. Once you hit that repetitive groove, you accomplish more than you would have with the same amount of time split up into several different occasions.
Try to use batching in one of two ways:
You can set aside a chunk of time each month to hammer out your whole month’s worth of blogs, start to finish.
You can set aside several chunks of time throughout the month to accomplish specific blogging tasks.
So for instance, you could set aside an hour to flesh out all your ideas for your next four to six blogs. Then you use another chunk of time to create outlines. Take another chunk to flesh the blogs out and optimize for SEO. Then another chunk to create all the images, and another to post all the blogs.
Both these methods can work! But to make your batching effective, I recommend that you dedicate at least 1 or 2 consecutive hours at a time.
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3. Destroy Time-Wasters So You Can Blog Consistently
How many hours in your week do you waste on nonessential activities? That’s time that could be going toward your blog! (And as I’ve said before, blogging is one of the best ways to grow your brand in 2020.)
Have you ever wasted hours on one of these time-wasters? (I know I have!)
Social media scrolling
YouTube rabbit holes
Perfectionism
Daydreaming
Arguments
Tech confusion (perhaps inevitable, but still a time-waster)
Chatting/texting with friends
Watching TV
These are just a few of the things that can steal our time from our most valuable investments. Can you identify a few more throughout your day?
Of course I’m not saying that you shouldn’t talk to your friends or that you can’t relax and watch some TV. But when you let those things take up too much of your time, you lose opportunities to blog and grow your brand.
Your turn! What are some suggestions you have for blogging consistently? Leave a comment below with your thoughts!
Are you wanting to drive traffic to your business site and generate new leads, but you simply don’t have time for blogging? If so, you might be looking to hire a freelance blog writer.
Before you do that, though, there are several important things you should know about hiring a freelance blog writer. In this article, I’ll dive into:
Whether or not you should hire a writer
Where to find a freelance blog writer
Questions you should ask before hiring a freelance writer
How to make the most of your working relationship with your writer
But first… meet Samantha.
She’s a busy stay-at-home mom who runs her own coaching business, where she helps her clients achieve their financial goals. She spends gobs of time each week serving her clients and building profitable relationships.
She works hard to bless her clients. But she also works hard to take care of her kids, cook and do laundry for her family, AND serve her local church by volunteering each week.
With all that going on in her life, here’s what Samantha doesn’t have time for: Blogging.
But she also knows that blogging can take hours out of her week just to research and write quality posts. So what does she do?
She types “freelance blog writer” into Google and gets about 62.5 million search results. Great…
She sees thousands of freelance blog writers for hire who are advertising their services on Upwork, Fiverr and Freelancer. She feels frozen and has no clue where to start.
Here’s what Samantha should consider first…
**Hey, real quick: This is a long blog post that’s chock-full of helpful information if you’re looking to hire a freelance blog writer. If you’re on the hunt for a writer, I recommend bookmarking this blog so you can refer to it later.**
Is Hiring a Freelance Blog Writer the Right Choice for Me?
Before Samantha books any discovery calls with potential blog writers, she needs to ask herself if she’s even in a position to hire someone for this task: “Should I hire a freelance blog writer?”
Here are some signs hiring a freelance blog writer is not the right choice for you:
You’re not clear on your voice yet (or what you want it to be).
You’re not sure you have the money to pay for quality blogs.
You don’t have a system in place for promoting your blogs.
You don’t have topics/direction for your potential blog writer.
Let’s dive into these one by one.
1. You don’t have a clear voice yet.
This one isn’t a deal breaker, but it’s still important.
To be able to adequately communicate to your freelance writer how to write blogs in your voice, you need to either A) have blogs you’ve written for your business in the past or B) have a clear idea of what you want your blogging voice to be.
An exception to option A is if you have a regular podcast show or video show. These still communicate your voice and opinions and can serve as a great springboard for creating quality blog posts.
The reason knowing your voice is important is that you cannot expect your blog writer to create your voice for you… because at that point, it becomes their voice, not yours.
Your business is your brand. Before you pass off your blog writing to anyone else, you need to know your audience, what they want and how they feel, and how you specifically solve their unique problem. You need to know how you talk to them.
Until you know this, your freelance blog writer won’t be much help in growing your business because your voice and objective are not clear.
2. You don’t have money to pay for quality blogs.
This is a biggie, my friend. Quality writing comes at a price. After all, it takes time and energy to research, write, edit, and optimize a quality blog post.
Many business owners looking to hire a writer often ask, “How much does a freelance blog writer charge?”
Freelance blog writer rates can go anywhere from $100 to $300 for a short blog post with some research. Or they can be as much as $400 to $2,000 per post if the blog is long-form or has more research and interviews. This depends, though, on how much time and extra work is involved in writing the article.
For instance, if writing blogs for you requires a lot of research, conducting interviews, taking photos, and the like, then you can expect to pay on the higher end of the scale. The greater the time investment, the higher the price.
Sometimes quality writers offer their services for lower prices because they’re just starting their business and are still building their portfolio. If that’s the case with a particular writer you’ve found, then you can still get fantastic blogs for a lower price.
But if you are only willing to hire someone who will write blogs for you for $25 or $30 per post, then you will very likely get subpar blogs.
Quality writing costs money. Make sure you can afford it.
3. You don’t have a content marketing system in place.
There’s no point in hiring a blog writer if you have no system in place to strategically promote this content.
That’s why every single business owner should have a content marketing strategy in place.
Click here to learn what a content marketing strategy is and how to implement one that works for you!
In a nutshell, this means that you have a basic plan for what free, value-packed content you’re going to create as well as how you will promote that content and use it to generate leads for your business.
4. You don’t have topics/direction for your freelance blog writer.
There is nothing more frustrating than trying to read someone’s mind… unless you know them pretty well.
The same goes for blog writing. If your blog writer doesn’t have sufficient direction for what kind of blogs you want, then you will definitely not get the kind of blogs you want!
This ties in with making sure you have a clear grasp on your voice. Make sure you have a strategy in place for what kind of content you want to post on your blog.
Make sure the topics you choose serve you and your business. In other words, make sure the topics align with what you sell.
If you sell homeschool curriculum, make sure the blog topics hit on needs that homeschooling parents have in regard to curriculum. This makes it much easier to attract people who are likely to buy from you.
How to Know if You Should Hire a Blog Writer
Some signs that you should definitely hire a freelance blog writer are that you…
Have some sort of an audience already and want to grow it with blogging.
Already know what your audience cares about.
Have a service/product/course that you know can change lives.
Are willing to invest in your company’s growth.
I recommend that you have somewhat of an audience already before hiring a freelance blog writer. This is because building an audience (even if it’s small!) gives you a chance to get clear on your offer, your voice and your topics.
Once you’re clear on these things, you can effectively communicate them to a freelance writer.
You also need to make sure you’re willing to invest in your business’ growth. After all, that’s what hiring a freelance writer is—an investment.
And it’s an investment that will give you great returns if you go about it the right way.
So are you in a position to hire a blog writer? If so, keep reading to learn where and how to do that.
Get Clear on What Tasks You Want Done
Before you start searching for someone to hire, make sure you know what freelance blog writer jobs you want done.
Some freelance writers only do very specific tasks. Others offer a wider variety of services. The clearer you are on what you want done, the easier it will be for you to find someone who matches your criteria.
Here are a few tasks you might want your writer to do:
1. Write Your Blogs
Obviously. Any freelance writer you hire will do this. Some, though, only go up to a certain word count, so think about how long you want your blogs to be.
I recommend a mixed word-count strategy for your business blog. By that, I mean having most of your blogs be about 1,000 words or less. But then you should also have several blogs per month that are longer … about 2,000 words or more.
This is because long-form blogs are better for your search engine optimization (SEO). And yet, the longer the blog, the more it will likely cost, whether in time or money.
2. Search Engine Optimization
Do you want your freelance writer to optimize your blogs for search engines? If so, you’ll want to hire someone who knows how to do this and is up to date on what SEO practices work best right now.
3. Posting Blogs on Your Website
Do you want the writer to simply send you a Word doc of their article? Or do you want them to actually go into your content management system (CMS) and post the piece for you?
The latter will take more time because the freelancer has to format the blog properly, add photos, make sure links open in a new tab, etc.
Because of that, having someone publish the content for you will likely cost more. Again, keep this in mind as you search for freelance blog writers for hire.
4. Content Promotion on Social Media
Some freelance blog writers can actually promote your blogs for you on social media.
You can either have the freelancer just post the blogs on social media and you handle the rest of your content. Or you can take the plunge and hire them to actually manage all your social media for you.
This is ideal if your business is thriving, but you don’t have time to spend on promoting your social media content. If you’re not optimizing your social media strategy, you could be missing out on some great opportunities to expand your brand and generate more leads.
Where to Find a Freelance Blog Writer
***Before you read any further, did you know that I write SEO-optimized blog posts for busy entrepreneurs like you? Posts under 1,000 words only cost $30! Click here for more information, and click here to schedule a clarity call to see if I’m a good fit to write traffic-boosting blogs for your thriving business.***
There are plenty of places to find a freelance blog writer, including sites like Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer, Hubstaff Talent and more.
But the problem with using those sites to find prospects is that the sheer number of freelancers on there is daunting! The very thought of finding someone who is a great fit for you can freak you out if you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for.
That said, it’s definitely possible to find quality talent on those sites. A lot of those freelancers are excellent workers with great track records. And sites like Upwork, Fiverr, etc. even show the freelancers’ success rate for projects they’ve landed through that site. (It doesn’t, however, give you ratings on projects they’ve landed apart from those sites, so it’s not always the best indicator of experience and talent.)
Here are some pros and cons of the two most popular freelancer sites:
Upwork may be the most popular site to find freelance talent, especially when it comes to writing. Depending on how much information the freelancer puts on their profile, you can find out a lot about them and get a feel for whether or not they would be a good fit for you.
Upwork provides several safeguards, including phone number verification, payment verification, and dispute services.
One downside of Upwork is that it doesn’t have a designated spot where freelancers can put their websites, so it does limit how much you can observe their work, get a feel for their style, and so forth.
(Freelancers can, however, upload “Portfolios,” where they could link to one of their blogs on their website, so that’s at least something.)
The other downside of Upwork is that you have to pay the freelancer through Upwork’s platform. The company then keeps some of the money you pay for the project.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean that many freelancers need to bump up their prices to make up for Upwork taking a cut, which can be as much as 20% of the overall project price. (Yeesh…)
Also worth noting… Upwork doesn’t allow freelancers and contractors who meet on Upwork to continue a working relationship apart from the platform unless they first pay a Conversion Fee, which can be pretty steep, depending on the freelancer’s hourly rate. (They don’t have to pay the fee if they’ve been working together longer than 2 years, though.)
Fiverr is another popular freelancer site, although in my opinion, it doesn’t have the same professional feel that Upwork has.
This is because Fiverr started out by positioning itself as a site where people could sell quick and easy jobs for $5 called “Gigs.” Since then, it’s definitely grown into a full-fledged freelancing site, where freelancers can post bigger and more expensive Gigs (for a lot more than $5!).
Specific Gigs makes it easier for you to find someone who is well acquainted with your niche. The packages available within Gigs also make it easier to select the time frame, word count, and so forth that you want.
Fiverr also takes 20% of the fee you pay a freelancer, meaning freelancers may need to increase their prices. And, just like Upwork, it’s against Fiverr’s Terms of Service to pay a freelancer outside of their platform.
Overall, sites like Upwork and Fiverr are certainly good opportunities to quickly and easily find people who have a particular skill.
That said, you definitely have a lot more control over the situation when you hire a freelance blog writer outside of those websites. You have more opportunity to browse their website, get a feel for their writing style and personality, and speak with them directly to see if they would be a good fit. (AND you are likely to pay less since there’s no middle man taking a cut of the action.)
So how do you find freelance blog writers outside of those sites?
Referrals
Word of mouth is still one of the safest and most effective ways to find quality freelancers.
After all, which do you trust more? A recommendation from a colleague you know personally … or someone you found on an online catalog?
I think I know your answer to that one…
If you prefer to hire someone based on referrals, here are some ideas for finding quality recommendations:
Ask for recommendations on social media.
Facebook groups are a fantastic way to find recommended blog writers. On certain groups I’m a part of, when people ask for recommendations (whether for blog writers, virtual assistants, editors, copywriters, etc.), they always get a flood of responses.
Trusted responses.
Oftentimes, they can put you directly in touch with the potential writer so you can connect with them and ask them questions.
Facebook also has a feature where you can ask for recommendations in the form of a post on your personal page.
Attend networking events.
Right now (at least in Florida), many networking events are still virtual since the coronavirus has decided to spike again, unfortunately. This makes networking a little more difficult, but it’s still doable!
Attending networking events (even virtual ones) is still a great way to find freelance blog writers who can help you bring the traffic you want to your business.
Some good places to find networking opportunities are:
Networking events tailored to digital entrepreneurs are prime places to find potential blog writers.
Questions to Ask Before You Hire a Blog Writer
Before you take the plunge and hire a writer, there are certain questions you should ask.
Have you written for someone in my field before? Do you feel comfortable writing about my niche?
Do you know how to optimize blog posts for search engines?
Can you show me some examples of blogs you’ve written? (If you haven’t already found these on your own.)
What’s your turnaround time for a blog? (How long does it take them to write a blog for you?)
Are you comfortable conducting interviews if necessary? How much more would you charge if an interview is required?
How much direction/information do you need to write blog posts?
What are your working hours? When are you comfortable with me contacting you?
How much do you charge? (If their fee is not stated plainly on their website.)
Do you have a preferred payment method? How quickly do you expect to be paid?
Do you prefer that we sign a contract?
Will I retain all property rights to the blogs you write for me, including the ideas within them?
Are you comfortable with having a (paid) “trial run” before we commit to any long-term projects or retainers?
These are just some basic questions you and your potential hire should go through. Honest conversations will prevent you from having awkward breakdowns in communication in the future. Trust me!
It’s crucial that you and the freelancer talk through your expectations of each other, especially in regard to payment, hours/time frame, and communication methods.
Just as in any other relationship in your life, honest and open communication is key!
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Making the Most of Having a Freelance Blog Writer
So… now that you’ve taken the plunge and hired a blog writer for your business, you need to know how to make the most of that relationship.
Because believe me, you can have a wonderful working relationship with your freelance blog writer… or you can have a terrible one filled with uncomfortable tension, unmet expectations and underappreciation.
1. Be honest with your blog writer.
If your freelance blog writer sends you a blog you’re not happy with, tell them. Just please don’t be rude about it. (Being rude and not showing gratitude to your writer is the fastest and most effective way to make sure they never want to work with you again!)
But definitely be honest. If their work didn’t meet your expectations, kindly explain why and what you would like them to change.
Before you do that, though, make sure you ask yourself: Did I clearly explain my expectations before they wrote this? Or did I fail to clearly express what I wanted?
It’s possible that the things you’re dissatisfied with were things you didn’t clearly explain before. So take the time to clearly (and respectfully) explain them now.
Some blog writers offer a set number of revisions for each blog post—perhaps 1 or 2 rounds of revisions. Others are willing to offer more, especially in the beginning of the working relationship so that they can get a firm hold on what the contractor wants.
Just make sure you and your freelancer clearly communicate about this issue.
Pro Tip: One thing I do with my clients is I explain that we may need to have a little more back-and-forth in the beginning of the working relationship. This is just until they’re satisfied that I’ve nailed their voice and style.
2. Provide sufficient direction and information.
One thing I do as a blog writer is I require that my clients provide sufficient direction regarding their blog posts.
That might mean creating a Google doc full of topics I can choose from to write about. Because these topics are pre-approved, I can pull from them easily and write timely, SEO-optimized posts.
Also make sure that you give sufficient information to your freelance blog writer, especially if they don’t have intimate knowledge about your niche.
For instance, let’s say you sell homeschool curriculum and your blog writer isn’t currently deeply involved in the homeschool community. Make sure you have a way of getting them the information they need to write adequate blog posts tailored to your niche.
This is even more important if your views go against the flow in any way. You don’t want them to create blog posts purely out of their own research and then you read it and realize you don’t agree with some of the things they wrote.
How to offer as much relevant info as possible to your freelance blog writer:
Facebook Group—if you have a Facebook group for your business, give your blog writer access to it. These are often chock-full of information, relevant ideas and questions your target audience has. Plus, they can use your answers to group members as a springboard for blog info.
Publications you read—if you subscribe to certain publications that are relevant to your field, give your blog writer access to them. Or send them links to the ones that you feel are particularly relevant and helpful.
Podcast—This is one of the easiest ways to get fresh blogs. If you host a podcast, your blog writer can turn your episodes into blog posts, giving you SEO-optimized content that speaks directly to your target audience.
Video show—The same goes for if you have a regular video show. Let your blog writer turn videos you’ve recorded into blog posts. Videos and podcasts are fantastic because you’re essentially already creating the ideas. All the blog writer has to do is turn it into an easy-to-read, compelling blog post.
Products—If your blogs relate directly to your products, I recommend giving your freelance blog writer some of your products free. This will give them a better idea for how to promote your products in your blogs without giving too much info or value away.
3. Promote your blog posts effectively.
This should go without saying, but … it doesn’t. So I’ll say it now!
Make sure that, if you’re going to make the investment in hiring a freelance blog writer, you also are going to invest in promoting those posts.
What good is a blog on your website if no one sees it?
To be sure, even without promotion, blogs are still helpful in regard to helping your website rank better in search engines. But to get as many eyes on your content, you have to promote it effectively.
You can promote your blog posts on Pinterest, your business Facebook page, Facebook groups, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, your email list, forums like Quora or Reddit, etc. There are plenty of ways to promote your blogs!
And if you don’t have the time to do it yourself, then be willing to hire a virtual assistant or social media manager who can do it for you. Just make sure your blogs get promoted online.
4. Agree on a payment method and pay your freelancer promptly.
Here’s a truth: Your freelancer will work much harder for you if they feel you have their best interest at heart.
That is to say, when you are prompt to pay your freelancer, it motivates them to give you their best.
Now, as a Christian, I’d like to think that I would give my best no matter what—whether I get paid quickly or not!
(A heartfelt word to all you freelance blog writers out there: Be honest about your expectations for payment, but don’t let your work quality suffer if your client isn’t as quick to pay you as you want. Jesus calls us to serve as though working for Him, not for man!)
But, since I’m addressing you as the contractor right now, it’s important I tell you that, in general, people are much more likely to do sub-par work if they aren’t shown adequate appreciation, which includes how much and how quickly they are paid.
Ready to Hire a Freelance Blog Writer?
If you feel you’re ready to hire a freelance blog writer, I’d be happy to chat with you and see if we’re a good fit!
You can go to my Services page for more information about what I offer and what I charge for blog writing. If you like what you see, make sure to schedule a clarity call with me.
During that call, we’ll get to know each other a little better as well as go through some of the expectations that I covered earlier.
Are you ready to take the plunge and invest in high-quality blogs for your business … Well then, I’d be happy to support you in your journey toward business success!
Are you missing out on serious blog growth because you’re not utilizing your unique personality strengths?
There are timeless marketing and copywriting principles every single blogger needs to use to grow their blog—to be sure. Writing for “the one,” using calls-to-action, promoting a lead magnet on your blog … these are all best practices you should follow. They don’t vary from person to person.
But I also believe one of the all-time best ways to grow your blog is by leveraging your personality strengths.
Here’s what I mean by that:
Most personality tests use classifications of some sort to group us. Think of introversion vs. extroversion, abstract-oriented vs. sensory-oriented, logic-based thinking vs. feelings-based thinking and so on.
But every single personality test or metric has two things it reveals: strengths and weaknesses.
Always.
Studies show that you will grow far more (and feel overall more satisfied) by focusing on honing your strengths than you will by simply trying to improve your weaknesses. Just a fact for you there…
So how do you use your personality strengths to boost your blog?
I’m so glad you asked! It starts by recognizing what your strengths are.
I’m going to guess that a lot of people have a hard time recognizing their strengths. (Unless one of your strengths is confidence… in which case, you likely already know them!)
I want you to look at this list of words and write down the ones you think describe you.
Charming
Smart
Practical
Creative
Empathetic
Strategic
Systems-oriented
Free-spirited
Gentle
Confident
Loves to take charge
Outgoing
Quiet
Passive
Intuitive
Logical
Emotional
Great with people
Loves having multiple projects at once
Great with numbers
Go-with-the-flow
Charismatic
Laser-focused
Talkative
Action-taker
Concise
Diplomatic
Deep thinker
Have you written down the words that describe you? Great!
Now, what I want you to do is refer to your list as I go through some key strengths that are helpful when building your blog.
You most likely won’t identify with every single one of these archetypes and that is totally OK. Your goal is not to be some “Renaissance blogger.” Your goal is to find out which of these strengths you naturally have so you can leverage them while building your blog!
Note: Please keep in mind that these strength archetypes are largely oversimplified. You may find that you identify with parts of a strength I describe but not all. That’s fine! Leverage what you’ve got, my friend!
The Charming Ideator
Words most often associated with this strength: Charming, Creative, Free-spirited, Intuitive, Emotional, Loves having multiple projects at once, Charismatic, Confident.
People who are Charming Ideators love coming up with new ideas. In fact, they can’t help but come up with new ideas.
It was probably a Charming Ideator who came up with the phrase “brainstorm.” How fitting!
If this is you, you’re probably the person a fellow entrepreneur calls when they need some fresh inspiration. By the time they get off the phone with you, they have a list of 25 new projects or topics they can pursue.
When it comes to blogging, Charming Ideators usually have no problem coming up with what to write about. This is a huge advantage because statistics show that the more regularly and consistently you blog, the faster your blog will grow!
According to a HubSpot research study, companies that blogged 16 times a month had 3.5 times more traffic than companies that blogged only four times a month or less.
Now, a word to the wise: This does not mean you have to publish 4 blogs every single week. Depending on your schedule, that might lead to burnout and inconsistency.
Because of that, I encourage Charming Ideators to harness their creative energy to batch their blogs.
When you get a million ideas for your writing, make sure you get them out of your head and onto a Word doc (or Google doc… whatever you use).
But don’t post them right away. Instead, schedule them out over the next several weeks. This will prevent you from posting four blogs in one week and then nothing for the next month or so.
Harness your personality strengths!
The Strategic Networker
Words most often associated with this strength: Charming, Practical, Strategic, Confident, Loves to take charge, Great with people, Charismatic, Talkative, Action-taker.
A Strategic Networker’s strength is exactly what you would expect it to be … networking!
Strategic Networkers love forging powerful relationships that are mutually beneficial, and they also love connecting their friends when they know they could help each other. Win-win!
This is such a fantastic strength to have because authentic networking is one of the best ways to grow your blog, especially when you’re first starting out.
Until you grow past a certain point, most of your traffic to your blog will come from people who have a relationship with you in some way. Whether they met you at a conference or a networking event or they connected with you in a Facebook group … knowing you is what drives them to care about what you’re writing and offering.
Not only that, but being able to make genuine, strategic connections is helpful when trying to cross-promote with other content creators in your niche.
Guest blogging and being a guest on someone’s podcast or video show are incredible ways to expand your audience and put your God-given message in front of new eyes and ears.
Remember: Leverage your personality strengths!
The Practical Systematician
Words most often associated with this strength: Smart, Practical, Strategic, Systems-oriented, Logical, Blunt, Great with numbers, Action-taker, Laser-focused, Concise.
If you tend to be a more practical person who drools over step-by-step instructions and how-to articles, you might have a little bit of the Practical Systematician in you, my friend.
One of the personality strengths of the Practical Systematician is that they’re great at breaking down complicated processes and turning them into step-by-step journeys that make sense.
This is a huge asset because when it comes to learning online, people tend to automatically look for how-to pieces. It’s just natural to us.
If I have a problem, I want to learn how to solve it. If I need to learn how to set up my TV, please give me detailed, clear instructions on how to do it… not a poem about how TVs make you feel.
When it comes to blogging for your business, it helps to provide instructive, clear-to-understand blogs about whatever it is you offer.
If you’re a health coach, consider writing step-by-step blogs about how to set up a healthy meal plan, how to eat foods that work with your metabolism, or how to work out safely after an injury.
This is how you use your personality strengths to your advantage!
The Empathetic Listener
Words most often associated with this strength: Empathetic, Intuitive, Gentle, Quiet, Passive, Emotional, Great with people, Go-with-the-flow, Diplomatic, Deep thinker
If you think you’re an Empathetic Listener, well then welcome to the club, my friend. It’s so good to meet you. 🙂
Those of us who have this strength tend not to see it as a strength. And really, it’s no wonder … a lot of our characteristics aren’t typically associated with entrepreneurship. But that’s OK, my friend, because Empathetic Listeners have a crucial strength that every single blogger and entrepreneur needs to learn to have.
What is it? Well, simply put… we listen. People love to come up to Empathetic Listeners and share 1) how they feel, 2) what they believe or think, 3) what they need or want, and 4) literally their entire life story.
Now, I could write a whole different blog about the importance of having boundaries with this strength, but for now, let’s focus on the positive. 🙂
This strength is actually really important when it comes to blogging for your business because it equips you to find out what your target reader (or target client) wants, needs, feels, and believes.
And if you’ve read any of my other blogs, you know I’m a die-hard proponent of writing for your audience. The only way you can possibly do this is by listening to them.
Only by listening can you learn to use the words your target readers use to describe their pain points (the problem you can solve for them) and their goals (the solution you can help them achieve).
When people hear you using their language to talk about the same feelings or experiences they have, it builds trust. That trust is a core ingredient in growing your business and making sales.
Take These Personality Strengths and Make Them Your Own!
So, friend, did you see yourself in any of these strength archetypes?
Maybe you saw a little of yourself in a few of them. Or maybe you didn’t really identify with any of them. That’s OK too.
What I want you to do now is create your own, unique strength archetype. List your strengths and how you can leverage them to help build your blog—and your business.
If you liked this blog, make sure you share it on your social media! (See that colorful little bar on the side of your screen with all the social icons? Just click one of those and spread the love!)
Do you have a blog that’s not doing much for you? Well, chances are, you’re falling for a common blogging mistake that’s sabotaging you and your brand.
When I tell you what the mistake is, you’re going to furrow your brows at me and say, “What are you even talking about? I don’t do that!”
Well, maybe. Or maybe you do. But first, let me tell you what it is.
You’re treating your blog like a hobby.
Maybe you feel like you don’t do this. But… what if you do? And I’ve done this too, so don’t feel bad! It’s easy to slip into this mindset every so often.
Here are some symptoms that you’re treating your business like a hobby…
You only write what you’re passionate about.
You’re blogging only when you feel inspired.
You blog inconsistently (This one is huge!)
Your blogs aren’t resonating with your audience.
Your blogs aren’t converting readers into subscribers.
I’ve said this a million times, but I’ll say it again: Blogging for your business is nothing like blogging for fun.
Now, don’t misunderstand me. I didn’t say “Blogging for your business isn’t fun.” I said it’s not the same asblogging for fun.
Blogging for fun means blogging about whatever you feel like—whenever you feel like it.
Why Is This a Blogging Mistake?
It’s a mistake because treating your business blog like a hobby undermines the core strength of a blog: consistency.
List-building guru Amy Porterfield says that consistency is what sets apart the entrepreneurs who are here to stay—and those who are simply a flash in the pan.
I have a feeling you and I are the type of entrepreneur who does not want to be simply a flash in the pan.
But consistency isn’t really the fun part of blogging. It’s not flashy or attractive. It’s… kind of boring sometimes.
Consistency means you blog even when you don’t feel like it, even when you don’t feel “inspired.”
That doesn’t sound very “fun,” but it does sound like a recipe for success!
The other reason treating your blog like a hobby actually sabotages your efforts is that it tricks you into writing about things that don’t actually move your business forward.
In other words, you’re blogging about whatever seems interesting to you instead of blogging according to a set strategy that you know will fuel your business with quality leads.
At best, this confuses people who come to your blog because they’re not exactly sure what you’re all about.
At worst, it repels the very people who could have become your ideal clients!
3 Tips to Combat This Blogging Mistake
So now that we’ve talked about why hobby blogging for your business is counterproductive, let’s discuss some action-packed ways to fix the problem.
(Again, this doesn’t mean your business blog can’t be a total blast! It really can be… when you do it right.)
1. Come up with a strategy.
Do your blogs push your ideal clients closer to buying your offer? When people are finished reading your blog, is your offer on their mind? Does your blog help them see why they need what you’re selling?
If not, now is the time to get strategic. Come up with a plan to write about topics that exacerbate your ideal clients’ pain points surrounding your offer.
If you offer made-for-you healthy meal plans, a blog about exercising or vitamins isn’t necessarily going to make people see the need for your offer as much as a blog about the financial benefits of planning a week’s worth of meals will.
See what I mean?
In my 1:1 coaching sessions, I help clients walk through this to come up with a strategy that’s tailor-fit for them. But hopefully these tips and examples are enough to at least get you thinking in the right direction!
2. Batch your content.
The easiest way to get behind on your blogging is by waiting till the last minute to do it.
No joke.
When I first started my blog, I was at least a month ahead! Then, as life’s duties overtook my time, I started getting less and less ahead… to the point that I was writing them the day before they were supposed to go up.
That’s when I started missing a week here. A week there. A week over yonder.
Yikes.
That’s why I highly recommend batching your content. If that phrase is new to you, all it means is that you schedule a set time on your calendar when you write multiple blogs at the same time.
This is especially helpful because when it comes to writing, it can take a little while to get into the flow of it. But once you’re there—wow, the words keep coming!
Your goal is to get in that flow. And why not use that flow as an opportunity to whip out 2 or 3 blogs?
The key is scheduling that time on your calendar and keeping your commitment to yourself.
3. Stay connected to your readers.
Always remember that your business blog is about your readers more than it is about you.
Are you writing about things they care about? Problems they’re facing? Issues that keep them up at night?
Are you using the language they use to describe their problems?
And are you writing with a desire to bless them?
I hope your answers to all those questions is a resounding “YES!” But if not, I encourage you to pray about this and ask God how you can better use your blog to help your audience.
God has given you a unique and beautiful message that He wants you to share with this world. Maybe it’s in how you teach or in services you offer or in products you make. Your blog is the tool you can use to spread that message.
Whatever it is … I pray you allow God this week to use your blog as a way to build your business—and His kingdom. 🙂
And hopefully this article gave you fresh ideas for fixing that common blogging mistake!
By the way… have we connected yet on Pinterest? If not, you can follow me here. And if today’s blog helped you in any way, please share it on your social media!
Has the pandemic left you scratching your head, wondering how to effectively grow your business right now? Well then, let this sink in today: A business blog is still one of the cheapest, safest and most effective ways to promote your brand in 2020.
As this pandemic continues to wreak havoc on people’s health and the economy, many of us are looking for ways to save money and time. We know we still need to keep promoting our businesses to draw in fresh leads, but who can afford expensive ads right now?
We’re looking for cheaper ways to organically grow our businesses that don’t consume a ton of our precious time. (Because don’t let anyone tell you differently—your time is valuable.)
This is where blogging enters the picture. You may not feel like you’re a naturally gifted writer. Or you may think you truly don’t have the time. But I’m telling you: You don’t have the time not to blog.
Here’s why I’m so convinced blogging is one of the best ways to build your business right now:
A Business Blog Doesn’t Cost a Ton of Money to Get Started
Starting a blog costs $0 if you already have a website. After all, your website theme probably already has an option for you to host a blog. You just have to use it.
And on top of that, many plugins that you need for a blog (SEO, social media sharing, etc.) are completely free.
Now, if you don’t have a website, I do recommend you build one. (And no, you don’t have to be a professional coder or a tech genius to build a website.) Nowadays, you can easily set up a website and download a theme you like.
Getting your website up and running can cost you as little as $3.95 a month when you sign up for Bluehost. When you purchase Bluehost, you also get a free domain name for a year (that’s the URL people type in to go to your website) and a free SSL certificate (which tells people your site is safe to use).
Important Note: The link above is an affiliate link. That means if you click on it and end up purchasing Bluehost for your website, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. And just so you know, I only promote products I use and love. 🙂
If you don’t have a website and you really can’t start one right now, you can still “blog” on your social media with long-form posts. But I do highly recommend blogging on your own website. For starters, it looks much more professional.
And the other reasons? Well…
It’s Safer to Blog on ‘Your Own Property’
Here’s the ugly truth, my friend: You don’t own social media.
That means that when you make any social medium your blog’s home and post all of your messaging and promotion there, you are at the mercy of that platform.
Just yesterday, a fellow online entrepreneur shared his horror story of how Facebook shut down all his promotion for his online course. They deleted every one of his prior posts and blocked him from posting for at least 21 days. He said he felt “gutted” because he had put all of his course promotion on social media.
Chances are, this fellow business owner somehow broke Facebook’s promotional rules. But he’s not the only one who has accidentally done so. Social media platforms often have strict rules you need to follow when it comes to posting content for your business, and it’s easier to break them than you think.
The lesson here is clear.
You don’t own social media, but you do own your website. When you blog on your own website, you face far less danger of your hard work being deleted or shut down.
Plus, when you blog on your website, it’s like inviting your readers into your home. When someone reads your blog on your own site, it lets them see a clearer picture of who you are and what you do. In some ways, it fosters a deeper connection between you and them.
The last reason I highly suggest you use your own website to host your blog is that it gives you way more opportunities to lead readers into your sales funnel as you promote your lead magnet on your site.
Blogging Lets Readers Consume Your Content at Their Own Pace
People often don’t have time to listen to an entire podcast or watch an entire video, especially now during the pandemic. Studies show that during COVID-19, time watching TV and on social media is up. Meanwhile, though, some studies suggest that podcast listenership dipped after the coronavirus struck.
With people spending more time on their phones and computers, they have more time at least to skim your blog post. If what they see fascinates them, they can save it and go back to it later.
Or if they have more time on their hands, they can binge-read your blog to easily find the info they’re looking for.
A Business Blog Gives Better Opportunity for SEO and Backlinks
This is a huge reason why I love blogs.
With blogs, you can optimize for SEO, link to credible resources and link to other pages on your site.
Podcasts can’t really give you that same opportunity unless you create show notes and transcripts. That’s totally doable, but it does take a lot more work. With blogging, you do all that in one fell swoop.
Blogs Are Easier to Promote on Social Media
When you post a blog link on Facebook or LinkedIn, all the reader has to do is click the photo and it takes them directly to your post.
Here’s an example of that:
See how the photo in that FB post is clickable?
You can’t do that with a podcast because a podcast link doesn’t have a featured image. (Unless you’re hosting the podcast on a blog, which is something I recommend!) So when you post a podcast link, it shows up like a normal, ugly link within the Facebook caption.
Yuck.
What most podcasters end up doing when promoting their episodes is they put the ugly link in their caption. Or they have to direct people to listen on iTunes or GooglePlay. Then they upload a separate photo to attract attention.
There are two things that make this difficult for an audience.
1. This adds an additional step for potential listeners.
They have to either scroll through your caption to click the link, or they have to leave Facebook and find the podcast in iTunes or GooglePlay. You lose potential listeners in that process.
2. People love clicking photos.
People are far more inclined to click the picture than they are to click the link within the caption.
Believe me.
When I was online news director at a Christian magazine, I actually tested this. Facebook was malfunctioning one day and not loading the clickable pictures for articles. So I put the link in the caption and uploaded the photo separately for our articles that day.
Traffic suffered. Badly.
My scrappy substitution posts were better than not posting at all. But the dip in traffic until Facebook fixed the bug in its system was pretty noticeable.
A Business Blog Makes It Much Easier for Your Audience to Take Action
Every content creator knows that they should end their message with a call to action (CTA). Something that tells the listener/viewer/reader what to do next.
With podcasts, or even sometimes videos, you have to explain to the viewer/listener what to do and where to go. For example, on a podcast, the host may say: “Hey, please rate and review my podcast! Go to iTunes or GooglePlay and click the ‘Review’ button.”
Again, the host is asking the listener to do an extra step. Far fewer will actually follow through and go the extra mile to rate and review the podcast.
With a blog, though, you can provide a clickable link that directly sends your readers where you want them to go. Hyperlinking those CTAs makes the process so much simpler.
For example, if I tell you, “Hey, go to Facebook and like and follow my page! My handle is @JennyRoseSpaudo,” you are far less likely to actually do what I’m asking.
But if I say, “Hey, would you take just 2 seconds to go like and follow my Facebook page?” All you have to do is click twice to follow through with what I’m asking. So much simpler.
I’m Not a Podcast Hater, I Promise
My goal with this article is in no way to hate on podcasts. Podcasting can be a great way to organically grow your business, and if you have the time and resources to do it, I highly recommend it!
But during this pandemic, when time and money are in short supply, blogging is certainly the ideal way to go for many small-business owners.
You have a lot of things to do for your business—like make money and serve people. So for those who are just starting out or are trying to tighten their money belts, all I have to say to you is: start blogging.
Do you want to start a blog to promote your business? Grab my free roadmap to receive the clarity you need to get started the right way. Just sign up below to get started!
And, P.S., if you’re already blogging and want to make sure your blog is optimized for your business, this roadmap will still be super helpful for you.
