Blogging in 2018 - 2019

Beginning of Blogging 

Blogging Tips 

Be sure your content is relevant. 

If you run a salon, posting about Christmas Cookies (as delicious as they may be) is not a solid way to drive traffic through to your website. Janice probably isn't concerned with a haircut if she's looking up cookie recipes. Keep in mind, a blog is a great way to get users onto your website. The main thing you want is for them to click through to more pages and eventually to your contact page or your call to action. 

Use Back-links, Citations, and Sources 

Remember those fun research papers you used to do in high school? You could have 50 notecards with all your research written everywhere. Luckily the internet is a little more user friendly and tabs exist. Don't be afraid to link to other sites or blogs when you are writing! Using sources (REPUTABLE SOURCES) is a great way to build credibility and also help with your SEO. Read more about backlinks here.

Create a consistent schedule 

If you aren't planning on writing every day or every other day, creating a scheduling goal is a great way to stay accountable to yourself. Remember, if you are going to have a blog you need to use it. There is no magic number, just choose a schedule and stick with it. A good starting place is twice a month if you aren't sure. Sit down and figure out your two topics, then go ahead and write them out at the same time. This gets rid of that "deadline anxiety". Some blog components even have publishing options to auto-post a blog at a set date. 

DO NOT go keyword crazy 

I'm sure the SEO guru that sent you an email about improving your site told you keywords are the key to getting your website on page one, and all you need to do is fill your blog up with phrases. What they probably failed to mention was that Google was actually burned a few years back by companies Keyword Stuffing and now keywords are essentially the last thing they look at. When choosing keywords (you still need to use them!) be sure you are choosing relevant keywords that the user may be searching. Relevance is the key to your keywords. The same rule also applies to your metadata.

So how much benefit do blogs really provide your website?

In short: you get out of it what you put in. If you post one blog every 8 months that consists of an image and 4 sentences, you probably aren't doing yourself any favors. Google looks at the quality and consistency of content, among other things, so being knowledgeable, posting regularly, and being grammatically correct is important. If you're posting relevant and quality blogs on a regular schedule, giving users a good experience and reliable information, then it is a great way to bring in and retain website traffic.

If you want to go over your SEO or digital marketing, contact us to schedule a consultation at our Woodstock office.