Last week, we looked at five tips<\/a> for creating website content that supports your SEO<\/a> and PPC<\/a> strategies. We started by reviewing your data and doing a lead analysis, then a review of the landscape and your competitors. With that done, it’s time to create easy-to-digest content for a great user experience that integrates target keywords and their variations using B-SMART<\/a> methodology naturally throughout. These tips are necessary for landing page content, but what about blogs?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n It doesn\u2019t always make sense for a company to start a blog program, but if it does, you\u2019ll need consistent planning and execution, plus blogging best practices to get started. In this blog on blogs, we provide tips on: <\/p>\n\n\n\n With these considerations, you can make an informed decision on whether to add this element to your content strategy and plan and execute content that enhances your brand\u2019s online presence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What a blog can and cannot do for your content strategy may help with your decision to start one. First, blogs are unlikely to be a major driver of leads compared to your website pages. Those with lower resources may need to focus on keeping lead drivers like product pages updated. Managing expectations, especially in terms of leads, is critical to kicking off this type of effort. Like social media, direct return on investment (ROI) can be tough to track. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Think of blogs as supporting players to your lead generation as they offer: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Blogs provide a chance to present additional helpful content that displays your brand\u2019s expertise, experience, authority, or trustworthiness (E-E-A-T<\/a>) while giving digital marketing a boost. They can aid in long, industrial buyer\u2019s journeys<\/a> that require extensive research. They can also offer Sales Teams or Customer Service Representatives resources to pass to customers to connect, keep conversations going, or answer questions in more detail. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Blogs are also an opportunity to highlight thought leadership, a way to give your company an edge over the competition. By displaying your company’s understanding of an industry and its applications, or offering more perspectives on product uses, you could earn credibility with current and potential customers as well as prospective employees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, a company can lose credibility when blogs aren\u2019t updated regularly, so an established commitment is important. TopSpot recommends updating a blog at least quarterly. If you have a blog that hasn\u2019t been updated for over a year, or if you feel you cannot commit to a blog program, a solution could be adding a resources section to your website. This could be a place to add older blogs (we rarely recommend total removal) and post dateless new items as articles\u2014this way you don\u2019t lose the impact of SEO and its entry points, but the relabeling will accommodate sporadic publishing without loss of credibility. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Blogs should offer customers additional information, display your expertise, and offer internal Teams potential touchpoints all while utilizing your content strategy.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n When developing a blog plan and executing it, there are four important considerations to keep in mind: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Knowing this isn\u2019t a main lead driver, what metrics will you focus on to measure success? Remember that benchmarks can cause unrealistic expectations when based on industry standards and may not account for things like seasonality or changes in the search landscape. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Consider tracking traffic and search landscape population to track growth and inform future topics. If you have LOOP Analytics<\/a> and the User Behavior Reporting Tool,<\/a> see if blogs get included in user\u2019s conversion path or lead data. Also, check in with your internal Team to see how they engage with the content and how their customers engage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Pull from the work done in your content strategy<\/a> and utilize your blog as another opportunity to target keyword variations you want to rank for. From that upfront work, think about areas covered in your website content that could use expansion or industry topics your customers are interested in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Check out the competition too\u2014what are they doing on their blogs, and would you engage if you were a customer? Identify gaps in content to go after or find topics that your company has a particular process or outlook on that you can counter with. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If your Marketing Team utilizes a content calendar, take advantage of initiatives and align postings. For instance, if a case study or landing page on a certain material offered or used is planned, you can provide a supporting blog post with additional information. If one is not in place, now\u2019s the time to establish one to align marketing efforts.<\/a> All together, these tactics should provide a plan and topics to tackle in your blog program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n TopSpot\u2019s content calendar for February shows blog topics, distribution on social and email, and other channel activity.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Some companies spread the responsibility of blog content, meaning roles outside of marketing may be used to create posts. This can ensure expertise and first-hand experience are displayed. Whether it is a single-source or Team effort, establishing roles and responsibilities is critical to rolling out a blog program that posts high-quality and consistent content. Be sure participants understand the goals and value of the program, plus communicate and document deadlines for drafts and review cycles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We cannot sing the praises of a content calendar enough as it can aid in Team communication and expectation, spur creativity, and help with distribution planning. When content is ready and live, follow-up efforts via social media, email campaigns, and internal communication increase exposure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
When does it make sense to launch a blog? <\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nBlog planning and execution considerations<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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