Blog strategies are not only an important piece of any Search Engine Optimization efforts but also help you connect with customers on a deeper level. Blogs are a great way to show off your knowledge and authority in your vertical or add some personality to your existing web content. Here are a few tips from the team at Buhv to help you get started on your blogging to go along with your existing digital marketing efforts. In this guide we’ll cover the following topics:
- Voice & Tone
- Topics & Content Calendars
- Keyword Research*
- Copywriting*
- Search Engine Optimization*
- Posting in WordPress*
*These topics will be covered in parts 2 & 3 of this series
Defining Your Brand’s Voice & Tone
Your blogging strategy is only as good as how well it portrays your brand and your company. Defining the voice and tone of your site’s content is important in making sure that you’re accurately representing your company, your people and finding the right customers.
There are so many ways out there to define your brand voice, but the most important key here is consistency. There are all sorts of ways to define this with tools like buyer personas, content guidance docs, brand voice examples. But it’s not always that complicated. You know your brand and clients the best, so just speak to those – always.
Write to your ideal customer. Are they fun and outgoing? Then go ahead and use some humor throughout. Or are you in a more traditional industry (like finance, insurance or law) and having a casual tone would be unprofessional? Then stick for a formal tone and leave the jokes out. For example, at Buhv we see ourselves as marketing partners so I’m speaking directly to you, a business owner and partner.
It’s also important to remember blog content, evergreen web content, social media content and internal content (like emails, presentations) may all have different tones that align with different marketing and business goals.
How you say it is almost as important as how you say it – so make sure that your voice and tone is representative of your brand.
Choosing Topics & Creating a Content Calendar
One of the most important (and sometimes most difficult) parts of a successful blog strategy is planning topics and a posting calendar. The first step is to come up with a list of ideas and topics that you can:
- Speak to authoritatively
- Research & present new ideas on
- Form an opinion about
- Share insights into your company culture or how your business is different
You don’t have to be an expert in every area of your industry, but you can write about new trends or ideas and present secondary research. Sharing new ideas can sometimes be just as effective as creating your own. You can also present opinions based on your own business or anecdotes that you’ve learned from being an expert in your industry.
Choose topics that you can write about – these ideas can be big picture or more specific or seasonal. Make this list as long as possible when brainstorming because you can always refine as you go.
These shouldn’t necessarily be sales-focused, conversion-driving pages. This is what your web content is for. Blog content supports your service pages and adds more detail about your business.
Put all of your ideas into a spreadsheet and organize by category. Below is the snapshot of the template we use as a team. Reach out here to get a downloadable version! This will help with posting variety so that you’re not posting about time same topics all at once. If you find that you have a lot of topics within a similar category, plan these out so it can be a multi-part series.
Create a calendar like this one that will help you plan your content and posting. Find a cadence that works for you, even if it’s just one post per month. Maintaining this schedule is important so your readers know when to expect new content!
You’re in the planning stages of your blog strategy. This means that you’ve already done the hardest part- made the leap to start. If you’re ready to blow your readers out of the water, reach out the Buhv for a Content Roadmapping session to help you reach your marketing and sales goals.
