The last three or four marketing companies you spoke with suggested that you add a blog. Great, so you did that and once a month you add a couple blogs that are smart and informative in relation to your business and industry. Fantastic, but there’s a problem, you have not seen any traffic or sales from the blog.
First, let’s pump the breaks on the blogs leading to sales. If you can write a single blog and generate sales that would put you in the top 1% of all bloggers in the world, so let’s be a little realistic here. As far as traffic goes, are you sure people would want to read what you’re writing? Are you giving them information that makes sense to an expert in your industry or to a customer?
This is the first and biggest problem with blogging. You have to write for your audience. For example, an attorney can write the most informative blog about a new law passed in their state. That content can get ranked and generate some traffic to your site which is why it’s still valuable. However, it may be too smart for the audience the attorney is trying to reach. If it’s not motivating anyone to take an action, what good is it?
How Often Are You Posting?
You need to post one blog per week, not month. It does not matter what industry you are in, there are plenty of topics that are relevant to your industry. You can break up the strategy as much as you want. Two blogs a month can cover industry specifics, materials used in your products, what makes you the best, and so forth. Then, allow the other two blogs to focus more on what a potential customer would be interested in knowing.
What Are Your Topics?
You need to find ways to cover topics that answer questions for people. Tying it into a trending topic is also very valuable. For example, if the attorney writes a blog that is reader friendly about the new law in the state, it will get more interest because it’s a trending topic. The attorney should not focus on being an expert on the law but instead focus on what people want to know about it.
Are You Sharing The Content?
Now let’s focus on the lack of traffic and leads from your content. Are you sharing it or are you just posting to your site and expecting the world to come to you? Well first, if you want people to come to you it’s important to make sure that you optimize the content so that it ranks. However, that’s just a start and you need to do a lot more.
Share the posts on social media, emails and even reach out to publications that cover similar topics to see if they want to share the content, or even have you write for them as well with an agreement that you can link back to your website. Sharing the content is your responsibility.
It Takes Time
If you publish content routinely and share it, you should expect the blog to build an audience organically in one to two years. If you want it faster you have to create more relationships where your content can be broadcasted. That includes Google, social media, other websites and more. Newsletters are a great way to get eyes on your content but you have to have access to a sizable list.
Video Can Help
If you wish to, you can also create a five to ten minute video where you discuss the topic covered in your content. Post the video to YouTube and link it back to your blog. Google loves video content and this gives you an opportunity to expand your reach.
Content is still king and it generates high-quality traffic every day. If you are trying to grow your audience, focus on the quality of your content first and build it up before worrying about getting more views. Have at least 20 blogs up before you start pushing audiences to the section.
