You've read it many times before: Attract your ideal customers with a blog - completely automatically. That always sounds totally relaxed: You publish blog articles and then the customers come automatically. But somehow it doesn't work for you?
Okay - it's not quite as easy as it sounds in theory. First and foremost, you need a good blog strategy. In this guest article, you can find out what else is important to get your message out into the world and win customers with your blog.
2 unbeatable benefits of a blog
Before you find out how you can attract your desired customers with your blog, let's first look at the benefits of a blog. Just like on social media channels, a blog allows you to showcase your expertise and personality to gain the trust of your target audience. The difference with blogging is that you do this in a sustainable way - and the following two points are the most important.
You don't need to be constantly present on social media
If you're like me and don't want to spend several hours a day on social media, a blog can be the perfect medium for you. You invest time in creating a blog article once and once it has been published, it works for you: it brings interested parties and potential customers to your website regularly and without any further work. With social media, you should ideally create content several times a week in order to remain visible in the long term. When blogging, you can also take a content break if you can already be found via several articles.
This doesn't mean that you have to give up social media completely. You can promote your blog articles on Instagram, Facebook and the like and make content creation easier for yourself in this way - keyword content recycling or, as Claudia calls it, content repurposing. If you want to know how to create high-quality social media posts, here are 12 tips from Claudia.
You will be found via Google for many more years to come
You should post regularly on social media to maintain your visibility. It's a different story with a blog. Once you have published an article, you can still be found years later - provided that the text is optimised for the search engine and your readers.
It's also true that there are a few disadvantages to a blog. Firstly, you need time to work out a good blog strategy and, of course, to write and enter the texts. Alternatively, you can also look for support if you don't have the time. Then it's a question of finances.
I also don't want to hide the fact that it takes patience until you really generate enquiries via your blog. You won't rank directly on page 1 of Google with your first blog article and receive 10 enquiries a day. It usually takes longer. But if you regularly publish relevant content, you will see success over time.
5 tips for your blog success
Attracting the right people with the right blog articles is one thing. But how do you get them to send you an enquiry or sign up to your newsletter? To achieve this goal, the following 5 building blocks are important.
1. Tackle the exact problems of your target group
A blog is not about presenting yourself. It's about the problems that your target audience has with a topic. Your ideal customers enter these into Google and want to find a solution. Ideally, they will find this in your blog articles.
What does that mean for you?
The most important thing is that you know your soul clients very well. This is the only way you can specifically address your desired customers so that they feel they are being addressed. Above all, you should be aware of their questions and problems with your topic. With this clarity, you can find suitable blog article ideas and write on relevant topics.
The more different problems you address, the more terms your audience can use to find you via Google. This is why it is so important that you blog regularly. In your blog articles, you should not just provide pure information, but rather give tips for a specific problem. This is how you build trust with your readers.
2. Show your personal side
Showing personality - that always sounds so easy. But for many self-employed people, it's not. Nevertheless, it is important in order to differentiate yourself from other people in the market and gain sympathy points with your desired customers.
The advantage of blogging is that you can add a personal touch to your blog articles simply by the way you express yourself. If the tone is serious and dry, other people will feel as if you are writing in a relaxed manner and always include a little joke.
In addition to the type of writing, you should always bring in what makes you personally special. You don't need to be private. You can stay on the business level. Describe your values and what is important to you when working together. The way you work also shows your personal side. For example, I am an absolute planner and like to work with checklists.
3. Suitable content formats for the blog
There are the "classic" blog articles in which you show your expertise and give tips on a specific topic. In addition, revenue-generating blog posts make sense, with which you can acquire specific customers via the blog:
- FAQ article: It is a good idea to answer the most frequently asked questions about an offer in a blog article. This has the advantage that you don't have to answer them again and again, but can refer to this FAQ article.
- List articles: In this type of blog article, you present tools that your target group needs for implementation, for example. Recommendations for online courses on a topic are also conceivable. This makes sense if you have your own course that you can advertise in the blog article.
- Checklist article: This content format is about a specific problem that readers can solve with a checklist. You can use these checklist articles to offer readers a checklist for €0 that is linked to the subscription to your newsletter.
4. SEO for your blog posts
To win customers with your blog, your blog articles need to be found on Google. To do this, they need to be optimised for the search engine - and that's not as complicated as you might think. In this article, you will learn exactly what SEO is and get ingenious SEO tips that you can easily implement.
In addition to SEO basics such as fast loading speeds and intelligent user guidance, the following 4 points are relevant for blog articles:
- Good structure: When users come across one of your blog articles, their eyes decide first. If the layout appeals to them, they will continue reading. If it doesn't, they will leave the page again. Your blog article should always contain subheadings that are formatted as H-headings. Short paragraphs are important for better readability. Images and graphics also break up the text.
- Internal links: These are important in blog articles to keep users on your site. If they have already become aware of you and are interested in your topic, you should suggest further articles on related or similar topics.
Keywords: Before you write a blog article, carry out keyword research. This will help you find the right keyword for the article. You define a main keyword for each page. You should only use this for this one page. - SEO title and meta description: Both are displayed in the search results. They decide whether users click on a search result or not. The SEO title is particularly relevant as it makes it clear what your page is about. Users can find more details about the content in the meta description.
5. Promote offers in blog articles
If you have managed to get users to come across your blog articles via Google, you should utilise this potential: Draw attention to your free and paid offers. But don't do this too aggressively. First and foremost, readers are on your site to get an answer to their question. Always keep this in mind.
You should only advertise one offer per blog article. Otherwise, the user won't know exactly what to do. You can insert links to your offer in the body text and insert an advertising banner in suitable places in your article. This is a good idea after a paragraph, for example - but not after every paragraph.
Advertising in blog articles does not mean that you should insert a banner after every paragraph. This is definitely too much of a good thing and would only lead to you annoying your readers and them leaving again.
Reach your goal with patience
With these tips, you won't win customers through your blog from one day to the next - especially not if you're just starting out with blogging. It simply takes some time. But it's worth staying on the ball.
Stick to the following tips to get started:
- Don't stress yourself out: concentrate on the blog articles instead of looking at the rankings every week. First and foremost, you should enjoy blogging so that you can keep it up in the long term.
- Be patient: Even if you implement all the tips, your email inbox won't be overflowing with requests next week. It will take some time before you really see results. See the blog as a long-term endeavour.
- Reach your goal with the right strategy: If you have thought about a sensible strategy beforehand, you will soon see the desired results in the form of enquiries, newsletter registrations and bookings.
How do you make your message safely visible?
Google is the ideal support to ensure that your message really gets out into the world and that your business can grow. Google yourself regularly!
Remember to keep your blog technically up to date and therefore secure by updating the backend on a weekly basis.
What experiences have you had with your blog?
Let me know in the comments!
The Author: Sandra Lubecki
Sandra supports self-employed people who want their website and blog to be found better on Google. She not only writes SEO texts, but also works with her clients to develop a suitable strategy. Her aim is to make the process of customer acquisition a little more relaxed.
You can download her guide to good blog articles for €0 here. (in German)
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