How To Create An Effective Plan For Blog Content

A blog is an update about a particular experience, expressing an outlook for its readers and often providing them with a point of view that they would probably not have thought about before. As a business blog, you have a lot of things to talk about. You can talk about your new product launch, an upcoming business deal, explain to your readers what your brand is about, promote your campaign reviews, etc.

Blogs are a great way to draw attention to some of your more loyal customers and let them know that you care (and that you're proud of their success!) Secondly, by providing segment-specific examples, potential customers can identify how your product can help them accomplish the goals that are most relevant to their business.

There are a lot of blogs that have become famous due to their efforts and expertise, like the Huffington post, Mashable, The Daily Beast and many more.

Here is the blueprint for an effective content plan for blogs:

1) Write for readers, not for search engines:

Most of the upcoming blogs write keeping only one thing in mind, keywords. It has been observed that the majority of blogs are filled with content that is completely scattered in terms of their content, but very focused when it comes to their keywords. Over the last few years, a lot of importance has been placed on search engine optimization, almost to the point that people believe that they should write and re-write their content in such a way that search engines will index their respective articles.

The rate at which blogs of this type are rising, and the response to them is saddening. This technique of incorporating keywords gets these blogs a lot of initial readers, but they never stay for the long run. In case you have forgotten, the main objective of having a blog is to provide quality content to the readers and not just be keyword centric.

2) Observe trends in industry:

We all know something of some importance is taking place over the world each day and with the internet booming, every industry has something new to deliver. In that context, if you wish to be a leading giant in your sector, you need to know and stay updated with the latest ongoing trends in your respective industry. There are various mediums (social networking websites) that would keep you updated with new ongoing trends in a particular industry. So, don't just write. Observe the need of the time and write according to that. This will not only give you steady  traffic and readers, but it will also help to grow your popularity among the dedicated audience.

3) Be consistent:

Just like everything else, a blog also requires your time and dedication. Chalk out a regular schedule for your blog. If you write one post a week, keeps that evolving every week. This way, your readers will grow to expect a certain level and standard from you and wait for your next post to be updated. They may even talk and share it to their peers on various networks. To make it worth looking for, create a hype! If you update your blog weekly, make sure you create enough suspense about the next one a week early. This will keep your audience waiting and ready. Most importantly, don't promise what you can't deliver.

4) Storytelling:

Express the idea mentioned in your blog post in a storytelling way. You can acquire it in three steps: Sequence, Suspense & Roller-coaster. It is important that the post you write should be related to the ones to be posted in the future, creating a sequence. Now how will you create an aura of suspense? As explained above, creating a hype is the simplest way! However, there are other ways which we will highlight below. The last and the most essential thing is to have a roller coaster. Include new paradigms and characters that will make everything appear in a completely different manner.

5) Try different content types:

Make it interesting, is what we suggest; Creating content is not an end in itself. You create content to generate more leads and customers, so it's essential to motivate visitors to take the desired actions when they engage with content. Make sure that you're encouraging people to register for events, download additional content, request demos, or sign up for offers. Add images, videos, create podcasts or infographics. This will make your content thought-provoking. Speaking of statistics, did you know that the information transmitted to the human brain is visual, and visuals are processed 60,000 times faster in the brain than text? Photos and videos have been proven to drive more engagement than boring old text. In fact, just one month after Facebook introduced timeline for brands, visual content saw a 65% increase in engagement.

6) Have a team of writers:

It is good that you have a knack for the content you're posting, but everyone loves variety. If you have a team of writers, your audience will love to have different insights about different topics. So, hire a team of good writers. Give an array of opinions to them. An expert team can also give you ideas that you never thought of, or maybe will give you an point of view you never thought of considering. A bright mind is always encouraging and full of ideas.

7) Do thorough research:

Nobody can write anything just by coming up with the idea. A properly researched idea is essential. And do not copy/paste. Any hard core follower will be able to catch it. Create your own content. Taking ideas and help from other websites is not unacceptable, however, copying most of their content is. Besides, where is the originality and the uniqueness of your blog if you keep copying from others? Furthermore, copying someone else's content may cause them to sue you!

8) Monitor Analytics:

It’s important to know what your crowd loves to read. After all, a business is for the customers. Monitor your analytics using Google Analytics, Buffer, your Brand’s Facebook page, etc. By proper observation of your analytics, you will come to know what kind of articles gets you more engagement. This will help your productivity and will give you insights on what to write and cover in future.

Image by: Stuart Miles