Knowing when to hire a blog writer for marketing content could be a wise move once your website launches.
Your contract writer will oversee the content, SEO keywords and images, producing as many posts as you'd like published. Best of all, this behind-the-scenes writer will come to know your content and audience almost as well as you do. They'll articulate the voice of your brand with their words.
Of course, you can write your blogs yourself.
The most common response we hear at Broad Nib Creek Studio is, "But I have no idea what to write or how to go about it."
It's okay. We can talk you through the process. Let's start at the beginning.
Identify Your Purpose for Blogging
Why devote hours to blog writing when you could be doing something else?
Most websites include blogs for one reason: to turn visitors into clients. Thanks to your blogs, many of your visitors searched in Google and found you.
Blogs consisting of 1500 words rise to the top of Google keyword searches, and visitors are likelier to like and share your content if you keep the length less than 7,000 words. Blog content length often falls into three categories:
- Engagement. Blogs in this category are brief at 300 - 600 words. They attract and engage the visitor because they are short and require mere minutes to read. These smaller blogs entice visitors to join your conversation.
- Influence. When you're ready to influence your readers, you'll find that 750 - 1750 words can help you position your brand. With these posts, you establish yourself as an industry expert who influences others. With each post, you offer valuable tips and information.
- Conversion. With these more significant blog posts of 1760 - 2400 words, you begin building name recognition and turning visitors into clients. This weightier length is an excellent vehicle for sharing charts and infographics. This content provides the visitor with generous amounts of information found in one comprehensive resource: your blog post.
Regardless of your purpose for writing, commit to providing value instead of fluff. The days of poorly-generated content packed with meaningless phrases and weak SEO have disappeared.
Offer Indispensible Marketing Content
What critical information do your potential clients need to know?
You have industry insights to help them make informed decisions about a product or service. Use blogging to share what you've learned!
If identifying a topic idea leaves you blank, try our free 7 Strategies to Overcome Writer's Block. You can also begin by answering these questions:
- What's the ONE THING you wish clients knew about you or your business?
- How has your industry changed since COVID?
- In what ways are you different from your competitors?
Think about some of the recent conversations centering around your business. Have you recently added services in response to consumer requests? Has a new trend emerged?
Reflections like these make for good blog topics, but you're not ready to move on.
Internet users conduct billions of searches daily. Including SEO, the key phrases for Search Engine Optimization, allows you to take advantage of a fantastic opportunity to be discovered. Sadly, many well-deserving companies remain hidden because they did not include the exact search words their potential clients were using to find them.
SEO sites like AnswerthePublic and others offer a multitude of keywords and content ideas for your blogs. However, Google will penalize your writing if it appears that you have stuffed your blog posts with random keywords to see what sticks.
Instead, weave your keywords into your writing naturally. You're doing it right if the reader doesn't notice them.
Know How to Format Your Writing
Creating stellar content is like cooking an elaborate meal where presentation is everything. You spend most of your time in preparation, only to watch it get consumed in minutes.
Readers today will spend little more than 90 seconds reading your blog. Consider how you can scaffold the writing to facilitate reading to keep site visitors' attention.
To help readers scan for vital information, we suggest that you:
- Keep your paragraphs short. Put 1 - 3 sentences in a paragraph and allow space between paragraphs.
- Use headers and subheadings. Create section breaks for fast reading.
- Bold important text. Indicate keywords with darker, larger font.
- Make bulleted and numbered lists. Readers find this technique easier to scan.
If writing isn't your thing, turn to a writing app such as Grammarly or Hemingway for professional help.
Nope, I Need to Hire a Blog Writer
After you write a few blogs, you may want to hire a blog writer who can help you publish your content consistently. We do that for clients in various industries, taking care of content, SEO and even regular posting on their websites.
Make sure your writer is a good fit for your brand. Most writers will agree to a quick conversation to ensure you're both on the same page regarding writing and publishing premium blog content.
Ask about monthly and weekly content packages; often, you'll get a discount on a series of blogs over time instead of hiring when you need an occasional blog.
And with that wisdom, you can focus your attention where it needs to be: your business.