5 Ways to Keep Your Blog Content Fresh

Blogging is one of the most important components of developing a solid online presence for your business. Not only is it a great way to give back to your customers, attract new prospects and increase your network, but it’s also important for getting your business found on the web. In order for your blog to truly be effective on the search engines, however, the content must fresh and regularly updated. Here are 5 tips to keeping up with your blog so that it gets you the results you want.

Make a Commitment – As with any task, commitment is key to making your blog successful. Make it a point to spend time brainstorming and drafting your content and add that into your daily or weekly routine. Aim for 2 to 3 posts per week, and remember – they don’t have to be novels. Short is fine (350-500 words) as long as the content is engaging.

Create an Editorial Calendar – Sit down and make a list of a bunch of topics you’d like to write about. Then, create an editorial calendar (you can build a simple one using Excel) that schedules out each topic, the date the first draft is due, and the date it should be published. This will keep you on track and ensure regular, updated posts.

Rally the Troops – The good news is you don’t have to go it alone. Why not enlist one or more of your team members to help carry the weight of content production? Does anyone have a specialty or unique task that they handle? That can be the niche that they write about. The more people you have producing content, the more fresh and interesting your blog will be.

Ask for Feedback – A good blog is written for the audience, not to the audience. If you want people to read your posts and share them with their networks, you have to give them something they find useful. The best way to learn what your readers want is to ask them. Read their comments, analyze the traffic your previous posts received and encourage your audience to share what they’re interested in. This way you can tailor your future content to give your readers exactly what they want.

Invite a Guest – Do you follow any other industry blogs? Any particular writers produce content that you think would be helpful to your own audience? Why not invite them to write a guest post for your blog? This will give you a little break from having to create your own content and make your blog more robust. Plus you’ll have the added bonus of receiving new traffic from your guest blogger’s network.

The more you are committed to making your blog a success, the more it will pay off in the long run by increasing traffic to your website and landing you more business. Follow these five tips and your blog will become a new client generating machine in no time.

Labels: blogging, small business tips