You’re an expert in your field. You know it, and we know it. Because you’re an expert, it’s only natural that you’d want to share that knowledge with the world. It establishes you as an authority in your area, which builds trust with your prospects and opens you up to potential beneficial connections with other organizations. It’s a win-win!
More often than not, this knowledge-sharing initiative takes the form of blog posting: the time-honored internet tradition of posting thoughts, facts, and stories for the world to see. Chances are, you already have a blog that you utilize regularly, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be more efficient in your blog creation! He’s our guide to creating new blogs with minimal effort and taking back your time.
Types of Blogs
There’s no wrong way to blog as long as you’re being earnest and accurate, but there are tried and true blog formats that not only appeal to your prospects and readers but can boost your visibility in terms of SEO. Let’s look at four of them.
Listicles
We’re going to keep it 100 with you when we say that we don’t like the word “listicles”. It’s like when your mom hears the word “moist” at the dinner table and then immediately complains that she’s lost her appetite. But regardless of what it’s called, listicles are here to stay. They’re easily scanned, they make information digestible, and people love lists! Properly formatted list blogs will also increase your likelihood of achieving the coveted Google Snippet.
Tutorials
We don’t know about you, but anytime we need to do anything, we’re online looking for a simplified breakdown of how to achieve that unfamiliar goal. Whether it’s fixing a car or tying a tie, tutorials keep the world spinning. By including images and detailed descriptions of processes you know well, you can ensure that people are able to find you and that they’ll keep coming back. This format is great for word-of-mouth.
Infographics
This format utilizes visually appealing images and colors to convey short bits of info for easy consumption. This one isn’t going to be very wordy, so writing it isn’t going to be a huge struggle, but you need to make sure you have some good designers on your side to take your words and make them shine in this format.
Interviews
When you have a knowledgeable resource in the form of another person, an interview with them can be extremely beneficial. Not only does it show that you’re willing to be collaborative to achieve the best possible answers, but it also boosts the person you’re interviewing. Your position solidifies theirs, and vice versa. Also, if you end up linking to their site and they link to yours, it boosts that SEO visibility we talked about.
Advanced Planning
There you have it! A few successful different types of blogs. It’s by no means an exhaustive list, but this is just to get you started. Those four are going to bring in the readers. So now you get writing, right?
Well, sure… If you want to start writing, we’re not going to stop you. Consider this, though: Build yourself a content calendar, and make blog templates for your organization to use.
You may already know about content calendars. We’ve written about them before, and they’re a great way to give your content a decent framework while building towards new, lucrative projects, but what do we mean by “blog templates”?
Ask any blogger, and they’ll tell you that the key to a successful blog is consistency. Many people usually take that to mean timely posting–which is essential–but it can also mean consistent posting style. If your readers know what to expect when they navigate to your page, they’re much more likely to come back. They’ll also be able to more succinctly describe it to others, making word-of-mouth endorsements much more likely.
If You Build It…
Building a template doesn’t have to be terribly complex. It’s just a framework that your copywriters and designers can use to operate efficiently.
For interviews (and case studies), you’re able to pre-write the more general questions you’re going to ask in order to get consistent intros, stats, and other baseline information. Your interview subjects are always going to vary in terms of their expertise, so you can’t rely entirely on a template, but it provides an excellent starting point.
For listicles (*shiver*), the important things are your headings and subheadings. Article names beginning with “why” and answering a question are much more likely to be chosen for featured snippets on Google. Then make sure each subheading is an answer to that question, and you’re in a good place. You’re not going to get a snippet every time, but you will improve your SEO. Getting your writers used to this format will benefit them and the organization going forward.
An infographic template will be incredibly beneficial to your designers because it will allow them to determine in advance how much of a time investment they’ll need to make. It sets expectations for the writer as well, reminding them not to get too wordy, and to focus on quick stats and facts. If an infographic gets too wordy, it defeats the entire purpose of the format.
And finally, for tutorials, making a template sets expectations for your experts. Be those skilled craftspeople or developers, you’re going to want visual aids to accompany your piece, so they need to know what’s expected of them in terms of documenting their process. You’re also going to be relying on them for the information that you’re going to build into copy, so it’s important that these needs are clearly communicated upfront, so you get everything you need on the first go.
