#1 Speak Directly to Your Audience

When creating your blog content, write as if you’re speaking directly to them. Use the same conversational tone to humanize your message so it’s easy to digest and understand. Conveying your content in a way that brings authenticity and transparency makes you relatable, giving you a competitive edge.

One strategic move to crafting blog posts that speaks to your audience is by establishing buyer personas, a process that helps hone your ideal customer and gives you a clear picture of their pains, challenges questions, and obstacles. These details give you ammo to be “the answer” your audience is looking for, positioning your brand as the go-to source.

#2 Include Best On-Page SEO Practices

Using sound SEO techniques improves visibility in the search engines, making it better for potential customers to find your content when searching for solutions. Even with the constant changes in algorithms, there are time-tested optimization tactics you can implement to improve your ranking in search.

Use the following as a checklist for best on-page SEO tips:

  • Choose a long-tail keyword that your audience is actively searching for
  • Be sure to mention your keyword within the first 100 words of your blog post
  • Begin the title tag with your keyword
  • Use SEO-friendly URLs
  • Include outbound links to related, authoritative pages
  • Add 2-3 of your own links within your post
  • Use your keyword as the image file name, alt tag, title, description and caption
  • Long-form content of 1500 words or more performs better on Google; build a content strategy that supports this word count

#3 Leverage Interactive Content

With so many brands bolstering their content strategy, how does one separate their articles from the sea of content on the web? The answer…interactive content.

You see, interactive content is said to be the future of content marketing (Source: Jeff Bullas). It’s super engaging and keeps your audience dwelling on your site longer which betters SEO ranking. In fact, the benefits to using interactive content are quite compelling including better conversion rates, spikes in site traffic, and being able to collect valuable data about your audience to improve your marketing.

Here are a few interactive content types to add in your blog posts:

  • Quizzes
  • Survey Polls
  • Games
  • Calculators
  • Interactive Slideshows
  • Infographics
  • Videos
  • Webinars

#4 Images, Images, and More Images!

Did you know that articles with an image once every 75-100 words receive double the number of social shares than articles with fewer images (Source: Hubspot)?

Another route to great blog content is including visuals to complement your text to enrich website experience. Instead of sharing detailed data that can be deemed overwhelming, opt for an infographic that easily shares the message. Leverage images to make your content colorful and appealing.

Use sites like Adobe, iStockPhoto, and Unsplash to gain access to a library of high-quality photos to enhance your posts. These same images can be used in your social media marketing strategy to promote your blog content.

#5 Ask for Engagement

It’s time to get more engagement from your viewers by simply asking for it! Comments and shares are huge assets for search ranking and showing credibility. Commit to leaving a call-to-action in every blog post telling your readers what to do next. If you want them to share your post to their networks, make it clear in your instructions.

Leaving a CTA will significantly increase responsiveness and click-through rates from your content.

Also, get more exposure to your blog posts by leveraging your email list. Encourage them to share it on social media by using plugins like ClicktoTweet within your email message. Since email subscribers are 3 times more likely to share your content on social media, it’s a great way to getting them involved in growing your brand awareness.

Conclusion

Utilize this checklist to bolster your inbound marketing to boost online presence, maintain responsiveness with your content, and give your brand the slight edge in your content strategy. Keep it near during your blog creation process to aid in publishing content that gets in front of your ideal market and promotes user engagement.