How to Build a Blog and Drive Traffic to Your Site

Almost every business with an online presence should have a blog. A blog is one of the best ways to drive organic traffic to your website for very little expenditure and initial outlay. Utilizing your blog to pass on information about your company, explain upcoming offers and events, or just to offer some handy information about your services, is the best way to nurture visitors into potential future customers.

Setting up a blog can be as easy or as complicated as you make it. But how can you build it into something that really drives traffic and converts your visitors into new customers? 

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What service to use

There are so many blogging platforms and services out there that it can be hard to choose which one to go with. Which one you choose will depend on a few variables. Firstly, if you already have a website, how is it hosted and with whom? Do you already have an external web developer you are working with or have you produced the website yourself? Then speak to them about what options you ion regards to adding a blog to your already existing site. Failing that there are a number of options that you can use to host one. The most popular option for hosting a website/blog is WordPress as it powers a vast majority of the world blogs. 

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who you host with. Your blog should simply be:

• Easy to update
• Easy to produce content on
• SEO friendly

As long as you have a blog that can be these 3 things then you are halfway there. Either learn to set one up yourself, or speak to a developer to see what it will cost you.

Determine your ideal customer

Knowing who you are writing for is the key to making content that drives traffic to your site. Without knowing who your ideal customer is you will struggle to make content that really resonates with those who will be looking for your kind of business. This is known as a buyer profile. Some may call it something slightly different but the purpose is the same.

You must create a detailed idea of who you believe your ideal customer to be. What their name is, what they do for a living, how many kids they may have, what kind of house they would likely live in. these are all questions you must ask yourself about your ideal customer. Armed with this information you can start to write your content based on this fictional profile. It will make it much easier to drive visitors to your site.

Writing the content

The physical format and writing style of the blog is ultimately up to you. However, a few key points should be noted. It should be grammatically correct with no spelling or punctuation errors. You should include relevant images that enhance the reading experience of your reader. You should have a call to action at the end of your blog posts that entice the reader to continue onto another action, such as sending an email or going to another post.

Your content should be regular and consistently of high quality. This consistency gives authority to your domain and allows search engines to rank you higher in their listings. However, if you can’t produce content regularly there are other options.

Using paid writing services

There are so many paid services out there relating to blog building that it would be impossible to discuss them here and unfair to start mentioning specific service providers. Instead, what will be discussed are the kinds of services available to you, so that you know what you are looking for.

First up are the writers. Paid, or unpaid, bloggers that provide a stream of, or one-off, content for your blog, so that you don’t have to spend time writing it yourself. Make sure you are working with a reputable business that provides a reliable service. If you know other small business owners that use such services then get in touch with them to share their experiences.  Make sure you give these services strict guidelines regarding your content. Don’t be afraid to share your buyer’s profile so that they can write specifically for it. Having mas produced generic content isn’t going to produce the results you want.

Further paid services

Some of these services also offer backlink building as well as content writing. Backlinks are external links to your website from other reputable sources. These backlinks provide added authority to your website and show search engines that other content providers recognize your authority and expertise on a subject. The more organic links you have the better your SEO and authority and the higher you are likely to rank on search engine results pages.

Sharing the content

Content can be shared freely on all of your social media profiles. Don’t expect to just write an article and it will drive visitors to your business without sharing it. Social media is free, outside of paid ads, so utilize it well. Try not to be too spammy with your sharing or it can send the wrong message to potential visitors and customers.

Try to be consistent and regular, but not overbearing. You want to make the content sharable and something that people want to click on. Again regular sharing across social media between visitors is a great way to boost your search engine ranking.

Conclusion

Writing a blog that drives traffic and visitors to your website and then converts them into paying customers is almost an art form. One that takes time and effort to produce meaningful and lasting results. If you start to become overwhelmed with the constant writing, then consider hiring a dedicated business blogger, or freelancer, to help continue your work while you focus your efforts elsewhere.

Remember that while the blog is not directly selling a product or service, it should be converting your visitors into potential customers over a period of time. Use it well to help drive customers to your business and to keep them coming back for more.