Many new clients tell me that they have a blog, but no one is reading it. Other clients ask me if they need a blog.
Well, if you have a blog, or are wondering if you need one, you may have these questions:
• What’s the point?
Before you start writing, figure out why you want to have a blog. If you are just trying to jump on the social-media bandwagon, that’s not a good reason to start a blog.
However, if you are trying to share information, build communications with your customers or build buzz, a blog may help you. If this is the case, figure out what you want to accomplish with your blog, and create an action plan, or editorial calendar of pertinent content, to fulfill that purpose. Then, monitor results and make changes as necessary.
• Why aren’t people reading my blog?
Well, there may be several reasons for this.
First, do people know about it?
If not, send out regular e-mail announcements telling people about new entries. Check out www.aweber.com, www.webmarketingmagic.com, www.myemma.com, and others for help with automating this process.
Second, does your blog contain valuable content? Do you help your target audience get answers, information or current news?
If not, it may be time to revise your copy and focus on the benefits you have to offer.
Third, are you optimizing your blog for the search engines?
By including keywords your target audience is searching for online within your blog’s headline and body, you’ll attract a lot more readers. Also, list your blog with www.technorati.com and other sites that search for new blog entries.
• Is your site user friendly?
If you are using a content service, your blog may just be a bunch of sentences running together – making it very difficult to read.
People have a lot to review during the day, and if your competitor’s blog is more reader-friendly, guess who is going to get the site visits?
Try to write short sentences and paragraphs. Help readers get the information they need quickly and easily.
Now, these are just a few quick tips to help make your blog activities more worthwhile. After all, a few simple changes may be the difference between building customer relationships and wasting time and effort on content no one reads.
Do you need help with your public relations and SEO copywriting to boost sales, awareness and credibility? Please let me know here or at www.rembrandtwrites.com. I’m here to help!
