Should we be blogging? We get this question a lot. And the answer is a big fat clear… maybe.
It’s no secret that both users and search engines love fresh, unique content, right? Absolutely – when it’s timely, original, meaningful and well written. By blogging, you create the opportunity to build relationships with readers, position your organization as an expert in the field and provide new content for Google to index. We have seen the dramatic impact a strategic, well-run blog can have on increasing visibility and improving search engine rankings for an organization. We’re definitely a fan.
But that doesn’t mean it’s for everyone. We have also seen un-nurtured blogs become stale, outdated, duplicative and even a liability.
Develop a Blog Strategy
Before you dive into blogging with both feet, take a step back and think about your purpose in doing so and, maybe even more importantly, your capacity to effectively execute it. Creating a roadmap can help position you, and your blog, for success. Some things to consider before you get started:
- Audience – Who are they and what are they interested in? Use this as a guide in developing your content strategy.
- Authors – Identify your key thought leaders in the organization and assess their capacity and willingness to develop content.
- Content Strategy – Align your audiences’ interests with your authors’ expertise and map out what topics you plan to cover.
- Content Calendar – Will you have topics assigned to specific days of the week? Or will the content cycle ebb and flow with current events? Will you create a blog schedule and assign posts to specific contributors? Or will you allow authors to self-select when they provide content? How will you hold your blogging team accountable for maintaining a steady stream of content?
- Monitoring – Will you enable blog comments? If so, develop a policy on if, when and how to respond.
- Distribution – Optimizing your blog content to be found in search is a great start, but how else will you distribute your blog posts to ensure they reach your target audience?
