One of the most effective ways to drive traffic to your online store, improve your position on search engines, and even nudge people to buy is running a blog with numerous engaging articles. Today, we will tell you how to create a robust content strategy for your blog, so no one can resist reading and subscribing to it. 

A blog is not only a great source of online traffic. It is also a powerful tool to tell people about your business and products and persuade them to buy from you. To be honest, there are a lot of benefits you might get from a blog. That’s why a number of huge and popular brands have their own one. 

But how can you create a blog? What should you write about? How often do you need to publish posts? And, one of the most important questions, how to turn these articles into lead magnets and make people want to buy right after reading? 

It’s time to sort everything out! In this article, we will discuss how to start up your website blog and how to create cool content for it. 

Creating effective blog content strategy

Step 1. Define the goal of your blog

Like with any method of marketing communication with your potential and current customers, a blog should have a strategy. Depending on what result you want to get from your blog, there can be completely different content and, hence, goals. 

If you want to prove your expertise in the business niche you work in, you might prefer writing informative articles. Write about the latest news in the industry or your company to make people share your articles with others and boost your brand awareness. 

Do you want to improve SEO? Then, there should be enough relevant keywords in your posts. It will help your website get a higher position on search engines. 

Are you dreaming of boosting sales? Create articles that promote your store and products: make lists of possible gifts, or tell about some unusual activities featuring your items, or share the ways to make groundbreaking changes into the users’ daily routines, etc.  And don’t forget to add proper links to allow people to easily buy what you advertise. 

Make sure there is a comment section in your blog so that people can share their opinions on your article and ask questions. It helps to reach engagement goals for your posts. 

Step 2. Find out topics relevant to your niche and audience

If you already have an online store, you probably know who are your typical buyers and what interests they have. All that remains to be done is to understand what type of content will resonate with them. 

For example, if your business niche is home decor and gardening, you can devote your blog to the latest trends in design, handy tips, DIY tutorials, and even collections of inspirational home interiors.   

Step 3. Plan your content

Well, now you know what type of content might be interesting to your audience. The next step is to plan out your posts. 

What can you tell your customers about your business? What valuable information can you share? Think about the topics you can cover in your posts and write them down. For your convenience, you can create a table with dates and potential titles of future articles to see the work scope. 

The frequency of posting is also an important thing to consider while creating a content plan. But there is no universal answer. Nobody can tell it for sure what’s an ideal number of posts for you. It really depends on what goal you have, how much time you can spend on it, or how many people work with you to allow you to delegate part of tasks. 

You can begin with one post per week and then, if you feel enough power, you can gain momentum and post twice per week or even daily. But don’t overdo it. Always remember that quality and consistency are more important than quantity. 

Step 4. Know your keywords

A blog is a good tool to improve the ranking position of your website. Properly selected keywords can dramatically boost the organic traffic and number of readers. So, when writing articles for your blog, you should take care of filling your articles with relevant keywords. Determine the main keyword for the article topic and focus on it. 

To find keywords for your posts, you can use the Google Keyword Planning Tool. It is one of the most popular (and free) tools to find keywords. The Keyword Magic Tool by SEMRush is also a great free solution that might help. 

Step 5. Be useful and share valuable information

Your blog should be of value to readers. Who will read your articles if you don’t write anything useful or, at least, fun? It might sound rude but it’s true. 

We already touched on this aspect above, but we want to draw your attention to this fact one more time. If you want to create and run an effective blog, you should be ready to write striking content that resonates with your audience. 

Step 6. Send newsletter emails

If you have a blog, one of the best ways to get constant fans and readers is to create a newsletter. Add a subscription form to your website and let your visitors decide whether they want to receive news from you or not. 

If you already have a newsletter, just add some articles from your blog to your newsletter content plan. This is a great option to get more readers from the traffic and follower base you already have.  

Step 7. Collaborate with guest bloggers

There are a lot of talented copywriters on the Internet. All you need to do is find those who have some expertise in your business niche and are ready to share their knowledge in your blog. 

Once your blog gets popular and noticeable, guest bloggers will find you on their own. But in the beginning, you might spend some time to find somebody and invite him or her to write for you. 

Companies running great blogs: 5 real-life examples

One of the most effective methods to study something is to learn from the best. Here are some inspirational examples of large companies which promote their business through blog articles. Enjoy! 

H&M

This popular fast-fashion chain has a great blog which is called H&M Magazine. There are a number of engaging posts that highlight various topics, starting with how to choose and combine clothing and finishing with interviews with fashion designers and celebrities. Plus, the blog has become the place where the brand can increase people’s awareness about their achievements and socially responsible initiatives. 

United Airlines 

One more example of a great blog is Hub created by United Airlines. The brand shares travel tips, company news, interesting facts, funny stories of employees, and community efforts there. This mix of content types makes this blog both entertaining and informative. What can be better for driving more traffic and getting more customers? 

The Container Store

When your business niche is home-storage solutions, you might think that blog is not for you. But The Container Store’s example proves that the things are other way round. 

Their blog features many posts on community and corporate efforts, as well as those on storage ideas and home organization tips. The blog allows The Container Store to share information about their participating in various ecologically responsible events, show corporate culture, and, of course, advertise their products.  

Sprouts Farmers Market

The blog of Sprout Farmers Market has a sales-driving content strategy. Their articles show items for different occasions, seasons, and themes. 

The blog also features guest chefs and experts sharing wellness and fitness tips, rounding up a very engaging platform that positions the happy-eating supermarket as an outstanding figure in the niche of supermarket chains.

Social Rabbit

We don’t want to show off, but we think our blog is also a great example. 

The main idea of Social Rabbit’s blog is to share relevant and educational information on marketing, advertising and online entrepreneurship with our subscribers. And we keep doing that! 

By the way, if you have a topic you want us to uncover, don’t be shy and share it in the comment section! 

As you see, along with social media marketing, a blog is a powerful method to promote your business and products or be useful for your audience. Following the steps from this article, you will be able to start up your own blog and boost it significantly!