Having a blog for your biz is one of the best ways to leverage the power of content marketing to grow your brand and boost your sales. And if you blog as a biz, you know that the success of your blog is critical if you want to increase your income. But you and I both know that blogging is easier said than done, especially with the sheer volume of content that’s available online these days.
What can you do to make your blog stand out so you can get better results for your business or double your income? Check out these 13 pro tips for becoming a better blogger:
Want a blog that gives you traffic, email subscribers, clients, or customers? Learn how to craft blog posts that convert.
Download my free blog post template + example.
1. Add value
Yup, we’re starting off with Captain Obvious over here. But there’s a good reason why: Unless you’re blogging about a super obscure niche (like handmade garden gnomes), your audience has lots of options to choose from when it comes to consuming content. That’s why you can’t afford to create mediocre content. Instead, your content has to be more informative, more comprehensive, or more engaging than what most of your competitors put out. That’s why a big part of being a better blogger is about enhancing the value of your blog posts.
How do you boost the value of your posts? Here’s one way to do it: Listen to your audience and identify the key questions they have or topics they want to learn about. Then use the skyscraper technique. This involves taking a look at the top content on the topic that already exists and finding a way to make yours better. You can do this by providing more tips, more detailed tutorials, or presenting a topic from a new perspective.
2. Do your research
As I just mentioned, one of the best ways to boost the value of your content is to make it more informative and comprehensive. How do you do this? By researching your blog post topics thoroughly.
You see, it’s easier to create more comprehensive and detailed posts on a topic when you know more about it. Being knowledgeable about a topic gives you insight into key nuggets of info to include that other brands and bloggers may have left out. It also helps you understand which details are so trivial that it isn’t worth it to potentially confuse your readers by including them. And combined, both of these benefits help you establish your credibility as an expert in your niche.
So what’s the moral of the story here? You can become a better blogger by researching your topics carefully before writing about them.
3. Jot down ideas and topics all the time
Before you can research a blog post topic, you need to actually come up with a blog post topic. (Duh.) What’s one of the best ways to do this? Have a notebook or electronic file where you can jot down topic ideas whenever they come to you. (I use an Excel sheet–because I’m a nerd.)
You’ll naturally come up with blog post ideas as you browse social media accounts and blogs related to your niche, answer customer questions, and create other content for your blog. Become a better blogger by noting these ideas down as soon as they come to you. This way, you won’t have to spend time coming up with a topic every time you sit down to write a new post.
Related: How to generate blog post topics your audience will love + 72 blog title templates
4. Stick to your niche
When you first start out, you may need to experiment with topic categories to find out what kinds of topics related to your niche your audience loves the most. But what you don’t want to do is blog about a wide range of loosely related topics (see my kitchen design and meal prep example in this post).
Writing about a wide range of loosely related topics may seem like a good way to be a better blogger by casting your net wide. But remember that when it comes to traffic, quality is more important than quantity. After all, if you have a blog to promote your bakery, you may get more eyeballs on your blog if you write a post about Christmas home décor tips. But if you attract people who aren’t interested in your baking posts (your main focus), you’ll have a harder time convincing them to ultimately buy from you.
In short, think about your ideal customer or reader and write posts that this specific person would be interested in.
Want a blog that gives you traffic, email subscribers, clients, or customers? Learn how to craft blog posts that convert.
Download my free blog post template + example.
5. Talk to your ideal customer or reader
One of the best ways to become a better blogger is to create content that helps you establish a relationship with your ideal customer or reader. And what’s one of the easiest ways to create an instant connection with this person? Make it sound like you’re talking directly to them.
No, this doesn’t have to involve doing anything creepy like making it seem as though you’re whispering in their ear. (Because that would be weird!) Instead, you can simply use second-person pronouns like “you” and “your.” These pronouns make it feel like you’re addressing your reader or ideal customer directly. They also help you ensure that you keep the focus on your audience instead of on yourself or your brand.
6. Use your brand voice
Consistency and originality are both characteristics that define successful blogs. How do you emulate these qualities to become a better blogger? Use your brand voice when writing your blog posts.
Your brand voice is the personality of your brand as you express it through language and writing. It’s unique to your brand and consistent with the other characteristics of your branding (for example, your logo and brand colours).
When you write blog posts using your brand voice, you get to express your brand’s unique personality in your content. You also give your content a consistent feel by ensuring that all of your posts sound like they were written by the same person or close-knit team.
Related: How to choose the right voice & tone for your blog or biz + free brand voice worksheet
7. Schedule in time to write, edit, and publish
Whether you blog for your biz or as a biz, blogging can transform your brand and help you take your growth to the next level. But if you want to reap the benefits of blogging (and not embarrass yourself by putting out half-baked content), you need to invest the time and resources into doing it right. This means carving out time in your schedule to write, edit, and publish your posts.
Now, you don’t have to set aside time to blog every week. Instead, you can use a strategy called batching to create your posts for an entire month all in a few days. But no matter how you choose to spread it out, mark out that time in your calendar (or your blog writer’s calendar). You’ll have the best shot at producing consistent, high-quality content when you make blogging a regular priority. This is why blocking out time in my calendar for blogging is my #1 strategy for consistently producing valuable content.
Related: How to make a blog writing schedule you can stick to + free PDF copy
8. Make an outline first
Do you have a tendency to ramble? Do you find that your blog post about Topic X unintentionally turns into a blog post about Topic Y? I’ve got a nearly foolproof fix for you: create an outline before you write.
I know, I know. With all the time it takes to write a blog post, you don’t want to spend even more time on it by creating an outline first. But here’s the thing—when you create an outline of your post before you write it, you won’t have to think as much about what you need to write. And because of this, it’ll take you less time to write the post. (Score!)
Creating an outline for your post will also help you write a more coherent and comprehensive post. So it’ll help you look like (and actually become) a better blogger.
What does a blog post outline look like? Check out the example in my post on 13 unbelievably easy ways to write better blog posts.
Want a blog that gives you traffic, email subscribers, clients, or customers? Learn how to craft blog posts that convert.
Download my free blog post template + example.
9. Always aim for a conversion
It’s a given that you want people (and ideally people who are actually part of your audience) to read your blog posts. But you don’t want them to stop there. Instead, you want them to download your lead magnet, sign up for your free masterclass, or buy your product.
How do you do this? By including a clear call to action (CTA) in every.single.blog.post. CTAs tell you readers what you want them to do after they finish reading your post. And although this next step may seem obvious to you, it may not be to your readers. That’s why they’re more likely to actually take action when you include a CTA that spells out exactly what you want them to do.
So whether your goal is to grow your email list or sell a product, you can become a better blogger by adding visible CTAs to your blog posts.
Related: 9 effective places to put a CTA on your blog + 80 free CTA templates
10. Don’t ignore SEO
Search engine optimization (also known as good ol’ SEO) definitely doesn’t sound as sexy as social media marketing. But if you know the basics and do it well, it can give you lots of targeted traffic (often more than Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest will).
Why is SEO so effective when you do it right? It capitalizes on searches that people are performing online. This means that it makes your blog (or biz website) more visible to the very people who are actively looking for the content, products, or services you offer. By giving you traffic that’s already interested in what you offer, SEO makes it easier for you to convert traffic to your blog into loyal subscribers and customers.
Scared by how technical SEO sounds? It isn’t nearly as complicated as it seems—I promise! In fact, if you use my handy ebook on SEO basics for blog posts, it won’t be long before you become an SEO basics pro.
Related: How to implement on-page SEO to boost blog post visibility + free blog post SEO ebook
11. Include images
It’s easy to think of the images in a blog post as the icing on a birthday cake: If done right, they look nice. At the end of the day, though, they’re not what you’re there for, right?
But unlike icing, blog post images serve a real purpose. Specifically, they keep your readers engaged by breaking up long chunks of text. And in some cases, they also illustrate the key points you’re trying to convey in your post.
So if you’re trying to become a better blogger, include on-brand images that enhance comprehension of your posts.
Related: The 10 best stock photo sites for your blog or website + 15 bonus sites
12. Proofread your posts
I know it seems silly that I even have to include this. But if I had a penny for every typo I’ve spotted in a blog post, I’d be able to retire based on this fund alone!
Typos may not seem like a big deal. And it’s true that if you’re an established blogger who produces high-quality content and rarely makes mistakes, one small typo may barely make a dent. But if you’re not already a blogging giant, know that typos and grammar errors are major indicators of credibility. So if you want to be a better blogger (and look like one too), take the time to proofread your posts.
What are the best ways to proofread your blog content? Check out the 8 solid proofreading strategies I discussed in a recent blog post.
Want a blog that gives you traffic, email subscribers, clients, or customers? Learn how to craft blog posts that convert.
Download my free blog post template + example.
13. Promote your posts
Once you’ve written, edited, and published your blog post, it’s time to get some eyeballs on it. This means that instead of just waiting for people to stumble across your post, you share it on other platforms. For example, tease your blog post on social media. And send a link to it to your email subscribers. Become a better blogger by coming up with a blog promotion strategy that’s right for your brand and implementing it every time you write a new post.
Becoming a better blogger doesn’t have to be hard
Becoming a better blogger isn’t about learning how to write better. Instead, it’s about knowing how to create content your audience wants (even if they don’t know they need it yet!). It’s also about ensuring that the content you craft is designed to boost (not undermine) your credibility and generate conversions instead of just page views.
Improving your blogging skills isn’t something that happens overnight. But if you put in the work and stick with it, you’ll be amazed by the results you can generate for your brand.
Want a blog that gives you traffic, email subscribers, clients, or customers? Learn how to craft blog posts that convert.
Download my free blog post template + example.
