Once your social media messages are visible in your posts and you are happy with their quality, you are ready to find lots more followers and interaction. Yes, you can build results by just consistently posting week in and week out, but it will go a lot faster if you add a blog or advertise. A blog is an excellent way to make this happen without spending a dime. The only downside is the time you will spend, not only to write something of value to your audience but to make sure the search engines can find it.
Here are five steps to take to make sure your blog posts will work for your small business:
Step One: Before you begin writing your content
Step Two: While you are writing, follow these best practices for visibility
Step Three: Review before you post
Step Four: Work behind the scenes
Step Five: Note a few words of advice
Let’s look at each of these steps in more detail.
Step One: Before You Begin Writing your Content
-Find a good topic
The topic should affirm one of your 3 main messages (see your app 3-2-1 Plan).
You can write 1000-1200 words about it.
-Identify at least 3 Keywords
Don’t go crazy with keywords, but they are important. Sprinkle them throughout the blog in a way that doesn’t sound forced. (Try Google Keywords)
-Write an outline
This way you can create you subheadings right from the start. Skimmable blogs area best so spend a moment on this. Try to place a keyword in each subheading.
-Find the main Image or Graphic for your blog
Don’t stress over the photo. Just find one that has something to do with your topic. Use your Unsplash tool found in your app photo library or create a simple graphic in Canva.
Step Two: While You are Writing, Follow Best Practices for Visibility
–First you will need a good Primary and Secondary Headline.
The Primary Headline should be __ characters and contain your primary keyword.
The Secondary Headline should be __ characters and contain the secondary keyword.
-Write the Opening paragraph with bulleted list of key takeaways
-Begin Writing the rest of your blog in Earnest
Ideally , each paragraph is 3-4 sentences long.
Step Three: Review Before You Post
-Visually pleasing. Bullets and lots of white space.
-Check for internal and external Links.
Internal links take you to other blog post or other parts of you website.
-Determine if your tone is right.
Your brand has a distinct tone. Your blogs should fall in line with that. Start working on this in your Brand Guidelines if you haven’t already. See Graphic Image Tutorial.
-Create a social media post to promote your new blog.
Don’t forget to add a link. You can use the same photo or image you chose for the blog.
Step Four: Work Behind the Scenes
You will need to do a few more things to get this post visible to search engines.
-Add a meta tag
The meta tag should be 100-160 characters long. It should include a keyword variant. Without going into too much details, meta tags should … If you do this, it should suffice for now.
-Add an alt tag
The alt tag for each photo should be under 150 characters. Just describe the image in case it doesn’t load or someone in your audience is visually impaired.
Note A Few Words of Advice
Agree, this is a lot of steps. Don’t feel like you have to do all of these from day 1. It is important to get started, fulfiling as may of these tips as you can. In time, they will all make more sense and you may be able to get to 100% completion.
One step you must have right is no errors in spelling or grammar. As with your social posts, this is a surrogate for the quality of your product.
Try one blog, post about it on social media, and see if it’s not worth your time and effort. As a bonus, it also adds value to your website. When web visitors come, they will find valuable content you have written, helping to establish your business as a high quality provider.
If you have questions or comments, contact hello@smallbizbrands.com or visit our private Facebook group, The Small Biz Builders.
