By Sunita Biddu
With over 150 million personal and business blogs active by early 2015, a blog that stands out has become even more imperative. To give people a good reason, so they spend time reading your posts and be your regular follower, is a must.
The fact is that most blogs either fail to do so or quit half way and that’s not because of a lack of effort, but mostly because of a planning-deficit. The content reads without a goal, it may read well but lacks an objective and sometimes a random ‘good’ dilutes content, blurs your vision and confuses the reader. They are unable to understand what you truly mean and whether they should consider you an authority on the matter.
So let’s get this sorted.
Whether your blog is new or you’re interested in taking your experienced blog to the next level, please ask yourself the following questions before writing your next blog post.
- Are you writing this post for your regular target audience?
It’s tempting to say that you’re writing for everyone out there, but that’s not going to help your blog soar. What you write for business owners isn’t going to appeal much to start-ups that have a very limited budget. It is important to be precise and know your post will serve your regular target audience. And the first step to ensure that is to know your audience and keep it on top of your mind before you think of a topic.
- What will the blog post do for you?
Is your next post about educating your audience? Are you going to introduce a new line of products? Do you want people to just know the recent survey findings that explain why your product approach is effective?
Know what you want your blog post to do for you. If you want it to boost awareness, don’t mix it with a sales pitch. If you want your post to generate links from others, think hard about the character of your post and write amusing posts. You won’t get enough links with persuasive posts that rely heavily on sales arguments. So, be sure to pick an objective before you start writing a post.
- Do you have enough expertise and credibility in this particular topic?
Be clear about the topic you want to cover. You should also find out what your readers currently knows about the topic. This will help you use language that isn’t above or beneath your readers’ level of understanding. It is important to have good knowledge about the topic to be able to write effectively. Remember, you may have to reply to your readers’ queries, so write only about what you know a lot.
- How is this post different from thousand others that are already available?
If you know your audience and their level of understanding about a particular topic, it is easier to write a post that they will love even if you’re writing on pretty much the same topic others are writing about. You will have to consider how you can make your post stand out, and you can do it by applying a unique angle to the topic or sharing a unique personal experience related to the topic.
Best way will be to start reading other blogs before writing one. Know what other blogs lack and then cover it carefully in your next post while making sure it will connect emotionally with your readers.
So, a great post comes down to qualifying these four questions in a rocking way. Resist publishing until you’re sure that your new post is of amazing value to yourself and your readers.
Remember, your current post sets the expectations and quality standards of the next one.
Blogging can really help your business and be a way to earn good money every month. Yes, it is somewhat time-consuming and tests your patience. In fact, the research shows 22% of bloggers cannot find enough time to create new content and 20% of bloggers fail to plan in advance. It is also true that asking a few questions before writing every post will help you write unique, original, and engaging content, and with better planning, you can make blogging a less hectic and more productive endeavour and a potential key to unlimited revenue and reputation opportunities.
Wish you all a very happy blogging!
