According to statistics, 77% of people regularly read blogs. And 61% of U.S. consumers have bought something after reading a blog recommendation.
That means that even though social media and paid advertising have created many opportunities for businesses to promote themselves, blogging will always remain a pillar strategy for those who want to get in front of their best customers, build authority, and boost sales in the process.
But with around 32 million bloggers in the US alone, having a blog is not enough. You need to find a way to stand out and create content that grabs attention and gets people to come back.
To help you get started with creating a successful blog that has an eager following, here are four impactful tips you should consider.
Understand Who You’re Targeting
A big part of success with blogging comes down to meeting the reader’s expectations. And the only way to do that is to clearly define who you’re trying to reach and how you can get them to take notice.
While it may be appealing to cast a wide net and tackle a broad range of topics, your best bet for quickly building an audience is to narrow down your focus and try to become a thought leader in a specific field.
Start by thinking about your ideal customers (or readers) that you want to engage. Then, conduct research about who they are, what problems they’re trying to solve, where they hang out online, and what type of content they like to engage with.
Once you know what they like, your job is to cater to their needs better than your main competitors, answering questions and solving problems that cut to the very heart of what your audience cares about.
Provide Unique Value
One of the hardest parts about starting a successful blog is finding ways to differentiate yourself from others. But it’s a crucial part of building a blog that people will actually want to read.
The best way to generate attention in even the most competitive field is to provide unique value. But what does that mean?
Well, on one level, you should always run your blog post through a reliable plagiarism checker, so you don’t inadvertently copy someone else’s phrasing or ideas. But on a broader scope, you need to inject new ideas and opinions into a familiar topic, providing additional value your readers can’t find elsewhere.
Making an effort to develop new ideas, concepts, and solutions is what will ultimately make your blog stand out and thrive. Even if your ideas aren’t always groundbreaking, you can at least share your unique experiences, run experiments, and help look at problems your audience wants to solve in a new light.
Hook Your Readers From the Start
Your readers have their pick when it comes to blogs, podcasts, videos, and social media posts. And that means you need to grab their attention immediately if you don’t want them to move on to something else.
If you analyze some of your favorite blogs, you will likely notice that they do a great job of grabbing attention and generating interest with the headline and the first few paragraphs. This is where you set the stage for what will follow and motivate the reader to go through the entire article.
But what does that mean?
Well, in practice, it means you should allocate extra time to making sure that your headlines and introductions are enticing. Of course, the article needs to be engaging throughout, but that first paragraph or two can have the biggest impact on how well your post performs.
Make Your Content Scannable
Studies clearly show that longer content usually produces better results. That being said, it can also be more challenging to keep readers engaged when you have a long wall of text they have to go through.
Part of the solution is to make the hook enticing enough for them to read to the end. But it’s also crucial to make your articles easy to read and scan through, as seeing long paragraph after long paragraph can get overwhelming and tedious quickly.
To make your content easier to digest, you should vary the sentence length, keep paragraphs 1-2 sentences long, and use plenty of bulleted lists that help condense the information and make it easier to understand.
Bottom Line
Most businesses and entrepreneurs understand the importance of blogging. But starting a blog from scratch without prior experience can be tricky.
With the tips listed above, you should have a better understanding of what it takes to succeed with your blog and make it a hit with your audience.
