by Angie Picardo
If you have a website or product that is trying to gain recognition online, you have probably learned by now that it is essential to start a blog. Maintaining a blog about a subject matter you are well versed inâand particularly one that advances the popularity of the product and/or service you are sellingâis essential for sales. The vitality of your business will often heavily rely on a blog and social media presence in order to inform users about what youâre selling and provide them a smooth process for purchasing.
But how does one begin to write a blog?
It takes more than just sitting down and freewriting fluff and extraneous content about your product. High quality content is essential, but just as good writing will make for a great blog, bloggers need to know their audience, inform new and potential clients, and drive traffic with snazzy quips and cool pictures.
Use the ADDIE model when building your blog (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation):
Analysis
This is the brainstorming phase. On scratch paper or blank Word document, outline the basics (who, what, where, why) about the blog. Who is your audience? What do you want to say? Why is this blog necessary for your product? Where (in which market) will this item(s) be presented?
Design
Come up with a few sample blog posts off the top of your head. For example, if you are selling a unique twist on childrenâs coloring books, remember to consider how you can incorporate clear and relevant pictures and images with each post. A few sample posts could be:
o Why Kids Love Coloring Books
o Statistics on the Coloring Book Industry
o Child Education and Art
o What to Use for Great Coloring
o A post on Your Specific Product
o Why Schools Should Embrace Art Classes for Kids
o Top Coloring Books of the Year
Development
Begin to write and design a few blog posts without publishing them. These are essentially rough drafts that you will be able to edit and manipulate before publishing them to the world. Once you have a few drafts, edit for style, grammar, and logic. Be a perfectionist.
Implementation
Publish your articles. Create a routine (2-3 times per day or at least 5 times per week) to add new content to your blog. Add keywords (http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/2012/4-nobrainer-seo-moves/) and categorize each blog post accordingly. Embrace the process. Donât fall behind.
Evaluation
Pay attention to the web traffic that your blog is receiving. Most free services have a basic web analytics widget or tool that will show you the number of visits per day/week/month and how they were directed to your site. What can you improve? What are your visitors saying in the comments section? How can you increase the traffic to your blog? Evaluate critically.
Following these steps is the perfect way to begin to think about blogging for traffic. While other techniques like search engine optimization and e-marketing and advertising will help increase traffic to your site, those novices who are not sure how to approach blogging should follow these steps to establish a successful blog.
