Why You Need a Blogging Strategy

Whether you’re looking for ways to add spice to your blog or venturing into the blogosphere for the first time, developing a blogging strategy  is key to your success. Why? Because, like anything else, a blog needs direction in order to move forward effectively. After all, if you don’t know what you’re trying to accomplish with your blog, how will you know when you’ve done it?

Here’s a step-by-step plan you can follow to make sure your blog lives up to your expectations this year.

Step One: Identify Your Goals

For entrepreneurs, blogs can be an excellent way to increase your exposure, get the word out about your services or products, and establish yourself as an expert in your field. Before starting your blog (or overhauling it to improve its overall effectiveness), it’s important to identify which of these goals you hope to accomplish.

Identifying your desired outcomes will help you determine what tone and style to use in posts, what subjects to post about, and who your readers (or ideal readers) are.

Step Two: Understand How Blogs Work

Once you’ve decided what you want out of your blog, take some time to read other blogs that already achieve these goals. Even if your blog is part of your overall marketing strategy, it’s important to note that blogs should not be written as if they were press releases or advertisements.

Blogs let you engage with potential clients, learn what interests them, what drives them, and what they want. When you can build a relationship with clients through a blog, you’ll strengthen your overall brand, even if you don’t make any direct sales.

Step Three: Lay Out a Plan of Action

When you know what you want to do with your blog and how blogs work, you’re ready to get specific about plans for your blog. Establish an action plan that includes:

• Identifying how many posts you’ll do per week.
• Assigning these posts to people on your team.
• Conducting keyword research and incorporating your findings into plans for your blog.
• Setting out rules for linking internally and externally.
• Planning blog topics ahead of time (e.g. on a monthly or bi-monthly basis) to avoid last-minute panic.

Step Four: Track Your Results

Once you’ve gotten into the swing of your blog (new or updated), schedule time to analyze the data your blogging platform provides. These analyses may lead you to tweak your keywords, post at different intervals, or shift your focus or tone, and they’re an essential part of making sure your blogging efforts are providing you the maximum possible return on your effort.

There’s an old saying that says if you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there. The same is true for blogging, so if you want something specific from your blog, start planning how you’ll get it.

So: what are your blogging goals for the coming months?