If Most business blogs are terrible then how do you grow your blog 2024? Most blogs are used for things like announcements and fluffy content that does nothing to capture leads and make sales. And if all you want is a place to jot down your thoughts, then skip this article.
But if you want a blog that gets you more leads and more sales with every single piece of content you write, then read on. If you don’t yet have one then click here to learn how to start a blog
Forget about blogging as you know it and instead think of your blog as a learning center. This learning center will be a hub for all of your website’s most important content. Visitors will be able to find answers to their problems and find information on what they want to know.
You’re going to create content that resonates with your target audience and influences them to make a buying decision. Your goal should be to educate your prospects into becoming customers, and your customers into making repeat sales.
And you’re going to do this without advertisements for your offerings.
Contents
Use Search Keyword Intent to Grow Your Blog
What is Search Keyword Intent?
Search intent is the reason why users conduct a search. Google wants to rank pages that best fit the search term as well as the search intent behind a search query. It reveals why someone searches for something online
- Commercial intent: related to specific brands or services (“find a Starbucks near me”)
- Informational intent: searching for answers to questions (“How to unclog a tub”)
- Navigational intent: users looking for specific pages (“Comcast login page”)
- Transactional intent: users are ready to buy (“buy converse shoes”)
According to a study done by Neal Patel, The most popular keyword intent was informational at more than 40 per cent of target terms in all industries. These are generally top-of-the-funnel keywords, meaning users are still early on in their journey.
The next highest intent type was transactional at between 15-20 percent of terms per industry. These users are ready to buy so creating content that targets these terms or using paid ads is a good idea.
The Problem With Advertising
In today’s marketing environment most brands focus on maximizing the ROI of their advertising spend, but is that the right way to go? In this article, you’ll get four reasons why it isn’t. The problem with ads is they are biased and present only one solution to a customer’s problem. This makes prospects sceptical and loses you the sale.
It’s great that you created a fantastic piece of content but now that it’s done, will anyone ever see it? That’s where marketing comes in. If you don’t promote your content, you won’t reach the audience that you hoped.
But when you fill your blog with the honest help your prospects are looking for, then you move from being a salesperson to becoming a trusted authority. And that gets you readers, subscribers and sales.
Your website should be your best salesperson, working for you 24/7 to make sales.
Building Trust with Your Blog’s Audience
I remember a friend telling me years ago when he needed to buy kitchen appliances. He went to a local store and got lucky enough to be waited on by a man who had been in the appliance business all of his life. He didn’t own the store, he just sold appliances, and he knew everything there was to know about every model there on the floor as well as models sold in other stores.
He told my friend point-blank which models to avoid and what sort of problems they had. He steered him away from an overpriced model with good reviews because the nearest service person for that model was two hours away, and if it broke, getting it fixed would be a nightmare.
He shared what was available at the other stores and how much they were on sale for that day.
He knew the factories where each were built, their overall reputations and which brands and models needed the most service calls over their lifetimes.
Keep in mind, this was in the mid 90’s before reliable online reviews were prevalent.
It was the only time in my friend’s whole life that he truly trusted the salesperson. He wasn’t trying to sell anything; he was trying to educate him on what would be best for his needs.
So my friend wound up buying three appliances from him and one that he highly recommended from his competitor. My Friend was so pleased, that over the next few years he sent him enough business to sell another 2 dozen appliances.
Now imagine your website could be like that salesperson.
Your content is educational and easy to access, just like asking that salesperson questions. A visitor comes to your site via organic search and lands on an article giving general information about your niche.
Let’s use roof repair and replacement as an example. They search for, “Do I need to replace my roof?” and land on your article, “How to know if you need a new roof.” Inside the article, you have links to any terms they might not understand, so they can get immediate clarity. You talk about the reasons a roof might need to be repaired, with a link to another article covering each reason in-depth. You also offer information on how to know if replacement is a better option, the different types of roofs available, a cost calculator and so forth.
Everything they need to know about roof repair and replacement is right there. And woven throughout your content you give anecdotes of roofs you’ve repaired and replaced.
Inside the mind of the blog visitor
Here’s what’s happening on the visitor’s end:
They’re finding the information they’re looking for, and they find it easily on their own and at their own pace.
This content isn’t selling them, it’s instructing them, which goes a long way to creating trust in your company.
Every piece of content offers multiple paths forward, including more specific content and a call to action so they can reach out to you when they are ready.
Imagine someone spends thirty minutes or an hour on your website. When they’re ready to call an expert, whether it’s right then or in a month, who are they going to call? You.
The key to making this work is to find out what customers are asking, and then answer those questions for them while organising the content in a way that feels natural and intuitive. You are educating your user through the buyer’s journey.
Homeowners seldom begin with, “I need a new roof.” Instead, they start out on the journey wondering IF they need a new roof, if they can get the current roof repaired, how do they know if there is a problem, who can they trust, how much will it cost, what type of roof should they get… It’s complicated.
And while the majority of websites are telling them “We are the best roofers in town so call now!” you are giving them what they desperately want and need before the buying decision ever happens – information.
You are building massive trust when you give your prospects a learning centre.
You are also positioning yourself as the authority in the business.
Even if they eventually buy from someone else – just as my friend purchased that one appliance from a competing store – they will still recommend their friends start on YOUR site to learn everything they can before making their purchase.
You simply have nothing to lose and everything to gain by converting your website’s newsy blog into a learning center. Or if you like, keep the blog on the side and add the learning center as your main site.
8 Best Tips
Here are a few tips for your learning centre:
- Your number one goal is to build trust through helpful, unbiased, honest content. If people don’t trust you then they won’t buy from you. If they do trust you and you have the product they need, they won’t buy from anyone else but you.
- Your trust-building content must be honest, unbiased and transparent. Think of yourself as a teacher and a reviewer, not a sales person.
- Speak in your customer’s language. If your industry uses jargon that customers might not understand, then either don’t use it or be sure to clearly explain it.
- Your learning center can be frequently updated as needed. Explain new solutions, answer new questions, cover new trends and so forth.
- Done right, your learning center will greatly reduce bounce rates and increase user’s time on your website. And because your articles are answering the questions people ask Google, it should also help to bring in organic traffic, too.
- Offer lead magnets that make sense for the content being consumed. The roofing website might offer a lead magnet on the different types and costs of roofs, for example. Or you might even tailor a lead magnet for each page of your learning center.
- Continue to educate your list as well as using anecdotes from your current clients as case studies.
- Use Google Analytics to understand how traffic is getting to and moving through your learning center and use this information to improve your site.
Conclusion
An educated customer is a better customer. They have fewer questions and a much better idea of what.
Even if your business is one where you close the sales in person or over the phone, you’ll discover that much of your work is already done if your prospect has spent time in your learning center.
Discover how to supercharge your blog and website here – A complete Step-by-step Content strategy system that drives more traffic and sales to your business website or blog.
Digital Business Coach | Web Revenue Strategist | Award-Winning IT Consultant | Author
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With over 18 years of industry experience in business and personal development, I’ve successfully been working with coaches, consultants and authors set up the right systems and implement strategic content strategies to start, grow and scale their businesses online with automation, digital products and services. (To work with Jatinder – click here)