As a professional blogger, it can be challenging to balance one’s writing for readership and writing for increased exposure through search engine optimization. Those who can establish this balance will have blog readers want to follow along with steady sales and exposure. The challenge lies in striking this balance and maintaining it to provide a blog that’s pleasing to both the reader and the blogger’s bottom line.
These tips can help those who blog as part of their business to establish an effective writing balance that helps them meet the goals of building readership while also boosting sales and SEO.
Successful blogging involves a balance of quality writing and savvy SEO.
Writing for Readers
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- Quality Over Quantity
Make no bones about it: Readers want quality content that provides them with the information they can use in practical ways. A blogger who wants to attract and keep new subscribers must prove that he or she will provide useful, quality blog posts.
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- Be Concise and Consistent
Choose words wisely and parsimoniously when blogging. Today’s consumers want to get right to the point without having to sift through a lot of blah, blah, blah. Additionally, readers will be attracted to a blog that offers new posts on a regular basis. Bloggers should aim for at least two to three new posts each week.
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- Engage and Interact with Readers
Blogging is a way to connect with readers; bloggers should invite their readers to post comments and questions in an effort to encourage interaction.
Writing for SEO
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- Use Keywords Wisely
A little keyword research can help a blogger choose keywords wisely for the best SEO results. Tools such as Google AdWords Keyword Tool are effective for making the best keyword choices. This technique should be used enough to increase exposure without coming across as spammy. Generally, two to four instances of a keyword phrase in a blog post are sufficient.
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- Share through Social Media
Cross-connect each blog post with other social media venues to get maximum exposure and promotion for the blog. Bloggers can also encourage subscribers to share their blog posts by adding various social media buttons on their blog page.
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- LinkBack to Business Website
Linking back to the business website is an essential technique for bloggers who want to effectively optimize their search engine results while also increasing sales. Links can be placed within the body of a post, as well as in the navigation menu area.
Putting the Two Together
A little forethought and effort will help the business blogger balance out writing for readers and for SEO. This isn’t likely to happen accidentally, so the blogger must plan each post to achieve balance. In the beginning, it might take a little practice, but like any other habit, balancing the two components will come naturally in time.
Quality content and smart SEO techniques help a blogger achieve balance and success.
Maintenance of Balance Requires Effort
Many bloggers make the mistake of believing that balance will maintain itself once it’s achieved. The reality is that the blogger must work just as hard to maintain balance as he or she did to obtain it in the first place. When this is achieved, both the readers and bloggers benefit by the existence of quality, a value-filled blog that grabs attention and attracts a steady stream of new followers, while also helping readers feel that they’ve learned or gained something by visiting the blog.
It takes work to achieve this, but the efforts are well worth it in the end.