How to develop a blog content strategy

Feb 13, 2023

So blogging isn’t as sexy as the other marketing tactics. It’s so very 2012, some might say.

But not you. Because you’re smart.

You know that having a blog is great for business. So here’s your guide on how to develop a blog content strategy.

You’ll learn:

how to find blog topics
how to write bloody brilliant blog content
how to lure your blog readers into your funnel
how often to publish blogs
how to promote your blogs

Shall we?

But first, just in case you’re still on the fence with splinters in your bum.

Let’s oh-so quickly dive into the benefits of blogging for your business.

Blogging helps position you as a trusted voice in your industry
Blogging helps new target customers find you
Blogging boosts your website traffic
Blogging helps you stand out from your competitors
Blogging helps you build your personal brand
Blogging is easy to outsource
Blogging can lead more people into your funnel
Blogging helps shrink large pores on your nose

Okay, I made the last one up. But the rest is totally true.

Here’s a secret. I’m not really into blog content strategy.

You don’t have to overthink it. Your blog content plan could be as simple as this:

think of interesting topics your audience wants to learn about
write articles about those topics
publish them on your website

That’s it.

What to include in your blog content strategy

the niche topics you will cover
keyword research to find blog topic ideas that will drive you website traffic
your production schedule
your next three months of blog content

Blog content strategy #1: what are you gonna write about?

Some business blogs go too broad with their content pillars. But honestly? When you are building a library of thought leadership content, you really should have only one pillar.

Just crap on and on about your one thing. The thing you want to be known for.

Let’s say you are a graphic designer. If you do infographics, and websites, and logos and invitations, you can blog about all that. Or you can niche into infographics and focus your blog all about that. This gives a great signal to your customers that you are bloody brilliant at infographics. If someone asks for a recommendation for an infographic, you’ll come to mind. (Because you are always crapping on about them on your blog.)

And even better? If someone searches for an infographic designer on Google, you might appear in the search results. Because you have a big fat library of expert content on your blog. This gives Google a clear signal. So if Google decides your site best answers that search query? $-Kerching-$. You have someone actively searching, credit card at the ready, discovering your fabulous content.

On the flip side, if you talk about infographics only once or twice on your website, and you cover other things like social graphics, packaging, or promo design, Google gets confused. You confuse, you lose.

So, for your blog content strategy just pick one thing — the thing you want to be known for.

And blog your butt off.

For more ways to find the right topics and keywords, read this blog about finding thought leadership topics.

One more thing

Of course, we blog for keywords. (The keyword for this is ‘blog content strategy.’)

But.

Sometimes, you think of an article that will be funny, insightful or helpful, but there’s no logical keyword.

Just write it. Stuff the keyword.

If you’re focusing on your customers and it’s useful? Don’t force a keyword.

Write the blog, and share it. Link to it. Keywords are nice, but not more important than producing badass, shit-hot content that your customers will love.

Blog content strategy #2: writing brilliant blogs

Seriously, as soon as you can afford it, hire a blog copywriter.

A copywriter with SEO chops who can:

find the ideal keywords
weave those keywords into your blog in all the right places
write in your personal voice (so even your friends think you wrote it)
structure the blog for readability
do the work while you get a manicure

Copywriters are affordable, especially the newbies. A SEO copywriter might cost you a few more dollarbucks, but still. Well worth your investment.

The best way to find a copywriter is via the Clever Copywriting School Job Board. It’s free to list a job and interested copywriters apply and quote. They are all paying members of the group, so you know they are legit.

Of course, it takes time to develop a relationship with your copywriter. Test them with one or two blogs. If you stick with them, they learn your preferences and get better. (When I was a copywriter, most of my retainer blogging clients made very few changes to my drafts.)

Some copywriters will even publish your blog directly to your website for you.

But if your blog content strategy doesn’t include the budget for a copywriter?

Then, write them yourself.

The one benefit of writing yourself is that it’s already in your tone of voice.

The downside is that you probably like to write pro-fess-ion-ally. Which means boring. So you have to unlearn those bad habits.

So here’s my tips for writing your blog:

use lots of sub headlines, for readability
edit, edit edit — delete any excess waffle
ask questions in your copy, because it’s friendly and readable
mix up your sentence length—short, then long, then short again
use lots of bullets
avoid being salesly, it’s about being helpful
craft a compelling headline that makes a promise — and ensure that the blog content delivers on that promise.

If you can’t afford a copywriter, consider an editor. They can make your blog more readable, get rid of annoying passive voice and chuck unnecessary waffly bits.

If you love writing and you can bash out a shit-hot thought leadership blog? Yep, you are better off writing yourself. But it tends to be last on your to-do list. By hiring a copywriter, you ensure it gets DONE.

Blog content strategy #3: luring blog readers into your funnel

We don’t spend time creating blogs for funsies.

We do it because we want those amazing benefits: more readers, more website traffic and more authority.

So, how do you transform readers and traffic into paying customers?

Tell your readers what to do next with calls to action

At the conclusion of your blog:

direct readers to more blog posts they may like to read
send readers to your sales page
invite readers to join your mailing list

Use links

Linking from one blog to another helps Google crawl your site.

But more importantly, it helps readers discover your cracking library of thought leadership content.

So, within your blog post, get link happy. Link to other blogs you’ve written.

News websites do this really well. When you finish the article, you’ll find a tsunami of other articles you may like to read. Their goal is to keep you on their news site, so they can keep showing you more ads.

Your goal is the same. You want people to keep reading because:

you worked hard to produce your blogs, so you want people to read them
people staying on your site means good dwell time (considered a Google ranking factor)
you show off your knowledge and get people to trust that you are legit
they might like your content and check out your paid offer

How often to blog?

Twice a month.

Why not more? You’re too busy.

Why not less? Because it’s not enough to build up your library of awesome content.

How long should blogs be?

For your customer, each blog should be long enough to cover the subject in depth.

But for SEO, it’s different. Roughly? About 1,000 words.

Throw in the odd longer blog too, anything from 2,000 or even 3,000 words.

(This blog is about 1700 words.)

Blog content strategy #4: promote your blogs

You went to the effort of writing your blog. So go to the same level of effort to get readers. Your blog content strategy is nothing without a good promotion plan.

Obviously, you want to share it with your email list and on your socials. Duh.

That’s hardly ground-breaking advice. Here’s some more ways you can get more new eyeballs on your blog.

ask mates in similar but non-competing industries to share it (and you share theirs)
share it in promo threads in Facebook groups (a nice soft sell)
create 10 Pinterest pins for each blog with quotes, tips and factoids (a good job for a VA)
add a link to your email signature
revisit your five most popular blog posts and share links to this new blog
search for your blog topic in Facebook groups, then share a link to your blog as helpful advice

Once my blog post is published, I keep sharing it with my audience on LinkedIn. Because five percent of your audience sees your social posts, I recommend sharing a previously published post once or twice a week.

You can also consider shipping your blog as a guest post.

You may be able to get it published on a site with more domain authority, and a larger audience, which can boost your following. It’s a good tactic, because you get a valuable backlink. But it takes time to approach each platform and pitch your guest post, which I find off putting. So I never get round to it. #maybeoneday

I also don’t bother with publishing it as a LinkedIn article, on Medium or any of those other content platforms. Because I want to drive the traffic to MY website, not steal a diluted audience from elsewhere.

So, to recap, how to develop your blog content strategy

decide your pillar of content
identify popular blog topics
write good blogs (preferably by outsourcing)
make each blog 1,000-2,000 words
publish twice a month
use links and calls to action to lure readers into your funnel
promote your blog widely

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