The Must-Dos for the Most Results

If you run in some of the same circles we do, you might have bumped into our team members without knowing it. It’s an occupational hazard – joining Facebook, LinkedIn, and other groups that focus on blogging, social media, website content, writing, editing, marketing, and business. We love to learn, and we love to pass on what we learn. No, that’s not self-defeating. When business owners raise the writing bar, we all benefit. We all learn, grow and prosper. But enough of our philosophy. Let’s jump into the “musts.”

Your Blogging To-do List

Make a content calendar – When we work with clients, we try to plot out topics and resources based on the length and scope of their contracts. Developing a content calendar means the basic plans are in place for us to create stellar, consistent content that flows from blog to blog.

Plan for SEO – If you have an SEO provider, work with them to keep keywords consistent. And if you are a client with an SEO provider, we want to know. If you don’t have an SEO provider, contact us.

Write for your target market – It’s all about audience, right? Put yourself in their shoes. What do they really want to read and why?

Don’t dumb it down, but… – You never want to talk down to your audience. But you also don’t want to confuse would-be clients who might not know your industry jargon or specifics. Cater the middle ground.

Project your voice – No one wants to read bot-generated content. So don’t write like an industry bot. Sound like a human being. 

Stay on brand – Brand isn’t just made up of logos and taglines. It’s who you are as a business. If your brand is, colorful, fun, and edgy, then write like that. More serious? That’s fine. Just don’t be boring or bot-ish.

Present problems and solutions – Make your blog something people will find helpful. Take fluff off the menu.

Include visuals – Images, infographics, video are all great additions to your text. When you add these, you start appealing to an audience with various learning needs.  

Don’t plagiarize or duplicate – Plagiarism violates copyright law and is just mean. Duplicating content, even if it’s yours, annoys Google. Do the heavy lifting. It’s worth it.

Link to solid sources – Links don’t just help SEO. They help build credibility. Just be sure you link to sites with factual information and up-to-date, well-written content.

Don’t forget a call to action –The point of blogging is to get readers to contact you or offer contact information, at the very least. Remind them what they are supposed to do next.

Edit, re-edit, proof – That’s all we’ve got to say about that.

Yes, a lot goes into producing good content. Yes, more people can do it, even though they don’t believe they can. No, you might not have time to do it all. Yes, we can help. Yes, you should contact us. No, don’t wait. And yes, we’re done telling you what to do…for now.

When outsourcing your content marketing to Rampant Social, we’ll meet with you to discuss your business goals and learn about your organization, your audience, and your preferences. From there, we can build an editorial calendar tailored for your business. You’ll receive content that’s well-researched, well-written, published, and promoted for you.

Rampant Social is a PR and Marketing firm that creates results for its clients through digital marketing, social media, and content creation. For more information, email info@rampantsocial.com