Here's the thing: Most blogs don't work.
Sure, you continuously post content on your site, which means you're likely getting some traffic. It also means that Google continues to see you as a legitimate site. Readers also know you exist... so there's that.
But they're not converting. They're not filling your sales pipeline. Why is this?
Well, your blog is a time filler. A Google hack. A little trick to keep your site relevant in the eyes of the internet god. That's it.
It doesn't matter if you're using high volume keywords and hire someone that's familiar with SEO to optimize your blog and site.
See, you can't think of your blog as a way to generate traffic. You have to think of it as a way to generate leads, and revenue. You can understand SEO and still choose the wrong words. You can still write for yourself instead of the audience. You can still choose the wrong topic material.
If you want your blog to convert, there's a system you can follow. I've broken it down into steps below:
(Before you build blogs that convert, the rest of your site needs to as well. Get to know which pages fail on SEO with a FREE & personalized content analysis report)
Content Ideation:
Creating blogs that convert starts with building the right inventory of content ideas. These ideas need to have intent behind them. To find the kind of topics that will have potential clients converting to real clients, you can do the following:
Ask your sales or customer service department the most common questions customers ask
Ask your existing subscribers or communities what their biggest challenges are
Check Reddit or Quora
Look at Google's Quick Answer boxes as well as "people also ask"
Check Google shopping results
Use the Search in Search feature
Generating Keywords:
This is where a lot of content writers and businesses fail... They're looking for high-volume keywords instead of considering the intent behind the keywords. When speaking among the content marketing community, it's clear to us that there's a lot of confusion around which SEO keywords to use. That's fair. SEO is confusing.
Don't worry, even if you're a beginner, there's a way around SEO.
First, use as many tools as you can. We use Ahrefs, and have loved it from the start. It is by far the best way to analyze site data, including keywords for your site and your competitor. It's expensive...
However, even if you don't have Ahrefs or any other tool, you can do a Google search for free (obviously).
If you've received questions from your sales team, enter that question into google. You'll see search results. Just like in content ideation, you'll see the "people also ask" section, and the Quick Answer boxes. Guess what... those are your keywords. They're called long-tail keywords, or keyword phrases, and they're more effective than a single word because they narrow a search down much further. They're specific.
These phrases are almost as good as, if not equal to a keyword finder tool. The best part is, they'll hit search intent every time.
Search Intent
The intent behind the keywords matter. Your blogs won't convert if you don't hit what your readers are asking. You want to provide answers to their burning questions as well as solutions.
This is why it doesn't matter if you have keywords with high search volume. Because, even if you have a lot of traffic to a page, that doesn't mean it will generate leads. Here I'll let you see for yourself.
I searched for articles similar to the one you're reading right now, and ran a little test on them. You can see in this screen capture of a similarly titled article from Optinmonster, that I've used Spark to analyze the page traffic. See where it says 3,152... that's pretty good.
One reason for this is because they have 712 ranking keywords. Another is because they have good domain authority built over time. After a long time of building traffic, using tons of keywords, you're going to continue to see more traffic. It's a Google thing.
At the end, they add a call to action that spans about a paragraph, and you know what, they likely get conversions. Why? Because they're a lead conversion tool, designed to gather email signatures and grow conversions. This blog is relevant to their brand and their end goal.
I want to take a look at their keywords for a moment though.
According to Ahrefs, Optinmonster has 1,196 keywords on the page. Notice that they're all very high volume keywords? With very high keyword difficulty (KD)? The volume of keywords helps their audience see the blog, and the relevancy helps them convert, and their domain authority allows them to use keywords as simple as "blog post". This works because of that combination.
Unfortunately, most blogs do not have their level of authority. They don't even come close. And, as mentioned, traffic doesn't always mean conversions.
It's better to provide meaningful content that converts your small handful of readers into clients than to have a large readership that doesn't convert at all.
Writing a Blog Post for Conversions
Writing a blog post is easy. Knowing how to write a blog post that converts is much harder. That's not to say that anyone can't do it. In fact, everyone can. It's a matter of loading your pages with the right keywords and designing content written with intent in mind.
There is one another element your blog pages should have. That's a lead magnet or call to action. This can be at the bottom of the page, a pop up, a slid in ad, a HelloBar, etc. As long as it's there.
If your post is long, which is should be- at least over 1,000 words- then you also might want to add in a link or two (or a link with a graphic) somewhere in the middle.
Once the writing part is done, you need to add:
Feature image
Meta title
Meta description
Unique URL
This makes your page easier to find for readers and for Google. It essentially states what your page is about. Moz has a simple tool that helps you see how your metadata looks on a Google search, and also informs you how long each section should be.
After Writing a Blog that Converts
The fun doesn't stop once you've finished writing, adding graphics, and a call to action. You also need to focus on sharing your blogs to every space you possible can. This means all of your connected social media- Facebook and LinkedIn especially. It also means asking influencers and people in your network to share, like, and/or comment on the article (either on social media or your blog... or both).
Here's a little checklist to summarize what each blog needs:
Content ideation that will reach potential buyers
Keywords with intent
SEO filled, long content
Call to action or lead magnet at the end and maybe in the middle
Internal and external links (links to your other pages or resources and links to other sites)
Pictures
Metadata
Sharing, comments, and likes
Content can be difficult to master, but don't feel overwhelmed. You can easily hire someone to write blog posts and other website copy for you (such as The Write Destination). Sometimes it's cheap. Content mills charge pennies on the word and they pay their writers even less (which doesn't really equal great content. If you just need someone to fill your blog with posts, that's an option. If you want blogs that convert, hire someone with experience that WON'T pass your assignments off to a writer that will only make $30 for the piece. This won't help you. Not if you want blogs that actually WORK.
Before you dive into creating blogs that convert for your business, make sure your site content is performing as it should. This means that all of your pages are optimized to get noticed online. The Write Destination offers FREE, personalized to your business, reports that show you where your site content fails on getting you noticed online, and in-turn getting you leads.
