Unlock The Power of Blogging

7 min readOct 2, 2015

Use these proven techniques to unlock the power of blogging!

Okay, so you’ve got this amazing product or service, and now you want the world to know about it!

You need to get people through your virtual front door (i.e. your company website). Once you have them there, you can show them what sets you apart from the crowd, you can answer their questions, and ultimately convert those visitors into leads and loyal customers.

Sounds simple. And it is. But as any Zen master will tell you, simple does not mean easy.

But why should I blog?

Most people first go to the internet to research a product or service, before they decide whether they will buy. Potential customers will come to your site with the same questions they would if they came into your place of business. So, you need to provide answers that are reliable and build trust. This is the basic principle that applies to all sales: they ask, you answer.

Sales is all about establishing relationships. Whether you’re going to your corner hardware store looking for a certain screwdriver, talking to your investment manager about your retirement plan, or looking for an online service, building quality relationships is essential to business success.

For instance, if the guy at my corner hardware store is more interested in watching the football game, or my investment manager is too busy checking his own portfolio, our exchange will be brief, unproductive, and unlikely to occur again. I’ll simply take my business elsewhere.

A reliable and trustworthy blog page can help your business make a positive first impression that encourages further engagement. Customers can see that you know what you’re talking about, that you have answers they’re looking for, and that you care about earning their business.

Like I said, it’s simple.

How do I blog?

Before you start typing, let me highlight some of the fundamental principles that are drilled into the heads of every content writer. You may also want to quickly review our last post on developing an effective content strategy.

#1: Keep it short, simple and to the point.

Your potential customer is looking to see if you have the information they need. They are not interested in a rambling off-topic discussion about what you learned about life while hang-gliding in Costa Rica.

#2: Use a Descriptive Title.

The topic of your blog should be made clear in the title and the first 2–3 sentences. Your customers are busy people. Studies have shown that we spend, on average, 30 seconds looking to see if a website has what we are looking for. If we don’t feel that it is there in less than 30 seconds, we move on to another site.

#3: Stick to one topic per post.

Convoluted blogs, covering a many topics tend to bore your readers and confuses search engines More is not always more when it comes to writing a blog. You can always provide links to more in-depth answers, or discussions.

#4: Give honest, straight-forward answers.

Honesty, accuracy, and forthrightness always win the day in business.

#5: Do not crowd your post.

Studies show that a crowded page, chock-full of words, either online or in print, simply turns people off.

When it comes to blogging, white space is your friend! Don’t clutter up your page with tons of text and images. And do not — I repeat — DO NOT — write long block paragraphs! This will scare your readers away.

Still unconvinced?

Just compare this 1914 front page of the New York American with a recent front page from the Guardian:

Which one do you instinctively want to read first?

The same rule applies to your blog.

Space is good.

Pics are good.

Color is good.

Less is more.

Repeat this mantra to yourself every time you sit down at your keyboard, and you’ll be fine.

What makes a blog successful?

Business blogs are a dime a dozen these days. So, if you want your blogging efforts to have a real impact on your bottom line, you need to take a lesson or two from the industry bloggers that are doing it right.

Therefore, we consulted the blogging experts at Hubspot, and here’s what they had to say:

#1: Educate your reader.

Try to put yourself in your reader’s shoes. Why did they come to your site? What are they looking for? This is today’s topic. This is today’s answer.

#2: Don’t make it about you.

No one cares about your kids’ little league scores, ballet classes, or your pet’s favorite sleeping spot. So, why would your readers care about your product, unless you’ve demonstrated its relevance to their needs?

In blogs, it’s better to talk more generally about a particular problem and offer helpful solutions — rather than trying to hype your product. This approach will help you build trust with your readers.

#3: Do your homework.

Research the most commonly asked questions about your product. Or put your own questions into a search engine and see what comes up.

What’s the buzz on-line about your type of product, or service? What are your potential customers asking about? What are your competitors saying? And how can you say it better?

#4: Write regularly.

You want traffic to keep returning. You want to build a relationship with your reader. And you want readers to share your blog with others.

So, you can’t just write a one-off blog and leave it at that. No one will come back. Ever.

#5: Read blogs.

This one might sound obvious, but it’s overlooked more often than you’d think.

Look at a lot of other blogs, especially those relevant to your industry. Think about what works, and what doesn’t, and apply this to your own writing.

Can you quickly skim the blog, and still get information you need?

Does the blog make you want to read more?

Do they know what they are talking about?

Do they break up the post with sub-headers, bullet points and short paragraphs?

Are you drawn or repelled just from the look of the post?

What creative tricks did they use to get your attention?

Is there too much fluff and no substance?

Ask other people about their likes and dislikes, when it comes to blogs. Look at “best blogs” and “most popular” blogs — and again, evaluate what works, what doesn’t.

#6: Give Readers Tangible “Next Steps”.

One of the most common mistakes in blogging is failing to provide easily accessible contact information. So, make it very clear how readers can get in touch with you, or your company, if they want to know more.

It’s also a good idea to end your posts with a clear Call-To-Action (CTA), which encourages the reader to take some kind of action — whether it’s downloading a whitepaper, signing up for your newsletter, or just visiting your website.

#7: Include links.

Include links to other relevant posts that you’ve written, or outside posts that build on, or support what you’re discussing. If you use statistics, provide a link to your source. If you discuss a specific product, link the product’s website.

Doing so will help establish your authority among readers, as well as search engines.

#8: Make sharing easy.

Include social sharing buttons at the top and bottom of your posts to make it as easy as possible for readers to share your content.

You can also use plugins like Tweet This to make social sharing even easier and more fun!

#9: Analyze, rinse and repeat.

Blog-site providers offer a variety of metrics that you can use to see who is looking at your posts, which ones were more popular, how to group your posts into sub-topics, where your readers are coming from, how long they stay to read your post, and lots more.

The proof is in the numbers. Use these numbers to evaluate, upgrade and fine-tune your blog posts.

Keep repeating this process and you will become a blogging superstar before you can say, “long-tail keyword”!

Simple, right?

For those of you just starting out, this blogging business may seem like a lot of information to digest. For more introductory details, check out Hubspot Academy’s blogging tutorial.

Trust me, it very quickly becomes second nature.