Regular Good Content For Your Blog
If you have a blog, it can sometimes be a little bit challenging to keep up with the content you are trying to put out on a regular basis.
Here’s the thing about blogs.
A blog will only really help you if you are putting content out on a regular basis.
So, how does it help? And what do you do?
Let’s first start with a little history.
The History Behind The Blog
Years ago, a person (or business) had to have a website developer create a website for them. That person used to need a college degree.
Fortunately for everyone (except for maybe web developers), things have drastically changed in the past couple of decades.
The first thing that happened was something called an HTML Editor came out. It typically had two formats, the visual and the HTML.
The visual was known as “What You See Is What You Get.” Or, WYSIWYG for short.
Then, when you would flip over to the HTML format, you would find a language all its own. And this is in fact, another language.
HTML is the language of websites.
Not long after that, the WordPress blog came out. Once again, the greatest thing since sliced bread (or the HTML Editor), however, you want to look at it.
Along with the HTML came plug-ins which performed all kinds of extremely cool feats and could make the blog do many, many – many, many cool things!
The Sales Funnel – The Method To Stay
And NOW, most recently, came along the “Sales Funnel.”
The first page of the sales funnel is known as “Landing Page.” Also known as the “Squeeze Page” or the “Opt-In Page.”
This actually simplified everything but especially turning a profit online.
Because the opt-in page would send people into an auto-responder, which would set them up for a series of valuable content and stories, mixed with profitable offers.
Word quickly spread that the “Landing Page” was the way to go, taking each prospect through a series of steps known as the “Sales Funnel.”
So, What Happened To The Blog?
Well, the blog is still valuable but what people don’t realize is that it is no longer the main attraction, or the website (if you will.)
The blog is really best described as the “Hub” of the business, the place to store and collect content and get “out there” into the search engines for you and everyone to find.
But here’s the thing – what is the role of the blog now? And do we still need one?
Actually, the answer is no. We don’t actually NEED one.
However, it most certainly can come in handy.
The Main Functions of a Blog
You see, in order to get prospects to the “Landing Page,” a person needs to come from “somewhere.”
This is sometimes referred to as the “Pre-Frame.” Which is another way of saying, “Introduction.”
The blog makes a great pre-frame!
So, the blog still does have a few very important functions.
One function is to be there to capture the attention of people searching for what you have to offer.
For example, if someone goes to Google and types in a phrase (known as a keyword phrase), then the articles out there that contain that phrase will show up.
How high they rank in the search engine depends on how well they do with algorithms. An algorithm is kind of like a scorecard – it scores your blog based on several different factors.
One of those factors is how regularly does that post put out new content?
As mentioned earlier, another important function of the blog is to prepare your prospects and “introduce” them into your business.
The Two Main Types of Blog Posts
So, what types of posts should you have on your blog?
Well, there are two main types:
- Content
- Reviews
Since the purpose of a blog post is to introduce people into your business, there is one main way to do this.
And that is by preparing the reader and then sending them to a clickable link (ideally the Landing Page.)
Reviews are a fantastic way of getting people into your business by telling them the pros and cons of a product, and then (conveniently), providing them with a link to the said product.
The Popularity of Blog Reviews
One popular method out there is to give a bad review and bait and switch someone to a different product.
The problem with this method is that it caused a slew of “Scam Reviews” to hit the search engines, talking bad about anybody and everyone who was competing.
Now don’t get me wrong, there are instances where it is warranted to warn people of scams.
But more times than not, these other marketers are just people out there trying to make a living, just like the person who wrote the review.
In fact, on the other side of the coin, there are some marketers who believe writing bad reviews is actually bad for business.
Because after all, who wants to go around making enemies all over the place?
Yes, sometimes controversy is good for business.
But other times, you can get further in business by creating a positive atmosphere with the competition, and later swapping joint venture approaches.
In other words, “You help me and I will help you.” If you have written a bad review about someone, you have just shot yourself in the foot.
At least as far as that person is concerned.
Nope. Can’t get help from that person. Like, ever.
So, the other philosophy is to mainly post positive reviews on only businesses that you have had a good experience with.
If you had a bad experience, don’t give them any attention at all.
The Content Blog Post
So, what about “Content” Blog Posts?
Those are posts where you are sharing positive, valuable information with your audience. In other words, teaching them something.
There are a few main parts of a “Content” blog post.
First and foremost is having a good headline.
Without a good headline, nobody will ever read the post at all!
Second in importance is to have a good introduction. What you are doing here is telling your audience what they can expect to learn from your post.
The third section of a blog post is the “body” of the email.
In this section, you will list approximately 3 – 5 things that you want to teach the people reading the article.
This is where you actually teach your audience and provide the most value.
And then last, you would write the “Conclusion.” In this section, you will summarize what the article is about.
Believe it or not, the “Conclusion” is very important because most people will scroll to the bottom of the post before they read the middle.
For this reason, you need to make sure that the conclusion summarizes the article in an enticing and inviting way, causing your reader to “back up and read.”
In Summary
So, now that you know the history of the blog posts, the purpose of them, the different types of blog posts, and what they are used for, let me ask you a question.
What kind of post do you think this one is? If you guessed “Content,” then you guessed right!
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