PROSAR Blogging Guide

Guide for
Effective Blogging
Guide for Effective Blogging
Table of Contents
Introduction to Blogging .................................................................................................... 3
Developing a Content Strategy and Editorial Calendar .................................................... 7
Content Creation............................................................................................................... 9
Content Sharing.............................................................................................................. 13
Appendix 1 - Blog Post Ideas ......................................................................................... 15
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Introduction to Blogging
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People love to read blogs that speak directly to them. Readers connect with blog articles since
they express ideas in a stronger manner than generic, wordy content drafted to fill space. Many
of us have opinions and knowledge worth sharing; a blog gives us a voice and a platform to
express ourselves. Add to that a hint of your personality and passion and you have the elements
to create an amazing blog.
There are some basic ingredients to building a successful blog:
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Keep the material fresh and exciting
Give people a reason to return
Create a sense of community
Engage with your readers in the comments section of your blog
Blog Post Structure
Every post should contain these key elements:
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Headline – catch your readers’ attention
Introduction – hook the reader and introduce the topic
Main Body – explore the topic, often with sub-sections or several bullet points
Conclusion – summarize the main points
Call-to-Action – ask the reader to take an action Image – include at least one image per post Different Types of Blog Posts
Keep the content interesting by writing types of posts, such as:
How-to
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Write a detailed article explaining the steps involved in doing something or the different
stages of process.
Ex. How to Create a Blog Editorial Calendar
Comparison
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Compare two or more products, services, or things and say which you like better and
why.
Pick a comparison that is relevant to your blog subject: and your reader will greatly
appreciate your insight and recommendation.
Ex. Cheat Sheet: Image Sizes for Twitter, Facebook, Google+ & LinkedIn
Numbered Lists
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This type of post is straightforward to write and the opportunities are endless.
Ex. 4 Ways to Get More Clicks on Your Calls-To-Action
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Success Story
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Highlight the story of an individual or group from your department that has done
something remarkable or has achieved success.
Ex. How to Get Over 50% Engagement on Facebook [video]
Experiential/Reflective
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Write from a personal point of view of a specific experience you’ve had.
Ex. Inbound Marketing Inspired by Music Festivals
Writing Headlines That Get Clicks
First impressions matter!
The title of your blog post is extremely important because it is the first thing that a reader
sees. Blog readers generally pay attention to the title and the first two paragraphs of any given
post, and then decide whether to read the rest. Often people will see the blog post title on social
media or in an RSS reader and will base their decision to click solely on that.
There are three elements that make a good title:
1. Simple description of the article
2. Creative hook to grab the reader's attention
3. Use of your main keyword or phrase
Tips for creating a title that ‘hooks’:
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Start your title with "who," "what," "why" or "how" (sometimes "where") to create curiosity.
Ex. "Why I Only Run in the Winter" is more compelling than "Running in the
Winter"
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Use the formula "X Ways/Reasons to/why ____ in/for ____ ".
Ex. "3 Reasons Why You Should Write Excellent Titles for Your Blog"
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Add qualifiers, like "excellent" or "surprising" — this adds more allure, creates more
interest, and allows you to show your individual voice.
Ex. 5 Surprising Reasons Why Students Choose Algonquin’s School of Business
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Demonstrate knowledge by writing a “how to” post.
Ex. How to Sign Up For a Program in 3 Easy Steps
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Ask a question
Ex. “Can you imagine a life without…?”
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Use words that create shock and wonder, such as “secrets”, “reveal”, “unveiled”,
“beware”, “caution”
Ex. “Secrets about ___ revealed!”
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Use numbers
Ex. “5 reasons why…”, “Top 6 ways to…”, “8 Things You Might Not Know…”
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Make sure the title matches the body content. Don’t use a humorous title if the post isn’t funny or
snarky. Above all, be authentic and stay true to your voice. Write posts and titles that reflect your
personality or the school “brand.” Not only will the writing flow better, it will appear genuine to
your audience.
Blog Writing Best Practices
1. Write a catchy headline
Create a headline that immediately draws the reader in and makes them click because they
want to know more. Use different techniques to write a headline that hooks.
2. Entice your readers with the opener
Research shows that people only read the first few lines of an article before deciding whether or
not to keep reading. Therefore, the opening lines of a blog post are crucial.
Start off with a quote, a question or a bold statement. You only have one shot at this, so make it
count.
3. Present useful content
A good, focused blog post sticks to one topic with some supporting points. Before you begin,
think about the topic you want to write about. Jot down some ideas and even create an outline.
Often, it helps to come up with a title (you can always change this later) to help guide your
thinking.
What will your readers take away from your article? Is it practical or actionable advice? What are
your supporting reasons?
By creating content that is useful, your readers will start to turn to you as a source of information
and advice on a regular basis.
4. Avoid using technical language, jargon, and industry acronyms
When your content is familiar and reads like a conversation, you're far more likely to retain
readers through to the end.
5. Split up your points
Break up long paragraphs and use headers when appropriate to separate content into different
sections. You can do this by using various formatting techniques to give your readers' eyes and
brains a bit of a break.
6. Use images to help tell your story
Break up your content by adding in images that are relevant to your post and help make your
point. The human mind tends to remember and recognize images more easily than text.
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7. Format your posts for scanners
Most people will scan the post rather than read every single word. Here are a few ideas for
writing scannable content:
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Use headings. This breaks up your content into relevant chunks.
Use numbered lists. People like order and relate well to a prioritized or sequential list.
Use bullet points. Bullets can actually make you a better blogger. You can also use
bullets to plan/write your posts.
Have fun with formatting. Make good use of the bold and italic formatting options, but
be careful not to over-use formatting.
8. Write like you talk
Blogging is different from other types of writing, such as essays or reports. Blogging is more
social and about community so there should be a conversational flow to your content.
9. Link to quality content
People will often follow anchor text (that's the blue text that indicates a link on your page). Give
them something worth clicking. Link to some of your best content (and other’s content too).
10. Include a call-to-action
Every blog article should end with a clear and actionable call-to-action. This could be an
invitation to comment on a question at the end of the post, an offer to sign up for a course or
program, or another type of action that’s appropriate based on the content of the blog post.
Readers are less likely to act on their own initiative, if you want people to comment or subscribe,
don’t assume they will do it themselves, invite them to do it. A call-to-action is an opportunity to
develop a stronger tie with the reader and nurture a relationship.
Finding Your Voice
Voice is one of the most important elements of a successful blog. By voice, we mean an
individual writing style of an author, a combination of usage of syntax, diction, punctuation, and
your personality. It’s the unique way that you communicate. Although you are writing and not speaking, authenticity comes across to your reader. It’s
important to write in a voice that is unique to you, so just be yourself.
Steps for finding your voice:
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Describe yourself in three adjectives. Think of those traits when you’re writing.
Ask yourself: “Is this how I talk?” Write like you speak.
Look at the types of books, articles, or blogs you read. Why do you read them? What is it
about how they are written that draws you in?
Ask others: “What’s my voice? What do I sound like?” Take note of the answers you get.
Do an exercise where you write on something familiar without any editing. Then go back
and read it. Is it different from what you usually publish?
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The important thing is to keep writing. Often it takes a little while to feel comfortable. Try out
different styles; you’ll be able to tell what works and what doesn’t. Your voice will start to come
out naturally as you continue writing.
Developing a Content Strategy and Editorial Calendar
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Blog Goals
Knowing your goals makes the process of creating a content strategy and editorial calendar
much easier.
Write out your goals for having a blog. What do you hope to achieve? More readers, higher
sales, a stronger community?
Break down your goals by year, month, and week and review regularly to make sure you are
staying on track.
Target Audience
When writing and preparing for your blog post you will need to think about your target audience.
The content of your articles should appeal to the type(s) of demographics you want to reach.
Knowing your audience and writing for/to them helps make your blog posts something they want
to read. As well, it allows you to think about the type of language and cultural references you
use.
Creating a Content Strategy
When creating a content strategy, use your goals and the demographics of your target audience
to guide your topics.
Another part of the content strategy is linking to other marketing activities. Find out what
marketing campaigns, events or projects are happening and create content that works alongside
these activities.
Understanding the Purpose of an Editorial Calendar
The primary purpose of an editorial calendar is to organize your content and plan when you will
publish it. The calendar helps to ensure that you always have content ready. If there is more
than one person involved in creating content, an editorial calendar can outline responsibilities
and deadlines. You can also use the editorial calendar to keep track of content ideas, links,
content to repurpose, etc.
By planning your content ahead of time, you ensure that it aligns with your goals and other
marketing activities, such as events or campaigns.
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Keep in mind that although you are mapping content out in advance, you should remain flexible
and adaptable. Sometimes time-sensitive news or last-minute events require you to adjust your
publishing schedule.
Elements of an Editorial Calendar
How you organize your calendar depending on your preferences and what tools you use, but
there are some basic elements that should be included:
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Title – Catchy, yet descriptive
Description – Summarize the content
Publishing Date – Use this to set timelines for production and review
People Involved – List who is responsible for what. Make sure people clearly understand
their roles
Associated Keywords – List keywords (3-5) that you want to include in the blog post for
SEO purposes
Categories – Related to post and keywords
Tags – Related to post and keywords
Call-to-action – What action do you want readers to take?
Status – Create a few status categories, like “pending”, “in progress”, “published”, etc.
Related Marketing Opportunities – Does the post relate to an upcoming marketing
opportunity? If so, take note in the calendar so you can liaise with the appropriate
individuals
Organizing the Calendar
A variety of tools exist that you can use to create an editorial calendar ranging from paper to
spreadsheets to standalone software. There are at least four types of technology used to create
an editorial calendar:
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Paper and a file folder
Online calendar (Ex. Google Calendar, Outlook Calendar)
Online spreadsheet (Ex. Excel or Google Docs)
Editorial process tracking software
Using paper may serve you better in the initial brainstorming stages, but unless no one else
needs access to your calendar, it’s difficult to share and use as a collaboration tool.
Online calendars and spreadsheets are similar in that you are able to share them with numerous
people and can make changes easily and efficiently. A calendar is helpful for a bigger picture
view, as you can see at a glance what’s being published when. The downside is that you are
limited in the space you have on the calendar itself and it’s more difficult to compare entries by
type (ie. keyword, status).
A spreadsheet allows you to create columns for all the elements you are including in the
calendar. A useful feature is the ability to sort by column. This can help you stay organized – you
can quickly see how many posts are “in progress” – as well as keep you on track towards your
goals – you can sort by keyword and see whether or not you are using all the identified
keywords.
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Editorial process tracking software is primarily used by large publishing operations such as
newspapers and magazines. It can be costly and contain features not needed for organizing
blog posts.
PROSAR recommends using a spreadsheet for your editorial calendar with each element of the
calendar given its own column.
Content Creation
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Creating content involves a number of different steps to ensure the blog post is helping to meet
your goals.
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Research
Brainstorming and Structuring
Writing
Editing and Link-Checking
Optimizing for SEO
Research
Conducting some research before writing will help the blog post come together much easier.
Keywords
Keywords are words that website users would type into a search engine such as Google or Bing
to find a company like yours. Keywords need to be taken into consideration when writing your
blog. This is what will give your blog the most power on the web. However, don't clutter your
post with blatant keyword phrases.
Knowing what keywords are being used to search for your company will not only help with
search engine optimization but will also give you ideas for what to write about. Conduct external
research or look at Google Analytics to see what words or phrases are driving traffic to your site.
Compile these into a list.
A good exercise is to take one keyword or phrase and write down five headlines (i.e. blog post
ideas) for it. Do this for all the main keywords you’ve identified and you’ll have a wealth of ideas
to get you and your team started.
Additional Sources for Content Ideas
Google Alerts
This feature is a great way to generate blog ideas. Go to www.google.com/alerts and set up an
alert for your primary keywords. Articles with those keywords will be sent to your email address
giving you ideas for fresh blog ideas.
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Frequency Asked Questions
Talk to your sales team to learn the typical questions they are asked by prospective customers.
Take the relevant points and write a blog post answering each question.
Upcoming Events
Look into what events are coming up in your business or industry. Write a post promoting the
event with reasons why readers should attend. At the event, interview a few people giving you
material for a post-event blog article. Be sure to get permission to quote the interviewees.
Reading Related Content
Reading content related to your department can help inspire a blog post of your own. Using an
RSS reader like Google Reader is an easy way to read all the interesting blogs you follow. You’ll
be able to see what topics and trending and also what’s missing that you can write about.
For more blog post ideas, see Appendix 1.
Brainstorming and Structuring
Before you begin writing each post, consider your subject (the general topic you want to write
about), then narrow it down to a theme (your specific angle and area of focus), and then an
objective (what you want to accomplish).
A good practice when preparing to write a post is to follow each of these elements, treating them
as steps that help you write your outline:
1. Choose a topic
2. Write a draft title
3. Write the introductory paragraph
4. List your main points (and sub-points, if applicable)
5. Draft a rough conclusion and call-to-action
Depending on what works for you, it may be easier to start with a pen and paper, jotting down
thoughts and ideas in a rough manner.
During the brainstorm phase, try not to edit your work. Write down all ideas and how they seem
to fit. As you begin to fill in your outline, you can change things around or delete sections that
don’t fit.
Once your outline is complete, you can move on to the writing stage.
Writing
In this stage, you are putting the meat on the bones of your outline. The outline should have
included an introduction paragraph, headings (possibly also sub-headings), and a conclusion
with a call-to-action.
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Introduction
The introduction to your blog post is extremely important because it is the next thing that a
reader looks at after your blog post title. The introduction is what the reader will base their
decision on regarding whether to continue reading or not.
Ideas for an eye-catching introduction:
• Start with a statement
• Start with a question
• Start with a fact
• Start with an inspirational quote
• Start with a story
• Be funny (depending on the subject matter)
You should always have a related image accompanying the introductory paragraph. The image
helps engage the reader and draw them in.
Body Copy
In this section you’re writing the main points of your blog post. Using headings in your blog will
not only help direct your reader’s eyes to principal information, but it will also help in breaking up
large paragraphs. It offers your audience a quick road map, and separates the page into
smaller, easier-to-read chunks.
Try to use various formatting techniques to give your readers' eyes and brains a bit of a break
(e.g. Try using a different colour font for the headings and bold or italicize them).
The length of your blog post depends on the subject matter and type of post; aim for 400-600
words.
Conclusion and Call-to-Action
By this point you have successfully kept the attention of your readers through the body of your
blog post. Summarize the key points in a couple of sentences.
Writing a conclusion will help make your post more memorable to readers. They are also more
likely to look for other links to your published blog posts at this time, which can increase your
readership.
Conclusions should encourage readers to take action on what they have read. Highlight exciting
or interesting information in your conclusion.
Asking an open-ended question at the end of your post can help your readers to reflect on the
post. Leave room for their comments/opinion.
Every post should conclude with a call-to-action. This may be the open-ended question or
another action such as clicking to view more information, signing up for an event, requesting a
download, connecting via social media, etc.
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Editing and Link-Checking
Once you’ve completed your first draft, read through it from beginning to end. At first, read it for
flow. Do all the pieces fit together and lead from one paragraph to the next? If necessary, move
sentences or paragraphs around or change heading titles to make it easier to read and
comprehend.
Next, look for spelling and grammar errors. Try reading your post from bottom to top. This will
help your eye catch mistakes more easily. Printing your blog will help you to catch mistakes you
would otherwise miss.
Finally, check to see that all of the links in your post work correctly.
Optimizing for SEO
Optimizing the blog post for SEO will help your blog rank higher in an Internet search. There are
specific actions to take that work to optimize the post.
Meta Description
Meta data is the text seen as the description of a site that comes up in a search engine.
Including keywords in your meta description can attract visitors. When people search online for a
specific keyword, the search engine bolds the search words in the results; this helps make your
article stand out. If this area is left blank, the search engine will grab the first text it comes to on
the page, which may or may not be detailed enough to encourage the prospective visitor to click
on your link.
Use a concise descriptive sentence which describes the content on that page and includes
keywords whenever possible.
Keep the length of the meta description to less than 160 characters (with spaces) since search
engines generally truncate snippets longer than this.
Keywords
Writing your blog post using keywords that are relevant to your topic will increase your chances
of getting found by people searching with those keywords.
To optimize your post using keywords, create a list of 3-5 keywords relevant to your blog topic.
Think of words and short phrases that get to the core of what your blog is about. There are a
number of online tools you can use to determine the competitiveness of a specific
keyword (i.e. Google Keyword, Wordtracker or Hubspot’s Keyword Grader).
Choose approximately 5 keywords that suit your blog topic well. Once you have chosen your
keywords, incorporate them into your blog. Remember to add keyword(s) to the title of your post.
Alt Text for Images
When using a photo, image or graphic, be sure to include alt text – which is a description of the
photo, image or graphic. Using descriptive keywords will help it rank with search engine image
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searches, and allow the search engines to “see” what the image is about. It also helps with
accessibility and screen readers. This must be less than 100 characters (including spaces).
Cross-linking
Throughout your post you should identify opportunities to link to content on the School’s site or
previously published blog posts.
When linking from one page to another, whether internal or external to your site, ensure that the
link text you use accurately describes where that link is going and includes common keywords.
Avoid using “click here.” This is important in terms of SEO and accessibility/screen readers.
Content Sharing
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There are a number of ways you can share your blog posts:
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Share the Blog on Social Media
Outreach to Bloggers
Share the Blog on Social Media
Once your blog post is online, help drive traffic to it by sharing with your company’s social media
networks.
Drafting Messaging
To prepare the message for social media you’ll need the blog post title and blog post URL. You
may want to also write a short sentence that further explains what the post is about.
For Twitter, don’t forget to include a few hashtags specific to your topic.
Tools to Simplify the Process
There are many free tools (social media dashboards) available to help make your time on social
media more efficient. These dashboards allow you to follow and engage with multiple platforms
all in one place. You can create searches around keywords you’re targeting and engage with
your network.
PROSAR recommends HootSuite as our preferred social media dashboard. With HootSuite, you
can add accounts for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+, plus a suite of social content
apps for YouTube, Flickr, Instagram, Yammer, Tumblr and more.
Just click on the Add Stream button, select the social media network, and log in to your account.
(In some cases you'll need to allow HootSuite to access your account).
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Compose your message and select which social media network you'd like to post your message
to. You can choose as many as networks as you like to send the message at the same time.
You can choose to send immediately or schedule for a date in the future.
One of the best aspects of using HootSuite is that you can monitor all of your accounts in a
quick and easy manner. Simply click through and view each stream to see what comments have
been posted, and respond accordingly.
Share on Other Networks
Sharing your blog posts on other networks will allow for a higher readership. Having your blog
posts published on multiple sites is also good for SEO purposes since it provides a link back to
the blog. However, don’t post your blog articles in the same place multiple times.
As well, make sure that your blog posts are relevant to the type of group you are posting in.
Once you post your blog, remember to contribute to these groups in other ways, either by taking
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part in discussions or sharing other people’s content. The group isn’t solely there for you to
broadcast your blog posts.
Posting to social bookmarking websites, such as StumbleUpon, Reddit, Sphinn, Digg, is another
way to get content in front of more readers and create links back to the blog.
Outreach to Bloggers
Blogger outreach involves finding bloggers who post on topics related to your content and
developing a relationship with them. The long-term purpose is for them to help promote your
content on their site and networks. However, it is important to develop a relationship first, before asking for any favours. As well,
follow them for a while or read their site/blog before making any contact. You’ll want to
demonstrate that you know about them and their blogging content. Sending a generic message
will be obvious and not well received. Appendix 1 - Blog Post Ideas
……………………………………………………………………………………….. How-to’s and Tips
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Write a how-to article. Give instructions with screenshots or photos on the steps
someone needs to take to do something.
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Point out common mistakes in your industry and offer solutions on how to fix or avoid
them
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Offer a list of benefits for doing something.
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Share a list of some things to avoid.
Use Existing Content
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Take the contrarian position. Find someone else’s article that you disagree with.
Introduce your blog post with what you specifically disagree with it, and support your
argument with a few concise points.
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Do a roundup of relevant news for your community.
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Find tips in other content, create a list of those tips and link to those articles.
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Share conference takeaways.
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Do a roundup of last year’s/month’s/week’s most popular posts.
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Incorporate Other Platforms
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Create a Slideshare presentation of new statistics related to your space and share that in
a blog post. Tag the Slideshare presentation with relevant keywords for your company to
leverage SEO benefits of the platform.
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Ask a question on Twitter and share the results with a Storify embed.
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Collect Tweets from a webinar or conference hashtag, show them off with Storify and
offer your own takeaways in the blog post.
Research •
Respond to industry research with your own perspective. Offer a fresh angle to spark
conversation.
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Do a survey with Survey Monkey among your community members and create an
infographic based on the results.
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Do a poll of your Twitter community with a Twtpoll or your Facebook community with a
Facebook Question and post the results on your blog.
Thought Leadership
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Record an interview with an expert in your field and post it to your blog.
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Get experts to offer a tip and do a round-up of their recommendations.
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Create a list of trends to watch.
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Do a review of other non-competitive products or services that your community cares
about.
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Be a journalist: Be the first in your space to offer industry takeaways about breaking
news.
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Explain what a current event or topic in the news means for your industry or community.
Example: “What ____ Means for ____.” “Why _____ Matters for _____.”
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De-bunk common myths.
Make it About Your Community
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Post a Flickr slideshow of pictures from a recent event.
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Run a contest and give away something relevant to your community.
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Publish a post relevant to the current season or holiday.
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Feeling a little overwhelmed?
Unsure where to start?
PROSAR can help!
Contact us today
to learn how to get your blog going:
[email protected]
613-234-3410
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