Why You Need To Plan Content Strategy When Starting A Blog
Hey, new blogger! I know you are excited to start your blog and write about your favourite hobby. And while it’s great that you have a passion for something, if you don’t have a content strategy plan for your blog, then things can quickly get out of hand.
If this is the first time you are starting a blog, take the time to create an outline or plan for how often and when posts will go live. You can even make some ideas lists with different topics so that when inspiration strikes, all you need to do is pull up the list and start writing! If you haven’t got your website yet, get your Bluehost self-hosted WordPress site HERE. WordPress is free with Bluehost, plus you get a free domain. Perfect for you newbies! If you need help with this check out how to start a blog.
It also helps to set deadlines in advance because it forces us to complete our work by those dates, or else we risk getting behind.
WHAT ARE YOUR BLOGGING GOALS?
Do you want to make money from it, or do you simply enjoy writing about what interests you? What type of content do you like to share with readers?
All of these questions will help determine what kind of blog post strategy is best for your blog. An excellent place to start would be deciding on a niche topic and then figuring out how often and when you will publish new content.
You’ll also need social media accounts so people can find your work!
What’s stopping you from starting today?
When I started, I thought it was just a matter of writing a few blog posts, publish, then the job done! But I eventually found out (about 9 months later) that this wasn’t working, and I wasn’t earning anything either!
It can be tough to figure out what to write about when starting a blog, but it’s essential that you have a content strategy in place.
What is content strategy
Content strategy is an evolving field, but it can be boiled down to one thing: organizing content to best support the user’s needs. Content strategy for your blog is a series of goals, tasks, and initiatives that help you manage all of the content on your site. It encompasses everything from what to publish to how to promote it. Here are 10 steps for an effective content strategy.
- Define your audience – what type of people would look at your blog?
- Create a list of keywords for your content for SEO purposes; include links back to related posts on the blog – keyword research is key when starting a blog so I highly recommend my HOW TO SEO THE RIGHT WAY course so you can get organic traffic to your blog asap!
- Determine the best topics to write about
- Develop an editorial calendar – get yours FREE here >> EDITORIAL CALENDER
- Hire writers with expertise in your niche only if you can afford to – better still get an AI assistant like Jarvis,(Now called Jasper) it’s really cool and helps big time! You get 10,000 free credits when you sign up.
- Promote each post on social media and other platforms – Pinterest is great for instant traffic!
- Determine your end goal – very important. What’s your main aim of creating your blog?
- Include images, videos, and infographics in posts as much as possible to make them more engaging and easier for readers to understand; use captions when necessary – You can do this is CANVA.
- Adjust the tone of voice and style of writing to match your target audience’s preferences – GRAMMARLY will help you (don’t know what I’d do without it).
- Brainstorm ideas for content that will help you achieve this goal – You can do this in Jarvis AI tool
The importance of consistency and regularity
It’s very important to be consistent and regular with blogging. It’s the only way you can create a sustainable blog that will grow in readership over time. Without consistency, your blog may fizzle out quickly or not gain much traction at all.
With consistency, your blog is sure to have longevity! The most successful bloggers are those who are committed to posting consistently on their blogs – it’s one of the best habits you can form for yourself as a blogger.
There are tons of strategies out there for increasing reader engagement, but nothing beats being consistent and regular with posting content on your blog.
So how often should you post your blog content?
If you’re just starting out, you should aim for about 3 a week until you have good content to cover all your categories. Then later one I suggest a least once a week.
At the end of the day, there are so many factors at play! The frequency of posts depends on your audience, what type of blog you have (personal or business), and even the topic of your posts. For example, if you’re publishing recipes for cooking enthusiasts, then it makes sense to publish more frequently – usually once every few days – than someone who blogs about politics because we know that people care less about politics than they do their stomachs!
It’s important to think about these things before diving into blogging so that it doesn’t become too much work or feel like too much pressure.
HOW TO EARN MONEY FROM YOUR BLOG
Once you’ve got some decent content on your site, you need to gain subscribers so then you can send weekly newsletters and update them with your latest posts and a CTA (call to action – something you want to sell). This is one way of earning an income. The more subscribers you have, the better.
HOW TO GET SUBSCRIBERS
One way of getting people to subscribe is offering people a FREEBIE. People are willing to give you their email addresses for a freebie. Make sure you have a freebie for each category. Either embed the form in the middle of the post or as a pop-up. I use ConvertKit, it’s FREE for up to 1000 subscribers, plus you can add the products you want to sell. Give it a go HERE.
You can even share your forms on social media to get people to sign up that way.
JOIN AFFILIATE PROGRAMMES
When you’re just starting out, apply for Google Adsense. Next, you need to apply for affiliate programs and an Ad Network, so then you can embed your links into your posts. Even though you don’t earn much from Google Adsense, something is better than nothing.
Make sure your site looks presentable and has the following before applying for any program:
- HOME PAGE
- CONTACT PAGE
- PRIVACY POLICY
- DISCLAIMER
- CATEGORIES
- AT LEAST 15 BLOG POSTS
CREATE YOUR OWN PRODUCTS
With any blog, you really need to sell at least one product on your blog. You can start with creating an E-book. It doesn’t have to contain lots of pages but having quality content is key. Ana from The She Approach has a course just for this, see for yourself, it’s called the EBOOK BESTSELLER BOOTCAMP COURSE.
You can even create simple PRINTABLES to sell or for adding freebies to get people to subscribe. I learnt how to do this from the lovely SUZI with her PRINTABLES BY NUMBER course.
Another great way to earn an income is by creating your very own course! You don’t have to be a qualified teacher but if you know how to do something on a particular subject, then make it into a course. I did this with my SEO The Right Way course. I have learnt so many things with SEO and blogging that I decided to create my own course. It was a no brainer.
Think about what you are good at or your favourite pastime and make it into a course. I use the THINKIFIC platform to create my course as it’s so easy to use, and your customers get access straight away once they’ve paid for it. Even my husband created a course. He was so impressed!
So when you’ve created your products, make sure you mention these in your blog posts as a Call To Action if it’s related to what you write at the time. Or include them in your weekly newsletters to your subscribers.
CONCLUSION
I hope you found these tips helpful. It’s up to you to decide what kind of blogger you want to be, but with the help of this post and some hard work on your part, it won’t take long before your blog becomes a success. Once again, thank you for reading my article today. Please share if you can, and I would love to add you to my list of subscribers. Just pop your details in the box below.
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