My Top 2 Tips for Better Blog Posts

Creating quality content for your website, specifically in the form of blog posts, can be one of the most exciting ways to build your audience, establish yourself as a leader in your niche, and grow your business.

"If you build it, they will come"...right?

Well....not quite!

Leveraging your blog means being intentional with the content you create.

So much has been written about blogging strategies, including countless "how-to" pieces covering the same old advice. Generally speaking, there is a lot of filler (not killer) information out there that is distracting you from your goals.

Lucky for you, there are only two questions you need to ask yourself before writing blog posts. They are so straightforward it's almost ridiculous!

Tip 1 : Is this directed at my ideal audience?

If you haven't already, take a few moments to really drill down and identify your target audience.

Who are they? Where do they live? What are they interested in? Are they visiting your site for pleasure or for personal development?

There are several ways you can get to know your audience a little better:

Take a quick look at your Google Analytics stats and see what you can find out about them
Read through blog comments and look for themes
Send out a survey to your email list and ask them to tell you about themselves
Look at your most popular posts to determine what they have in common and what your audience reacts well to

Before you write a post, ask yourself if it is directed at your ideal audience. If the answer is "no" or "maybe?", it might be time to tweak that idea.

Tip 2: Will my readers find this useful or valuable?

Now that you know who you're writing for, make sure that you're creating content that they will find interesting and useful.

You want them to think "hey, that was written for me and I learned something/enjoyed it!".

Remember that you don't always need to create a super obviously helpful post (like "how to create a website from scratch using SquareSpace")- your audience might also respond well to a post like "5 shamelessly appetizing pictures of nachos".

As a general rule, your readers will connect with your content if it entertains or helps them in some way.

So, for example, if you had initially planned to write a post called "my thoughts on this beautiful Friday morning", ask yourself if you could instead write a stronger blog post that your audience will love. Maybe something like "5 things I'm going to do today to have a great Friday" or "Exactly how I plan my day to have a great Friday" will be a bigger hit.

Keeping your ideal audience in mind and sharing what you know they'll find interesting or useful doesn't have to be difficult- or boring. You can be as creative as you'd like, all the while knowing that you're publishing content that will keep your readers coming back to your site day in - day out.

Have you ever asked yourself these questions before writing a blog post? How has it changed the way you approach blogging? What would your readers find useful or interesting? Leave me a note in the comments!

Interested in learning more about what it takes to get a website up and running? Sign up for my free 7 day e-course!