Blogging is an increasingly popular and powerful tool for individuals and businesses to share their thoughts, expertise, and stories with a global audience. But not everyone believes in it. Sometimes you need to sell blogging to a skeptic. Here's how to do just that.
Why is it hard to sell blogging?
There are a few reasons why it can be challenging to sell blogging to skeptics.
Misconceptions: Many people have misconceptions about blogging, such as believing it's just a personal journal or a platform for gossip.
These misconceptions can make it challenging to convince them of the value of blogging as a personal or professional growth tool.
Time and effort: Blogging requires time and effort to create high-quality content to attract and engage an audience.
This can be a barrier for some people needing more time or resources to commit to blogging consistently.
ROI: For some skeptics, the return on investment (ROI) of blogging may take a lot of work to measure, particularly in the short term.
Building a following and seeing tangible results from blogging can take time, which can be a turnoff for those looking for quick wins.
Competition: The blogging world is crowded, and it can be challenging to stand out and attract an audience.
This can make some people feel like their efforts will be in vain or that they won't be able to make an impact in the blogging world.
Five Blogging Misconceptions
1) Blogging is a waste of time
This is a common misconception about blogging, but it is far from the truth. Blogging can effectively build a brand, share expertise, connect with an audience, and generate leads.
Many successful businesses and individuals have used blogging to grow their audience and establish themselves as thought leaders in their industry.
Many more have turned their blog into profitable business ventures and have sold them for significant money.
2) Blogging doesn't impact actual business
This misconception stems from believing blogging is a marketing tool and doesn't impact the bottom line. Or that blogging doesn't reach potential customers, and thus it isn't worth pursuing.
Indeed, most blog posts do not have stellar conversion rates. Still, when you combine everything a blog can accomplish (organic rankings, organic traffic, reaching potential customers, and contributing a 1% conversion rate), it's sufficient to say that having a blog is a bigger positive than negative.
Blogging can impact online business, from generating leads and improving SEO to establishing credibility and building brand awareness. You can also build your email subscriber list and improve your use of social media with bite-size blog content.
3) Blogging is no longer relevant
While it's true that the blogging landscape has changed over the years, blogging is still relevant and can be a valuable tool for businesses and individuals.
Blogging has evolved to include various types of content, such as video and audio, making it even more versatile. Both vlogging and podcasting have emerged as front-runners for newly established blogs that want to monetize.
4) Blogging is too easy
Anyone can start a blog. But creating high-quality content that resonates with an audience takes time, effort, and skill. Building a profitable blog is much different than constructing an amateur blog.
It's not just about writing; it's also about understanding your audience, developing a content strategy, and promoting your content effectively.
5) Blog content must be published daily to succeed
While consistency is vital in blogging, quality is more critical than quantity. It's better to publish high-quality content less frequently than low-quality content daily.
Finding a balance that works for your audience and your resources is key. Understanding why you are blogging will be critical to help determine the type of content you will use in your blog posts.
Suppose a potential customer finds customer success stories important. In that case, you'd likely use those in your blog posts and include some customer testimonials, written or video, which would enhance the ability of that post to reach the right audience and perhaps close deals.
How to Sell Blogging
Start with powerful statistics
Starting with powerful statistics means using compelling data and numbers to capture your audience's attention and convince them of the importance or benefits of a particular product, service, or idea.
These statistics should be relevant, reliable, and support your main argument. By starting with powerful statistics, you can help establish credibility, build interest, and engage your audience meaningfully.
Here are five powerful statistics to start selling the benefits of blogging: (all statistics from HubSpot and Orbitmedia)
- Companies that blog receive 97% more backlinks to their website, which can improve their search engine rankings and drive more traffic to their site.
- B2B marketers that use blogs receive 67% more leads than those without.
- According to a survey by Orbit Media, the average blog post is now 1,269 words, up from 808 words in 2014. This indicates that businesses are investing more time and effort into creating longer, more valuable blog content.
- Websites with blogs have 434% more indexed pages than those that don't, which means more opportunities for search engines to discover and rank their content.
- According to Statista, there were over 600 million active blogs in 2020, and this is expected to grow in the coming years. This demonstrates the increasing popularity and importance of blogging as a marketing tool.
Define what success looks like
Defining what success looks like in blogging is crucial in selling the idea of blogging to others.
Successful blogging can mean different things to different people, such as generating more traffic to a website, increasing brand awareness, building a loyal following, or making money from blog monetization strategies.
Once you have identified what success means to the person you are selling to, you can demonstrate how others have achieved similar success through blogging.
Here are some ways to show others how bloggers have succeeded:
Share success stories: Share success stories of bloggers who have achieved the same goals as the person you are selling to. You can find these success stories by researching or using your own experience as a blogger.
Show statistics: Show statistics on how blogs have helped businesses or individuals achieve success. You can find these statistics from various studies or research reports.
Share case studies: Share case studies of how blogging has helped businesses or individuals achieve their goals. These case studies can provide real-life examples of how blogging can be effective.
Provide examples: Provide examples of successful blogs that are relevant to the person you are selling to. This can help them see the potential of blogging for their own goals.
By defining what success looks like and showing how others have achieved it through blogging, you can make a compelling case for why blogging can be a valuable investment of time and resources.
Demonstrate how blogging increases organic rankings
One of the key benefits of blogging is that it can significantly improve a website's organic search rankings. Here are a few ways to demonstrate this to potential buyers:
Use SEO Tools: Use SEO tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console to show potential buyers how their website's organic search traffic has improved since they started blogging.
You can show them the increase in search rankings, traffic, and click-through rates.
Keyword Research: Use keyword research tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs to identify relevant keywords and phrases for their business. Show them how blogging about these keywords can help them rank higher in search engines for those terms.
Content Quality: Emphasize the importance of high-quality content in blogging, which can improve website authority and increase the likelihood of earning backlinks essential for improving organic search rankings.
Long-term Strategy: Remind potential buyers that blogging is a long-term strategy that requires patience and persistence. Explain that consistent blogging will improve their website's authority, trustworthiness, and search engine rankings.
Industry Expertise: Show potential buyers that blogging can position them as industry experts and thought leaders in their field. Regularly publishing high-quality content can attract a loyal following and gain credibility with customers and search engines.
By demonstrating how blogging can improve organic search rankings, you can help potential buyers understand the importance of this marketing strategy and its potential impact on their business.
Explain how blogging builds awareness, loyalty, and trust
Like the principles Google has instilled in us with E.E.A.T. SEO guidelines, so must a blog. Blogging is a powerful tool for building awareness, loyalty, and trust with your target audience.
Awareness: By regularly posting quality content that addresses the needs and interests of your target audience, your blog can help raise awareness of your brand, products, and services. This can help you reach new audiences and establish your authority in your industry.
Loyalty: Blogging can help you build a community around your brand by engaging with your audience and providing them value. When you consistently deliver useful and engaging content, your readers will begin to trust and rely on you, which can increase their loyalty to your brand.
Trust: By providing helpful information, tips, and advice to your readers, you can establish yourself as an authority in your industry. This can help build trust with your audience, translating into increased sales, referrals, and long-term customer relationships.
By consistently providing value and engaging with your readers, you can establish your brand as a trusted and respected authority in your industry, which can help you achieve your business goals.
Show how blogging increases thought leadership
Blogging is a powerful tool that can help improve your brand's thought leadership in your industry.
Demonstrating expertise: By consistently creating quality content that addresses the needs and interests of your target audience, you can demonstrate your expertise and position your brand as an industry thought leader.
This can help you stand out from competitors and establish your brand as a go-to source for information and insights in your field.
Building credibility: You can build credibility and trust when consistently providing valuable and insightful content to your audience.
This can help you establish your brand as a reliable and knowledgeable source, increasing engagement, loyalty, and sales.
Driving conversations: Blogging can help drive conversations and debates around topics relevant to your industry.
By sharing your thoughts and insights on current trends, news, and issues, you can position your brand as a thought leader that is driving the conversation and shaping the direction of the industry.
Attracting partnerships and collaborations: Brands perceived as thought leaders in their industries are often more attractive to potential partners and collaborators.
Blogging can position your brand as a leader and a valuable partner, opening up new opportunities for growth and expansion.
Blogging can help to establish your brand as a trusted and respected authority in your field through quality content, building credibility, driving conversations, and attracting partnerships.
Blogging drives traffic to your website
Blogging is a powerful tool for driving traffic to your website, which can help increase your brand's visibility and ultimately lead to more sales.
SEO benefits: Search engines like Google prioritize websites that regularly produce high-quality content. Creating fresh and engaging blog content can improve your website's search engine optimization (SEO) and increase your visibility in search results.
Social media promotion: When you create blog content, you can share it on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. This can increase your brand's visibility and drive more traffic to your website.
Backlinks: High-quality blog content can also attract backlinks from other websites, increasing your website's visibility and authority.
Conversion opportunities: Once users are on your website, you can use your blog to guide them toward conversion.
For example, you can use calls to action (CTAs) within your blog content to encourage users to sign up for your email list, download a whitepaper, or purchase a product.
Blogging provides content for emails, social media, and paid advertising
Blogging provides a valuable source of content that can be repurposed for use in other marketing channels, such as email, social media, and paid advertising.
Email marketing: By including links to your blog content in your email marketing campaigns, you can drive traffic to your website and keep your subscribers engaged.
Your blog content can also inspire email newsletter topics or serve as the basis for a lead magnet you can offer in exchange for email signups.
Social media: Sharing your blog content on social media platforms can help increase your brand's visibility and engagement.
You can also use your blog content as the basis for social media posts, such as Twitter threads or LinkedIn articles.
Paid advertising: Blog content can be used as the basis for paid advertising campaigns, such as Facebook ads or Google Ads.
Creating ads promoting your blog content can drive website traffic and increase your brand's engagement.
Content curation: You can also curate your blog content into various formats, such as infographics, videos, and podcasts.
This can help you reach new audiences and provide your existing audience with valuable content in different formats.
Blogging Best Practices
Post titles must sell the post
A blog post title is often the first thing that readers see, and it plays a crucial role in whether or not they decide to click through and read your post.
Therefore, creating compelling, attention-grabbing titles that accurately reflect your post's content is essential. Here are some tips for crafting effective post titles:
Be descriptive: Your title should accurately describe what your post is about. Use clear and specific language that tells readers exactly what they can expect to learn from your post.
Use attention-grabbing language: Your title should capture the reader's attention and make them want to click through and read your post. Consider using language that is provocative, exciting, or unexpected.
Keep it short and sweet: Aim for a title that is concise and easy to read. Avoid long, convoluted titles that can be confusing or difficult to understand.
Use keywords: Incorporate relevant keywords in your title to improve SEO and make your post more discoverable to readers looking for content on a specific topic.
Make it shareable: Consider how your title will look when shared on social media platforms like Twitter or Facebook. A shorter, snappier title may be more shareable and help your post reach a wider audience.
Read more on creating winning blog post titles.
Know your audience
Knowing your audience is critical for creating successful blog content. By understanding your target audience, you can create content that resonates with them and addresses their needs and interests.
Here are some pointers to help you learn about your target audience.
Define your target audience: Begin by defining your target audience based on factors such as age, gender, location, and interests. This will help you create content that is specifically tailored to their needs.
Conduct research: Conduct surveys, focus groups, or interviews to gather insights about your target audience. This can help you understand their pain points, interests, and preferences and create content that addresses them.
Analyze website and social media analytics: Look at your website and social media analytics to see who is visiting your site, engaging with your content, and following your brand. This can help you refine your target audience and create content that resonates with your followers.
Engage with your audience: Engage with your audience through comments, social media, or email. This can help you understand their questions, concerns, and feedback and create content that responds to their needs.
By getting to know your audience, you can create blog content that resonates with them and helps build a loyal readership.
Remember to create relevant, engaging, and valuable content for your target audience and adjust your approach based on their feedback and interests.
Optimize every post with keywords and metadata
Optimizing your blog posts with keywords and metadata is a critical component of SEO.
By using relevant keywords and metadata, you can help search engines like Google understand what your content is about and rank it higher in search results.
Here are some tips for optimizing your blog posts:
Research relevant keywords: Use keyword research tools to identify keywords for your blog post. This can help you understand what your target audience is searching for and what terms they use to find information on your topic.
Use keywords in your post: Incorporate your target keywords into your blog post naturally and organically. Avoid keyword stuffing, or overusing keywords, as this can harm your SEO and make your content less readable.
Use header tags: Use header tags (H1, H2, H3) to structure your blog post and make it easier to read. Incorporate your target keywords into your header tags to help search engines understand the structure of your content.
Use meta descriptions: Meta descriptions summarize your blog post and appear in search engine results. Use relevant keywords and provide a compelling description of your post to encourage readers to click through and read more.
Use alt tags for images: Use alt tags to describe your images and incorporate relevant keywords where appropriate. This can help improve your SEO and make your content accessible to visually-impaired readers.
Optimizing your blog posts with keywords and metadata can provide your content with better SEO results and drive more traffic to your blog.
Remember to create high-quality, valuable content that provides real value to your readers, and use SEO tactics to help make your content more discoverable to your target audience.
Write unique, original content
Writing unique, original content that stands out from the competition is one of the most important aspects of creating a successful blog. Here are some tips for creating content that is unique, engaging, and valuable to your readers:
Focus on your niche: Identify your expertise and create relevant and informative content for your target audience. This will help you build credibility and establish yourself as an authority in your field.
Be creative: Find ways to present your content freshly and interestingly. Use storytelling, humor, or unique perspectives to make your content more engaging and memorable.
Conduct original research: Conduct original research or surveys to gather data and insights that can be used to create unique and informative blog posts.
Stay updated: Stay updated on your industry's latest news, trends, and developments. This will help you create timely and relevant content that interests your readers.
Offer practical tips and advice: Provide practical tips and advice that your readers can use to improve their lives or solve a problem. This will make your content more valuable and relevant to your readers.
Link to other posts and external sources
For several reasons, linking to other posts and external sources is essential in blogging.
Here are some benefits and best practices for including links in your blog posts:
Improves credibility: By linking to relevant external sources, you demonstrate that you have done your research and that credible sources back up your content.
Helps build relationships: Linking to other blogs and websites can help you build relationships with other bloggers and website owners in your industry. This can lead to opportunities for guest posting, collaborations, and other forms of partnership.
Improves user experience: Links to other resources can help your readers find additional information on the topic they are interested in and keep them engaged with your content for longer.
Provides additional value: By linking to other resources, you can provide additional value to your readers beyond what you can offer in your blog post.
When linking to other resources, following some best practices is essential to avoid negatively impacting your blog's SEO.
Use anchor text: Use descriptive text that accurately reflects your linking content. This helps search engines understand the link's context and the content's relevance.
Use no-follow links for certain external sources: When linking to external sources, use no-follow links to avoid passing on link juice to sites that may be considered spammy or low quality.
Link to high-quality, relevant sources: Only link to high-quality, credible sources for your content.
How to Sell Blogging to a Skeptic Wrap-up
Blogging can be a powerful tool for businesses and individuals, providing a platform to connect with audiences, build thought leadership, drive traffic, and provide value to readers.
When selling blogging to a skeptic, it's important to emphasize the unique benefits of this marketing approach, including its ability to:
- Build awareness, loyalty, and trust with your audience
- Increase brand thought leadership
- Drive traffic to your website
- Provide content to be used in emails, social media, and paid advertising
To create successful blog posts, it's essential to follow best practices.
- Crafting post titles that sell the content
- Knowing your audience and creating content that resonates with them
- Optimizing every post with keywords and metadata
- Writing unique and original content that provides value to readers
- Linking to other posts and external sources
By following these best practices and highlighting the unique benefits of blogging, you can help skeptics understand the value of this marketing tool and build a successful blog that enables you to connect with your audience and achieve your goals.
