It’s no wonder business owners are singing the praises of their blog. Hubspot reports that companies who blog receive 97 percent more links to their website. They’re a great way to attract new customers and stay in touch with existing ones. 

But how do you get the most from your blog posts? The key is to provide relevant content and display it properly. Here are some tips to help you strike the right note with customers—and  drive more traffic to your website.

Answer Questions Before They’re Asked

Want to wow potential customers? Answer their question before they even ask it by researching what’s on their mind. This proactive approach will establish you as the go-to source for information.

Bloggingwizard.com suggests you start with these tools to learn what’s keeping customers up at night. Both can help you judge how relevant your topic might be.

• Google Trends – Input a topic on this page and find out how much interest there is in it (as measured by search frequency). You’ll also get related topics. 
• Buzzsumo – Search for terms and phrases and find out what topics are trending with a specific audience on various social media platforms.

Show and Tell

No matter how well you can write, sometimes it’s just easier to show people what you mean. That’s why adding a visual to your post can help. Studies show that people can recall 65 percent of visual content even after three days. 

Video has become a popular way to show, especially if you’re demonstrating how to do something. For example, a hardware store might do a video blog post on how to repair that annoying leaky faucet in the bathroom. Archive these how-to videos on your website, then drive traffic there by promoting them in future blog posts.

Link Them to More

A successful blog post is often targeted to a specific topic. But that doesn’t mean you can’t offer more information by linking to your website. For example, a kitchen store might blog about how to prepare the perfect three-minute egg. Then they could link to their website to learn about their upcoming workshop where a registered nutritionist will speak on the heart-healthy benefits of eggs.

Another easy tip is to link to your website’s “Contact Me” page as part of the post. You’ll capture their contact information and learn more about them, especially if you ask for demographic information.

Spread the Word

Don’t just publish a blog post and hope people will find it. Go one step further and link it to all of your social media platforms. This is important because it increases the reach of your posts. Not only will your contacts see it but so will their friends who then share it with others. Be sure to include a link to your business’ website in the post.

If the blog is not housed on your website, ask your web professional to establish a real-time feed to it. Then it will automatically appear on your website as you publish a new post. That leverages cross traffic between your blog and website.

Dress for Success

Appearances really do matter when it comes to blog posts. Nearly half of blog readers admit to skimming posts. So make sure your blog posts are dressed appropriately. That means making them quick and easy to read. 

Limit your paragraphs to three or four sentences so your content won’t appear overwhelming. Group several paragraphs together with a heading that ties them together (like in this article). When possible, use bulleted or numbered lists within paragraphs to visually organize the information. 

Make sure your blog posts and website are singing the same tune. Start with these tips to drive more traffic with content that will get the ear of new and current customers alike.