WHAT IS A BLOG?
We know that our potential customers are increasingly present on the web; a helpful tool to intercept them is the blog. A blog is a page within my website where I can publish topics that revolve around my product/service. For example, if I sell building materials, I could talk on my blog about the proper maintenance of marble.
This offering advice helps me to intercept my potential customers who are looking for information on that topic. Typically, the blog is run by one or more people – bloggers – who periodically publish content in the form of text, similar to a newspaper article. The production of this content is called: content marketing.
INCREASE THE VISIBILITY OF THE SITE WITH THE BLOG
Many companies make major investments to create a good-looking site. That’s fine, but the site can attract more views if there is a blog in it with interesting content published on a regular basis. Obviously in the language of the markets I have decided to address (or at least in English). In other words, the blog makes the site “dynamic” and the search engines take this site activity into account, rewarding it in terms of visibility. Every time you post on your blog it’s like adding a page to your site.
These contents can then also be shared on the social media platforms that you have decided to use.
TIPS FOR MANAGING A BLOG
However, it is not enough to know a topic or a product, it is also important to know how to write. The art of writing well in a blog is called copywriting. Writing on the net is, in fact, different from composing a good essay or an article for print media. This topic is vast, however, here are some tips without claiming to be exhaustive on the subject:
- Prepare an editorial plan – a list of the things you are going to talk about – trying to put yourself in the shoes of potential customers.
- Read up before writing; look at what is being said online on that topic and look at the sections: related research and people have also asked.
- Identify and use the keywords that revolve around the topic you want to talk about. Typeset using an outline; for example: titles and subtitles, as well as bulleted lists (as I am doing).
- Don’t write too much, use short sentences; insert the important topics already in the first lines; don’t use slang and don’t be sarcastic: be clear and straightforward.
- Insert links to other content that you consider interesting on the topic; both yours and those of other authors you respect.
- In the end add the so-called call to action; that is, direct the potential customer, who got to the bottom of your article, to get to know you better (and therefore to take a look at your products/services).
- Have patience! Don’t expect immediate results, you are building credibility which is the prerequisite for selling. Today, selling is not about speed but patience.
EXAMPLES AND CONCLUSIONS
If you want to learn more, I recommend my colleague Matteo Dalla Vecchia’s article The Advantages of Content Marketing (an example of external link).
If, on the other hand, you want to get to know me better and see how I can help you to grow your exports: Pier Paolo Galbusera (an example of a call to action).
Speaking of the blog we started to see what the tools are that we have available to move around on the chessboard that is the internet and increase our exports. Next month we will tackle other topics as I promised in the article: Exporting with Digital Tools