The Point Of Blogging: Strategies You Need To Choose In Order To Make It Work
The popularity of craft business has been growing in recent years. This may even be a tool to make money from the comfort of your home, but it is taken more seriously by a large section of Internet savvy users. The growth of the Internet has meant that the market for a craft business is global, if done right. However, the vast sea that is the Internet also presents some challenges that need to be overcome before having a successful craft business online.
Irrespective of the size of a craft business, it is essential to have a blog serving as a tool to enhance the business. Depending on the nature of the craft business, one can have a blog as a section in the website or on a stand-alone basis. Irrespective of the way in which the blog exists, it can turn out to be a powerful promotion medium for the business.
The power of the blog is similar to the rise of the bitcoin. A decade ago, bitcoin seemed like a temporary phenomenon on the Internet. Today, it is more valuable than gold after the stunning rally. Such a meteoric rise is possible even on a blog should you get it right.
Here are some of the aspects are required to get a blog on craft business up and running:
The foundation for a blog happens to be the platform. Thankfully, there are a few top options to consider in this regard. Newcomers can choose between Blogger and WordPress. Both are sophisticated platforms that come with a range of support options designed to help the newcomers.
People who have previous experience of blogging – even if it is limited – would appreciate the WordPress platform, which offers more features and customisation options than on Blogger. However, the latter becomes a great option for those who are new into the world. In many ways, blogger platform acts as a butler while WordPress provides a hands-on approach.
Blogger platform is great for someone who expects fairly limited popularity – even in the long run. However, WordPress is great for expanding with several options – including going on a separate host.
All these platforms are free, but they may charge for additional options like custom domain name.
How to Use a Blog as an Effective Promotion Tool?
Before setting out to blog on a craft business, it is extremely important to focus on a business niche that people are interested in. This becomes essential even more than the blogging, which is merely a tool to enhance the products being sold. Even with all the promotion and time spent, a wrong niche could potentially have devastating long-term consequences. Once the niche of the craft business has been chosen to perfection, it is time to set up the blog.
Just like the business, blogging on a craft business also requires a slew of strategies that need to work in order to make it work as a viable promotion tool for the business. They are:
Identifying Topics That Work
It is important to find a topic that people are interested in knowing about. Thankfully, there are plenty of ways in order to know what people are searching on the Internet through tools like Google Trends.
They will provide information on the keywords that do well in a particular niche. It is also a good idea to take a look at the competitors in order to find the blogging ideas. Going through comments on a blog also gives any direct insight into what your readers want from your blog.
Going Creative to Get Great Headlines
Make no mistake, the content of the blog is important. However, an even bigger importance has to be given to the headline, as it will be the element that brings a reader to the blog. The headline conveys the content of the blog to the reader, who is likely to be presented with several hundred competitive links.
An inspiring, informative, and a catchy title are the key elements that make up a great headline. The weightage to a headline is so important that one should take great care in this department.
Increasing the Quality of the Content
Many companies would try to sell you a lot of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) services at exorbitant rates, but there is little need to spend a huge sum of money in order to achieve higher rankings on the search engines.
As search engines grow cleverer, only quality content will be able to do the trick. Focusing on quality content handles more than enough of the SEO within the blog, but it would also be beneficial to understand some of the latest techniques so as to inform the search engines about the content within the blog.
Focus on a Unique Style to Build a Brand
There has been a huge swell in the number of blogs over the last decade. This places a huge amount of pressure when it comes to making a blog stand out from the crowd. While aspects like a professional design and user-friendly site do help in this process, content once again plays a key role.
It is certainly difficult to understand the type of content that would do well amongst your customers, but this knowledge will put the blog on the path towards success, as it will build a unique style.
Attractive Media
The quality of the blog is greatly determined by the quality of the media used in the posts. This may be videos, pictures, or animations regarding the craft business. It is imperative to use high quality media – through the use of professional cameras or hiring professional photographers – in order to convey the same professional sense to the reader.
Bad photographs or videos are a huge negative when it comes to promoting the craft business.
Finding an Article Structure That Works
The nature of the craft business determines the article structure, as some niches require lengthy posts in order to cover a lot of detail. Some niches are all about getting a precise quantity of information so as to make it appealing to the reader. After only a few blog posts, the writer will be able to determine the article structure that works well for a particular niche.
Increasing Online Authority
Most customers of the online craft business determine the authenticity of the business by looking at the authority of the blog on the internet. A blog that has a huge number of subscribers will obviously make a good first impression, as it shows to the customer/reader that a number of people have taken advantage of the services or products offered.
It is possible to increase online authority by getting more subscribers through quality content and also by reviews from online portals.
Keeping in Touch with Readers
One should not forget that the reader of the blog becomes the future customer or might also be the existing customer. Heeding to their comments on some of the blog posts can go a long way into pleasing them.
It is likely to get critical comments or complaints, but it is important to respond to as much of those feedback in order to show that the craft business owner cares about the thoughts of the customer. This becomes extremely important in order to build a brand image.
Promoting the Blog Post
The blog post will not be turning in a huge number of visitors straight away and this is especially true in the case of a new blog. The traffic through search engines may be organic, but it may take a substantial time for this to arrive.
In the meantime, it is possible to promote the blog through various means available online or offline. Most search engines offer paid promotion options which are extremely attractive, while direct promotion is also found to pay rich dividends.
Blogging will become even more important in the near future, so make sure you hope on the right train.