It is common for them to be used more for satisfying SEO content update needs than actually considered a genuine tool for drawing in visitors and potential customers.
Here are a few tips to help breathe new life in to your blog and keep things interesting:
Named Author Credibility
Understandably some businesses choose to post anonymously or simply, as the brand itself. To mix things up though, look at incorporating the author of the posts regularly. Some users like to put a name and a face to the content they are absorbing. Your authors may even gain credibility or become industry celebrities, giving you added versatility and reputation.
Often mixing it up by incorporating posts written by senior members of the business such as the CEO or creative director (as long as the topic is relevant) can be a big boost for views. These senior members of the brand will also likely have a considerable professional network via LinkedIn and other platforms from which to share their posts.
Guest Blogging
When managed correctly, guest blogging can work well both ways. Your brand or authors creating posts to be shared with 3rd party blogs enhance the reach of the article to potential new viewers and again earns a bolt on for your credibility being featured outside of your own blog.
Equally pulling in guest bloggers who are industry experts or category celebrities keeps your blog interesting and shows how well connected you and your brand are within your niches.
Encourage Engagement
The best blog writers keep their audience highly engaged with the topics at hand, inviting them to participate, comment or even offer alternative views by purposely creating controversial conversations.
Turning your blog from a publishing feed in to a community is a powerful change of pace. Whether you’re B2B or consumer orientated, creating that community and listening to the issues, desires and views within can be a powerful position to obtain.
Gamification
Ok so we need to be clear here, we’re not talking about giving away a free sheep for your readers’ Farmville account. Gamification is essentially putting game like mechanics in to something which typically does not feature those mechanics already.
For blogs it’s as simple as running contests, featuring a poll or even inspiring engagement from readers in which they compete with each other. For ecommerce, offering promo-codes or discounts for winners is an easy way to incentivise the engagement via the potential of a ‘prize’. If you do use gamification, be sure to publicise results as the game goes on as a means of creating easy follow up content.Chris Simmance is the Founder of Optus Digital, a Digital Marketing Agency in London specializing in SEO, PPC and Content Marketing.