Creating a fantastic blog is all about developing extraordinary habits: you want to develop a habit of creating stellar content regularly; you want a habit of connecting with and responding to your audience; you want to get into the habit of posting regularly and so on. Essentially, you want to develop habits that make your blog stand out, rather than blend in with the rest of the crowd.
The following are five habits you should try to actively cultivate to make your small business blog truly outstanding.
Habit #1: Build your E-mail Lists
This can’t be emphasized enough. If you want to build a blog, you need to start building and cultivating your list.
The vast majority of people who read online content simply won’t remember to come back to your blog every day or every week. If you want to build a loyal following of readers, you need to build an e-mail list.
Create a compelling opt in box that gets people to give you their email address. Then send them an email every time you post. There are a number of automated services you can use to post to your list automatically every time you blog.
Habit #2: Share Useful Outside Content
A lot of blog owners get very stingy about linking outside their blog or sharing content by other people. The reality is, you’re robbing your readers of value when you do this. You’re also making it more work to build a valuable blog, as you’re not taking advantage of great content that other people have already put out.
If you see a truly spectacular piece of content out there on the web, link to it. You can even create a post based around that one piece of content. The Huffington Post does this brilliantly: They don’t create their own content; they just link to and comment on great content by others.
Try to get a mix of content. Most of your content should be written by you, but having a good 10% to 20% of your content be outside links can be a great way to add variety.
Habit #3: Link Internally, Everywhere
Link internally at every chance you get. Whenever you talk about something that you’ve discussed previously, link to that post. Someone who’s reading your content should regularly be presented with links to other pieces of content you’ve written.
This gets people staying on your site a lot longer. As people read, they’ll open other articles in new tabs and keep reading once they finish reading their current article. It’s a great way to increase your connection with your customers.
Also, add “related posts” or “you may also like” links at the bottom of each article.
Adding links does take a lot of time and can seem tedious at first. Over time however, they’ll really pay off.
Habit #4: Use Analytics to Predict and Analyze
There are a lot of analytics tools you can use to figure out what your readers want, what they care about and what they respond to.
Your Facebook Insights analytics can tell you what kind of posts your audience tends to like or share. You can figure out the virality of the different kinds of posts you’ve written. If you find that one type of post tends to get shared a lot more than others, then it makes sense to spend some more time focusing on those kinds of posts.
Google Analytics can tell you what keywords you’re ranking for and what keywords people are using to get to your site. Performing keyword research can tell you who’s sending you traffic, so you can get a better sense of what traffic tactics are working and what traffic tactics aren’t.
You can use Research.ly to figure out what people are talking about in your industry. You can use CrazyEgg to see how people are looking at and clicking on your site. The list of tools goes on and on.
Use analytics to figure out what your readers want and what’s working in your business. If you don’t have a strong analytics strategy, you’ll have a very hard time building a solid business.
Habit #5: Create a Blogging Schedule and Stick to it
Having a solid blogging schedule is essential for success. In order to build a successful blog, you need to post consistently not just when you want to.
If you want people to come to rely on your content, then you need to be reliable in your publishing. Set a strict schedule for yourself and stick to it. Always have at least 2 blog posts scheduled in advance, just in case a life emergency comes up.
These five habits will set you far ahead of the vast majority of bloggers. Follow these five habits and your blogging results will soar.
