Blog Management for SEO Companies: A Complete Guide to Perfect Blog Content (Part III)

The power of blogs is growing with unbelievable speed, and this growth will only continue. Today, bloggers are considered to be the third most trustworthy source of information, coming just after family and friends. The scale of this achievement demonstrates that a business blog can be one of the most important information channels for any business.

Blogging is an excellent source for finding new clients, and it is becoming an increasingly popular way to grow your target audience. However, without a proper understanding of what blog management really is and how to do it correctly, you will spend a lot of time and money for feedback that will be in no way beneficial. When it comes to online publishing, many people still believe in the truth of the old saying “Content is king.” However, this rule is now only a piece of the pie known as a blog management strategy. Even the greatest blogs that constantly produce a serious amount of high-quality content pay a lot of attention to their interface design.

This includes their overall color scheme, highlighted information boxes, typography, an attractive and eye-catching logo, clear navigation, accessible contact information and inviting links to social media accounts that also have to be properly designed and organized.

1. Design

To fully understand the importance of blog and post design, you have to think about your website’s homepage as if it were the front door of your business. The same also goes for your blog homepage – it’s the front door to your business blog. It is essential to produce the appropriate visual impression for your readers, if you want them to take the next steps and actually click on your blog posts, and read and subscribe to your content. Any blogger that starts producing quality content has to find a balance between their blog’s written and visual components, which have to reach their aim and actually make people want to interact with them.

1. Memes

One of the most effective tools for attracting your target audience is the uniqueness and relevance of your content. Both these qualities can be achieved by enriching your content with memes. Neil Patel highlights the special role of memes and defines them as the ones that can be considered as a separate post type. It is also important to take into acount memes’ ability to attract readers, peak their interest and create an atmosphere of relaxation while reading.

2. Pictures

At first glance, pictures seem to be an essential part of every post. Visual blog elements can be represented by graphics, screenshots, various charts, scales and table lists. However, after analyzing a great number of the most popular marketing blogs, we found out that the majority of published content fails to include a substantial number of visuals. In circumstances where there is no real need to present your thoughts visually or support your research with charts and graphs, you should only include visuals in a picture under the headline. In-text pictures are not very popular: less than 50 percent of posts have at least one in-text picture. However, there is a small number of blog posts that have about seven to nine pictures.

Types of in-text pictures:

1. Blog post header images
2. Visualizations of actions/terms explained in the text
3. Pictures that link to other posts on similar/popular topics
4. Pictures that promote a blog, its author or a company

3. Animation

Website animation is a powerful design tool and marketing trend – from color-changing buttons to looping GIFs and impressive videos. Animation can work for a wide range of websites and please your visitors. It’s eye-catching and also makes a piece of content seem unique and trendy. However, animation is rarely used on a majority of blogs that are highly ranked within the digital marketing sphere.

4. Slides

Slides are also not so popular among marketing bloggers and are, therefore, rarely seen in posts. However, this type of content can be really effective if you want to make your case study or detailed tutorial look more attractive and somehow entertaining. You should using slides if you’re working with a large amount of systematized information.

5. Ads

Advertising is one of the inalienable parts of a content management strategy. However, you have to be very attentive when inserting an ads info-block in your published content. First of all, be selective. Do not accept all incoming proposals just to make a profit. Be more farsighted: today’s income can result in tomorrow loss of loyal subscribers. Choose only those ads that you find interesting and that are related to the topics you are writing about. Such information must be suitable and really useful to readers – only then will you benefit from its implementation. Although ads are frequently understood as the outside information posting, do not forget to advertise your own content on your blog.

You should successfully advertise your recent or older posts, useful infographics, special offers, blog updates, etc. If a reader chooses to read a post about content marketing, for example, give them the ability to click on other posts on this topic, and add several eye-catching information boxes showing the top posts of the day, week or month. This will be useful for your readers and profitable for you.

6. Videos

Video materials can both serve as useful information and be an unnecessary irritant. It depends on how you use them and your whether video content is appropriate for your business area. Videos are rarely seen on a majority of blogs, although there are a number of examples that demonstrate their great commercial potential. For example, short Superbowl videos used to demonstrate a certain atmosphere and transfer the emotions of the author of the blog post. In addition, the Superbowl attracts new readers and adds a component of entertainment to a post as it’s one of the most popular topics on the Internet. The role of video content can sometimes be underestimated. According multiple recent studies, people are more likely to watch a video than read an article because it is more entertaining and less time consuming.

You can use video content to strengthen the information provided in your post or to make reader delve deeper into the topic. For example, if you write about social media marketing and highlight additional topics that are gaining popularity, a short promo video of new Snapchat filters, for example, will set the tone of the whole article.

7. Social Media Links

Social media is another assisting platform that can promote the content you share and attract new readers. Here, you should also be creative and look ahead: your readers have to be pleased they chose to follow you on social media platforms, not irritated by too many annoying, inappropriate follow buttons. In particular, we want to show you one social media link design we really like. It is the indirect promotion of a Twitter account created by company blog managers. Here, they decided to highlight and bold the most catchy phrases that appear to be newly created quotes that readers might like most of all. Moreover, they used a highlight design that is usually implemented to underline quotes from great historic figures or famous experts that add weight to the published content. When people click on these quotes or just put their cursor over the quote box, the Twitter bird appears, inviting them to repost the selected passage.

2. Social Media

We have already talked about social media promotion as an element of overall blog design. However, a lot of blog managers have their own social media marketing tips that help them to reach their customers and grow their target audience. The first lesson every blogger has to learn is always how to share links to your social media accounts. Moreover, a lot of blogs promote themselves through this powerful channel with the help of reports proposals that can be found directly on the homepage, within the blog posts and at the bottom of each site page. It is really hard to find their social media accounts without reposting at least one piece of content. It looks a bit annoying, but the popularity of such an approach proves it is profitable.

Here are some tips for developing your business social media accounts:

Twitter

1. Personal accounts work better than company accounts; people are more likely to follow and repost “humanized” pages.
2. Never forget about experts: retweet well-known, reputable people and make posts about any events that occurred within the sphere your blog specify in.
3. Always add some humor and catchy phrases that provoke the reader’s interest.
4. Try to promote one blog post several times with different catchy headers. Try a different promotional style and different posting times to find what works.

Facebook

1. Try to implement video content: inspiring videos that demonstrate new products or new projects ideas can result in lots of new followers that will repost your content and, therefore, promote your social media account and blog.
2. Stylish pictures of outliers and their famous quotes receive many likes and reposts. You can also try creating posts that discuss recent news associated with your niche.
3. Entertain your audience: end your posts by promoting new blog articles with catchy and interesting comments that are less formal, but human and unique.

LinkedIn

1. All experienced bloggers use this social media platform to repost their blog content and share company news that was also mentioned on Facebook.
2. On LinkedIn, you don’t have to forget about the rest of the world, so all interesting and important recent news can be quite suitable. Make your posts similar to Twitter posts, but written in a more formal, professional tone.

Instagram

1. If your business sphere is not directly connected with visual product promotion, try to make your Instagram profile more humane: use personal photos, as well as photos from your organized trips, parties, birthdays, weddings of company employees, conferences, official meetings, events, or presentatioт of new products/services.
2. You should also try to use cozy, warm colors, a lot of team photos, and an informal, positive style – inspiring content is always popular, and it gets more likes and shares.
3. If you have a lot of visual content that will be interesting for your followers, it’s a good idea to add some informal photos – choose ones that are also indirectly connected with your company, but highlight photos of your products, organized conferences, presentations and business meetings. Such designed accounts are rare, but that only makes you more unique and attractive.

Newscred guidelines:

1. Focus on brightness, contrast, and colors. Colors that do well on Instagram are blues, greens, and reds.
2. Tone of voice: tell the story behind your photos. Keep it personal. Give followers a dynamic behind-the-scenes look at your company from your perspective.
3. Share your Instagram posts on your other social channels and encourage your audience to engage.
4. Don’t post anything your mom (or CEO) would be uncomfortable with. Just use discretion and don’t share content that would put your company in a negative light.
5. Don’t post anything about your clients without their permission. You are probably not allowed to discuss certain clients legally, so always err on the side of caution.
6. Tag people whenever applicable. Tagging attracts more attention to your page and, thus, more engagement and followers. For example, if your coworker or friend happens to be in a photo, go ahead and tag them. And don’t forget to use geolocation!

YouTube

1. Take your account to the next level by posting videos with manuals and advertisements: teach your audience, show why you are the best and tell how they can get in touch with you.
2. Pay attention to how your videos are organized. Proper organization of your published content will make it easy for your followers to find what they need, and a clear and simple design will support your positive image.

Pinterest

1. Here, the key tip is to divide your albums properly. You can make them all refer to one common topic, for example, they can all end with the word “marketing.” The account that is concentrated on one general topic will attract the attention of business people and the ones that are interested in this specific sphere. If they need a good marketing expert, they will always choose you.
2. If you want to expand your target audience or just create a more human and friendly image, don’t be afraid to include some topics that are not directly connected to your business, but that are still interesting for people in your target audience. You can try “gadgets,” “ad histories”, “retro marketing” or other less formal topics.

Smart businesses know that a good blog management strategy opens the door to a wide range of opportunities by enlarging a company’s target audience, expanding their influence and compelling their readers to become active followers and, in turn, loyal clients. The right blog design will make your brand attractive, impressive, unique and easy to use. Social media is a strong channel of direct communication with the customers. Anyone who has access to the Internet gets instant access to the latest news about your products or services.

Paying proper attention to these two elements of your blog management strategy will give you the ability to conquer the most reputable companies in your niche, regardless of your size, location, budget and experience. We have learned the true importance of these elements ourselves. That is why we decided to conduct in-depth research and share with you our final results, so that you can benefit from implementing them. All we ask in return is that you share your blog management experience with us in the comments.

We’d love to see our advice contribute to the successful development of your business and your own professional growth.