“I always learn so much from your blog posts! Thanks for the amazing insights!” – Wouldn’t you love to finally see this type of comment pop up on your blog posts?
Done well, your business blog can definitely help you impress your readers and build authority in your niche.
You could attract more positive comments.
More followers.
More clients.
And more money.
How? Refocus your blog so you’re publishing posts that build authority as a champion in your niche.
You would share your insights, provide more value, and hopefully build your own cult.
The end result? You help your ideal client to know, like and trust YOU.
To take your business blog to this next level, you must make your blog the best blog your target audience will ever read.
If you’re ready to roll up your sleeves and get serious about blogging for business, here’s how to build authority with your blog…
Step 1: Choose topics that build authority
Whenever you write a blog post, select an appealing topic that would attract the right people. Most importantly, your title (headline) must promise results and offer realistic solutions that solve a specific problem.
Let’s say you want to write about “How to increase your prices”.
This theme is way too broad, so I’ll help you solve this in a minute.
Choose the topic that attracts the people who would be interested in a specific product or service.
Say it with me… “I want to become the go-to person for___”
And that’s the topic to start with.
Step 2: Identify the promise
Next, identify the result you want to help your reader achieve – so you can make them like and trust you, and build authority.
Here’s a quick guide to help you out:
- “My reader struggles to___”
- “They struggle because they___”
- “I can help them solve this problem with the following strategies:___”
- “If they apply these strategies, they will feel better because____”
The idea is to stick with the knowledge they seek and result that would make them happy.
Step 3: Zoom in and tighten your focus
Once you know the result to promise, you can easily find a unique angle.
I say “easily” because all you need to do is narrow down your chosen topic and tighten your focus on the benefits.
From this: “How to increase your prices”
To this: “Five killer email templates to use when increasing your prices”.
Or this: “Quick guide to increasing your prices (with free templates)”.
Or even better with this: “How to raise your rates by 90% without losing a single client”.
If you ever get stuck, look to Q&A sites like Quora and Yahoo! Answers for some fresh questions from your niche.
Step 4: Deliver the promise
Here are some strategies to help you deliver the promise you previously made in your headline:
- Gather enough information. Before you write your post, search for statistics, videos, infographics and interviews from within your business or from authority websites you can trust. Whatever you borrow, make sure to check their terms of use.
- Choose a blog post style and format. How do you plan to deliver the information? Go for the best format possible. You could write a list, a how-to or even film your instructions.
- Include your experience, where applicable. Whether you choose a personal (business) perspective – “How we tripled sales for a client with a single email” – or the typical “How to triple your sales with a single email”, the aim is to show proof so your reader can trust you.
- Link to credible online sources. Select professionals of higher authority. This will add immediate legitimacy to your blog post.
- Be thorough without going overboard. Provide enough detail to give a good understanding. Avoid rambling for the sake of writing a post long enough for search engine optimisation.
- Explain clearly… but don’t insult their intelligence. Think of your audience as smart people who would like to get smarter with your help. Write in their lingo, and explain any jargons even if you think they should know the definitions.
Most importantly, make sure your topic doesn’t go straight over their head!
Step 5: Rinse and repeat
For you to build authority, you must write enough blog posts about your topic. As mentioned before, remember why you’re blogging:
“I want to become the go-to person for___”
So now that you’ve identified your topic and have learned how to deliver the promise, review your blog planner or content strategy – if you have one – to fine-tune your topics to bring better results. Narrow them down to target specific readers.
Click here to discover more on how to make sure your blog doesn’t fail.
Over to you now…
Teaching through blog posts is one of my favourite ways to help my readers achieve better results. I also love hearing examples of how other businesses use similar strategies to build authority. I’d love to hear your tips below in the comments.
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