Content marketing has the potential to be an extremely successful strategy. Blogging regularly is the cornerstone of my marketing strategy and has had a big impact on my websites overall traffic. But, if you’re anything like me sometimes writing blog posts doesn’t come easily.

It’s a very time-consuming process and definitely takes a lot of brainstorming and thought to create. I mean think about it. You have to brainstorm blog posts, write drafts, edit them, format and schedule them in WordPress, and create graphics to up their exposure. That’s a lot of work!

Because blogging is such a time-consuming process, you need to make sure that you’re getting as much as you can from each blog post that you create. Don’t let your blog posts fall into the archives, never to be seen again! Try implementing these 6 strategies to ensure that your blog posts continue to be seen on a regular basis. By the end of this post, you’ll know how to create blog posts that attract your ideal audience.

 

Add Opt-Ins + create freebies

I know that for many of you the primary goal of your website to get people on your email list so that they eventually become clients or customers. Adding opt-ins to your blog posts is a fantastic way to provide more value to your readers while also growing that list.

The goal should be to convert your blog readers into subscribers so that you can show up in their inbox regularly. That way, they won’t forget about you and will keep coming back to learn more!

Start by creating a content upgrade that is related to the post you’re writing about. This could be a free checklist, worksheet, quiz or even an email course that provides extra value. Because the reader is interested in the topic you’re discussing they are far more likely to opt-in to your list to receive the helpful freebie.

Your list is such a powerful way to connect with people on a more personal level. You should continue to provide value through regular newsletters, webinars and/or additional freebies to really nourish your list. Eventually, you can also use it to sell services or products that others may be interested in.

 

Add a Related posts plugin

I talk about the importance of calls to action all over my blog. You never want a reader to get to the bottom of your blog post and have no idea what to do next. This generally leads to them hitting that little x button in their browser window and leaving forever. NOOOO!

At the very least, you want website visitors to take the action of reading another blog post. This is where adding related posts to the bottom of the page comes into play. That way if a reader doesn’t take any other action on the page they still have this one as a fallback.

They might just be really interested in your content and want to keep reading it. And that’s a wonderful thing! After all, you work so hard on your blog posts so why not get a few eyeballs on those archives. Ideally, you want your readers to start binge reading your blogs posts and eventually take another action like reaching out to you about your services or joining your email list.

Take this blog post, for example, if you scroll down to the bottom you’ll see that I’ve installed a plugin that shows posts that you might be interested in. These are all generated automatically based on the category that this post is in. In other words, they’re all similar posts that might be useful to the reader. You can also go a step further and add links inside of your blog post copy to drive readers to another post where you elaborated on a topic even more.

 

Add video to your post

Adding video or even audio to your blog posts is a fantastic way to add a little something extra to your posts. This allows your readers to choose between reading the post or watching it. So no matter where they’re, or what they’re doing, they’re able to tune in and learn about the topic.

Video also helps to build that trust factor with your audience much faster than written content alone. Why? Because they can see your smiling face and connect with you much faster. They see that you’re not faking it on video and know what you’re talking about.

As a bonus, your SEO will also increase when you have both video and written content in your blog posts. Google and other search engines really like to see that you have several content mediums available on your website. Plus, Google owns YouTube and really likes to promote pages that promote them in return.

Posting your videos to Youtube also means that you’re now on another social media platform where people can potentially discover you! This will drive more traffic to your website where people can learn about your services and potentially work with you.

 

Create post graphics + utilize Pinterest

Pinterest is a seriously amazing platform to promote your content to the world. Your blog post can live on forever on Pinterest because it’s more of a search engine than a social media platform. As long as a pin is consistently being shared you’ll have clicks over to your website from Pinterest. You simply need to implement a little bit of strategy when posting and then pinning it to Pinterest.

First and foremost, make sure that you have a vertical image at the top of your post. These vertical images really stand out on Pinterest because they get more real estate on the page. Next up, add a Pin it button to your images or include a pin icon in the social share buttons that are on your page. I used SumoMe to generate the social media buttons that you see over on the left.

Now that you have your images taken care of you can start pinning your blog post to Pinterest. Pin it to any of your own boards that are relevant to the topic and also pin it regularly to group boards to get even more exposure. Make sure that you add in relevant keywords to your Pin description to increase the amount of exposure that it gets.

It can definitely be really hard to keep up with manually pinning. I use both Tailwind and BoardBooster for my Pinterest strategy and they both work wonders! I use Tailwind to pin all of my posts and other websites content on a weekly basis. I really like the way their smart feed is populated and how they display analytics. I use BoardBooster to loop my already existing pins so that they come out of the archives automatically and see the light of day again.

At the time of writing this post, over 50% of my traffic comes from Pinterest. So this is definitely a strategy worth implementing if you blog regularly.

 

Do a little SEO Work for good ol’ Google

Google loves websites that update regularly. So simply writing consistent content on your blog will improve your SEO. You can easily get a little more advanced with SEO and start seeing some pretty amazing results from Google traffic.

Check your blog post to see if it includes keywords that users would likely search to learn more about the topic. Add keywords to the post title and body copy so that your post is very searchable. Add ALT tags to any images that appear on the post to further improve your SEO.

If you’re using WordPress, install the Plugin Yoast SEO. With Yoast, you can customize the meta title and description for each blog post to ensure that your chosen keywords actually appear in Google. You can also set a focus keyword that will be given a higher priority in the search results. Just make sure to use that keyword often within your actual post copy. Doing just a few simple things to enhance your posts SEO will really go the extra mile and drive more traffic to your site. Luckily it only takes a few extra minutes!

 

Develop a posting schedule + stick to it!

Planning your content calendar out in advance is one of the best ways to stick to regular blogging. Simply start brainstorming blog posts ideas that your audience would be interested in learning more about. Blog about topics that you know a lot about to help establish yourself as an expert in your field.

If you want to get a little more strategic, take a look at your own calendar to see when you’re going to be promoting a new service or launching a product/offering. Then develop content before those launches to attract the niche that you want to reach.

Now that you have your content calendar down it’s time to start writing your posts. Schedule bulk writing days into your calendar so that you can focus on this task all at once. Personally, I like to write 4 blog posts in a month. I will write each of those drafts on one day of the month and then edit them the following day. Now I have all of my posts ready go for the next month and I only spent 2 half-days working on them. This not only saves a ton of time but also ensures that when things get busy, later in the month, you already have posts ready to go.

How many of these things are you implementing already on your own blog? See if you can start incorporating a few of these tips to start creating blog posts that attract your ideal audience. You’ll start seeing a traffic spike in no time!

Now you have a better understanding of ways to improve your blog posts and content marketing overall. But it doesn’t stop there. The Wellness Website Workbook below is packed full of action steps that you can take to improve your website. That way, your site will be more effective at reaching your audience and selling your health + wellness services.

Become a go-to wellness pro with my Wellness Website Workbook: