Blogging is NOT Dead – But it has undergone a Metamorphosis

The biggest question of the hour – is blogging DEAD???

The short answer is a huge YES. For the long answer, continue reading this post. First, let’s set some things straight – blogging is NOT dead. Instead, it has reincarnated into a new avatar, more suited for internet 2.0.

Are blogs still read in 2020?

Yes!! The stupendous rise of content sites like Quora and Medium prove that text content is not yet dead.

It’s still popular, Informative, encouraging and improves SEO Ranking.

In this post, we are going to break down some of the things that you need to do to be able to compete in 2020 and stop getting the lousy results that you’re getting with your blog.

Blogs and Search Engine Rankings

As a small business owner, you would know the importance of ranking on the first few results of Google. You can win Google’s favour by providing the right information – information that your customers are searching for.

According to market analysis, nearly 1 in 2 buyers do a detailed market study before engaging with the brand. They check out approximately 3 to 5 pieces of content before they even connect with a small business. Studies reveal that small businesses with a regular, updated blog generated 67% more leads when compared to companies that do not blog.

Give Google Relevant and Optimised Information via your Company Blog

First, let’s clarify. Google doesn’t provide people with the information they are looking for. Instead, it’s a medium/channel that guides users to the information they are looking for. And, you want your business to be the person Google is pointing to. Your business should be the one providing the right information to customers.

If you manage to nail this right, then you can be pretty confident that Google will direct the right traffic toward you.

Businesses that provide relevant and useful information win in Google rankings. They move to a higher spot in the search results.

Here’s what happens when you blog regularly publishing authentic, relevant, and engaging content:

• More blog posts
• More chances to boost your Google rankings
• Increase in traffic to your website
• More potential customers interacting with your brand/business
• More people calling/contacting your business
• Increase in Sales and Profits

If only it were easy. Very often, we hear a complaint from our clients, “we tried blogging for a while, but we didn’t see any results.” Worry not, here we list out some of the top reasons why blogging didn’t provide you with the expected results.

Is your blog optimized for Search Engines?

It’s easy to create and publish blog posts. However, what matters for your search engine rankings is the content has to be SEO-friendly. You need to optimize your content so that Google’s bots crawl over it, index it, and show it on search results.

An un-optimised blog is like inviting people to your home, without giving them the address.

The blog didn’t have an effective strategy.

A personal blog is different from a business blog. In a personal blog, you can write anything. On the other hand, professional blogs require content planned around a specific strategy. You need to work on keyword research – to understand the queries people are searching for.

Writing professional blogs without a well-planned strategy is like shooting in the dark. You may hit the target once or twice by pure luck, but at other times you’re sure to miss it by a mile. So, start by focussing on keyword research and plan a defined content strategy for your blog.

Try using a keyword analyzer tool to find the right keyword for your blog.

Failed to Understand Customer Conversion Funnel

Remember that your blogs are not just for existing customers. Potential customers are likely to read your blog, long before they convert. So, it would help if you were clear about whom you are writing for, why you are writing and what the target outcome is.

Failure in Blog Promotions

Even if you have managed to get all the above right, you need to ensure that your blog reaches the target audience. Writing and publishing a blog is just half the battle. The rest is marketing your blog on other channels like social media, email newsletters, and so on.

The next most common question is,

What should I blog in 2020?

Now, that you realize that blogging is not dead, here are a few content strategies to consider for your business blog this year.

• Snazzy it up with video content. Videos attract a whopping 300% more traffic according to stats published by Marketing Sherpa.
• Google’s all about BERT. If you’re hearing BERT for the first time, check out our previous post on what is BERT and why it matters.
• It’s all about the visuals. 87.5% of marketers agree that using the right visuals gets better results every time, according to Venngage.