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How To Write A Blog | How To Set Blogging Goals And Get BetterResults

If you're blogging for business then it's very likely that at some point you're going to hit the wall.

Even though you're blogging regularly, including keywords, and sharing the blogs all over the place, you're just notgetting the results you want!

What's a blogger to do?

Knowing how to write a blog is just one piece of the puzzle, as it's being able to consistently create quality blog afterquality blog that will really make the difference and take you to the next level of blogging for business!

"But I'm just a normal person, not a professional blogger! How can I possibly get the results theexperts are getting?"

Despite what you may think, it's not rocket science!

While you may see the so-called 'experts' online writing fancy blogs and think, "How on Earth can I replicate that?" Infact getting better results from your blogging efforts is all about setting achievable goals that you can stick to. In thisblog from Oxygen 2.0, we're going to help you do just that!

Blogging regularly can become a bit of a chore if you're struggling with your output and hitting 'the wall,' but it doesn'tneed to be devoid of flair and interest! Having a firm goal in mind gives you a 'light at the end of the tunnel.'

Blogging regularly can seem overwhelming, especially if there's no target in sight. Again, goals will help you avoidfeeling this way.

Blogging regularly can be demoralising if your blogs aren't getting very good results in terms of engagement andviews. Goals help you to see the bigger picture and keep going.

So let's set some goals!

Read on to see how it's done...

How To Set Blogging Goals

OK, if you're still with me then strap yourself in, as your blogging is about to improve! It's time to start blogging withlaser-guided efficiency, rather than fumbling in the dark.

I'll be very firmly sticking with this principle:

"When blogging consider: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Focus on doing more of what getsresults, and less of what doesn't!" >> (Tweet This Quote) <<

Find Out What Is Working

A very important part of learning how to write a blog effectively is being able to see what is working well foryou before you decide to make changes.

Since our plan is to make changes by learning how to set blogging goals, it therefore makes perfect sense to take alook at what has been happening in the past.

Let me ask you a question:

"How often do you check your blog's metrics?"

If you answered, "What are metrics?" Or if you're not checking them regularly then now is the time to start!

You will probably be using 'Google Analytics ' to monitor your website's metrics, and this includes data gatheredabout your blog's performance.

You now need to do the following:

Decide what your goal/s will be in order to improve

Find relevant existing data about them

Base the goals on improving what is already working well

Perhaps another way to look at it is that by checking metrics you can easily identify what isn't working well.

For instance, if your goal is to write blogs that will drive more traffic to your website, you need to check through yourposts and find those that have successfully driven the most traffic (people who visited your website because they were

interested in your company, products, or services).

You'll also notice those that were not successful. Repeating these results is against your goal, so you shouldcarefully consider why these blogs didn't drive much traffic.

Are they focussed on the wrong keywords?

Are their topics boring or not detailed enough?

Were they all published at a specific time that seems unpopular?

It will become clear that, moving forward, in order to get more traffic you need to avoid replicating these 3 points, andinstead should focus on doing more of what the successful blogs did right (and even better if you can).

"Without checking blog metrics there's no way to create goals based on bettering what is alreadyworking well & avoiding what isn't." >> (Tweet This Quote) <<

Mix It Up By Testing New Content

Now you know what is and isn't working with your blog. Good work!

Basing your goals on what is already working is definitely a good move, however it's not the be-all-and-end-all,because as you start to make decisions to try new things in order to get better results from blogging it'll be important togo 'off-piste' at times.

This means that as well as doing what already works better, you will need to try new things in your blogging too andcontinue to test the limits of what works for your company's blogging (and sharing on social media) and what doesn't.

In this way you're going to find even more profitable blogging avenues to follow, as well as those that you've alreadynarrowed down.

For example, if you're mainly producing text-heavy blogs that's great, but you could mix it up and try creating morefeaturing:

Videos

Infographics

Photographs

Podcasts

All of these things don't make a blog in themselves, but put into blog format they give your readers a new type ofcontent to see, watch, or listen to, and can then be discussed in more detail in the blog's body.

By then checking metrics you'll be able to see if any of these new content types are striking a note with your audience,and if they are then you know what to do!

"Test different types of content in your blogging strategy, keep what works & you'll bepublishing a more varied & interesting blog!" >> (Tweet This Quote) <<

After all, no one wants to see exactly the same kind of thing over and over again, and so by offering a more variedpalette of content in your blogs, you're offering readers a more vibrant and interesting 'product' which you'd expectthem to read and share more!

Nail Down Your Goals

Now you know what is working, and are ready to add some new types of content into the mix, so now it's time to focuson setting your blogging goals.

Having examined your blog's data (when you were checking metrics), you'll have a decent idea of your currentstrengths and weaknesses.

How do these fit in with your goals moving forward?

There are so many goals that you could have for your business blogs, and you might choose from the following:

Increase traffic from blogs

Get more sales leads

Get higher rankings for certain keywords in Google searches (SEO, leading to more traffic)

Produce 'evergreen' high-quality content to use as marketing material

...and more

For instance, if your blogs drive a good amount of traffic to your site, but few of these people end up becoming a lead,correcting this trend could be a goal for your blog.

This suggests that:

The blog's content is attractive

However it may not inform the reader enough to make them feel ready to learn more, or buy

It may not give the reader the opportunity to go to the right place on your site

So in this case you should be considering how to make your blogs help readers become a sales lead or customer as

clearly the topics are sound.

You might:

Make them more detailed, leaving the reader so informed about how you can help solve their problem that thenext logical step is to inquire about buying

Give the reader a clear conversion path - so this would be adding a CTA (Call-To-Action) at the end of the blogtelling them to take and action such as download an ebook which elaborates on the topic further (and so furtherinforms them), send them to a landing page where they fill out a form to get the book, thus becoming a saleslead in your email list, and then are given the book via a download link.

By making these changes you start your blog working for you, and making more out of the traffic which it's driving toyour site. In this case, it'll hopefully now be driving more interested people who are becoming sales leads, instead ofpeople who are still unsure about what you do and if they want to buy.

Remember that it's OK to sell (IF it's a part of an Inbound Marketing strategy)

Everyone seems to say, "DON'T SELL IN YOUR BLOGS."

Surely though you want your blogs to lead to more sales, right?

Don't panic, you can sell, but you simply use the blogs as a part of an overall process,such as was outlined above withthe use of CTAS, landing pages, and content giveaways.

"You CAN sell using blogs, but only as part of an Inbound Marketing strategy where blogs openthe door for potential leads." >> (Tweet This Quote) <<

Instead of writing a blog which is basically all one big advertisement, instead offer the blog as a 'taster' demonstratinghow your company know their stuff and can help the customer with their problems (either through services orproducts).

This is classic Inbound Marketing, and the blog is almost always the cornerstone of a process which you will want toadd as a goal:

According to Hubspot, Inbound Marketing succeeds:

"By creating content specifically designed to appeal to your dream customers, inbound attractsqualified prospects to your business and keeps them coming back for more. By publishing theright content in the right place at the right time, your marketing becomes relevant and helpful toyour customers, not interruptive." >> (Tweet This Quote) <<

So in order to 'sell' with your blog you must make it a part of the inbound sales process and give your readers the wayto go into the funnel as described above where they can become a lead and then a sale!

Do Some Sneaky Competitor Research

Having checked your own blogs' results, what more can you do to start working on making improvements throughhaving firm goals in place?

It's time to turn spy!

What are your competitors doing with their blogs that you can get inspiration from?

Do a Google search for your industry to find relevant blogs (if you don't already know some of them).

There is a great deal that we can learn from researching our competitors' blogs:

What kinds of keywords they're focussing on

What kinds of content seems to work for them

Important industry news that your customers may be interested in

What their company is planning on doing soon

For instance, if a competitor's blog has a lot of comments and social shares then you can assume that this has been asuccess (unless the comments are negative).

Is this topic something that you can blog about? After all, your customers and potential customers are likely to be thesame kind of readers.

How about their keywords? If they seem to be regularly focussing on keywords that are industry-related and relevantto your business, but that you haven't yet blogged with, why not research them and see if you can find similar thatyou could rank for?

"Ranking highly in Google searches will drive more traffic to your site from blogs, so keywordresearch is crucial. Here's how to do it: http://bit.ly/BetterKeywordResearch" >> (Tweet This Link) <<

Even by simply reading some other blogs you have everything to gain, and nothing to lose! The ideas you pick upcould give you inspiration for your next blog post/s, and as long as you don't copy another blog you're doing nothingwrong at all!

After all, your one goal should be to interest and inform your readers so that they gain confidence in your companyand are more open to becoming leads and customers, and so sharing awesome content with them is always going tobe a great way to do that, no matter where you got the idea from!

Brainstorm The Cr*p Out Of possible Blog Topics

Before you can decide which blogs to write when, you need to know what you're going to write about.

Doing competitor research on blogs will help, but ultimately it's your responsibility to also come up with great ideasrelated to your business!

Only you can decide what your business is good at, or at least what you should be talking about in order to attract newcustomers. But this isn't a burden that you need to carry alone. You can:

Speak to colleagues in order to get information for blogs

Comb the internet for ideas

Talk to your customers in order to get an idea about what they need to know more about

Once you have brainstormed a bunch of possible blog topics it's time to sit down and figure out when you're going toblog about them, which brings us on to...

Work To An Editorial Calendar

One of the easiest ways to get tired and hit the wall where you can no longer get more ideas and feel fed up ofblogging is to blog with no direction.

Now you should have an idea of the goals you want for your new direction, but how do you blog consistently enough toachieve them?

Just wanting to blog enough isn't going to work. You need to be rigid and disciplined about, and that's why having acalendar to work from is going to help you achieve that.

Your calendar should show:

Which content needs to be created

Who the author is

The persona it is focussing on

Which part of the sales funnel it targets (for instance, it could be a blog which is fairly top level information forthose at the top of the funnel who have yet to gain much knowledge about the subject)

When you're working to a deadline it really helps to make sure that blogging gets done, as without one you can easily

become distracted and fail to make enough time to fit your blogging in amongst your other activities.

"Becoming consistent isn't something that you can do overnight and it takes patience and practice, howeveryou can start on the way with this blog: http://bit.ly/ConsistentContentCreation">> (Tweet This Link) <<

Measure Your Progress

Finally once you've decided on your goals, what kinds of blogs you're going to write, and when, you need to measureyour progress. You need to set a time limit where you regularly measure your progress. This could be every week, ormonth.

Now it's time to measure, and that means heading back into your favourite thing: The data!

What you're going to measure will depend upon your goals, but you'll be looking for growth and positive results.

Depending on how much you blog per month this could take time, perhaps even several months; so if it does take awhile to start to see numbers climbing, don't feel demoralised. It's so important to keep going and blog consistently,otherwise you'll never achieve gains.

I suggest that you check the following from your blogs:

Traffic

Leads

Sales

Engagement

Social shares

Search rankings (for your target keywords)

All of these things can be found on the blog's page, or your Google Analytics account. When you have found the datathat you want to measure, use the same principle as before when you were searching to see what worked and whatdidn't.

You'll also want to keep a record of your data in a spreadsheet. By doing so you will have a visual way to monitorprogress, and can demonstrate ROI of your blogging efforts to your boss! This helps you to stay on track rather thanjust looking at a screen for a moment and moving on.

Have your changes worked? If so, keep working on them and refining them to be even more effective, and lose thethings that are not successful.

In this way your work will constantly evolve and will continually include small changes that you test, keep and, in somecases, discard.

Your Turn...

Everyone is different, and this is what adds spice to your blogs and your work in general. This also means thatperhaps you can share valuable ways about how to set blogging goals with everyone too!

What are your tips?

Are you already following any of these techniques?

What is driving success with your business blog?

Please share your thoughts in the comments section below!

In this blog I'm assuming that you already know how to write a blog, but what if it's new to you?

You can see that a regular business blog has great potential to get your company more sales, but it can be really hardto start when you're new to blogging!

If only there were an easy way to learn how to start blogging for business...

Good news! Oxygen 2.0 have published a FREE E-Book to help beginners start blogging for business,and you can get your free copy by clicking the button below and requesting the download:

Posted by Adrian Leighton on Fri 27 Feb, 2015

Adrian has been in China for 7 years! He is experienced in all things inbound marketing, social media,blogging, and SEO. When at play he enjoys weight-training, reading, watching TV shows with his wife,and baking!

Topics: blogging