How (And Why) To Run A Blog Series

Launching a blog series is a fantastic way to create some buzz and generate traffic to your blog. In today’s post, we’re going to teach you how to launch a series and also explain the benefits of doing so.

Blog Series Ideas

So first thing’s first. What the heck do you write about? Well, we’re happy to tell you that coming up with topics for your blog series is easier than you might realize. People in general like shorter bits of content … content that’s easy to read and quickly digest.

To develop topics for your blog series, think about high-level subject matter that’s more complex. Then plot out how you can break it down into blog post topics!

An example series might center around How To Run Your First Marathon. Topics in the series might include:

• How To Choose The Best Running Sneakers

• 5 Post Run Snacks To Help You Re-energize

• Tips For Avoiding Injuries While Running

• 3 Sample Marathon Training Schedules

• 10 Things You Must Do The Day Before Your First Marathon

Think about the questions you commonly get asked by your clients or customers. How can these questions be transformed into a blog series? The most important part of content development is making sure your audience is going to find it interesting and worthwhile to read!

For more advice on coming up with blog post ideas, read this blog post:

3 Ways To Come Up With Blog Post Topics

Tips For Writing Your Blog Content

Once you lock down the topics you’ll be covering in your blog series, the next step is writing the posts. Remember, posts within the series should be kept a bit shorter. The whole point of a series is taking a complex topic and breaking it down into smaller, more manageable, parts. Try and keep each post between 500-700 words if possible.

As you’re writing your posts, keep in mind that people are visual! Plan to utilize bullet points and line breaks to better organize your ideas. You should also incorporate relevant photos into your posts to create a more appealing aesthetic on the page. Because who wants to look at a screen full of words?

Another tip for writing your posts: Always be thinking about linking other relevant content! If there are blog posts you’ve previously written that tie into any of the topics in your series, find opportunities to link them.

As your series moves along, you’ll also want to try and link the earlier topics to the new ones. This can be done by simply recapping what the previous post covered at the beginning of your next post and then creating a link to it. Another pro tip: Tease your upcoming post at the end of each post!

Need extra tips for laying out your posts? Definitely read this!

How To Design Blog Posts

The point of a series is taking a complex topic and breaking it up into smaller parts.

Determining A Schedule

You’ve written all of this amazing content. Now what? It’s time to determine a posting schedule! How long is your series going to last? One week? A month? How will you space out your posts during this period of time?

We recommend waiting no more than a week in between posts. So if you’re running a blog series for a month and have four posts waiting in the hopper, you’d release a new post each week. The schedule truly doesn’t matter all that much … what does matter is communicating to your audience what that schedule will be and then sticking to it!

Promoting Your Blog Series

A blog series is a great way to grab new subscribers and re-engage your existing subscriber base as well. Utilize email marketing and social media to promote your series a week or two before it launches. Let people know what it will be about and, more importantly, why they absolutely need to tune in!

The Benefits Of Running A Blog Series

Here are just a few of the benefits to launching a blog series!

1. You’ll fill your content calendar.

A blog series will essentially eliminate that feeling of being stumped over content. Each post in and of itself is something to promote on social media. You can also extract interesting tidbits from each post and create infographics from them. There are countless ways to repurpose the content within your series. Get creative!

2. You’ll improve your SEO.

Each new blog post equals a newly indexed page on your website. Plus, “Offering a series of related posts allows you to interlink the posts between them, which helps with your SEO!” (The Sway)

3. You’ll generate more traffic to your website.

If your content is intriguing to your audience, they’ll be drawn to it … and keep coming back for more! While promoting your series before it begins is important, you’ll want to continue the push while it’s going on. Remind your followers on social media while the series is underway and tease your new, upcoming posts anytime you can.

4. You’ll establish yourself as an expert.

Writing a blog series can definitely help position you as an expert on the topic you’re covering. “It helps you establish your authority as you expand and execute on areas of your expertise and passion. The more you can share about a particular subject (and in an organized fashion) the better!” (John Saddington)

5. You’ll grab new subscribers.

As we’ve already mentioned above, if you’re producing valuable content within your series, there’s a great chance you’ll gain new subscribers who are interested in learning more about the subject you’ll be covering.

Have we motivated you to launch a new blog series? We sure hope so! Comment below if you’ve ever run a successful series and give us some insights on your winning formula!

New to blogging? Download our free guide to get yourself started in the right direction!

Branding Your Boudoir Photography Blog

Photo by Jernej Graj on Unsplash

Earlier this week we published a new article on How To Design A Blog Post. While it’s important that your posts are interesting to your audience and grammatically correct, there’s another aspect of blogging that sometimes gets forgotten about.

The design.

In Tuesday’s post, we shared tips for making your content shine by applying some simple design concepts. And, of course, that got us thinking about our core client … the boudoir photographer. In today’s post, we’re going to share nine design tips specific to a boudoir photography blog.

1.) Coordinate your blog design with your website design.

Keeping in line with your brand is incredibly important. (FYI: This applies to everything you put out there, not just your blog.) The fonts. colors, and patterns that you use on your website should be incorporated into the design of your blog. Mismatched marketing leads to an audience disconnect and will ultimately stunt your brand recognition efforts. When visitors to your website hop over to your blog, or vice versa, they should feel like they’re still in the same space.

2.) Create a header.

According to the Brand Solopreneur:

“A header is the first thing a visitor sees when landing on your blog, so just like a bad piece of meat can ruin a dish, a poorly constructed header can squander a first impression.”

Your header should include your logo and also a clear, concise description of what your blog and brand are all about.

The Brand Solorpreneur also has this to say about creating a blog header:

“Be aware of what I call the ‘hotdog effect’ when designing your header. You do not want to put everything but the kitchen sink in there. Your header is a qualifier for visitors. It should tell them enough that they can make a quick determination if they want to learn more or leave.”

3.) Use pull quotes and big, bold headers to satisfy the skimmer.

Boudoir is a hot topic and there are many questions your future clients need answered. Make sure your blog posts are easy to skim. The main points of each article should stand out from the rest of the text, allowing the reader to get the gist of the post even if they don’t have time to read the entire thing.

In a study on how people read websites, the Nielsen Norman Group discovered that “79 percent of test users always scanned any new page they came across; only 16 percent read word-by-word.”

Needless to say, it’s important to highlight the main points of your post in order to keep people scrolling through the content!

4.) Use photography that identifies with your target client persona.

Your blog is the perfect place to attract new client leads. So make sure you’re doing what it takes to attract the right ones! People are visual by nature so imagery will play a key role in your blog design. While you’ll want to use photos that reasonably coordinate with the topics of each post, you’ll also want to consider whether or not the photos you select will resonate with the right people (a.k.a. your target client persona). Each time you go to select photos to use with your blog posts, keep your dream client in the back of your mind and ask yourself how each photo would make them feel. Would it appeal to them or be off-putting in some way? Again, your blog should be a lead generating tool. Get the right leads for your boudoir business by always keeping your target client persona at the forefront of your copywriting and design decisions!

5.) Promote your workbooks, guides, checklists, etc.

Do you offer a free guide, workbook or checklist to your website visitors or clients? Content offers like these should be promoted in every single one of your blog posts. Remember what we just talked about above. You need to treat your blog like a lead generating tool. If you’re not giving visitors an obvious way to opt-in to your content, you’re missing an enormous opportunity!

6.) Tell a story.

Boudoir photography is all about empowerment. Take a moment to think about just how many people’s lives you’ve touched. Just how many women you’ve made feel BEAUTIFUL. These stories are pure gold for your blog.

The art of boudoir photography is simply unknown to many people. Some might even think it’s scary or intimidating. However, seeing and reading about actual human beings who went through the experience can be a very powerful thing. Utilize your evangelists and ask to feature their stories and sessions on your blog!

7.) Include social sharing buttons!

If you’re a boudoir photographer, there’s a good chance you’re using various other social media platforms to promote your brand. Give your blog visitors an opportunity to easily share your fabulous content with their networks by including social sharing buttons within your blog posts.

8.) Be mindful of photo file sizes.

Like your website, your blog should feature high quality photos but be sure to keep each of them under 500KB. Filling your blog posts with extremely large photo files will seriously slow down page loading times. (And this is annoying 😩) Give your blog visitors a user-friendly experience so they stay around for a while!

9.) Make your content easy to search.

Whether you organize your posts by using categories and tags or simply offer search functionality within your blog, your content should be easy for visitors to sort through and navigate. (Pro Tip: Offering up a topic listing can definitely help lead people in the right direction!)

And there you have … nine tips for making your boudoir blog even more amazing than it already is!

Need a little help getting your boudoir photography blog off the ground.

Find out how we can help by requesting a free 15-minute consult today! We specialize in working with boudoir photographers just like you.

How To Design A Blog Post

Blogging is about more than just writing a wonderful piece of content that your audience will love. It’s about making it pleasing to the eye, too! It doesn’t matter how amazing your post is … if the page layout is distracting, confusing, or cluttered, your readers are going to bail. And what a shame that would be considering all of the time and effort it takes to create a post to begin with!

Today we’re going to share some tips on how to lay out each of your blog posts in an aesthetically pleasing way. Let’s hop to it.🐰

Ok, we love data and statistics so let’s start things off with this little nugget:

“According to a recent U.K. survey, bloggers have ranked as the third most trustworthy source of information, following only friends and family. That's right -- bloggers are trusted more than celebrities, journalists, brands, and politicians.”

(HubSpot)

If you’re providing valuable content consistently, it’s inevitable … you’re going to create a following. (Yay!👏🏼) However, people are visual. If your blog posts are filled with annoying pop-up ads or offer little relief in the way of white space, visitors are not going to stay for long. (Boo!👻) The good news: You do NOT need any kind of graphic design skills to lay your posts out in a visually appealing way! Simply follow these tips and you’ll be golden!

Tip 1: White space is your friend.

Ever visit a blog or website that’s stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey with text? Everywhere you look, all you see is words, words, and more words! Ahhhhhh! That’s a big ouchy for the eyeballs. 👀

The trick with laying out any webpage is incorporating white space so the content feels easy to read and absorb. Make sure there’s a healthy amount of white space in the margins of your page as well as between paragraphs.

Tip 2: Organize your content with headers and bullets.

Most of us love to skim. We’re all super busy people who are on the hunt for fast access to information! Yes, it’s every blogger’s dream that visitors will sit down with a cup of coffee and leisurely soak in every last drop of each post. News flash: This is NOT reality! The majority of people scan content.

In a study on how people read websites, the Nielsen Norman Group discovered that…

“79 percent of test users always scanned any new page they came across; only 16 percent read word-by-word.”

Keeping this in mind, be sure to break up your content using headers, sub heads, and bullet points wherever possible. This will make your posts significantly easier to scan and digest.

Tip 3: Be on brand.

The imagery and accent colors used in your blog posts should represent the look, feel, and style of your brand. You don’t need to be like Skittles and utilize every color of the rainbow. In fact, that’s a bad idea when it comes to blog post design. Keep your color palette a simplistic representation of your brand.

Now let’s talk about imagery. If you’re in the business of photography, then you can pretty much skip this paragraph because, by nature, you already have a plethora of fantastic photos to choose from. (And we’re very jealous of you.) However, if you’re like the rest of us, you probably need to make use of stock photography.

Stock photos are a great way to add visual interest to your blog posts IF you’re selecting the right kinds of imagery. Be aware, there are some incredibly cheesy free stock photos floating around on the Internet. There are also some extremely beautiful stock images that you can use 100% free!

Our favorite sites for free stock photos are:

• Pixabay

• Pexels

• Unsplash

There are also sites such as Shutterstock, Getty Images, and Adobe Stock that you can purchase very unique, gorgeous stock photography from.

One important thing to mention here is NEVER EVER take a photo from Google images without fully understanding what the licensing and copyright details are. (In most cases, these photos belong to someone else and you don’t have permission to use them.) Your safest bet for incorporating photography into your blog posts is using one of the stock photography websites we’ve referenced above.

Tip 4: Make your links obvious.

If you link to other websites or resources within your blog post, make sure the hyperlinks are obvious so the reader knows where to click in case they wish to learn more. We use an accent color for our hyperlinks.

We also like to have external links open in a new window. This way, our website will remain open while the person is exploring a link that takes them off our site. If they do more clicking from there, our site will still be open in another tab and be easy to get back to if they wanted.

Tip 5: Place your CTAs above the fold.

Many business owners use their blog as a way to capture new leads. Aside from grabbing actual subscribers to your blog, you can utilize CTAs (calls-to-action) to get readers to click and complete some type of form. The CTA can be to download a guide (that relates to your blog post) or request a free consult. Whatever the action is that you want the reader to take next, be sure you tell them early on in the post! Remember, people tend to scan web pages and they don’t always make it all the way to the bottom. Place your enticing CTAs above the fold or above the point where they’d have to scroll to see more of the screen.

Tip 6: Offer a way to search.

We’ve all become spoiled by Google. We see a search box, plug in a few words, and BOOM! We’re instantaneously presented with all sorts of results! Your blog should offer this same level of convenience. Providing a search tool for readers will allow them to quickly find the type of content they’re looking for … and this will make them very happy.

And there you have it … six tips that can transform your blog for the better.

We design blogs using SquareSpace!

It’s the easiest, most user-friendly platform out there. If you’re looking to start a blog, free book a consult to learn more.

20 Blog Post Topic Ideas For The Boudoir Photographer

Hello, boudoir photographers! Today we have a lovely little treat for you. Earlier this week we published a post about blogging: 6 Characteristics Of A Kick-Ass Blog. (If you’ve been following us for awhile, you know we’re HUGE advocates of blogging.)

Our recent post got us thinking … what topics would be interesting for a boudoir photographer to write about? What kind of content would entice new clients to read more and educate themselves on your website? So we made a list! (Like blogging, we also love lists. 😏) Here it is: 20 Blog Post Topic Ideas For The Boudoir Photographer!

1. What To Wear For Your Boudoir Photography Session

2. Eating, Drinking, Sleeping, Skincare … Everything You Need To Know About Prepping For Your Boudoir Photography Session

3. To Tan Or Not To Tan: How Tanning Can Impact Your Boudoir Photography Photos

4. Should I lose weight prior to my boudoir shoot?

5. Boudoir Photography Hair And Makeup: Go Pro Or No?

6. This is YOUR session. Stop comparing yourself to others.

7. Why You Shouldn’t Go Pinterest Crazy Before Your Boudoir Photography Session

8. How To Make A Playlist For Your Boudoir Photography Sesh

9. Adding Props To Make Your Boudoir Session Unique

10. How To Make A Pinterest Inspiration Board For Your Boudoir Photography Session

11. What is a boudoir photo shoot?

12. What To Bring To A Boudoir Photo Shoot

13. What To Expect During From A Couples Boudoir Photography Session

14. Your privacy matters. The things you should know prior to signing a contract with a boudoir photographer.

15. How To Pick A Boudoir Photographer

16. 10 Questions To Ask A Boudoir Photographer During Your Consult

17. Eeeek! Do I have to get naked for my boudoir photography shoot?

18. The 5 Tips I Give To Every Client

19. How much does a boudoir photography session cost?

20. My Favorite Props To Use During A Boudoir Shoot

Hope these ideas inspire you to write something as amazing as you are!

Need a little help getting your blog going? We’ve got just the guide for you!

6 Characteristics Of A Kick-Ass Blog

Blogging can work wonders for your small business. Does it require a time commitment? Yes. Will it be worth the effort? Yes … BUT to realize the fruits of your labor, your blog will need to possess six specific characteristics. Nail these qualities and you can rightfully consider yourself the owner of a kick-ass blog. Here goes!

Ok, so before unveiling the characteristics of the mystical kick-ass blog, let’s quickly recap why business blogging can be so fantastic in the first place:

1. A blog fuels SEO. Each time you publish a new post, you’re essentially creating a new page for search engines to index and rank! Google LOVES relevant and valuable content.
   
   

2. It’s fodder for your social media. Think of it this way: the blog post itself is content that can be shared. From it, you can also create infographics and other interesting messages and visuals that can be linked back to it. Two birds. One stone. You catch our drift.
   
   

3. A blog stimulates conversation. Blogging is a great way to not only share information with your target audience, but to in turn, get them talking and engaged.
   
   

4. Blogging is an extremely cost effective marketing strategy. If you can write the content yourself, the only cost to you is your time.
   
   

5. A blog is a prime place to capture new leads. When people land on your blog, they have arrived for a reason. They’re looking for an answer to a question or a specific piece of information. If they like what they see, there’s a good chance they’ll want to become a subscriber or explore other content you have to offer.

Yes, blogging can present a pretty awesome opportunity for your small business. However, there’s a method to the madness.

If you want a blog that generates lots of website traffic and new leads … which is what we would classify as a kick-ass blog … then you must do these six things:

1. Be helpful.

There’s absolutely no point in having a blog if your content isn’t considered valuable by your audience. Your blog topics should address the pain points experienced by your ideal buyer persona. Your posts should help them answer questions that pertain to your business and/or industry. It’s all about education … not brand touting!

One of the most common questions we get asked by new bloggers is, “What should I write about?” The answer is actually quite simple. Just think about the questions that customers or clients most commonly ask you and answer them! Another goldmine for content is your website. If you have access to your analytics, do some research on what areas of your website are generating the most traffic. This is a great way to determine high level subjects to address.

2. Be detailed.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but 300-word posts are not going to cut the mustard. To demonstrate authority on the subject matter, and to be taken seriously by Google, you’ll want to dig in and get detailed. You can definitely feel free to quote from and link to other authoritative resources in your industry. However, the bulk of your posts should reflect your own unique ideas on whatever topic it is you’re writing about.

3. Be consistent.

Consistency is the key to being successful with blogging. Don’t leave your subscribers hanging. If you publish a great piece of content only to then go silent for the next two months, you’re setting your audience up for disappointment. Consistency is also critical if you want to see results in SEO. We recommend blogging once or twice a week if possible!

4. Be human.

There used to be a time when keyword stuffing worked. This is absolutely not the case anymore. In fact, Google will penalize you for doing it. When you’re writing your blog posts, the tone and style should match the tone and style of how you actually speak to your customers or clients. It’s perfectly ok to sound like a human being when you write … and, truthfully, it’s encouraged! It’s actually another great thing about blogging. You can be you! There’s no need for a degree in English. If you can string sentences together in a grammatically correct way, you’re qualified to blog. (Note: Spelling and grammar will make or break your audience’s confidence in you so definitely be sure to proofread!)

5. Be strategic.

If you’re not utilizing calls-to-action (CTAs) in your blog, you’re missing a huge opportunity. Think of your blog as the thing that draws people to your website. Now it’s time to keep them active and engaged while you already have their attention! By strategically placing CTAs in each blog post, you can subtly let your site visitors know the next steps they should be taking. Case in point: at the end of this post, you’ll see a CTA to download our guide to blogging! (Definitely be sure to grab a copy of that before you go!)

You’ll also want to optimize each and every post for SEO. While you never want to stuff keywords into your content, you’ll want to sprinkle them around in a way that makes sense.

Also, be sure each URL contains the primary keyword you’re looking to rank for and is easy to read. URLs are better left short and sweet. You can drop stop words like “a,” “but,” “and,” “of,” the,” etc.

6. Be unique.

As we all know, there is a plethora of blog content already out on the Internet. It’s next to impossible to generate subject matter that no one else has ever written about. However, what you can do is put a unique spin on your content. In our experience, sharing your actual stories or experiences as it relates to a subject works very well. Get creative with your posts and never be afraid to add your own personal touches!

We hope this helps in your small business blogging endeavors! Oh, and as promised, here’s that CTA we mentioned above! ;)

Happy blogging, friends!

Our 2019 Business Goals Revealed

Welcome to 2019! 🎊 We don’t know about you but we love being a business owners during this time of the year. A time when so many exciting opportunities are just waiting to be tapped into. Looking back at 2018, we can easily identify the things that worked for our business and the things that didn’t. Since we use this blog as a platform to share useful information with other creative entrepreneurs, we wanted to give you the countdown of discoveries we made in 2018 and how we’re using them to reshape our business goals for this year.

Discovery #5: Social media drives website traffic, NOT sales.

In reviewing our 2018 website stats, social media accounted for 24% of our traffic. However, we cannot link Facebook or Instagram to a single sale we made last year. In fact, the leads that were generated by social media turned out to be fairly poor. Considering the time investment we made in managing our platforms (not to mention the money we spent on paid campaigns), this was a complete bummer.

(To hear more about our frustrations with social media last year, check out this blog post: The Only Reason We’re On Instagram)

Goal #5: Network more.

So what did generate the most business for us last year? Good old word of mouth! If only we could hide behind our computers all day and not have to get in front of people though! Networking can feel uncomfortable but, unfortunately, getting out of one’s comfort zone usually leads to spectacular things!

That said, one of our goals for this year is to do more networking. And by networking, we don’t just mean attending Chamber events and things of that nature. We mean, talking about Little Marketing Genius Every Single Chance we get. Whether it’s during a pedicure or indulging in craft beer at a local brewery, if there’s a chance to plug LMG, we’re taking it!

Discovery #4: We need to streamline our processes.

One key thing we learned in 2018 was that some of the technology we had been using simply didn’t fit our business. The email platform we chose felt clunky. Our invoicing software didn’t do everything we wanted it to. And managing social media accounts was quite the process. The result: spending way more time than we needed to on battling technology!

Goal #4: Invest in technology.

During the last quarter of 2018, we began researching technology that would streamline our business processes. We’re happy to report that we believe to have finally found the right platforms!

Investing in technology can be frightening for a small business owner … especially when revenue is in flux. What we learned is that using the wrong technology can actually cost you in the end.

Discovery #3: People love our blog.

Our blog is by far the most popular section of our website. Nearly all of the leads we get from Google and other search engines are because of our blog.

Throughout the course of 2018, we published posts but our schedule was inconsistent. We hosted a Tuesday Tips series over the summer but then didn’t blog at all in September and October. (This was a huge mistake because the blog had gained so much traction from the Tips series!)

Goal #3: Consistently blog.

We preach it to you guys all the time but didn’t do a very good job of it ourselves last year. We’re a small agency so creating content for our business at the same time as creating content for our clients can be a challenge … but we are always up for a challenge.

For 2019, we’re committing to at least one blog post per week, every week. That’s a lot of content so if you have any suggestions for topics, please feel free to share them with us below! 👇🏼

Discovery #2: The struggle of reaching your target buyer persona is real … if you’re not 200% clear on who that person is.

When we launched Little Marketing Genius, we had a pretty good idea of the types of clients we wanted to serve. However, pretty good is definitely not good enough when you’re talking buyer personas. In order to reach the people you want to serve or sell something to, you have to know much more about them than a few basic demographics. It requires going deeper than that. What hobbies does this person have? What are their favorite brands? What blogs do they read? The list of questions goes on and on.

Last year, we came to the stunning realization of how important getting super specific on your buyer persona really is. We took on a handful of clients that were not a good match for us and we struggled getting in front of those who would be the perfect match.

Goal #2: Create a robust and comprehensive profile of our buyer persona and build a new marketing strategy around it.

We began the process in December and we’re almost finished building out our persona. The next step will be to interview the clients who most closely fit this description so we can learn even more. Building the right persona is an intense exercise to go through but well worth it in the long run. We wish we had gotten more specific on our persona sooner in the game but we’ll chalk it up to yet another learning experience.

Need help revamping your buyer persona? Check out HubSpot’s free Make My Persona tool!

Discovery #1: The riches are in the niches.

Ok folks, this is our biggest discovery of 2018. We first heard about the concept of niching down when we attended Inbound 2018, a conference hosted by HubSpot every year. One of our favorite marketing gurus, Karl Sakas presented a seminar on how to attract the right clients. As part of this, he talked about vertical specialization:

“Narrowing your focus allows you to build better project management workflows. Specialization helps you close more clients, since your success stories will all be highly-relatable within the industry.

Ultimately, specializing in a particular client industry gives you an edge. For your prospective clients, there are too many potential agencies out there - they want to narrow things down. Your agency can either stand out as experts in a narrow field, or fade into the sea of thousands of generalist agencies.”

— Karl Sakas

Read Carl’s full blog post on vertical specialization here.

Now, while Karl only consults agencies, this concept can apply to most businesses. We found it to be compelling but drastically thinning out our pool of prospects just seemed too scary for us at the time.

Fast-forward to the end of 2018. We were taking a web design business course by Paige Brunton and she highly recommended doing the same thing. Her words: the riches are in the niches!

Goal #1: We’re niching down!

While we can’t share all of the details on this just yet, 🙊 we can tell you we’ll be making some big changes in 2019! We’re going to get laser-focused on who we serve and the types of services we provide. We started preparing in December and probably won’t be ready to roll them out until the summer of this year so stay tuned!

We can’t wait to see what the New Year brings. We hope you have exciting things in store for your business as well. Comment below if you want to share any of your 2019 goals with us!

Looking to revamp your website design and brand in 2019? Book a free consult with us!

Want to make your web traffic soar in 2019? Then do this ONE thing.

If your New Year’s Resolution as a small business owner is to increase your website traffic in 2019, then this post is for you! We’re going to share the ONE single thing you can do that will pretty much guarantee A LOT more visits to your site. Here goes!

The One Thing You Can Do To Increase Web Traffic Next Year:

Consistently Blog.

(We recommend publishing one or two posts per week that are 1,500-2,000 words.)

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Blogging is the cherry on Top of your small business website!

Get our blogging guide! 15 pages of tips and tricks on becoming an expert at small business blogging.

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So how does blogging help your website? To answer this, let’s first talk about what Google likes and doesn’t like.

Google LIKES:

• Active websites that are frequently updated with new content

• Helpful websites that answer real life questions

• Humanized websites that speak to people

Google DOESN’T LIKE:

• Stale websites (The last updates were made circa 2015 … eeeeeek!)

• Boring, confusing, or irrelevant websites (People quickly leave because they’re uninspired or can’t find what they’re looking for … ouchy!)

• Robotic websites (The text on the site is written for search engines, not for people … nooooo!)

How blogging supports the things that Google likes:

• Each time you publish a new post, you’re essentially adding new content to your website and another page for Google to index.

• Blogging provides the perfect platform for you to answer common questions and address the pain points of your target buyer persona.

• Good news! You can and SHOULD write your blog in the same conversational tone you use with your clients and customers.

An added benefit to consistent blogging is having consistent material to use on social media! Each time you publish a new post, you can share it on social media. You can also create fun infographics or pull quotes from your posts to get the most mileage out of the content.

Keys To Successful Blog Posts

We need to be clear about this … blogging in and of itself will not magically make your website traffic numbers sky rocket. Your posts need to:

1. Align with the business you’re in

If you’re a jewelry store, blogging about your nana’s secrets to making sauce is not going to help drive quality traffic to your site. However, blogging about the benefits of platinum over white gold wedding bands … bingo! That topic aligns with your business and makes perfect sense to discuss on your website.

2. Speak to your target buyer persona

This is key. Prior to even writing your first blog post, you need to have a very clear description of who you’re writing it for. In fact, your entire website … not just your blog … needs to be written and designed for this person. Your target buyer persona is your dream client or customer. The person who you wish every customer or client could be like.

We strongly recommend taking time to read HubSpot’s blog post, “How to Create Detailed Buyer Personas for Your Business.” It will guide you through the step-by-step process of researching and developing the perfect buyer persona for your small business.

When creating your buyer persona, try and specifically identify:

• Their name

• Their age

• Where they live

• Their relationship/family status

• Their education level

• Their occupation

• Their annual income

• Websites they like / what blogs or YouTube channels they subscribe to

• Magazines or books they like to read

• Podcasts they listen to

• Their hobbies

• Brands they like

• Social media platforms they spend time on

• TV shows they watch

Some questions to consider about your target buyer persona and your business:

• Does your small business offer a solution to a pain point your buyer persona is experiencing? What is that solution?

• What hesitations does your buyer persona have when it comes to taking the next step toward addressing their pain point? How can you reassure them?

• If your buyer persona doesn’t address their pain point now, how will it impact them in the near future? How will it impact them a year or more from now?

• If they do resolve their pain point, how will it change their life?

• What can your business offer your buyer persona specifically to alleviate their pain point or fulfill a need they have?

Once you flesh out every last detail of this ideal customer, writing blog posts for them becomes easy as pie.

3. Be optimized for search

After completing your buyer persona research and development, you’ll have a solid understanding on their pain points and questions they need answers to. This information is key for creating great blog posts!

Tips For Optimizing Your Blog Posts

• The topic should align with a common question that your target buyer persona might plug into a Google search.

• The title should contain the keywords you’re trying to rank for. (i.e. The 5 Benefits Of Going With A Platinum Wedding Band Over White Gold)

• The URL slug (that’s the part after the forward slash) should be short and only contain the critical words. (i.e. www.yourwebsite.com/benefits-platinum-over-white-gold-wedding-band)

• Use headings within your post that contain the keywords you’re trying to rank for.

• Write your copy for humans, not for search engines. Keyword stuffing will only hurt your rankings so there’s no need to pack your post full of them. Use keywords where they make sense.

• Link to high-quality, authority websites when possible.

• Use keywords in image names when relevant.

• Size your images for the web (ideally they should be less than 500KB)

• Try to make each post about 1,500-2,000 words.

How To Come Up With Blog Post Topics

The biggest piece of advice we can share on starting a business blog is to be organized and prepared. Developing an overall content calendar will be tremendously helpful in setting you off on the right track. While there are many tools available to help you do this, we have an easy way of plotting it all out using the Google Drive!

How To Make A Content Calendar Using The Google Drive

Coming up with blog post topics really begins with your content calendar. You should have a rough idea of what topics you want to cover over the course of a month. For instance, this past month, we focused on website design. The majority of our blog posts and social media messaging all tied into website design.

Planning out broad topic themes will then help you narrow in on topics for blog posts that relate to these themes.

Here are three ways you can come up with awesome topics for blog posts:

1. Make a list of the most commonly asked questions you receive from your customers or clients.

2. Perform Google searches related to these commonly asked questions and then scroll to the bottom of the page to see a list of other related searches. This is a great trick for coming up with blog post topics as well as keywords you should consider using!

3. Interview your best customers and ask them for ideas!

Track Your Success

Now that you know the secrets to managing an amazing blog, you’ll want to make sure you can track the success of your efforts. If your website isn’t currently synced up with Google Analytics, we encourage you to make that happen before launching your blog. Google Analytics cannot go back in time to track results. If you want to capture all the traffic data from your blog, you’ll need to implement Analytics from the start.

To sync your website with Google Analytics, you’ll first need to create an account by visiting https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics. You’ll be walked through some simple steps and then be given a tracking ID to place on the back end of your website.

Once you’re set up on Google Analytics, you can learn:

• What blog posts are most popular

• How people are finding your website

• Which social media platforms are driving the most visitors your way

• What your top performing pages in general are

• What pages are in need of improvement

• The location of your visitors

• How people are using the search function on your site

• And so, so much more!

Running a blog and a website is a learn-as-you-go-process and having a tool like Google Analytics is critical for you to measure your success.

Stats On Businesses That Blog

If you’re still unconvinced that blogging should be a part of your 2019 marketing plan, let us share a few from HubSpot …

B2B marketers that use blogs receive 67% more leads than those that do not.

Marketers who have prioritized blogging are 13x more likely to enjoy positive ROI.

Companies who blog receive 97% more links to their website.

At the end of the day, if you can write your own posts, the only thing that blogging costs you is your time. Increase your website traffic next year by committing to consistently blogging. We promise you will see results that will make you smile!

New to blogging? Download our free Guide To Blogging today! Inside, you’ll discover:

• How To Pick A Topic

• How To Write Your Post

• How To Optimize Your Post

• Formatting Your Post

• And More!

How To Start A Business Blog

Starting a business blog might seem like a daunting task but we’re here to assure you it isn’t. Today we’ll explain the importance of having a blog and then outline a basic roadmap for getting started.

Why You Should Have A Business Blog

A blog will help generate traffic to your website. If you’re optimizing your posts for search engines, overtime, they will begin to rank in search results. Blog posts also serve as great content for social media! If your topics are interesting enough, you can expect to see clicks to your website as well as shares.

Step-by-Step Guide For Starting Your Business Blog

1. Research your audience.

A business blog differs from a personal blog in that it focuses on a specific niche and audience. In order to craft blog posts that will draw in your target audience, you first need to identify exactly who your target audience is.

“If you have worked with your company for a long time, you may feel like you have a good grasp on who your customer is, but it still helps to actually put those ideas to paper. Are the majority of your customers male or female? Where do they live? What do they do for a living? What are their buying habits? What are their needs and challenges? What questions do they ask?”

(ThriveHive)

By gaining a deep understanding of your target audience, it will be easier to develop content that truly interests them. Through this process, you’ll also learn what style your messaging should be delivered in and where you audience goes to seek information.

GET Jamie & Katie’s FREE Guide To Blogging!

2. Plot out your keywords.

In order to get found in Google searches, the content on your website and blog needs to reflect what potential site visitors are actually searching for. Make a list of as many long-tail and short-tail keywords as possible.

A long-tail keyword contains three or more words (i.e. chocolate wedding cupcakes Middletown). A short-tail keywords are typically under three words and essentially more broad in nature (i.e. chocolate cupcakes). You’ll want to include a healthy mix of both throughout your website and blog.

“Naturally, short term keywords are bound to give your website more hits since they are less specific. These short tail keywords are able to capture a bigger share of your target market. However, long tail keywords are more about giving quality hits than a large number of traffic. Targeting short tail keywords, however makes yielding positive results difficult and are often time consuming and expensive.”

(Quora)

3. Create an editorial calendar.

Once you’ve developed a list of keywords, coming up with topics to write about will be a breeze. If you’re still left feeling stumped, you can read our post, “3 Ways To Come Up With Blog Post Topics.”

We like to use an editorial calendar so we can tie our blog posts into our other marketing efforts such as social media campaigns and paid Google ads. By planning out our posts in advance, we can easily build other content around each topic and avoid the headaches associated with scrambling for new ideas each week. It’s all about being prepared!

4. Devise a plan for CTAs.

If you’ve enticed a visitor to read a blog post, don’t miss the opportunity to engage them even more! Include a call-to-action that fits the context of each post. Let the reader know what action you’d like them to take next. If you published a post about The Benefits Of Hot Yoga, offer them a Beginner’s Guide To Yoga Poses or a coupon to try a free class. The idea is to keep the visitor active on your website for as long as possible.

5. Track your success.

Whatever platform you use to host your blog, make sure you’re getting the most out of it. Regularly analyze the traffic and CTA clicks for each post so you can see how it stacks up against the rest. Having these insights will allow you to better leverage your hot topics in the future!

6. Share your posts with the world!

Put your social media sites to work and be sure to share each and every blog post with your networks! Include an inspiring image that relates to the post (along with the link) and encourage your followers to share. This will help drive traffic to your blog and hopefully score you new subscribers!

Ready to master the art of blogging?

4 Easy Ways To Capture Leads On Your Website

Think of your website as a salesperson who works for you 24/7. Have you equipped this salesperson with all of the necessary tools to ace their job? Not only should your website contain a wealth of interesting and helpful content for visitors, but it should also serve as a portal for capturing new leads! In this blog post, we’re going to share a few easy ways to do this.

1. Put your high-traffic pages to work.

Each month, you should actively review your website data. Don’t worry … this is not as scary as it sounds. If your website is integrated with Google Analytics, then you already have access to a plethora of valuable statistics. One piece of data that we like to regularly monitor is page traffic. Page traffic outlines what content your site visitors are most interested in and essentially points you in the right direction for CTA placements.

A call-to-action, or CTA, is an image or line of text that prompts visitors, leads, and customers to take action. It is, quite literally, a "call" to take an "action." (HubSpot)

Many times, CTAs are linked to landing pages where a visitor can complete a form. This form might allow them to book a consultation, download a free piece of content, or even enter some sort of contest. Regardless of what the form is linked to, its sole purpose is to collect information from website visitors.

Placing CTAs (that ultimately link to forms) on your top performing website pages will allow you to strategically capture leads. Just be sure that your offers are enticing and relevant to the website pages you’re promoting them on!

2. Use pop-up boxes.

A fantastic way to grab new blog subscribers is to use pop-up or subscription boxes on those high-performing pages we just discussed. If you’ve poked around on the LMG website, then you’ve probably already noticed how we use these.

That little pink box in the lower left corner = a lead generation tool.

So how did we create these nifty little pop-ups? Using HubSpot, of course! The great news … you can do this even with their most basic FREE Marketing Hub subscription! If you’re interested in learning more about getting your website synced up with HubSpot, then reach out to us.

Lead generation pop-ups can be as loud or subtle as you want them to be. On our homepage, for example, a visitor is only presented with the pop-up box after they scroll through 50% of the page. The box itself is also pretty non-intrusive. It simply appears in the lower left-hand corner of the screen. And we have it set to not reappear for a certain length of time if a visitor X’s out of it.

3. Present visitors with an option to subscribe on every page.

You never know when a website visitor might feel inspired to subscribe to your content. So give them the option to do so on every single page! Whether it’s via a simple button or perhaps a basic one-field form at the bottom of each page, be sure your website visitors have a quick and easy way to subscribe to your content as soon as they want to.

This section is found at the bottom of every LMG web page. It gives visitors a quick and easy way to subscribe to our content. Speaking of which, why haven’t YOU subscribed yet?

4. Activate the power of your blog.

A business blog serves a number of different purposes … the most obvious one being a platform to share valuable content and information with your website visitors. However, the importance of blogging runs much deeper than this. Did you know that each time you publish a new blog post, you’re adding a new page to your website that will eventually be indexed by Google? This equates to more opportunities for you to show up in search results!

Want to learn more about this? Read our blog post on How To Get Found In Google Searches!

Now let’s tie that into our topic of capturing new leads. By including an enticing call-to-action in every blog post, you can acquire pertinent information on new prospects. Having intel on where a future customer is in the buying process (as well as their needs, pain points, and desires) will tremendously improve your ability to effectively market to them in the future.

When placing CTAs within your blog posts, try experimenting with different options in terms of color, style, and even placement. We’ve found that when we place CTAs closer to the top of our posts, they get clicked on more. Graphic CTAs as opposed to linked text also tend to yield a better result. You’ll want to do a little of your own testing to determine what works best with your website visitors.

Remember what we said at the beginning of this post … your website is a 24/7 salesperson! Put it to work by incorporating lead capture mechanisms throughout and never miss another opportunity.

Ready to revamp your website for 2019? We’ll give you a FREE 15-minute consult!

Tuesday Tip #13: 3 Ways To Come Up With Blog Post Topics

You stare at that little blinking cursor against a blank white document and the frustration builds. Writer’s block. The minutes gradually pass and, before you know it, an hour or two goes by. Still nothing. Now you’re really getting pissed off. 

Does this situation sound familiar? Yup. We’ve been there, too. However, we have a few techniques that help us break through writer’s block. For today’s Tuesday Tip, we’re going to share three different ways we come up with topics for the LMG blog. Bookmark this page and never suffer through the creative process ever again.

Get Our Free Guide To Blogging

1. Create a list of commonly asked questions from your clients or customers.

Your website should be a useful resource for visitors. And developing a blog is the perfect way to address the topics that your customers and clients are interested in learning more about! One thing that we do at LMG is keep track of the marketing questions we get asked. If the same question ends up on our list multiple times, guess what that means? We’re creating a blog post about it! 

Building content from frequently asked questions can help drive more traffic to your website. How? Think of it this way … if multiple clients are asking you a similar question, just think of how many prospective clients are Googling answers to that very same question. 

Tracking your FAQs not only unveils blog topics for months to come but also increases your chances of getting found in search results. Win, win!

2. Review insights from your website.

Your website analytics represents a host of powerful information just waiting to be unleashed! We regularly review our LMG website traffic to learn what pages and content are outperforming the rest. Using this information, we create blog posts centered around the hot topics. 

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Pro tip: If you discover a broad topic that has gained popularity on your website, create a blog series! The topics you choose for the posts within the series should be specific yet directly related to the higher level topic. A series presents a great way to keep your audience engaged for an extended period of time. And while it’s running, be sure to continually promote it on your social media channels! 

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3. Use the HubSpot Blog Idea Generator.

When all else fails, use the HubSpot Blog Idea Generator to get your creative juices flowing! Simply fill in a few fields with words you think you might want to write about and, within seconds, you’ll have a week’s worth of blog post titles.

Coming up with blog content should not be painful. Utilize these three tips and you’ll be publishing like a pro! Need more help getting your blog up and going? Be sure to grab a free copy of Jamie & Katie’s Guide To Blogging!

Get Jamie & Katie's Guide To Blogging

Every Tuesday we share easy and actionable advice you can take to refresh your current marketing plan. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to see more!  

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