Maintaining a blog for your business is no small task. You have to brainstorm, research, write, edit, and format your posts. If you plan on using photos, graphics, or GIFs to illustrate your posts, that takes even more time and effort.
Your time is a precious resource. So how can you get the most out of your business’s blog and make sure none of that time you spent blogging goes to waste?
Today, we’re sharing 8 ways to make your blog go the extra mile. Keep reading to learn how you can make the most of your business’s blog, saving you time and driving more traffic to your website.
1. Use blog posts as email content.
One of the more challenging aspects of email marketing is coming up with valuable, interesting content for your audience. Fortunately, your blog is a built-in source of email content. Here are 3 ways to repurpose your blog for email marketing:
- Do you send out a regular newsletter with several small stories? Include a short summary of your latest post and link readers to it.
- Send out an email broadcast to your subscribers announcing your newest blog post. Put the first several paragraphs of the post in the body of the email. Then direct your readers to your website with a “read more” button.
- Direct readers to your blog through the postscript in other emails. (Bonus points if the emails are related to the subject of that blog post.)
Your emails need to provide value to your audience. Nobody wants to sign up for an email list that only sends out promotional emails asking for a purchase. Use your blog to add variety to your email schedule and give your audience interesting, relevant information.
2. Share blog posts on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Use your blog to start conversations on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Post a link to your blog post with a short summary encouraging your followers to read it. You’ll need to be brief on Twitter, but you can write a longer version of the summary for Facebook and LinkedIn.
Keep these tips in mind when posting your blog to social media:
- Consider pinning your most recent blog post to the top of your Facebook or Twitter profile.
- Don’t be afraid to share the same blog post multiple times, especially on a fast-paced platform like Twitter. Use the hashtag #ICYMI (“in case you missed it”) to ensure your followers see your latest post.
- Too busy to write new blog posts? Take advantage of #ThrowbackThursday or #FlashbackFriday and share an older blog post.
- Encourage your followers to share your blog posts, and thank them when they do. Don’t forget to respond to comments, too.
3. Turn blog posts into Instagram stories.
Instagram doesn’t allow you to include links in posts, so you have to get creative when it comes to promoting your blog on the platform. One successful method is to use Instagram stories.
“Stories” are temporary images or videos that live on your profile for 24 hours before disappearing. You can post a series of these images that your followers will view chronologically, telling a story. Blog posts are a natural fit for Instagram stories because most blog posts follow the structure of a story.
To turn your blog post into an Instagram story, follow these steps:
- Put a link to your blog post in your bio.
- Create a new Instagram story. (See this guide by Hootsuite for details if you’re unfamiliar with Instagram stories.)
- Take the most important “story beats” of your blog post and give each one its own photo in your story. These “story beats” are the main ideas of your blog post, such as the items in a numbered list or subheadings you use to divide your paragraphs.
- Use relevant photos and graphics, or write text on a colorful background. You don’t need to include the full text of your blog post. Limit yourself to 1–3 sentences per image.
- At the end of your story, encourage your followers to click the link in your bio to read the full post.
If you want your Instagram story to last longer than 24 hours, turn it into a highlight! Highlights function similarly to stories, but they don’t disappear from your profile.
4. Turn your blog posts into short podcast episodes.
In the car, on a job, at work, or at home, people listen to podcasts just about everywhere. Consider creating a podcast as an alternative channel to consume your content for people who don’t have the time to sit down and read your blog posts.
Use your blog posts as scripts for bite-sized podcast episodes. If you want to experiment with longer episodes, try combining several related blog posts into a single episode, or record yourself chatting with a friend about the subject of your blog post. You can use your podcast as a place to elaborate on ideas that are too lengthy or complicated for your blog.
You can’t create a podcast overnight. It requires recording equipment and editing software, which can cost several hundred dollars. But if you already have these tools, there’s no reason not to try your hand at podcasting.
5. Turn your blog posts into short videos.
People are watching more online videos than ever, according to HubSpot. You don’t have to be a professional videographer to create successful online videos.
Your videos can be mostly text with a few relevant photos or graphics. You don’t have to use the entirety of your blog post, just the most important story beats or takeaways. If you include spoken audio, be sure to add subtitles.
There are tons of resources for creating text-heavy videos, like Lumen5, Animoto, and Biteable. For step-by-step instructions on making your own short videos, see this article by Buffer—the first step starts with your blog!
6. Promote your blog through SMS.
Looking for more content for your SMS marketing campaign? Use your blog!
Write a short, captivating summary of your blog post followed by a link and an invitation to read more. Remember to use a link shortener to help you stay within the 160-character limit. Spice up your message with an emoji or two, and your SMS is ready to go.
If you decide to try your hand at video making (see tip #5), consider directing your audience to the video instead of the original blog post.
7. Repurpose blog posts into a lead-generating PDF.
A lead magnet or lead-generating PDF is a free PDF that people can download in exchange for their email address. If you’re trying to build your email list, a lead-generating PDF is one of the best methods.
You don’t have to create entirely original content for your lead magnet. You can take several related blog posts and compile them into a single document. Consider adding a few pages of new content to the PDF, too. That way, your audience feels they’re trading their email address for something valuable and exclusive.
8. Use popular keywords in your blog posts to boost your website’s SEO.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving your website’s rank in search results. Some of the factors in SEO are outside of your control, but you can still take some steps to help your website appear higher in people’s search results.
One of these steps is to make good use of keywords. Keywords are the words and phrases people type into the search engine. Try to include popular keywords in your blog posts so your blog answers people’s search queries.
For example, let’s say your business repairs stringed instruments. Your potential customers are people who own and play stringed instruments, so your blog should feature information that would be useful to them.
If you know a lot of people are searching “tune ukulele without tuner,” you can write a blog post about that subject with variations on the phrase “tune a ukulele without a tuner.” Do your best to make your blog posts answer a question people are asking search engines. Your website is more likely to appear higher in their search results when your blog posts answer their questions.
Maybe you have a ton of ideas for your business’s blog, but you can’t find the time to execute them. Schedule a call with us if writing and promoting your blog is too much for you to manage alone. Let’s talk about how we can help you use your blog to improve your business’s search ranking, stay top-of-mind for your audience, and convert readers into customers.
