The beginning of the year is the perfect time to reset and make resolutions for the next seasons to come, as long as you make sure you go past the wishful thinking and take proper action to turn ideas into reality. Your blogging plans are no exception: once you decide upon the desired course of action, it’s time to implement.
Luckily, the first two weeks of January are ideal for you to put things into perspective since people are still adjusting to taking on their daily post-holiday routine and are less likely to be 100% active on the internet. So we’ve enlisted the next seven objectives you should consider to improve your blog:
- Set Goals
The first thing to do is sketch out a plan. Tasks should be simple and do-able single-handedly if you don’t employ a whole team up for the job. So, make sure that your goals are both reasonable and achievable. There are writers for hire if you need help getting started so factor those costs into your yearly budget right now.
- Organize Better
Any blog writing service will be faced with the ugly facet of procrastination. Since you can mostly set out your own deadlines, it’s easy to push them from Mondays to Wednesdays or any day. But planning to deliver a top-notch article on a designated day of every week will keep you disciplined. More than that, your audience will know when to expect a new article on your blog. Make up a plan – for instance, start the draft on Monday, edit it on Tuesday, polish it and publish it on Wednesday – then stick to it!
- Get More Impact
If you feel your content fails to get the well-deserved attention, maybe your posts are not targeting the right audience. After all, matching your writing to what readers desire can be an easy “hit and miss” act, especially if you don’t involve serious Google Analytics or SEO tactics in your daily work (learning more digital marketing strategies would also be a great 2018 resolution to work on).
To know and understand your virtual target better, consider running a survey among your followers and ask all the questions you need to help you deliver what they need.
- Promote More
When it comes to blogging or any successful business for that matter, 80% of your efforts come from providing good content (or good products) and 20% should be directed towards promotion. Reaching out to more people can be acquired from expanding your subscribers’ mailing list, for instance. Make sure that your email sign up forms work, design a call to action button, and monitor if your readers access it and what is the final conversion rate.
- Build Influence
Social media marketing is a great investment if you are willing to spend some time observing the preferences of your target audience and their specific habits. That is why outreaching to social influencers can be a great way to grow your blog, especially if you are a new content writer who is struggling to get noticed. Before you start sending emails to every influencer you know, make sure they fit your audience’s profile. Then, send them a personalized email in which you talk about what you’ve done for them (a share on social media, a mention of their latest article in your post etc.) to persuade them to share your content.
- Change the Design
A visual change of your online platform is surely a refreshing decision. But the true purpose of this should be rendering your site more user-friendly and engaging for your readers. Learning the tricks for an efficient landing page, for example, should go hand in hand with skillful design alterations that are supposed to appeal and invite people in. Look for the top themes blog sites of 2016 for inspiration and decide which way you want to reinvent yourself.
- Don’t be Repetitive
If your audience is used to a certain way in which you deliver content, like writing classical article posts or displaying videos, it’s time you thought about doing something different in the coming year. The idea is not to slip into a boring routine for you or your readers. So, in addition to your usual posts, think about starting a podcast, creating an ebook or simply sending out subscribers an email every single week, with no exception.
While any blog’s success depends on the reaction and the readers’ satisfaction, you can use these tips to influence and control the outcome of your writing efforts in 2018.