The 5 components of a successful Blog

In today’s digital world, it seems like every company has a blog to round out its digital footprint. Some blogs are better at delivering relevant content and others are better at posting an instant viral hit. But what does it take to find that sweet spot between the two? Here are five elements for a successful corporate blog.

THE STRATEGY

A great starting point is to ask “Why do we even have a blog in the first place?”. Blogging for blogging’s sake can be costly and time consuming. It’s important to set goals along the way as the blog grows and evolves. Such goals might include improving the number of shares of our content we’re delivering or using the blog as a lead generation tool. The strategy should include ideas that will resonate with your audience. This will make it easier, over time, to develop an editorial calendar and stay organized.

THE EDITORIAL CALENDAR

Your editorial calendar should aim to contain a mix of relevant and timely content delivery. This is the mechanism that will help you and your readership identify with and know what to expect. You may have a great blog in theory, but success really comes down to individual posts and assets and whether or not the content is shareable by others.

THE SEEDING STRATEGY

The “if you build it, they will come” model doesn’t work anymore in terms of blogging and content. You can spend a lot of time creating great content that someone may eventually share, but there needs to be a strategy driving how the initial content is seeded. This means determining whether you will used paid or organic delivery of this content or a mix of the two.

THE VOICE

Being consistent is key. The content that resides on your blog must be consistent. It is critical to ensure that even though this content comes from the blog or drives someone to the blog, the content itself can’t be stale. Your content needs to evolve and include topics that are of interest to your audience and relevant for the time period. Try to make every post elevate your brand’s authority and credibility with the audience.

THE ANALYTICS

If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. That’s where Analytics come into play. Analytics provide insights that you can use to optimize your content strategy over time. Keep an eye on visits, shares, reader interactions, etc. to get a good handle on what your audience truly wants from you. A strong blog that stands out among a crowded space will offer your audience a reason to return.

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