Onsite Blogging Tips | The Booster Seat Season 2 Episode 9
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The Booster Seat Season 2, Episode 9
Hey there, Boosters! I’m Andrew Eagar and welcome to another edition of the Booster Seat. Today I want to discuss the top thing you need to know before you do Onsite Blogging.
In just the past couple of years, onsite blogging and general content marketing has taken front stage in the digital marketing space. Onsite blogging is a big piece of content marketing. Unlike traditional marketing tactics, digital marketing tactics can be used by companies both large AND small. Onsite Blogging can be utilized by both small and big brands.
To understand the importance and power of onsite blogging one must understand consumer behavior in the digital world. You see, the internet has changed the way we as consumers shop. We no longer want to be talked at, or told what to do. We want to curate, connect and create. Google calls these consumers Gen C.
The new generation of internet users does not want to be marketed to. Simply put, we don’t want to be sold to.The most important thing you need to understand about onsite blogging is that it is not the place to sell people on your product. You have product pages for that.
Now I am not saying that you can’t talk about your products or services in your blog posts. I’m just saying that your blog isn’t really the place to self-promote or to sell your products. You can use your blog to announce product changes, additions or special promotions. Anything that looks even mildly like an ad, however, or is not relevant to the consumer’s situation, will be completely ignored.
So, if you can’t sell consumers your product on your blog, then, what is the purpose of a blog anyway? I mean, shouldn’t every effort you make in marketing be selling to your customers to increase your business?
As mentioned before, Gen C doesn’t want to be sold to. The purpose of your blog is to be of value to your customers even when they are not ready or willing to buy from you. Having a blog and posting to it regularly opens the doors for your site to be interesting and relevant to consumers.
The mindset that you have to sell to make a sale is what us digital marketers want to dispel. Although an onsite blog can serve many purposes the biggest benefit of a blog is to post interesting, relevant and authoritative content. The blog post doesn’t have to be focused on your products or services as much as it has to be interesting, relevant and authoritative.
Here are some examples of titles of onsite blogging that we have done for our customers.
For a Dentist you could write about:
– 3 games that will teach your children good tooth-brushing habits and technique or
– The 5 worst drinks for your teeth
For Heating and Air Conditioning contractor you could write about:
– Ten Simple ways to lower your air conditioning bill this summer or
– How to keep the air in your home clean and safe.
By posting this type of content to your blog, you will have more to write about, users will learn about your brand and be interested in you. When the time comes that the consumer decides to purchase, they will think of you. Onsite blogging is very powerful when used correctly. Don’t minimize its ability by using traditional marketing techniques in a digital marketing world.
Well, that’s it for today’s episode. Comment below if you think I missed any areas or have any questions for me. Stay cool.
I enjoyed this video. There was even a little rhyming action going on (sell, sale, dispel).
I love your point about refraining from using traditional marketing tactics within an onsite blog. I have one question about that. Would you consider pop-up ads a no-no marketing tactic when they are set to appear on a business blog? As a Gen C person myself, I shut down the second those pop-up ads appear…I may have even thrown a stapler or two at my computer screen…:)
Josh, we have all had the stapler throwing moments in our lives. You ask a great question. I visit upwards of 30 SEO industry blogs a day and I have noticed a couple things.
1- 1-2 of them do show pop ups as I first visit the site. I personally don’t like these popups, but I have seen a couple of them that are relevant and useful…like, “check out this article on…” or something like that.
2- 7-8 of the blogs I read have a popup when I am about to leave. This annoys me, I have finished reading the blog and move my mouse to leave the site and then a popup shows up. To me it seems like a frantic last minute cry for attention…and I don’t like that.
As to your question I think it will be interesting to see what Google says about this. I personally don’t like popups, but I see them on popular websites. I wonder if it will become the norm or not. I think too, it might be a factor in Mobile as well.
Sorry I couldn’t answer your question better. Let me know if you have any more.
This is a helpful video because clients are always wanting their blog articles to be about their business or something that is advertising their products or services. The point of the blog is for interesting, relevant, and authoritative material to engage users. The articles can even show up in the search results for the topic they are about and can bring in searchers to your site.
good Job Andrew! This is very helpful information to know. I don’t have that much experience for a client to ask me more about onsite blogging and it also helps to have a fresh content on the website means that Google will want to crawl the website more frequently than normal.
Very Interesting, where does that leave the call to action, is it redundant?
The call to action to comment with questions?
Onsite blogs are a great way to engage your visitors and keep them on your site longer. You can also include links to your onsite blogs on social media posts that can help drive more traffic to your site.