Whether you are a new blogger or an experienced one, you might be wondering what changes 2021 will have in store. If you’re looking to renew your mindset or just find some new tips in the trade, this article was written for you.
In this article, we’re going to break down some of the main tips you need to keep in mind when you’re starting a business blog or improving an established one in 2021.
1. Pump Up Your Content Strategy
The digital landscape is only growing, and with more people at home and restricted than before due to the pandemic, you have a bigger audience at your disposal. The only challenge is reaching them. The way to do this successfully in the digital realm is through content.
Now is the time to plan for not only blog posts but also rich imagery and even videos to make your content more relevant and engaging.
2. Leverage Social Media
Keeping your blog limited to your website is hindering your success. The best way to get your business blog in front of people is to simultaneously create a powerful social media presence and a big following.
All of that amazing content you’re making for your blog should make its way to your social media, and then some. Take advantage of live stream and other tools to keep your audience engaged with social media in 2021.
3. Remember Your Niche
The blog landscape is thick with competition, so you’ve got to remember to leverage what makes you unique. As a business blogger, there are plenty of categories you could hone in on, but what’s your area of expertise? What areas are you qualified in? Which areas do you have hands-on experience in?
These are questions you can ask yourself to help define your niche, but these are also important questions to ask when you’re in the day to day of things. Keep your content tailored to your niche! If you have been blogging about marketing, then you want to keep at it.
By remembering your niche, you are able to better target and serve your audience.
4. Check Your CRM
CRM, or customer relationship management, is a software you should be using already. If you’re not, then now is the time to take a look into what CRM can do for you. But if you are, then it’s time to jump in and see what your CRM is doing for you.
What are your goals for your CRM? Do you want more out of it? If you’re adding a product to sell this year, for instance, you might want to optimize your CRM for sales in 2021.
5. Keep Your Eye On Current Events
COVID-19 and governmental tensions are forever changing the look of business, so you have plenty you could blog about. Now is a great time to walk your audiences through trends, new technology, and new strategies. For example, ecommerce has seen a huge boom over the past year due to COVID-19, so now might be a great time to help you audience see why ecommerce is important and how they can make the leap.
One thing you may want to consider is the newsjacking strategy. What you should do is to essentially watch the current events closely, and as interesting (read: viral) stories emerge on social, you jump right on to those and start blogging immediately. This way you’ll get the ‘first-mover’ advantage, which hopefully will bring significant traffic to your blog posts.
6. Make Sure Your SEO is Up To Date
As you begin a new year of your business blog, now is the time to check your website’s settings in various areas, including SEO. If your keywords are shifting, now is the time to make the change. Also, be sure that all of your content is optimized, including headers and meta tags.
Be warned, though – don’t over-optimize your blog and blog posts, as doing so can backfire – hurting your ranking, instead of helping it.
7. Watch Your Analytics
Are you wondering what you’re doing right and what you’re doing wrong? Want to do more of the right things? When it comes to business blogging, checking your analytics is crucial. Using data and insights, you can make changes to your website, content, and marketing strategies to help engage your audience better.
The focus is usually on the demographic of your visitors, the visit counts, and the bounce rate. However, if you want to push this one step further, you should also analyze your website layout. Using the available tools like Crazy Egg, you can see what your visitors’ attention is on; which buttons they are clicking, how far they are scrolling down the page, etc.
8. Explore Affiliate Marketing
Business blogging naturally lends to affiliate marketing, especially if you want to recommend products and services to your audiences. In 2021, affiliate marketing is only set to grow, so if you are looking to grow your bottom line through your business blog, then this is the time to look into affiliate marketing.
No matter your niche, blogging is a major market to be reckoned with. 8 in 10 web users are involved in blogs or social media, and nearly 60% of marketers say blogging is a valuable tool. And if you’re selling something, then you should definitely be blogging: companies that have blogs are getting almost 70% more leads than those who don’t.
So, if you’re looking for a new way to earn income in 2021 or if you want to grow your bottom line, be sure to follow these tips for business blogging in the new year!
