Any business owner who uses blogging to communicate with customers must be aware of current trends, as trends can dictate how many people read your posts, how people respond to your posts, and whether or not readers share your content with others. Following trends doesn’t mean you have to redesign your blog every month, but it does mean that you have to write content that gets people talking. These are some of the trends you should be following in 2013.
Quality Trumps Quantity
In the early days of search engine optimization, all you had to do was use the same keyword a few times, and it was easy to get your content ranked at the top of the search engines. Then Google and other search engine companies started changing the way they rank content. They started looking at quality indicators such as post length and post frequency. After the Google Panda update in 2011, millions of website owners dropped in the rankings or fell out of the search engine results entirely. In 2013, you must focus on quality above quantity. It is better to publish two high-quality posts per week than it is to post subpar content on a daily basis. High-quality content is also more likely to be shared via social media or recommended via e-mail, so focusing on quality has several benefits.
In-Depth Content
It’s no longer enough to write one-paragraph posts that don’t provide any detail about your topic. If you want people to share your content, you must write in-depth posts that demonstrate your expertise. If you own a blog consulting firm, people will hire you based on your perceived competence and expertise in the blogging field. In-depth posts that demonstrate your knowledge will help you get more customers than short posts that barely skim the surface of a topic. If you’re not sure what to write about, try writing top 10 lists, summarizing recent news in your field and explaining how it will affect your customers or reviewing books relevant to your customers’ interests.
Social Media Integration
Blog owners depend on having readers share their content. This is what brings new people to your blog and helps you sell more of your products and services. Social media tools like Pinterest and Twitter make it easy for your readers to share your content with other people, but you must make the process of sharing as easy as possible. If you don’t give people the tools they need to share content easily, you will lose out on new readers and may miss out on the opportunity to build relationships with new customers. If you use WordPress, a simple plugin lets you add buttons to your site. These buttons make it possible for readers to share your content with just one click. Some blog owners even have a link that says “E-mail this article to a friend.” When the reader clicks that link, it opens a new e-mail window, making it easier for the reader to share the article.
Infographics and Video
Content is not just the words you write in your posts. The term also refers to video, pictures, and other methods of communicating information to your readers. The truth is, most people don’t want to read a block of text that isn’t broken up by special formatting or the inclusion of a picture or video. Try creating infographics and adding them to your posts. Infographics are just visual representations of data. They can be charts, graphs, or pictures that you have edited to include text. These graphics make it easier for some people to understand your information, so they are a great way to get readers engaged. It is also very easy to share infographics on Pinterest and Facebook, making it more likely that your readers will share your content with others. If you don’t know how to create infographics, try adding video to your site. It does not have to be a lengthy video; a video clip of just one or two minutes can increase reader engagement and get more people to bookmark your site.
If you are not sure how to complete any of these tasks, find a business blogging consultant to help you. An experienced blog consultant can advise you on the best ways to develop your content and participate in popular trends.
