Should You Be Writing a Blog?
I have been writing blogs for our clients and for Fitness Professionals for quite some time now and I find it to be well worth the work. Many Fitness Professionals ask us if they should start writing a blog and the quick answer is YES, but….you have to be committed to it and you have to know what your goals are when writing the blog!
We used to have a pretty simple blog, but in January of of 2011 I decided to upgrade the look, feel and functionality of our blog (which is what you see today).
We did hire an outside company to design both of our blogs, but that isn’t necessary. You can get great templates with blogging services like WordPress and Blogger and with most of these services there is a free blogging option.
I want tell you a bit about why we upgraded our blog, why we think it is important to write blogs and some tips we have picked up along the way!
Here is why we upgraded the blogs:
- We wanted them to have a customized feel
- We wanted to have an “optin” option (learn more about optin/email captures in this blog post) – This is where folks can sign up to receive something for free and in-turn they are signed up to receive my weekly eNewsletters and Blogs posts.
- We wanted to be able to feature specific products during a blog post and have the products available to purchase right there on the blog.
- We wanted to make it easier for our readers to find past blog posts
- We wanted to make it easier for readers to post messages about blog posts
Here is why blogs are so important:
- If you follow some simple optimization principles and post a blog weekly…your search position on sites like google etc. will grow!
- All leads that come from a search like google are organic and natural
- It keeps you top of mind with potential clients & current clients!
- It gives you something to share on social networking sites and on emails with your clients and/or potential clients
- Keeps clients informed about what is going on in your business etc.
Here are some simple search optimization tips that we have picked up along the way:
- The title is most important part of blog post
- Use as many keywords as you can with keeping the integrity of the title
- Edit permalink to have simple keywords – meaning the link to your blog post should be simple but also have keywords
- Make sure to use the keywords from title at least once in the body of the blog, but not too many times
- Blog post should be at least 500 words or more otherwise google may not cache that page
- If using WordPress: Scroll to bottom of “Add Post” page to the “All in One SEO Pack” section – copy and paste title into title section, but shorten if really long
- Description – couple sentences with keywords again and make sure each word is capitalized = easier to read in google search!
- Keywords – from title only or that was discussed in the blog post
Before you start your blog make sure you know what the goal is. Is it to gain more clients? Is it to help provide exercise and nutrition information to your current clients? Is it to help sell products or training? Maybe it is all of these things, but if you have a goal in mind it will help you direct the type of content you will post on your blog. Make your content interesting and easy to read. Highlight key sentences in the blog post and have fun with it!
Writing a blog is a big commitment. You should write at least 1 blog post per week if you want to keep your readers coming back for more. Will you give it a try?
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