When thinking about “content” most people immediately think about blogs. For the majority of startups, there are many content items that need to be created before they will even entertain the idea of starting the blog. The pitch deck is critical if you are planning on securing funding. You need a website otherwise no one will know you exist and if you don’t have a sales deck or one-pager how can you begin to assess whether there is a market for what you are selling. All the above is true and you can refer to our earlier blogs to read about how to create these essential pieces of content but, this doesn’t mean you should not start blogging as soon as possible.
Many of the startups we work with think it’s too early for them to blog because they believe they should wait until they are more established. While we always honor the views of our clients, there are good reasons to start blogging as early as possible.
Start Spreading the News
Firstly, a blog is a great way to update your audience about any developments in your company. This can include new rounds of funding, industry approval, write-ups in important industry publications, participation in industry-related events and conferences, and drawing attention to any press coverage your company has achieved.
Drive Traffic To Your Site
Perhaps the most powerful use of a blog is to drive traffic to your website. You’ve (hopefully) invested in a great site but it can take time for Google and your customers to notice it’s there. One of the best ways to put your website on the map is to start a blog and feed it regularly with exciting, new content. When you start writing regularly about topics that are of strong interest to potential customers, investors, and partners, you will become more visible. If you do a really great job, your readers will start sharing your articles on their networks, making the job of publicizing your endeavors even easier. This is how content goes viral. It doesn’t happen overnight – you need to invest the time and effort into planning really great content – but when it does happen you will realize that the hard work was more than worth it!
Boost Your Ranking In Search Engine
The more high-quality shareable content you create, the more your rankings will rise in the search engines. This will pay off with even more visits to your site and social media pages and of course, more leads. If you can rise to the first page of Google for search terms related to your business, your audience will skyrocket very fast. It’s worth plugging away at your blog because this is exactly what can happen if you strategize and plan your blog well.
The Rules of the Game Have Changed
This is a great time to mention that things may have changed since you last thought about SEO. In the old days, companies would stuff their blogs with keywords in the hopes of rising to the first page of Google. This is no longer an effective strategy. Search engines have become more sophisticated and value high-level content that gets shared widely over key-word stuffed filler text. To get noticed in the online world, you need to take the time to write quality, valuable, and thought-provoking content. It takes time and effort to write like this but the effort will be more than worth it in the long run.
It’s A Long Game, But A Good Game
Playing the long content game will get your company the attention you want and will help you establish trust between you and your audience. Authoritative articles about issues of concern to your industry will not only build your company’s credibility but make your audience view you as a trusted leader in your field. Trusted leaders are more likely to attract serious customers.
Know Your Audience
Knowing what to blog about is another issue that startups face. The best way to figure out what to write about is to research your audience thoroughly. Work out what their most pervasive problems are and write directly about those problems with a focus on helping them solve issues. Don’t use the blog to plug your company too hard although a light plug at the end of an article is acceptable.
Common Blogging Mistakes Purple Chia Encounter:
Regurgitating things that your competitors and others in the industry have already written without adding anything new to the conversation
Writing in the style of like an academic paper instead of using best practices for online writing
Using boring headlines that don’t capture attention (and don’t get read)
Text that is too dense and long
Excessive use of keywords making the text unnatural and hard to read
Using content-mills to churn out articles that are low-quality and do nothing to advance your aims or help you become an industry thought leader.
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