How to Create a Successful Blog Strategy: A Step-by-Step Guide

Did you know that55%of marketers say blogging is their top inbound marketing priority?

Did you also know that these marketers are13倍more likely to see positive ROI than marketers who don't invest in blogging?

Over the last decade or so, businesses have increased revenue, improved brand awareness, and boosted conversions with valuable written content published for their target audience and customers. The key here is that their blog content isvaluable- 仅仅拥有博客是不够的；必须存在其存在的目的或原因。

So, how can you create and maintain a successful blog that provides your target audience worthwhile, high-quality content — all while building your business's reputation as an industry thought-leader and expert?

The answer is with a博客营销策略。

1. How to Start a Successful Blog

2. 博客营销策略

3. 如何维护博客

在我们审查你的步骤r blog marketing strategy, let's take a look at how to start a successful blog. We'll also includeexamples of successful blog sitesto illustrate some of these steps.

How to Start a Blog

1. Choose your blog topic and purpose.
2. 注册并托管您的博客。
3. 设计您的博客。
4. 确定谁将编写和管理您的博客。
5. Determine how frequently you'll share blog posts.
6. 写引人入胜且有价值的内容。
7. Include CTAs.
8. 启动您的博客。
9. 跟踪和分析你的博客的成功。

1. Choose your blog topic and purpose.

制定博客策略的第一部分是清楚地定义博客的主题和目的。

您的博客主题应该足够广泛，因此您可以撰写数百篇有关它的文章，但也足够具体，可以与您的业务利基市场和专业知识的领域相关。

When thinking about your blog'spurpose, ask yourself, "Why does this blog exist?"

You should be able to answer that question in one, straightforward, defining statement. (Document your blog's purpose to you can refer to it as you grow and your business evolves.)

如果您需要定义博客目的的帮助，请花点时间问自己以下问题：

• What is the greater purpose your company is trying to fulfill?
• 什么故事支持这个目的？
• Who shares your passion for this purpose?
• Is your team aligned with the meaning of this purpose?

Example

集线器has four blog properties:bob sports ,B0B体育平台下载 ,bob 体育 app andWebsite。每个博客都关注其各自的行业，并将内容与适当的HubSpot产品联系起来。

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2. Register and host your blog

This step is two-fold. First, let's talk about your blog's URL structure.

A域名，也称为根域，是URL中的文本，它标识了您的网站（因此是您的业务），用于网络浏览器。例如，HubSpot的域名是hubspot.com。

子域are part of your root domain — they appear before the domain in your URL like this:www.eigoj.com。"Blog" is the subdomain. Subdomains are helpful for organizing a lot of content, including multiple content types. If you have a large blog operation, this structure can help you over time. However, it does pass less authority from your root domain in the short-term.

Subdirectoriesare divisions of your domain that live on your website, but represent specific pages on your website. For example, a subdirectory that'd take visitors to a specific blog post on a website would look something like this:hubspot.com/blog/article-name。Subdirectories often pass more authority from your root domain and subdomain. However, they can make it hard to scale your content strategy over time since you need more subdirectories to organize your content properly and protect your user experience (UX).

子目录还可以表示子域中的某些类型的内容。例如，www.eigoj.com/marketing/article-nametakes visitors to a营销article on www.eigoj.com.

您为博客选择的选项有可能影响您的有机排名，这就是为什么明智选择的重要性。

Next, you'll need to pick a host for your business's blog. The simplest way to host your blog is through the same software on which your website is run.

例如，集线器users can employ集线器CMSand access their website creation and management tools alongside their blogging tools — all from a central location.

Another common way to host your business's blog is throughWordPress— compare HubSpot vs. Wordpresshere。Other popular options includeWix,Bluehost, and方形。

3. Design your blog.

设计您的博客in a way that entices your readers to regularly read (and hopefully, share) your content.

Your blog should be inviting and on-brand. It should be well-organized, clean, and easy to navigate. Within seconds of visiting your blog, readers should know it's published by your company.

To do this, choose a theme that's consistent across your blog properties and articles. Depending on the host you choose for your blog, you'll likely have several theme options that are both free and paid.

例如，集线器offers a marketplace of自由and付费博客模板options. Templates help you easily customize andedit your blog templateto tailor it to your business.

Help Scout博客是精美博客设计的绝妙典范。它的极简主义设计通过宣传具有华丽功能图像的最新帖子来限制复制空间的使用，并包含负空间。该博客与Help Scout品牌保持一致，并促进可读性和轻松导航。

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4. Decide who will write and manage your blog.

现在是时候think about who's writing, running, and managing your blog. Ask yourself (or your team): Who's accountable for each role within your blog strategy?

There are lots of moving parts when it comes to your blog — if you don’t create ownership around each component, it'll be difficult to reap the benefits of a successful blog operation.

We've put together a list of some examples of the roles you need to fill to effectively implement a blogging strategy.

• 博客文章topic ideation
• Search engine optimization (SEO) andkeyword research
• Statistics, examples, personal stories, andthought leadership
• Editing
• Strategy and editorial calendar governance
• Promotion
• Repurposing, updating, andhistorical optimization

Depending on your resources and the size of your marketing team, you may find one person holds responsibility for multiple roles.

You'll also want to determine what the ideal blog post looks like for your publication. Consider usingblog post templatesto build an outline for posts to share with writers (or if you need an outline yourself).

Download Free Blog Post Templates

5. Determine how frequently you’ll share blog posts.

您可以承诺写几篇博客文章写作和出版？您打算多久为观众制作博客内容？

Consistency is the key to keeping your audience engaged and interested. This will also allow you to maintain your status as an active thought-leader and expert in your industry. Use acontent calendarto consistently manage and schedule your blog posts.

Plan and optimize your marketing content with these free calendar templates.

The beauty of creating this type of blogging rhythm and sharing that information via aneditorial calendar是它在您的博客团队中创造了一种问责感。它确保了所有作家和贡献者对关键字，添加CTA的优化，并在一定时间和日期进行编辑。这样，您将拥有读者可以与之同步的一致内容。

If you're a集线器CRMuser, you already benefit from an editorial calendar built right into the COS.

6. Write compelling and valuable content.

It's important to reiterate just how critical it is for your blog content to be both compellingandvaluable to your readers. This plays a large part in how you're viewed by your target audience, customers, competitors, and other industry leaders. It's also how you're going to keep readers engaged and loyal to your blog — and hopefully converting to customers, too.

Remember, it takes more time and energy to obtain new subscribers than to maintain current readers. Plus, your current readers have the potential of becoming your brand advocates faster than new subscribers do. So, focus on consistently producing content that captivates your audience all while providing them with useful and worthwhile information so they stick around for the long run.

Patagonia's blog,The Cleanest Line, is a fascinating publication. It's not a generic brand blog that discusses Patagonia products or customers; it tells compelling stories written by some of the best writers on the web — yet it still resonates with Patagonia's target audience and those who shareits core values。我个人花了几个小时阅读最干净的线条上的文章，在此过程中，我对Patagonia的了解。

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7. Include CTAs.

Are any of the reasons you're developing your business's blog to drive organic traffic to your website, improve conversions, and boost sales?

这是个好消息 - 但是要实bob官网官方网站现这些目标，您需要包括相关的calls-to-action (CTAs)throughout your blog posts.

CTAs can be paid or free for your audience members. Either way, effective CTAs provide readers with a level of value that they simply cannot pass up.

CTA可能分享深入的内容和信息with your audience on a specific topic. Or maybe it includes a discount code or special deal on your product or service. A CTA could also provide further training related to the subject of your blog article.

查看this blog postif you're looking for some examples of clickable CTAs to insert in your content.

If you're a HubSpot user, the CRM offers aCTA creation toolto help you develop relevant — and even personalized — offers to drive traffic to your landing pages and convert more leads.

例如，theOmniscient Digitalblog naturally weaves CTAs into its posts, making the linked items part of the broader story or takeaway. The goal of CTAs should be to encourage readers to take action without deviating too far from the purpose of the post.

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CTA也可以在您的博客文章中以视觉效果出现。为此，最好为您的出版物创建独特设计的CTA。如果您不精通设计，则可以使用这些免费Call-to-Action Templates对于您的帖子。

8. Launch your blog.

现在是时候launch your blog!

This is the exciting part — you finally get to share the content you've been working so hard to develop. Put your blog content on it's corresponding landing page on your website and send your email list of recipients their blog article(s). Share it via social media and send it to members of your network as you see fit.

9.跟踪和分析博客的成功。

请记住跟踪和分析您博客的成功。为此，请确定哪些指标对您和您的业务最为重要。一旦您了解了特定指标如何促进积极结果，那么您就可以使您的博客策略更具针对性。示例博客指标you might track include:

• Number of readers and subscribers
• Number of page views per post
• Number of conversions
• Number of backlinks
• 推荐数
• Overall traffic

When applying these metrics to the goals you're looking to set, consider the following questions to provide concrete targets that make sense for your business.

• Does this goal help you achieve your purpose, or is there something more relevant we can aspire to?
• Is this goal aligned with the initiatives of other parts of our business?
• Which metrics track the progress towards this goal? Are these metrics complementary or counterintuitive?

一旦确定要使用的指标，请先为一个设定目标60-day period。This gives you enough time to see whether your strategy is working and then you can adapt your goals based on the results you see.

Next, let's dive into your blog strategy.

博客营销策略

Your blog is an important component of your business marketing strategy and will hopefully market your products and services, but in order for it do this, you must market the blog itself.

A blog marketing strategy is how you share and promote the content on your blog. Unfortunately, "build it and they will come" doesn't apply to blogging as well as it does in梦想之地。

For your blog to do its intended job — drive traffic, convert visitors, increase revenue, and/or promote your brand as a thought-leader or expert — it must have a marketing strategy in itself. How will people locate your blog? What type of content will keep them reading? How can you use your other promotional channels to elevate your blog content?

Follow theseblogging best practices将博客内容推广和推销给目标受众。

Always keep your buyer personas top of mind.

当编写、管理和安排你的博客or working on anything related to your blog, really — keep yourbuyer personasin mind.

Ask yourself, "Who are our ideal customers?" and "Why do they need our product or service?" Once you can answer these questions in detail, you'll be nail down your buyer persona(s).

Use this free template to create your business's buyer personas.

Once youcreate your buyer personas, document a detailed description of who this person is so you can reference it has your business and blog grow. You should be able to refer to this description every time you write a new blog post.

This way, you'll be able to create content specifically suited to your target customers' wants, needs, challenges, and/ or pain points. This will also help you turn your blog into a powerful lead conversion tool for your business (i.e. your blog will show your readers and target audience why they need your product or service).

To get a deeper understanding of the actions your buyer personas are likely going to take, research the behaviors of your target audience so you can adapt and tailor your blog content to meet their needs in a way that pushes them to convert in some way. To conduct this type of customer research, you can use:

• Q&A forums(Quora,Yahoo! Answers, or弗洛特)
• Social media(LinkedIn Groups,推特Advanced Search, andGoogle+ Communities)
• 您的行业或利基市场中的内容创建工具(BuzzSumoorTopsy)
• Other blogs(comments and interactions on blogs similar to yours; your competitors' blogs)

Keep an eye on your competition.

Speaking of your competitor's blogs, it's important to keep an eye on these other thought-leaders in your industry. Your competitors provide insight into what's working (or not working) in terms of blog content among your target audience.

It also tells you a little bit about what they're experimenting with and what you'll need to accomplish to stand out and provide your readers with valuable content they can't get anywhere else — something unique to your business and your business only.

Create a list of 5-10 of your closest competitors with blogs you could conduct a content audit on. Make conclusions about the type of content they share, unique techniques they've implemented in their blog, and how they're doing in terms of ranking for the keywords you hope to rank for.

Then, look for gaps in their content so you can capitalize on them. To help you do this, use tools likeQuickSprout,Moz的开放式探险家, andSemrush竞争对手研究。

Perform SEO and keyword research.

When one of your customers searches a phrase on Google (or any search engine), you want them to findyourblog (or web page), not a competitor’s. To make this happen, dedicate some time to researching which keywords and phrases your target audience is typing into search engines so you can include them in your blog posts where they naturally fit.

In other words, you'll significantly improve your chances of ranking on the search engine results page (SERP) by performing appropriatesearch engine optimization (SEO)and keyword research prior to writing your blog post, and then incorporating those findings in your content.

首先创建您要排名的5-10个关键字组的列表，以及他们关联的长尾关键字在SERP中。

Remember,Google's algorithms are constantly changing to become more intuitive — meaning, old tactics likekeyword stuffingwill hurt your ranking in the SERP. Instead, you're better off writing copy that engages audience members first and search engines second.

Note: HubSpot customers have access to abuilt-in keyword and SEO toolto help with this.

Focus on your blog's SEO and keyword research with HubSpot CRM's Content Strategy tool.

Decide where you'll distribute your blog content.

Strategically determine where you'll distribute your blog content. You chose a您的博客的主持人已经, meaning your content is likely already easily shareable on your website.

例如，if you use the HubSpot CRM andblogging softwareto host and manage your website and blog, it's simple to add your articles to their corresponding landing page on your site.

Other ways and platforms through which you might distribute your content include social media, such as Facebook or LinkedIn, and online publishing platforms, such as中等的。You might also work with industry leaders, experts, andinfluencersto share your content on their websites and social profiles.

Promote your blog content.

It's probably safe to assume you want your blog content to be as discoverable as possible. In terms of your blogging strategy, this refers to your ability to get your content out there so members of your target audience find, read, and (hopefully) share it.

There are manyinbound tactics you can use to promote your blog。We touched on a few optionsabove, but another common form of effective blog promotion involves aninfluencer marketing strategy。

在免费影响者营销指南的帮助下开始推广您的内容。

To begin, identify the key influencers in your niche or industry you want to contact and work with. These should be people your current customers and target audience perceive as credible, trustworthy... and, yes, influential.

As you begin making and managing your influencer connections, remain in regular contact with the ones who are promoting your blog content. Be sure you know what they're doing to support, share, and promote your blog content and that their tactics meet your business's standards — you want to ensure they're representing your brand accurately. After all, you're likely paying them to promote your content among their audience members.

您可以通过定期与他们的内容互动以表示支持，使您与影响者的关系更加牢固。例如，如果您正在与也有博客的影响者合作，请转到他们的博客，阅读，评论和分享（即使他们发布的内容不一定与您的业务相关）。

如何维护博客

Creating and marketing your blog is merely half the battle. As we mentioned above, consistency is key to a successful blog — which means maintenance is most of the hard work.

Creating blog content can be time-consuming, especially when you aim to command authority in your niche with researched, thoughtful, and planned posts.

This is why更新，重新修复和重新发布your existing blog content is so valuable — it saves you time and energy but it also allows you to efficiently achieve the results you're looking for.

What do I mean by this? Well, ranking in the SERP with a net new post takes significantly more time (I'm talking months) than an updated post. Meaning, you'll see a positive impact sooner if you start repurposing existing posts rather than solely creating new content.

Audit your existing blog posts to determine what you can重新利用和更新。Outdated content to remove and/ or replace might include statistics, examples,infographics，报价，产品或服务细节，研究和无关紧要的想法。您还可以通过研究添加您确定的关键字。

（查看this postif you're looking for more ideas on how you can effectively repurpose your blog content.)

The process of updating content also allows you to reinvigorate the brand new content you've worked so hard on. Updating allows you to maintain the quality and relevance of your blog without having to recreate blog posts from scratch.

Grow Better With An Effective Blogging Strategy

Growing an influential blog in your niche is a surefire way to nurture your potential customers. By creating regular content that solves the challenges of your readers and fulfills their biggest curiosities, you'll start to build a vault of trust and advocacy. This will inevitably contribute to the overall success of your business. Start with your purpose — the bigwhy— and slowly unpack the individual levers that will contribute to your blog marketing performance through the steps and strategy we've reviewed above.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in December 2014 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

出版2021年1月12日,7:00:00,updated April 12 2022