In order to successfully launch and maintain a blog, you’ll need an effective content management system (CMS) — a digital system that enables you to host digital content. While identifying your target persona and generating content ideas is the strategic side of launching a blog, these next few weeks are devoted to the equally important technical side.
So, what should you look for in a CMS?
Ease of use
If you don’t have a lot of technical support at your company,
choosing a CMS that’s easy to use is crucial. Most content
management systems come with templates you can use or
support to help you design it, so make sure you choose one
that will work for the skills on your team.
Key metrics you can track
Does the CMS allow you to track metrics like conversion
rates, page views, and where your traffic is coming from?
Analyzing the success of your blog will be incredibly important post-launch, so make sure your CMS allows you to track
the success of your efforts.
Responsiveness
60 percent of all searches on Google come from mobile,
which means it’s absolutely essential for your blog to be
optimized for for any device that your user opens content on.
A CMS that automatically makes your content resp onsive
to device type is a must for marketers starting a blog in 2022.
Design Your Blog
Once you’ve chosen a CMS, it’s time to make your blog come to
life. You’ll want to not only make your blog look awesome, but
also optimize it for lead generation and turning visitors into
prospects and, ultimately, customers. So, how do you design
a great blog that will be easy to access and delight visitors?
It starts with the right elements and understanding user
interface and user experience. If you or someone at your
company knows how to custom create your blog, make sure
you check off our list of essential design elements.
Most content management systems will offer you free
templates that you can modify and use if your team has less
design experience. And, if you’re interested in the theory
behind designing a great blog, you can enhance your skill set
by learning user experience design with General Assembly.
Need a little inspiration for designing your blog? Check out
these awesome examples.
Make sure our best practices for good blog design are checked off your list this week:
Main blog page
The main page should tell
your visitors about the blog
and include links to the
most recent posts. Be sure
to include a search feature
and/or an archive of your
past posts so visitors
can access both new and
old content.
Color scheme
To make your blog’s design
feels coherent, choose a
color scheme and stick
with it across all your
pages. Trying using your
brand colors as a base
and adding a few accent
colors to tie the whole
design together.
Branding
Make sure your blog’s
design looks consistent
with the rest of your
site branding. While it’s
important to distinguish
your blog’s look from other
pages on your site, your
visitors should still feel
as though they are on a
related page.
Blog post templates
Each blog post should have
the same general layout so
readers have a consistent
experience across each
page. A simple way to
ensure this is by designing
a template to use for each
new blog post!
Calls-to-Action (CTAs)
A blog is a tool to convert
buyers at the top of the
funnel, so linking to pieces
of content that will nurture
your visitors down the
funnel is important.
Focus On Your Content Strategy
For the past few weeks, you’ve focused your energy on the
logistics of setting up your blog — from getting started on
your CMS to designing and optimizing blog pages. There’s still
more technical room to grow, but now let’s focus on your
content strategy.
Before launching your blog, it’s essential to think about an
internal content strategy — both short-term and long-term.
Your team needs to answer a few questions about how much
time and bandwidth you’re willing to devote to blogging.
How often should you blog?
How often and when to post will largely depend on what
your company does, how big your company is, and how
much of an audience you’re looking to attract.
That being said, the more you blog, the more traffic you’ll
attract over time. And more traffic means more leads and
more customers.
As a team, it’s your job to decide how much time you’re
willing to invest in your blog. But as a general rule of thumb,
once a day or a few times a week is a good place to start.
What types of content are you going to write and post?
When it comes to content matter and post style, blogs are
extremely versatile. You can post infographics, how-to posts,
list posts, newsjacking posts, slide shares, editorials, etc.
Decide what types of formats you want to try and how many
resources you can put behind each.
Over time, analyze which format performs best to tailor your
content strategy toward your audience. The more formats
you try out from the beginning, the better your data will be
over time.
What are your goals for launch and post-launch?
How much website traffic do you want to generate within
the first weeks of launch versus six months out from launch?
How will you track those metrics, and how will you promote
your blog in order to hit your goals?
While some of these questions will depend on your current
follower base, your CMS, and your promotional strategy, it’s
good to have an internal discussion about these goals well
before launch so your team can align on their expectations.
Setting expectations internally while planning your content
strategy is key. Does planning ahead mean your content
strategy won’t change over time? Not at all. But laying this
groundwork will make you more flexible down the road and
allow you to be more focused in the meantime.
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