Every contemporary business owner appreciates the need for a huge presence on the internet platform.  According to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), there are over 3.62 billion internet users today.  Most of these people use this platform to research brands, products and services before making a purchase decision. According to a 2015 report by CMO by Adobe, online shopping retail sales will hit $370 billion by the end of 2017, highlighting the potential in this new frontier. 72% of millenials use their smartphone to research their options online before going to a local store.

While the online market provides a much needed window for smaller businesses, it also poses a challenge due to the stiff competition. Millions of websites are competing in similar markets and it is no wonder millions of websites remain unknown. If your website is not ranking on the first page of search engine result pages (SERPs) for a target keyword, then you will never reach your target customers.

A report published on Search engine Journal shows that 75% of users never scroll past the first page of SERPs.  Simply, your business doesn't exist if it can't be found of this page. As an online marketer, it is important to be upto date with the trending practices in order to improve your website.

How then do you get your brand noticed on this highly competitive platform? One way to do this is by fusing two of the most effective SEO strategies; search engine marketing (SEM) and blogging.

Blogging for SEO

There are many search engine optimization (SEO) strategies all aimed at boosting a site's ranking for ranking keywords. Recent studies have rated blogging among the most effective online marketing strategies.  According to HubSpot, 43% of internet users admit to browsing through blog posts when online. Websites with a blog also boast 434% more indexed pages, which is a great advantage in SERPs ranking.

A blog is a tool that not only improves ranking but has many other benefits including:

• Better conversion - A good blog enables you to target the right audience, which increases traffic to your website. With the right type of content, call to action (CTA) and other strategies on your blog, it is possible to convert this traffic into leads.
• Enhancing customer relations - It is easier to interact with your customers and give feedback on a blog comment page. Such interactions give your business a human face, something the modern consumer is looking for.
• Content variety - While the main website is limited by the type of page in terms of content variety, your blog gives you a leeway to post any type of content. You can include trending issues and link them with your brand, add videos to content, add entertaining blogs and so much more.

There is so much you can do with your blog including enhancing internal linking, boosting the number of indexed pages for your website,  building your brand as an authority and much more. With regular, fresh and helpful content, you will observe increased conversion rate and higher visibility of your brand on different online platforms.

Leveraging Social Media for Blogging Success

While many websites have a blog, it is always hard to gain traction in this area. You have to work smart in order to get the right following because this is the only way to meet your blog objectives. Using social media to make your blog visible is an effective, affordable and measurable strategy. If you are struggling with your blog, use this simple guide for creating a WordPress blog:

1.       Create Sharable Content 

Social media networks were initially supposed to be platforms where family and friends could meet and share experiences.  Well, this has not changed much, only that businesses have now gate crashed into the party to entice their customers to share more about them.

Your blog content must be sharable and for you to achieve this, make sure the content inspires some emotions on the part of the reader.  An inspiring video on your blog will be shared more rapidly than, say, plain text about what your brand has achieved. Write to inspire and help your readers and then relate your content with your brand. Whatever you write, make sure it has a message that can change the lives of the readers. This is the only way to get it shared on social media.

2.       Video is King

Research shows that video content is now king when it comes to online marketing. For instance, YouTube has over 1 billion users; this clearly shows the power of video. According to a 2016 study, 82% of Twitter users watch visual content. More than a third of all online activity is spent on video and 85% of U.S internet users watch video. All these stats highlight the importance of video on your blogs. This is one sure way to motivate visitors to share your content.

3.       Create  Strategy for Every Network

One of the greatest pitfalls for online marketers is failure to recognize the fact that each social media network is different. You need to create a different strategy for every social media platform if at all your blogging campaign is to work. For instance, Facebook posts should stand out on a user's busy timeline while for Twitter, you have to make good use of the space as it is limited.  For Instagram, it is all about the images and creative videos and linking them to your message.

4.       Display Social Media Links Prominently

If you want readers to link with you on social media, then make sure they can easily see your icons at the top of the page.  Having readers hunting for your Twitter handle is not the best thing considering an internet user is always in a hurry and has a short attention span.

What more can you do with social media to boost your blog? Automate social media with plugins, go back to the archives and promote older and relevant content, feature your Twitter feed on your blog, showcase your Instagram photos, create a Facebook page for your blog, make pinning effortless, automate publishing of new content and make it very easy to share your content.