Blog writing is an integral piece in any content strategy and just like any other aspect of marketing, it needs to be reviewed on a regular basis.  Even if you’re hitting your goals, there is always room for improvement.  Here we’ve identified 10 questions to ask when evaluating your blogging strategy.

What Are Your Target Keywords?

While SEO is beginning to more emphasis on topics rather than keywords, they are still an important piece to your content strategy.  Developing a list of industry relevant long tailed keywords will help you develop your topic clusters and blog titles.  It is important to audit your keywords monthly to determine their search volume as well as the competition to rank for them.

Are You Using Topic Clusters?

Topic clusters begin with a piece of pillar content that broadly covers a target keyword or topic.  This piece is linked to and from several pieces of complimentary content that goes more in depth on a particular aspect of your overall topic.  These clusters help web crawlers to better digest your content and determine its relevance, thus improving your SEO.

How Many Times Are You Posting Per Month?

Statistics from HubSpot state that B2B companies that blog 11+ times per month receive 3.5 times the website traffic compared with those posting 0-4 times monthly.  The quality of your writing is certainly first priority, but there is something to be said for volume.  Increasing your blogging activity to 3-4 times per week will give your more indexed pages and a better chance to rank for a particular keyword.

Is Your Content Entertaining And Educational?

The value of a piece of content can be largely measure by its entertainment and educational value.  With a seemingly endless amount of content available online, the quality of what you produce will determine the level of success you see from your blog articles.  While blogs are an important promotional tool, it is important that your content itself is not overly promotional.

How Many Blog Views Are Your Receiving Each Month?

The number of views you receive each month is a direct reflection of the quality of your titles, the relevance to your audience and the value of your content.  If your blog views are not reaching your goals, you’ll want to take a look not only at the quality of your writing, but your distribution strategy.  Even the best content will fall flat without the proper audience.

Where Is Your Blog Traffic Coming From?

Knowing which channels your blog traffic is coming from will give insight into where to focus your efforts.  The platforms where your content is most consumed is a clear indicator of where your target audience prefers to get their information.  Focusing on these channels will help to improve the ROI on your blogging efforts.

What Is Your Blog Conversion Rate?

Each blog should contain a call to action that directs them to additional content or a product or service offer.  If people are reading your blogs but not clicking on your CTA, you may need to redesign your CTA or switch up your offer.  If people are clicking on your CTA but not filling out your form, your form may need to be shortened or your landing page may need some work.

What Are Your Most Successful Blog Titles?

A title or topic that resonated with your audience in the past may still be valuable months or even years down the road.  Companies that consistently post to their blog find that the majority of their visits will come from old blog posts.  Repurposing previously successful articles can help you get the most out of your content creation efforts.  These titles can also be a great jumping off point for a brainstorming session.

Do You Have A Blogging Calendar?

Keeping your blogging schedule organized ensures that your posting remains consistent and that you’re not covering the same topics over and over again.  Laying out a plan that covers the date and topic of each blog post will help keep your writers on schedule while allowing you to cover a variety of relevant topics.

Who Are Your Most Successful Authors?

Whether you’re outsourcing or handling your blog writing in house, it is a good idea to track your statistics according to author.  You may find a certain voice resonates more with your target audience.  Having a team of writers helps to keep your content fresh, but don’t ignore it when a particular author is bringing in the majority of your traffic.  They may be able to pass on some secrets to success to the rest of your team.

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