5 Key Content Marketing Posts for Your Business Blog

One of the most read posts on this blog has been Pillar to Post: Do you have 5 pillar articles on your blog? In it, I discuss a suggestion from Yaro Starak that you should have at least 5 important stand-alone articles that are key for your readers and put them where they can have easy access.

Write at least five major “pillar” articles. A pillar article is usually a tutorial style article aimed to teach your audience something. Generally they are longer than 500 words and have lots of very practical tips or advice.

On a Typepad blog, you create a typelist or side-bar item and put the titles to these articles there. You can title the list something compelling, like "Content Marketing Keys," or, "How to Write Content that Markets for You." You would, of course, substitute your own niche topic.

Have you done this for your business blog yet? I have been reviewing this blog, as I do every January. I see that I intended to do this but never got around to it. I posted one stand-alone page: Why Writing on the Web is key to Internet Marketing Results.

If you're like many independent professionals using the Web for attracting clients and getting leads, you have to write most of your copy yourself, even though you aren't a writer or journalist. You can learn the mindset of a copywriter with a few tips.

Persuasive writing is key, and I'm not talking about writing "sales copy." Good content that captures readers' attention and leads them to an action is key. That action can be other things besides a sales: build trust, establish expertise, connect emotionally...

• Your business blog and newsletter content should keep in mind the interests of the reader at all times
• You've got to share relevant information but also some personal details to get readers interested on a human level
• To be truly effective, you've got to get readers engaged and encourage action

These are some of the 10% nuances that make the difference between your blog and newsletter content getting read or deleted. Grabbing readers' attention isn't easy and can't be done with bland writing, impersonal copy, or ego-centricity. It's all about your readers.

(Want to learn more about Better Business Blog Writing? Try our Better Business Blog Learning System, just click here to learn more =>.)

PS

In the next week I'm moving house, Hubby, cars and computers to our home in Ajijic, Mexico. I'm outlining here a plan for writing 5 key pieces to reveal more about the nuances of content marketing. I may be a bit slower in posting, but stay tuned...

If you have questions about pillar posts or content marketing, please use the comment feature below.

Comments

[Online Marketing Newbie]

Great tip. I don't have any Pillar pieces yet, but I've got a couple articles which I think could stand alone. I'll put them in the sidebar (kinda like a Table of Contents) and see if that helps.

[anonymous]

This is excellent. Thank you for the informative post! I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for what else you have to say.

[anonymous]

I find blogging one of the good ways of internet marketing. I have received a small number of visitors on my site especially from the sites where I commented their blogs.

[anonymous]

Where I come from girls are considered to know nothing about IT, but my girls and I started a blog and promoted it to receive some visits. It’s a start but we will not back down from this challenge.

[Jenny Pilley]

Persuasive writing is definitely the key to attracting readers but I understand that it can't be salesy. It is vital to not come across as pitching something but to actually have informative content that is beneficial.