121: Case Study: Turning a Sh*t Blog into a Good Blog (part 1)

Summary

The episode focuses on improving blog content by shifting the perspective from self-promotion to offering value to readers. Meredith's husband explains how blogs should act as resources rather than direct sales pitches, using case studies, surveys, or personal experiences to engage the audience. For website owners, the takeaway is to structure blogs with headings, alt text, and captions to enhance readability and make the content more accessible and engaging for users.

How to Improve Your Blog Content for Maximum Engagement

For many website owners, the primary goal of a blog is to promote services and products, but this can often come across as too sales-focused and unengaging for readers. As discussed in this podcast episode, creating effective blog content involves shifting the focus from selling to helping. By making your blog posts more resourceful, engaging, and accessible, you can build stronger connections with your audience while subtly showcasing your expertise.

Here are some key strategies to improve your blog content for better engagement:

1. Change the Perspective from Selling to Helping

A common mistake that many business owners make is using their blog as a platform to push their services. While it’s important to highlight what you offer, a blog post should primarily focus on providing value to the reader. Rather than writing content that says, “Why you should hire me,” try creating posts that answer common questions or offer practical advice. For instance, instead of writing “Why you should book a baby photo session now,” you could write “Creative Ways to Display Your Baby Photos at Home.”

This shift in perspective helps make the content more helpful and relatable to your audience. It demonstrates your expertise in a more subtle way, which can lead to more engagement and trust from your readers.

2. Use Engaging Formats

Meredith’s husband suggests using formats like case studies or surveys to make blog posts more engaging. These formats provide a structure that can keep readers interested while offering value:

• Case Studies: Share real-life success stories or examples of how your services have helped clients. This shows the practical benefits of what you offer without being overly promotional.

• Surveys and Questionnaires: Create polls or questionnaires to get feedback from your audience, then share the results in a blog post. For example, you could ask readers about their favorite ways to display family photos and use the responses to create a helpful resource.

Engagement is key in today’s digital world. The more interactive your content is, the more likely readers are to stay on your page, share your content, or take the next step toward booking your services.

3. Enhance Readability with Headings, Alt Text, and Captions

An often overlooked aspect of blogging is the importance of making your content easy to read and accessible. Here are a few simple but effective ways to enhance your blog’s readability:

• Use Headings and Subheadings: Break up large chunks of text with headings and subheadings. This makes it easier for readers to skim through your post and find the information they’re looking for.

• Add Image Alt Text: Every image in your blog should have alt text. This text is not only important for accessibility (helping visually impaired users), but it also improves SEO by giving Google more context about the image.

• Include Captions: Captions under images are the second most-read portion of a webpage, according to research. They allow you to reinforce the message of the image and can also be used to include relevant keywords without overloading the text.

4. Create a Call to Action

Even though your blog should focus on helping, not selling, it’s still important to guide your readers on what to do next. Instead of a hard sales pitch, consider softer calls to action like encouraging readers to try something based on your advice or asking them to share their favorite baby photo display ideas. This type of interaction builds community and can eventually lead to conversions.

Resources

Meredith’s husband mentioned a previous episode about blog formats and a checklist for improving blog content. You can find these helpful resources in the "Resources" section below the episode.