Blogging is one of the most effective ways to drive traffic to your website. Blog content is more effective at getting discovered then general pages, because each article tends to have one key focus, lots of relevant content and it’s easy to optimise it for both SEO and pinterest.
Beyond your general content pillar planning, there are 4 main types of blog content that you will create:
- very shareable articles with potential for virality (ie “An open letter to everyone who told me I was crazy to travel solo” // “Why every woman should have a f**-off fund” // “Is instagram dying?”)
- SEO optimised articles based on long-tail keywords in your niche (“The 10 best vegan cafes in Canggu” // “How to use instagram’s new shoppable products feature” // “Review of The Institute of Code’s Social Media Bootcamp” )
- Thought leadership pieces that help your audience to know like and trust you (sharing your story, personal perspectives, opinion pieces, etc. )
- Reviews / Case Studies / Testimonials that educate people about your products or services and build trust and credibility.
Watch this masterclass to learn more about SEO strategy and then if you want to dig into the technical side, here is a very detailed guide from google and a visual one from Moz .
Building your blog
If you want a blog but don’t have one you have three main options – you can create one with Squarespace, Wordpress or have one custom coded.
Squarespace - A simple, drag and drop system that’s easy to use. Main disadvantage is being locked in their platform and having a monthly fee of $16 - $26 per month for a basic website.
Wordpress - The most popular option for blogging. Advantage is that there are loads of themes available, you can use the Wordpress platform for free and pick up cheap hosting. The disadvantages are that the upkeep and maintenance can be high, Wordpress sites take a lot of work to secure from being hacked, and making major customisations to the theme is tricky without using lots of plugins or drag-and-drop editors that can slow your site down and make it more vulnerable.
Custom Built Sites - The fastest, more stable and efficient kind of website but the overall design and layout needs to be created by a developer who knows that they are doing. Can be built exactly for your needs and to suit your brand. Reliable hosting is available for free, and there are a number of free content management systems that you can use. Disadvantage is just needing a developer for the initial setup and major changes to the design or structure.
For those that would like it, we’ll be providing all students with a free basic custom-built portfolio or blog theme that we will host for free indefinitely. We’ll only have time for basic customisations to the design like colors and fonts but you will have complete control over the content through our content management system.