Blogging is harder than it has ever been. More people are writing more posts more often. In fact, over four million are posted daily. This makes standing out almost impossible.
Blogging is oversaturated, so, what can you do? Provide more value and extend the life cycle of your blog post. Click To TweetHere are three easy ways you can do just that in your next post.
1. Accompany Each Post with a Cheat Sheet
Blog posts can sometimes be hard to digest, especially if they have bad grammar. When they are thousands of words, applying the knowledge isn’t easy. There tons of information and no concrete advice of how and where to apply the advice.
To combat this, consider providing a free checklist/cheat sheet that people can follow along with. A cheat sheet takes your blog post one step further by incorporating more information about the actions required, giving specific instructions rather than more general advice.
Instead of simply telling you to ‘create a podcast,’ a cheat sheet will help walk you through how to do that. Which is why they are more effective than checklists. Your audience wants actionable advice. So it’s important to provide how to do things, not just what to do.
A good cheat sheet will condense a complex topic into a few main points that anyone can easily implement. Remember that for best results, you need it to be easily consumable. Think cheat sheet not cheat book.
Here’s an example of a checklist/cheatsheet from Freshdesk:
You can tell right from the description that it will be both useful and easy to consume. Another stellar example is from SpyFu, who uses a checklist format to improve their post structure and usability:
Step-by-Step: A 38-Step SEO Site Audit To Increase Your Rankings [2018]
The true value of a cheat sheet or checklist comes from the valuable time-saving knowledge that you can share. And since it’s meant to be a reference guide, you don’t need to worry about editable files of customization.
Which means you can easily create a 1–2 page PDF file in less than a day using Google Documents. Just write it up as a standard document and select ‘Download as PDF Document’ when you’re done. Download this checklist to see if your PDF conforms with accessibility requirements.
2. Include a Swipe File of Related Content
A swipe file is a collection of similar resources or examples that will be useful for your audience. Here are just a few ideas:
- Article headlines
- Lead magnets
- Stock images
- Infographic layouts
- Case studies
- Facebook Ads
The great thing about swipe files is that they provide successful real-life examples. Examples that can help your prospect to then come up with successful versions of their own.
Digital Marketer has had huge success with using swipe files to improve their blog posts. They have over a 50% conversion rate and have generated over 350,000 leads in two years.
Swipe files are quick and easy to create. You may already be using some internally. All you need to do is start sharing them with your audience through landing pages, banners, and/or ads.
For instance, you can use a tool like Venngage to quickly create clean and beautiful banner images for both your social media and blog posts to make them stand out.
3. Turn Your Post into an Informational Webinar
Pre-recorded webinars or video tutorials make great blog post upgrades. Your audience can access the video as soon as they subscribe, with no waiting for a live show. Plus, video is easily consumed, which may be why it’s so effective.
Video can also help build trust with your audience since they will be seeing a face and hearing a voice. Not just reading anonymous words on a page. Although, if you’re camera shy, or walking them through technical details, you may prefer to opt for screen recordings rather than footage of your face.
Here’s an example of a pre-recorded webinar by Small Business Trends in partnership with Yext:
Launching a short 15– 30-minute webinar may seem like a lot of work, but they are surprisingly easy to make. You can even record decent quality video on most smartphones these days.
Or, if you want to provide screen walkthroughs, you can opt for an easy to use recording and editing tool such as Screencast-O-Matic.
The options are endless here and provide yet another format for people to consume your content. If they don’t feel like reading, or are on the go, they can simply watch or listen.
If they are visual learners, it’s even better!
Spice up your next blog post by turning it into an informational webinar.
Summary
Blogging alone is no longer enough to attract valuable traffic, satisfy their needs, and convert them to paying customers. Now, your blog content needs to be stellar. And words alone are not always enough.
Try accompanying your next blog post with a cheat sheet or checklist that helps users follow along.
Consider including a swipe file of content that they can put towards their next project. This shows value and helps them save time, building trust with your brand.
Are you into webinars or podcasts? Easily repurpose your content into a webinar or audio file for easy listening.
The options are endless, but the point remains the same: Your readers deserve better, so, give it to them by upgrading the value of your next blog post.