platform-scottsdale
The other day we met with two of our good friends at their office, which doubles as a brick-and-mortar shop, from where they plan parties and sell any and everything you’d need to throw a good one. We got to talking about blogging (it’s a huge part of what we do, after all) and one of them posed the group with a question that really got the gears in everyone’s heads turning.

“Where do you see blogging going?”

Did not see that one coming. In the age of the Internet, we all sort of have this innate knowledge that blogs and social media are absolutely necessary. But why?

Here are 7 things you need to be doing with your blog–because this is what blogs are for!

1. Give your content a home.
Your blog is where your content lives, period. If you’ve taken the time to write an article, take a picture or create a graphic, put it on your blog. Blogs are great for categorizing and cataloging your content. If you ever want to see a post again, don’t just put it on social media.

2. Stay simple.
We spend the majority of our time surfing the web on our phones. Complicated layouts and lengthy articles just don’t translate to smaller screens. If you can’t get around it, use simple images and attention-grabbing tag lines on social media and then link to the content on your blog. Remember–the less time people have to spend navigating your blog, the more time they’re spending focusing on the content.

3. Visualize it.
Speaking of images–they’re important! Don’t overload your subscribers with mountains of text. Most people need visuals to fully get the point. Additionally, Pinterest and Instagram are huge players in the social media game and consist of mainly photographs.

4. Keep it in the family.
Your blog, social media channels, print material–even your email signature–should look like they’re all related. Not only all bearing your logo or imagery, but also incorporating the same colors, fonts and verbiage.

5. Share it.
When you post, let people know! It is a bit naive to think that people are going to be visiting your blog daily looking for your latest post. This is where social media comes in super handy. To make sure you aren’t sharing insanely long links, use a URL shortening service like Bitly.

6. Be responsive.
This doesn’t need to be complicated. Reply to your subscribers’ questions. Read other blogs related to yours and join the conversation. Check out what types of posts create the most reader engagement (Pinterest has a source page that is great for this!) and do more of that!

7. Make it all look good.
Beautiful layouts and images grab people’s attention. Learn how to make things look good on the Internet on your own. Bloguettes is local to Arizona and offers a two-day workshop that will teach you how. That way you’re posting great looking content all the time, and not just when you’re able to get a graphic designer to help you out.

This all being said, don’t go crazy trying to wrangle your blog and social media channels along with all the other facets of branding yourself or your business. Keeping it uncomplicated is one of the best things you can do for the sanity of your readers and yourself. And if something completely unconventional works for you–keep doing it! There are no hard and fast rules to this, just a whole lot of trial and error.

About Bloguettes:
Bloguettes is a two-day workshop led by Sakura Considine and Lorena Garcia, that teaches Photoshop, blogging, branding and social media strategies to bloggers, photographers, small business owners, independent professionals and anyone else interested in learning about visual branding. Their studio is located in Old Town Scottsdale and the door is always open to talk shop, share tips and tricks and meet new people. They are also on the committee of Platform Scottsdale, a non-profit organization dedicated to giving women a platform to meet, mentor and connect with like-minded women. For more information, visit www.bloguettes.com and www.platformscottsdale.com.