Many people think that creating a blog allows you to just put whatever content you like on it. However, there are some careful choices that you should make if you want to make this blog as good as it could possibly be. One of the first choices you can make is your blog’s brand, as this can give you a direction to move your content in. Here are some of the best ways to focus in on this brand!
What’s Your Content?
The first place you should always think about is looking at your content itself. Though you might think that you dabble in a little bit of everything, there might also be a very clear direction that you work in. For example, you might have decided to record your adventures from your gap year initially, but have since branched out into other types of travel.
Likewise, you could have started a blog to document your pregnancy journey, only to have kept going and now blog about several different aspects of parenthood and general life. From culinary blogs to DIY or home renovations, your content can take so many forms and it gives you a real chance to foster a brand for your blog!
Think About Your Target Demographic
Every blog has a target reader. Even if you think that you are your ideal reader, and you want to create content that speaks to you personally, that is a great place to start. You could want to speak to other parents, people on the other side of the world, or even industry experts who might be interested in what you have to say.
Having this target demographic is important as it helps you to work out how you can shape the brand to best speak to them. While there are always going to be readers who don’t fit this target, they should be the people at the forefront of your thoughts when creating content and your brand as a whole. Think about the sort of things you want to speak to them about, and create a great platform that you can build from.
Nail the Logo and Headers
Once you have a direction that you want to head out in, it is important that you start making some choices that could help create a solid brand. One of the biggest parts of this is going to be your blog’s logos and headers. They will be some of the first content your readers see when they come to the blog, so you need to make sure that they are wowed.
The header and logo are going to be two key areas you can use to properly deliver your brand. You could choose to make them simple and sweet or as elaborate as can be. Pick a good colour scheme and font to use, as this can then be something that you can carry down into the rest of the blog. Even something small like this is incredibly important, and it can help to create the right welcome for both returning readers and new ones.
Set a Tone of Voice
You need to make sure that all of your written content fits a certain tone of voice you will develop. This is a key stage in adopting a brand for the blog overall. When you are planning content, think about how you would wish to come across.
If you want to talk about travel, you might keep things professional and informative – occasionally sprinkling in some more personal insight if you prefer. Likewise, if you are a family or cooking blogger, everything is going to be personal and should be a direct reflection of your personality. If you are going to be accepting guest writers on your blog, you need to make sure that you clearly state this. This will avoid any confusion on the part of your audience, as they will be able to tell the difference in your tone of voice. You need to keep things clear and cohesive no matter what type of content you are writing, so the sooner you establish a brand voice the sooner you can make things uniform.
Expand Your Community
When developing a brand, it can often be helpful to set yourself up with not just your own platform to write from but also some form of community. Luckily, there are several spheres on the internet that you can do this from.
The easiest are various social media platforms. You could create videos and put them on Instagram or YouTube. You could create a private discussion group on Facebook. No matter how you choose to do it, there is always going to be a way that you can build up some form of community for people to use.
On top of this, you need to make sure that you are interacting with your community beyond simply replying to a comment every once in a while. Use a free email campaign software to create a newsletter to send out. It is an easy way to open a conversation with your followers, and gives you a chance to show off things not on the website, or even put the spotlight on them.
Know Your Brand
Whatever you make of a brand, it needs to be 100% authentically you. There are so many ways that you could create something that is marketable and profitable, but if it isn’t you then it will stick out like a sore thumb. You need to ensure that your brand speaks to who you are as a person, whether you are keeping it just on your blog or stretching across to other platforms too. Take the time to work out what could work best for you, and then make sure you start working towards it today.
A great brand can take time to implement, but it will certainly be worth it in the end! With so many options and paths you could take, you need to get planning as soon as you can!