We are entering a new decade of digital marketing, and branding consultants will be happy to remind you that blogging is far from over. Those who believe that keeping a blog is a relic of the recent past are thinking in overbroad terms. It is true that young American girls will come across as antiquated if they still post to LiveJournal instead of Instagram, business owners interested in personal branding understand the two major goals of blogging:

• Search Engine Optimization: The Google search algorithm will associate blog posts to the individuals and business entities behind them, thus increasing relevance on the search engine results page (SERP).
• Engaging With Leads and Clients: This is far more important than SEO. Once you connect with readers, your personal or enterprise brand will become more valuable. When you look at this driving tips blog that has been maintained over the years by an automotive dealership executive, the intention is clear: This is a businessman who has valuable advice and commentary to share with his audience.

If you have been blogging for a few years, what you have is a library of content ready to be discovered by readers or by search engine algorithms. Think about the two decades of blog posts written by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates; he has never failed to recommend a few books every few months, and his followers really appreciate his notes on this topic. The majority of Gates’ blog posts are about his philanthropic work; he does not post much about computer science or software, but he attracts quite a few readers when he does get around to write about his previous life as a technology innovator.

For 2020 and the next few years, here are three strategic recommendations that follow trends in digital marketing:

• Choose Two Connecting Concepts: Instead of laser-focusing on just one topic, try shifting your attention to a couple of concepts and provide a sensical explanation as to how they connect. The “how” is always more important than the “why.”
• Update Older Blog Posts: The Google algorithm likes this strategy, but your readers will like it even more. Let’s say you wrote about an artist who passed away a couple of years after the post; this will be a good time to dust off that article and updated with fresh insights. If for any reason your older posts contained inaccuracies or invalid opinions, now would be a good time to correct the record.
• Increase the Length and Breadth of Your Posts: Readers will appreciate when you dive deeper into new posts, but you need to keep in mind not just structure but also style. Post an article word count element in your post so that readers know what to expect, and make your point in the first two paragraphs so that your audience can prepare for the first subheadline and the rest of the in-depth content. Provide facts whenever possible and think about writing actionable statements.

Paul Petersen