The battle for the most effective type of content marketing is ongoing, but statistics continue to show blogging as a top contender.

According to Social Media Today, 77% of internet users read blogs, and bloggers who publish frequently have reported strong results.

However, if it’s not done right, experts say blogging can actually harm a business’s reputation — or at the very least, not be a worthwhile effort that drives results.

Attorney Peter Boyd has helped over 1,000 law firms with their websites and marketing. He recently compiled a list of tips for law firm bloggers, but the content can also be helpful for a wide range of industries.

His No. 1 tip for bloggers is to choose the right blog topics.

For another perspective, HubSpot’s No. 1 tip for writing blog posts closely mirrors Boyd’s: understand the audience.

According to Boyd, if a blog’s content is not relevant to a business’s target audience, it’s simply a waste of time.

Content must be directed toward the needs of the clients, rather than the firm, he said.

He suggests looking at competitor blog posts for ideas, or to have staff write down every question they receive from current or potential clients.

These questions can be a valuable source of blog content ideas.

Blogs also must have search engines in mind. Search engines are on the hunt for the best, most complete answers in a blog, Boyd said.

He again suggests writers compare their posts to high-ranking competitor blogs to ensure the information supplied is comparable — but also to make sure it’s even better.

Experts also suggest including compelling images in blogs. According to Orbit Media, bloggers who include 10 or more images per post are more likely to report strong results.

Finally, content marketing experts recommend promoting blog posts on social media, by email, or in a newsletter.

Boyd said when blogging is done right, it positions a business as an expert in its field. If a business or brand lacks the resources to write consistent, quality posts, this content can be outsourced to a content marketing agency.

According to Adobe, the most common complaints about blog content are that it’s too wordy, poorly written, or poorly designed.

Only one-third of bloggers regularly check their blogs’ traffic analytics, according to Statista, which implies that those who spend a little extra time each day digging into the data may have an advantage over competitors.

Experts also suggest using polls or surveys to hear feedback from the audience on the types of content they want to see and to hear whether the content a business is currently creating is hitting the mark.

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