Blogging and producing written content in a readable, free format in your online spaces can be very valuable. While not everyone enjoys climbing a wall of text, it’s still one of the most powerful forms of communication. There are a couple of different ways you can blog. Your writing can live on your own website, on a content platform like Medium, or on one of your social media accounts that allows for longer form content - Like LinkedIn or Facebook. There are pros and cons to each.

Blogging on your own site

Writing on your own site gives you the biggest boost in organic search and SEO, and it’s the place where it’s easiest for your readers to engage with more of your content, and learn more about you and your services. On the flip-side, unless you already have good traffic and an existing audience, it can feel a little bit like screaming into the void. Building traffic takes time. 

Blogging on sites like Medium

Writing for a platform like Medium has the benefit of a built-in discovery network, where readers on the platform are directed to your content - if it’s related to other things they’re reading, and Medium has a membership system where you can be paid for the content you write, based on how many people read it. It *is* playing in someone else’s backyard, however, so it’s not as easy to get someone to learn more about your business. This can be fine - and many people use a Medium installation connected to their website for all of their blogging. 

Blogging on Social Media

Blogging on social media isn’t terribly common - because the goal of a social media site is to keep people ON social media - but my goodness, is it ever easy to share and engage with content there! If your main goal for content is to connect directly with your readers, in almost real-time, then blogging on social might be something to consider. (We wouldn’t recommend that as your only written content strategy, however! As much as possible, you want reading to happen in a place you control, because if you’re playing in someone else’s backyard, they can get fussy and tell you to go home.)

Getting traffic quickly

A way to get traffic results a little more quickly is guest blogging - creating written content for other people’s sites. Think about the bloggers and websites you like in your industry, and see if they ever post guest content on their blogs. If so - pitch an article, and link back to your own online environments. 

Other uses

Writing is also a good way to test content – to help you organize your own ideas about it, and find out how different concepts or topics are received by your audience without the initial outlay of video, podcasting or creating courses. It’s also great material for repurposing! Once something is written - the ideas are out there and you can take bits and pieces of it to use in other pieces of content: your emails, your videos, your courses, your livestreams, your books - it’s pretty much endless.

And that does it for today! We’ll continue to bring you great daily tips to build your authority and create smart, strategic content, so make sure to subscribe! Or sign up for a Friday 5-episode digest.