Looking for an extra boost in organic traffic or hoping to create more engagement with your website? Blogging drives traffic to your site and is a fun and effective way to hook potential customers with informative, helpful content.

In fact, companies that blog get over 55% more visitors to their websites, and 57% of marketers say they’ve gained customers through blogging alone (SEO Tribunal).

Use this list of blogging best practices to inform your content strategy and start spreading the word about your company.

Benefits of Blogging

• Blogging can establish your company as an authority in your industry when you write high-quality, relevant content about common industry topics.
• Blogs garner long-term results. Writing content that is evergreen, or not specific to a certain date or period of time, means your posts will continue to get views.
• Blogging builds trust and engagement — 60% of customers feel engaged with a company after reading content on its blog (ContentPlus). The more you post, the more your readers can interact with and look forward to reading your articles.

Blogging Do’s & Don’ts

Develop your brand and writing style

DO write for your audience

Above all, blog posts are a chance to help your readers find what they’re searching for. But how do you know who might read your blog posts? Begin by thinking about the services you offer and the guests you’ve had in the past. What kinds of people have participated in your tours or activities?

Use this information to write blog posts addressing these specific types of people. They might be families looking for fun vacation activities suitable for all ages, couples searching for romantic date night ideas, or a group of friends looking for the best nightlife in the area. No matter who you’re writing for, keep them at the top of your mind when searching for topic ideas and creating content.

DON’T forget about search intent

Once you’ve determined who will read your posts, be sure to keep their interests in mind when writing your article.

Don’t write about topics that would only interest your company. Consider your audience’s search intent, the reason behind their search, and cater your content to them. Put yourself in their shoes: What do they want to know about? What will resonate with them on an emotional level? By thinking about these questions, you can personalize content to meet their needs.

DO choose a topic that will educate your reader

Keep in mind that blogs are a service to your reader. Select educational topics to pique the interest of potential customers. Here are some topic ideas that will teach readers something new about your company and area:

• A guide to your area’s flora and fauna
• A list of the must-visit landmarks in your city
• Tips on getting around the city or area (taxis, Uber, public transit, etc.)
• Local holiday traditions (parades, annual events, light shows, etc.)
• How to dress for the weather or prepare for your tours or activities (on a general level)

You can find more topic ideas in this guide.

Pro tip: Ask your tour guides or employees what they wish guests knew about your area, activities, or industry as a whole to come up with fresh content ideas.

DON’T write exclusively about your company all the time

As you’re coming up with topic ideas, it can feel really tempting to write about why your company is better than the competition, but what readers really care about is what they can expect to get out of their experience in your area, whether they’re just there for a quick visit or are planning to book a tour or activity with you.

If you only write about your company, people who aren’t familiar with it might not find you through search results. Broaden your scope to your industry or location in general, with the potential to get more specific and highlight your company within the body of the article.

So when should you write about yourself? If you just scored the top spot on Tripadvisor, you can definitely highlight that in a fun update article. Celebrating a major company milestone or anniversary? Write about it. Your regular readers (and hopefully some new sets of eyes) are sure to be interested.

DO develop a unique brand voice

Is your company casual and witty? Elegant and luxurious? Warm and welcoming? Depending on the feel or vibe of your company, you can create a signature style of content that is unique to you and says something about the experiences you offer. When your brand voice is well developed, readers can get an idea of who you are just by reading one or two of your blog posts.

DON’T convey yourself as unprofessional

If you’re going for a friendly or informal feel, be careful to keep your writing professional. No matter which tone or brand voice you choose, maintaining a professional image is a way to establish yourself as an expert in your field or industry. No matter your style, provide readers with information that is meaningful to them.

Digging into the content

DO write longer, in-depth articles

While 500-word articles used to be the norm, today, search engines (and users!) favor longer, more thorough articles that take a deep dive into a specific topic. Try to write articles that are at least 1,000 – 1,500 words in length.

Pro tip: If you’ve written long blocks of text, break up your content by using smaller paragraphs (around three to four sentences each), headings, images, and bullet points.

DO target long-tail keywords

Blog posts are an excellent opportunity to rank for keywords, specifically long-tail keywords, or keywords that contain more than two words. These reach a smaller, more niche audience, giving your article a higher position on the SERPs.

Consider the keyword “Maui tours.” There are probably many companies on Maui that offer tours of every kind, and they’re all trying to target this keyword on their main pages, so an article trying to target this keyword would have a lot of competition. However, the keyword “best snorkeling tours in Maui” is going to have much less competition because it’s a more specific term that will reach a smaller audience, giving your article a better chance at ranking.

For more information, see our guide on choosing keywords.

DON’T keyword stuff

As you’re incorporating long-tail keywords, it can be tempting to add them wherever you can in order to drive more traffic to your site. This practice is known as keyword stuffing and it can actually harm your site’s ranking on Google.

In order to determine whether or not you’re guilty of keyword stuffing, read your text aloud. Paragraphs should flow naturally and keyword placement should not be obvious. If your content sounds natural, you likely have not keyword stuffed.

Don’t worry about missing out on keyword opportunities. Well-written, relevant content ranks better on Google, even if you didn’t hit every possible keyword opportunity.

Want to see an example of keyword stuffing in action? See our keyword guide!

DO add photos

Photos are not only a great way to break up long-form content, but they also garner real results. Articles with images get over 90% more views than those without (Jeff Bullas). They also keep readers’ eyes moving down the page and encourage more engagement on social media.

DON’T choose blurry, boring photos

Not all photos make the cut. Choose high-resolution, vivid, and intriguing images that will get people excited about visiting your area or participating in one of your events.

Do you have pictures of people enjoying themselves on a tour or gorgeous shots of the local wildlife? These are the shots you should include. Keep in mind that using photos of real people instead of stock photos can result in a 35% conversion increase (Marketing Experiments).

DO include a CTA

As you’re wrapping up your article, it’s important to end by telling readers exactly what you want them to do next by using a call to action or CTA.

Depending on what you’re telling your readers to do, you can link the text of your CTA to a specific page on your website. If you want them to “select an experience,” you would link to your all activity page, and if you want them to “learn more about us,” you could link to your About Us page.

DON’T be vague

Don’t leave any room for interpretation within your CTAs. Readers like having a clear next step, so use language and links that send readers exactly where you want them to go. Avoid terms like “learn more” or “click here,” as they’re not very specific.

Maintaining & updating your blog

DO get insights from Google Analytics

If you’re looking for an idea of when to publish your blog posts, and you’ve blogged before, track past blog posts on Google Analytics to see your users’ traffic patterns and when they viewed the blog posts.

Even if this is your first time blogging, you can track traffic patterns for other pages on your website to inform when you should post. See our guide on Google Analytics to learn how.

DON’T forget to refresh old content

According to HubSpot, three-quarters of their blog views are for old posts, and 90% of their leads come from these posts. The key to continuing to convert on old blog posts is to refresh them.

It’s a good idea to routinely perform a content audit on your older posts and see if any information needs to be updated or changed so that the content is always relevant, no matter the date or time of year. It’s a good idea to perform content audits annually.

Starting a blog can seem a bit daunting, but you can get the ball rolling by choosing a topic you’re passionate or knowledgeable about. Before you know it, you’ll be blogging like a pro! For more content tips, check our guide to writing great content or watch our video on getting started with blogging.