If you blog then just like all other bloggers you aspire for your content to be a hit with your audiences. The good thing is that it's not altogether impossible for that to happen. All you need to do is make sure that your readers find value in the content you post on your blog. There is no secret formula to this, no complicated mystical process. Everything boils down to that single important concept: value.
So now your question is: how do you make your blog content valuable to your readers?
And there's the rub. While it is simple enough to understand, and no one in his right mind will ever argue against the fact that your blog must offer something of value, creating value itself is the tricky part. I've tried to distill the entire process and break it down into what I think are the base elements that makes a blog post valuable. Here are my ideas.
Relevant
Naturally, you need to blog about something that matters to your audiences. This is easier said than done because in reality, there's no telling what matters to anyone at any point in time. Sometimes you can get away with writing about what may matter to yourself and rationalize that if it's relevant to you then there may be a million other people out there for which the subject matter may be relevant as well. That could be a good place to start unless you want to write exclusively about the joys of collecting bottle caps.
Don't get me wrong, collecting bottle caps is probably a beautiful and therapeutic experience for you and the other bottle cap collector halfway around the world. But I don't think too many people besides the two of you will find your blog posts relevant, and your blog won't reach the critical mass you want for it to matter.
Here's a quick-and-easy way for you to determine if the content you are preparing is relevant to your target audience. Ask yourself three things about what you are writing:
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Does it give new and useful information about your brand or your industry?
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Does it solve a problem, answer a question or scratch an itch your readers may have?
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Why is this content important to people at this particular time? Is something being celebrated or commemorated, and does your content have anything to do with the celebration?
Helpful
In the same way people tend to gravitate toward those whom they find helpful, so too will people tend to consider your blog valuable if you continuously and consistently offer content that is useful. As mentioned earlier, if you can help solve a problem, answer a burning question or scratch an itch, then people will consider your blog valuable.
Original and Unique
Granted that your content is either relevant or helpful, people may not bother coming back if they can find the information elsewhere. But if you can provide a unique perspective to an issue, or be entertaining as you inform your readers of the basic facts about something, if you can present a new spin on a topic that can surprise and delight the reader, then your content stands a chance of being considered valuable by your audience. In other words, your blog content must be original and unique.
Provide a Great Experience
In the end, all these factors must amount to one thing: a great experience for your readers. The content could be relevant. It may be helpful. You could have worked hard to come up with something that is highly original and offers a fresh new perspective on the subject. But if none of these succeed in "wowing" the reader, then you would not have succeeded in planting yourself at the top of your audience's mind.