Script:
Hi, everyone and welcome to Perfectly Planned Content’s Writing Wednesday video series where we dive into the power of words and the many ways writing impacts your business. I’m Lauren Keller, Director of Content and Strategy, and I’m thrilled to bring you a monthly video series completely dedicated to the craft of writing.
April is one of my favorite months of the year—blushing blooms burst through the winter haze and the world takes on a new glow; rosy; springtime. I enjoy partaking in several seasonal rituals, spring cleaning among them.
Spring cleaning gives you a chance to help make things new again and what better place to do that than with your business blog? You’re likely sitting on hidden treasures that you just have to spend the time to uncover. It’s time to dust off your archives and breathe new life into your blog. Here are three simple ways to get started.
1. Find (and Update) Old Content
Remember that amazing post you wrote three years ago? Yeah, your audience probably doesn’t either. People consume content at rapid rates, making it difficult to extend the shelf life of each post. One tip? Update your older—yet highly relevant—content.
Your business has likely evolved significantly since penning some of your older posts. In financial planning, laws, rules, and regulations change all the time. Take some time to look through your older posts and see where you can infuse new ideas that will be even more beneficial to your audience.
This tacit is really good for posts that discuss investment vehicles, tax changes, or other laws. Let’s look at a few specific examples.
If you focus on retirement planning:
- Do you have an old post about required minimum distributions? Have you updated it to reflect the new rules brought on by the SECURE Act?
If you focus on estate planning:
- Can you update a blog on inherited IRAs and the elimination of the stretch provision for several non-spouse beneficiaries?
If you focus on tax planning:
- Are your articles updated for 2021 stats and figures for tax bracket information, contribution limits, etc.
These are just some ways to make your older blog posts relevant, timely, and engaging for your audience.
2. Repurpose Cornerstone Content
Your cornerstone content plays a significant role in your business. It’s central to who you are as a brand and as such can do so much more than gather dust in your archives. Extract some of the central ideas and turn them into different types of content. Below are some top examples.
- Turn it into a video or short video series.
- Build a webinar based on the topic.
- Take your blog as an outline for a longer ebook, lead magnet, or other lead generation project.
- Submit the article for a guest post/outside content
Your cornerstone content should live on for more than one newsletter cycle. Commit to trying one method that makes sense for your brand, the content, and your audience.
3. Clean Up The On-page Experience
Think about why you created your blog. Another touchstone for clients, a way to reach prospects, contributing thought leadership to your field, the list goes on and on. But no matter how strong your content is, if your user experience falls short, you might lose readers before your opening antidote.
Is your blog suck in the past? Here are a few simple ways to take your user experience up a notch.
- Improve page loading time
- If a viewer finds themselves on your website and the page takes more than a few seconds to load, they’ll likely bounce and you’ll lose out on that potential conversation. Tips to improve:
- Check your website load time via Google Page Speed Insights
- Reduce image size—a.k.a compress
- If a viewer finds themselves on your website and the page takes more than a few seconds to load, they’ll likely bounce and you’ll lose out on that potential conversation. Tips to improve:
- Modernize the design
- Is your color scheme and typography stuck in the 90s (don’t worry we love the 90s)? A color and font refresh could be just the thing to get your readers more excited about spending time on your website.
- Another tip—consider your readers when thinking about colors and font size. If you’re targeting retirees, blinding white space and razor-thin fonts might not be your best bet.
- Improve your layout
- Sometimes all you need is a simple layout change to give your readers a fresh experience.
Spring cleaning your blog doesn’t have to be cumbersome. A few small tweaks can give your best content new life and provide your readers with a streamlined experience.
How can you recommit to your content this spring?
Let me know!
Until next time.
