One of the biggest challenges associated with blogging for online businesses is the ability to craft original content on a regular basis. But creating and following a simple blogging strategy can help businesses counteract this problem.

Taking a systematic approach to blogging may sound boring, but in reality, it can make the task a whole lot easier. Effective blogging strategies commonly consist of seven main steps. They are planning, researching, writing, uploading, promoting, measuring and managing.

Planning: Planning what to blog about helps hone in on what businesses truly want to say, and what actions need to be taken to accomplish this. Setting a blogging timetable can also help businesses plan ahead with their blog posts.

Researching: Because businesses need to reach their specific target market, any blogging strategy needs to include some form of research to stay on top of popular industry trends, online keywords and key phrases.

Writing: Businesses should identify who will be responsible for writing the blog in a consistent manner. If businesses have the time, it may be worth considering options like hiring a dedicated in-house employee, a ghost blogger or even including guest blogging opportunities.

Uploading: Although this step may appear simple, it is important to do it correctly and strategically. Simply throwing your blog content onto a blogging platform won’t cut it anymore. Take the time to correctly format your blog’s images and content properly.

Promoting: No matter how great you think your blog is, if you forget to promote it, you will miss out on the biggest opportunity to capture your audience’s attention. You can promote your blog through social media, blog bookmarking or directory sites.

Measuring: The next step is to measure the results of your blog. Analyse what is working and what needs more attention. Not measuring your results regularly means you miss out on opportunities to improve your blog and reach more online readers.

Managing: Contrary to what some may believe, it is no simple task making sure that everything is running smoothly on your blog. Appointing a manager or management team can ensure that everything stays on track and that the wheels continue to keep rolling.