Norton National is known to not only roll with the punches but punch back! After coming out of quarantine alive (barely) Head Honcho, McCall Peck, decided the time was now to start a new series of Norton National; Education. This new mission of ours has officially blossomed into Norton National University and Team Pink is taking the time to learn, grow, and educate ourselves on topics in the event industry.
We sat down with the lovely Hannah Sheldon and talked all about blogging. Norton National wanted to make sure Hannah was in the fab five of experts we spoke to when beginning our education series. Starting as an intern with Norton National, she quickly became our go-to gal for knowledge on social media and branding.
To kick us off, Hannah broke down the different styles of blogging and how to outsource each of our blogs.
Blog format
Blog formatting can vary depending on the type of blog being written. Three different styles shared with us are listicles, stories, and photos.
A listicle is a short form of writing by using a list of informative facts on a topic. Formatting should be 500-700 words long in order to get the best SEO as possible. Blogs are written in a way that readers can easily scan to find the information quickly. For example, check out our blogs on 6 Reasons to Shop Locally Post COVID-19 or 3 reasons your company should be using brand ambassadors.
Story blogs are more personal and therefore, can be longer. These can be anywhere from 700-1,000 words long. Stories typically get more shares on social media than informational blogs. Personal experiences are far more relatable and entertaining to scroll through. A popular story Norton National shared was, How Coronavirus Impacted Norton National. These types of blogs help your audience have a better understanding of who you are and your brand.
Photos. Check, scroll, read. Read, scroll, click. Click, scroll, fall asleep with your phone in your hand…There’s a reason Facebook created Instagram. Our eyes are more attracted to photos than words. Keep your audience engaged by adding a few capturing images. A good rule of thumb is for every 300 words written, 1 photo should be published. Always try your best to use original pictures instead of stock images.
Outsourcing blogs
I bet you didn’t know that you could send your blogs to other websites. We didn’t either! When writing articles or blogs, linking like-minded websites when publishing can be done. A handful of websites will do this for free, others will charge you. Either way, you are increasing your SEO and domain authority. Domain authority means that your website is accessible on many different websites on the internet.
Hannah recommended including a “write for us” section on your website, therefore writers can contribute to your site. Be sure to include any fees and what benefits writers will receive. “A charge of $50.00 per blog is required and you receive two links to item A and item B”.
Tips
Stay consistent. If you say you are going to post once a week, then post once a week. - Read steps for starting a blog.
- Make your blogs easy to read and understand.
- Use more adjectives and shorter paragraphs.
- Add fun quotes like “I use a thesaurus like a boss” – Hannah Sheldon
Hannah taught Team Pink all the need-to-knows on blogging. She put us on the right track and helped us be our best blogging selves! Proofs in the pudding, our blog page shines now; thanks, Hannah!
Recent Comments