How to work with a Virtual Assistant to manage your blogs
The power of blogging should not be underestimated; what started as a form of online diary-keeping for the first generation of web users is now a staple for almost every company website.
Most business owners keep blogs as a way of regularly communicating with their customers, informing them of events, products and the like. Blogs can help you to forge stronger ties with your clients, build strong brand identity and, ultimately, bring in more custom.
However, a blog which is not regularly updated can be likened to the latest series of The Only Way Is Essex – wasteful, unnecessary, with nobody looking at it. Blogging regularly is by no means easy, it requires regular maintenance, care and an almost constant stream of interesting, readable content. Many business owners struggle with original writing and their blogs often fall by the wayside, another dead link in the Internet’s graveyard.
If you struggle to maintain a good blog, why not hire a Virtual Assistant (VA) to do some of the work for you? Most VA’s have a good deal of office experience and can be hired for as many or few hours as your business dictates.
If you are interested in writing articles but are lacking facts and subject content, your VA could research and compile the necessary information for you. Alternatively, if you have all the facts but lack a writer’s voice you could hire a VA with writing experience to create blog posts. Even if you are a competent and creative writer, sometimes it helps to have a fresh voice. You could split content creation with one or more VA’s and receive a regular stream of articles from various different perspectives.
A well maintained blog is a successful blog; regular posts are necessary to hold the attention of your clients. Your VA can schedule your posts weeks in advance so that even if you might forget to update, posts will still be sent out. Essentially, your VA could create a month’s worth of blog content in one day, saving you time and money. VA’s can be hired for a minimum of an hour’s work so you could purchase a month’s worth of blog organisation for an affordable price.
Additionally, your VA can function as your PR manager – they can respond to any comments or queries left on the site and ensure that every visitor receives a prompt and professional response. This will give your readers more confidence in the company and will ensure that any potential business is dealt with promptly.
To truly understand and utilise the power of your blog, there are a number of software programmes which can be of great help. However, when it comes to the more technological aspects of blog management many business owners would prefer to bury their head in the sand. If words such as ‘analytics’ and ‘optimisation’ have you running scared, find yourself a VA who is well-versed in these areas and leave it to them. Using a Search Engine Optimisation tool (such as this one provided by WordPress https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-seo/) your VA can analyse what content is being read and what is being ignored. By using these analytics, you can create blogs which will gain more traction. Additionally, many VA’s can help you improve your search result ranking through the use of SEO, pushing your page to the top of the list based on your business’ keywords and phrases.
These are just a number of ways in which VA’s can work with you to manage and improve your blog, so if you’d like to know more, we’d be happy to help. Just drop us an e-mail or call us to discuss how to make the most of your site.
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