Having fresh content posted consistently on your school blog helps demonstrate that your school is a go-to source for information and subject matter expertise. And, when you provide content on a regular basis, both current and prospective families will view you as trustworthy.
Posting the kind of information potential students and their parents need in a timely and regular fashion helps to establish “…your school as a trusted authority they can consult. You build good will with them and strengthen your place in their minds as a potential place of interest,” according to the experts at HubSpot.
If you are able to deliver fresh, relevant content and keep it up to date, visitors will continue to come to your website. So just how often do you need to be blogging to keep people coming back for more?
To help you figure this out, you’ll want to start by setting lead generation goals. Figure out what you want a visitor to do as a result of reading your blog. Once you decide what your goal is, be sure to include a call to action in each blog post you write.
Here are some lead generation suggestions from ed Social Media:
- Inquire or apply online
- Subscribe to your alumni newsletter
- Sign up for a campus visit
- Subscribe to your high school guidance counselor newsletter
The higher the number of leads you would like to see, the greater the number of blog posts you’ll need to write on a monthly basis. When you produce more content, your SEO gets a healthy boost–allowing your school to show up more frequently in web searches.
It’s one thing to make lead generation goals, but it’s an entirely different thing to take the steps to carry out those goals. Is it realistic to commit to 3 blog posts per week?
Here are some more suggestions from ed Social Media to determine what is realistic for you.
- How much time do you really have? Factor in 2 hours average creation time for a completed blog post–though you can break up that time into smaller pieces throughout the day or over the course of several days.
- How much value do you place on your blog’s content? Do you see it as highly valuable to your lead generation strategy or are you writing a blog just because everyone else is doing it?
- How much value does your leadership place on the blog? If they don’t see the value in it, they’ll pull you away from working on the blog to doing something else. As a result, your post frequency or content quality will suffer.
- Do you have other resources at your disposal to assist you with photos or video to accompany the post? Can you have students help write some of the blog copy? The more resources you have, the better your chances of sticking to a consistent schedule.
Take some time to really consider your lead generation goals and how much time you have to commit to posting on your school blog. You can always adjust, so don’t start too big and get overwhelmed. It’s better to start small and grow rather than setting unrealistic expectations and abandoning the project entirely. Happy blogging!
