Blog writing + content strategy
My people-first approach to blog content prioritizes helping readers solve problems. The result? Increased site traffic and informed, confident customers.
Context
Odele is an award-winning clean haircare brand that launched in 2020. The company wanted to create a blog to help drive website traffic, build brand awareness, and serve as a resource for customer education.
🗓 Timeline
8 weeks for development and launch, ongoing production since November 2020
👤 My role
I was center-stage in the creation of the blog—working closely with my content director, design partners, and the client to define the content strategy and visual style. I manage all blog content, which involves:
using audience data + customer support insights to inform content topics
writing and editing how-to guides and educational content in Odele’s brand voice
translating scientific jargon into helpful, human language
collaborating with designers and developers on visual assets
✍️ Writing approach
1. Get in users’ heads
I keep our audience’s goals top of mind through every step of the process—from choosing topics to crafting copy to selecting visuals.
2. Develop copy guidelines
Consistent voice and tone are key to communicating brand values and maintaining user trust. When we began developing the blog, Odele didn’t have any documented copy guidelines. The blog style guide I created has since evolved into a source of truth for all marketing communication.
3. Create templates + workflows
I created a blog content template to help our team efficiently and accurately track all publishing information. I’m always juggling multiple projects, so I track our production and publishing workflow in Asana so no steps are missed.
4. Research user questions
To ensure we’re creating content that’s relevant and provides real value to our target audience, I conduct keyword research to determine what potential customers want to know (and bolster SEO so they can find us).
5. Write in helpful, human language—then edit, a LOT
There’s a lot of medical and scientific jargon in the hair care world. I demystify tricky topics for our readers by explaining things in a clear, conversational way. Odele's voice is fun, approachable, relatable, and youthful—and I ensure that’s consistent whether I’m writing about obscure ingredients or how often to use dry shampoo. Content is never “done”—I’m constantly evaluating and iterating to keep things accurate and useful.
5. Organize logically and make it scannable
I use text hierarchy, bolding, and bullet points to make content easy to scan and digest.
📈 Impact
Focusing on people-first content has helped us build brand authority and bring more eyes to the website. The blog accounted for an 11% increase in website sessions in 2022.
⏩ Next steps
Things are always changing online, and outdated info or broken links can harm user trust and SEO. I’m currently conducting our first blog content audit to identify opportunities to optimize content for accuracy, search, readability, accessibility, and more.