If you’ve read my guide to blog management, you’ll know that blog goal setting is one of the most important tasks you’ll undertake. It should be right at the top of your to-do list, yet too many businesses just say fu*k it and dive right in. They don’t have any long-term vision; they just know that the subject they’re writing about right now is super fu*king interesting and useful.
But super fu*king interesting and useful doesn’t pay the bills.
There are over 600 million blogs on the internet right now. The overwhelming majority of them are achieving precisely nothing. Not because they’re badly written, not because the topics are wrong, and not because the publishing schedule is inconsistent.
Businesses that blog see 55% more website visitors than those that don’t. But that statistic comes with a condition attached, and the condition is that the blog is built around a clear, deliberate purpose.
Traffic doesn’t materialise because you published something. It materialises because you published the right things, aimed at the right people, in pursuit of specific and measurable outcomes.
So, before you write a word, you need to set a destination. Blog goal setting should be a non-negotiable part of blog strategy. After all, you wouldn’t use a satnav without setting a destination, would you?
Why Blogging Is Important
B2B companies that blog generate 67% more leads per month than those that don’t. Blogging matters because search engines reward it, because buyers expect it, and because it compounds in a way that almost no other marketing activity does.
A well-written, properly optimised blog post keeps generating traffic and leads for months or even years after you hit publish. A paid ad stops the moment you stop paying for it. The economics are not even close.
77% of internet users regularly read blog posts, which means your audience is already out there, actively looking for content that answers their questions, solves their problems, and helps them make better decisions. The businesses that show up consistently in search results with genuinely useful content are the ones that build trust, authority, and ultimately, sales pipelines.
Blogging also gives credibility. When a potential client reads three or four of your posts before picking up the phone, they arrive already sold on your expertise. The sales conversation is shorter, the objections are fewer, and the conversion rate is higher.
What Are the Main Uses of a Blog?
This isn’t a time for bullsh*t. I wanted to complete this blog post with no more than 1200 words, so here goes:
Blogs do one of two things. Make you money or grow your brand. That’s pretty much it. Yes, there is some nuance, but every benefit of blogging falls into one of those two categories.
Driving Organic Traffic
This is the big one for most businesses. Every blog post you publish is a new opportunity to appear in search results for the keywords your potential customers are typing into Google. Active blogs give websites 434% more indexed pages than those without one, which dramatically increases your chances of being found. More indexed pages means more entry points, and more entry points mean more traffic.
Generating Leads
Traffic without conversion is just vanity. A well-structured blog post brings the right people to your site and then gives them somewhere to go, whether that’s a contact form, a downloadable guide, a free consultation, or a product page. B2C companies that blog generate 88% more leads than those that don’t, which tells you everything you need to know about the commercial value of consistent, well-aimed content.
Building Topical Authority
Google wants to rank websites that demonstrate genuine expertise in their subject area. Publishing regularly around your core topics signals to search engines that you know what you’re talking about, which improves your rankings across the board, not just for the posts you’ve optimised. It also signals the same thing to your readers, which matters just as much.
Supporting the Sales Process
A blog post that answers the exact question a prospect is wrestling with is one of the most effective sales tools a business can have. It handles objections before the sales call, educates buyers who are still doing their research, and gives your sales team something useful to share. 61% of US consumers say they trust blog recommendations when making buying decisions, which means your blog is doing sales work even when you’re not.
Growing an Email List
A blog reader who subscribes to your newsletter is worth considerably more than a one-time visitor. Your email list is an audience you own outright, with no algorithm standing between you and the people who’ve actively chosen to hear from you. A blog that consistently delivers value gives people a compelling reason to subscribe and stay subscribed.
Fuelling the Rest of Your Marketing
A good blog post doesn’t have to live and die on your website. It can become a LinkedIn article, a series of social media posts, an email newsletter, a script for a short video, or a talking point in a podcast episode. Smart businesses treat every blog post as raw material for their entire content operation, which multiplies the return on every hour spent writing.
What Is Blog Goal Setting and Why Does It Matter?
Blog goal setting is the process of defining specific, measurable outcomes you want your blog to achieve before you write a single word. A blog without defined goals is just content production, and content production without direction is an expensive way to fill a server.
Without goals, you have no way to measure success, no way to identify what’s working, and no strategic basis for deciding what to write next. You’re essentially guessing, and guessing is not a content strategy.
The most useful framework for blog goal setting is SMART: goals should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. The difference between a vague goal and a SMART one is the difference between “get more traffic” and “increase organic blog traffic by 20% within six months by publishing two SEO-optimised posts per week.” One gives you something to aim for. The other gives you something to act on.
How to Set Blogging Goals for Your Business
Writing this section almost feels silly. But I get it. If you’re going to make the blog writing process even longer, you need to know why. The goals for marketing blogs should always relate to sales or brand. It really is that simple.
Step 1: Start with your business objectives. Before you think about keywords or content calendars, ask what the business actually needs. More leads? Greater brand awareness? A shorter sales cycle? Your blogging goals should flow directly from those answers, not exist independently of them.
Step 2: Audit where you are now. Use Google Analytics and Google Search Console to establish your baseline: current organic traffic, top-performing pages, average time on page, and existing conversion rates. You cannot set meaningful targets without knowing your starting point.
Step 3: Choose two or three primary goals and make them specific. Resist the temptation to pursue everything at once. A blog trying to do six things simultaneously usually does none of them well.
Step 4: Assign metrics to each goal. Traffic goals are measured in sessions, lead goals in form completions or email signups, and authority goals in backlinks and domain rating.
Step 5: Set a review schedule. Goals without a review process are wishes. Commit to a monthly check-in against your targets and adjust your content strategy accordingly.
Only 29% of bloggers regularly check analytics to guide their strategy, which means the overwhelming majority are publishing content with no idea whether it’s working or not. Don’t be in that majority.
Blog Best Practices for Goal-Driven Content
You’ve made blog goal-setting part of your routine. What do you want? A slap on the rear? How are you going to work towards achieving that goal? You need a plan.
If you were going to write something for fun, you’d pick something that interests you. But as you’re writing for your customers, you need to choose something that interests them. You need to solve a problem, explain a process, or demonstrate your expertise.
Every post needs a clear objective before you start writing. Is this post designed to rank for a target keyword, convert warm traffic into leads, build topical authority, or support a sales conversation? The answer determines the structure, the CTA, and the metrics you’ll use to judge its success.
Speaking of CTAs, every blog post should tell the reader what to do next, and that instruction should be directly aligned with the goal the post is designed to serve. A post aimed at generating leads needs a lead magnet or a contact prompt.
A post aimed at building authority needs internal links to your deeper content.
Internal linking is one of the most underused goal-setting tools in blogging. Map your posts to a content architecture that moves readers progressively toward conversion, rather than leaving them at a dead end after every article.
And then measure everything. Only 29% of bloggers say they always check analytics to guide their blog strategy, which means 71% are essentially blogging blind. Set a monthly review cadence, check what’s ranking and what’s converting, and adjust accordingly.
Can’t Be Ars*ed with All This Blog Goal Setting Nonsense? I’ve Got You
Blog objectives aren’t difficult to develop, but doing so involves time and a degree of effort. Perhaps you don’t have the time. Maybe you’re just too lazy to put in the effort. I feel your pain.
Let me develop your blogging goals for you. In fact, just let me take over the entire kit and caboodle. I know the true purpose of blogging. It’s to make sh*tloads of money. So let’s do it. Contact me today to arrange a blogging discovery call.
