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HOW TO START A BLOG
Learn what a business blog is, where you can find ideas to create content, and how to market your blog
Many people underestimate the importance of a blog, assuming it’s something you do as a hobby or it’s really only worth it if you’re a professional writer. However, you could be missing out on a vital tool for your business.
Even with intense online competition, business blogging is definitely worth it. There is a lot to be gained by running a blog on your business website, like increased online exposure, and better search results, and it can even boost your bottom line. However, it takes a LOT to get there.
What is a Business Blog?
Business blogging is the tactic of writing useful content in the form of articles and sharing it on your website, on social media, and in emails. This helps drive online traffic and your visibility across the web. Blogging is simply the act of creating short-form content. They have become a major way everyone finds information.
Why should you start a business blog?
Business Blog Facts
36% of Fortune 500 companies are using their blogs for thought leadership, product promotion, and engagement.
Companies that blog receive 55% more traffic than companies that don’t and they have 434% more indexed pages compared to those that don’t.
Active company blogs have 97% more inbound links than websites without blogs.
Active company blogs generate 67% more leads than websites without blogs.
81% of US online consumers say that blogs are trusted sources of information and advice.
61% of US online consumers have made a purchase based on recommendations from a blog.
68.52% of respondents say that a blog adds credibility to a website.
What Is Good Business Blogging?
Business blogging is a powerful strategy for growing your business website. However, it requires serious time and commitment – like other marketing techniques.
Whether the goal is to attract new customers, bond with current clients, or improve search engine rankings, you have to know the difference between good and bad blogging.
Bad blogging:
- Posting inconsistently
- Not responding to blog comments
- Not answering the questions your audience is searching
- Grammatical errors (many will see this as a scam and discredit your information)
- Writing to sell something
- Not cross-promoting
Good Blogging:
- Posts consistently
- Responds positively to blog comments
- Researches what the target audience wants to know about (quality content)
- Uses proper English grammar
- Writing to educate and inform
- Cross-promoting on social media and other platforms
What Should You Write About in a Business Blog?
To improve the results you’re able to achieve through business blogging, one of the most important things you can do is to use a publishing calendar. This will help you plan your content and stick to a schedule.
You should be posting to your website at least once a week. This ensures your site is continually be crawled and updated by search engines. Once you lose your rankings, it’s quite an ordeal to move back up.
The cornerstone of any excellent business blog is “evergreen” content. Evergreen content is the kind of information that provides informative, expert insight into topics that will always be relevant to your audience at any time. You don’t want to spend hours writing and publishing an article that is old news within 6 or so months. Or, if you do post on current events, write it where you can update it down the road to still be relevant.
The average blog is around 1,000 words. But as long as you are providing valuable content, don’t worry about the length as much. (Advent Trinity finds success with our clients around 500-800 words.)
Blog Ideas
“Linkbait” posts – These posts are designed to gather page views or backlinks (or both). Typical linkbait post structures include list posts (e.g. “5 Ways to Save Big on Car Parts”) or articles that take a controversial viewpoint (e.g., “Why You Shouldn’t Buy XX Brand Shampoo”). Remember that an attention-grabbing headline isn’t enough; you must deliver within the body of the article, too.
Commentary on industry news – Offering your opinion on issues that are affecting your industry helps to build your perceived authority among your readers. It can also play a vital role in helping your blog appeal to search engines.
Inside look at office life – Website visitors love getting a peek into what’s going on behind the scenes at your company – putting human faces and personalities to the brand. Fun posts that showcase your company’s office culture in words, pictures, or videos can help to differentiate your brand from others. (This stuff is gold on social media, too.)
FAQs as individual posts – These are easy to write because you already have the “outline” on your Frequently Asked Questions page. Take one FAQ or a series that naturally go together, and flesh it out. Use the question as your title and related questions for your headers and subheads.
Link roundups – Compile interesting and relevant blog posts into a weekly roundup to provide value to your readers
Video posts – Write a short 1-2 paragraph intro and then embed a video. It can be a sneak peek at a new product, a product demo, or an explainer video. It could also be a topic that could use some screenshots or animated graphics to help explain your point.
Infographic posts – If your business deals with a lot of numbers or research, creating an infographic is a great way to present all that data in a visual, easily consumed, format.
Promotional content – While sales posts should NOT represent the bulk of your blog, tossing in a promotional piece now and again helps readers find out more about your products and how you can help them with their pain points.
Keyword Research
Business blogging is a powerful tool for building an online presence and reaching new customers. One important aspect of creating a successful business blog is conducting thorough keyword research. This involves identifying the search terms that potential customers are using to find your product or service and incorporating those keywords into your blog content to improve your search engine ranking.
Once you’ve decided on your keywords and crafted an attention-grabbing title, it’s time to start writing. Writing informative and engaging blog posts can help establish your brand as a thought leader in your industry and build trust with your audience.
When creating your blog, it’s important to choose a clear and concise title that accurately reflects the content of your post. With consistent effort and strategic use of keywords, a business blog can be a powerful tool for driving traffic, generating leads, and ultimately growing your business.
Why is blogging important?
Know Your Audience
Knowing your audience is vital in content marketing: What questions are they searching for answers to? What topics interest them? What is your competition not giving them?
People want actionable, relevant content, so create valuable articles loaded with current information on topics that your readers care about. Every blog post must give your readers straight answers to their burning questions.
To learn more about the types of questions and most shared topics in your target market, scour online groups, forums, and platforms like the following:
- Quora
- Answer The Public
- Think with Google (marketing research and insights)
- BuzzSumo (find the content that is performing best)
Marketing Is Most of the Work
With business blogging, creating content is only part of the job. The real work begins after you press publish.
These days, content marketing is basically 20% creation and 80% promotion. Once your blog is ready to be shared, you should immediately promote the new content on all your social channels which makes for great email marketing content.
Making the Most of a Business Blog
A business blog is a platform that allows you to express your brand’s viewpoints, but it is by no means a one-way street. Done right, you can use a business blog to increase brand awareness, educate your readers and become their go-to expert, and connect with more people.
As you engage with your site visitors, you can nurture stronger relationships and eventually encourage them to subscribe. Of course, this doesn’t happen overnight, but the long-term strategy of business blogging is a worthwhile endeavor.
By investing the time and effort to create quality content, you can use a blog to elevate your brand to new heights and establish your business as a leader in your market.
