Whether you’ve spent some time blogging for fun, documenting that holiday of a lifetime, your experiences as a traveller or you’ve dipped a tentative toe into the world of blogging, you’ll appreciate that there’s more to creating a successful blog than just putting a few words into a WordPress website.
Blogging for business is not just a fad, it’s not the last thing you should think about when thinking about content for the pages of your business website, it’s far more than that and requires a little bit of thought and planning.
In this blog, we’re taking a look at what makes a successful business blog, some of the inside tips and tricks and what to avoid.
Get it Right First Time
Hit the ground running with a blog that immediately catches the eye and draws in your target reader. You’ll find there are plenty of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) blog templates out there to get this right so if you’re not sure about how to structure your blog, use one.
You want to start with the headline. Unlike a simple press release or a feature, this headline is going to contain some keywords that a search engine like Google would pick up in its results and help lead a reader to your page. Not sure what your keywords are? You can do this yourself through some research or you can ask for help from SEO agencies such as SERPs SEO’s Services who will talk you through what people are typing into Google to lead them through to your website.
But yes, your headline should be catchy too. You want to answer questions that you know your potential customers will ask and be there for them with an answer. You’ll want to use those keywords we already mentioned but make them part of the flow, rather than shoehorn them in with writing that sounds unwieldy and clunky.
Think Long
If you’re not someone who writes very much or at all, then the idea of stretching out a blog post to over 1250 words might seem like too much of a challenge but long-form, high-quality blog posts are something that Google algorithms pick up and recognise. This recognition helps establish your website as a trusted source, which in turn helps it to be recognised in the search options.
Think long when you’re writing and if you can’t stand the thought of making that happen yourself, get a good content writer to take the strain for you.
Visual Images
If your blog looks like one long wall of text, it’s going to put people off and you’ll miss out on what you’re trying to achieve. You need to take a look at what it is you’re writing as an overall piece and that’s going to include a visual element too.
You might just want to include some photos and that’s great as long as they are totally relevant to the piece. You’ll find some high quality and free to use pictures on Pexels where you can either just download free images or pay a monthly charge for access to a wider library.
You can also include diagrams and charts to help illustrate your point, as long as they are high quality and help to explain rather than confuse the reader. Have an expert render these for you if you can’t do it yourself and leave them out completely if they’re not 100% clear from a user’s perspective.
Top of Your Game
When you’re at the top of the game in your industry you want your writing to reflect that. Frankly, grammar and spelling mistakes look amateur and do not make readers feel confident in the author or in your case, the business, who has posted the blog.
Use online checkers, use a friend or colleague to read it through for any mistakes and make sure that whatever you put up is word perfect. In terms of content and subject matter, it’s well worth just sitting down with an SEO expert to go through your content plan for the next few months. Plan well ahead to ensure that the frequency of your blog posts are kept regular and uninterrupted.
Blogging for business helps get you found, it establishes you as a regular and trustworthy voice and it offers your customers the chance to see you “behind the scenes”, a glimpse at the person behind the service. Blogging brings nothing but benefits so get it right and see your business boom.
