Business of Blogging

The Business of Blogging

Posted on in Small Business Tips, SME Marketing

I was recently asked to critique and give advice on a new blog and, as is generally the case, it prompted thoughts for my own blog! So here’s some tips and advice on blog writing to help you get started!

Why start a blog?

First of all, why should you blog anyway? What’s a blog for? Well blogs are a great way of updating your website with fresh, unique and relevant content. These words are critical to helping improve your SEO and google search rankings thereby driving traffic to your website. Just as importantly, however, a blog will update your customers, potential customers, suppliers and contacts on your progress, developments and movements. A blog is a useful touch point and, if it’s done in the right way, will help identify you as an expert, progressive in your field, and a thought leader. It also provides a useful means for proactively addressing customer queries and FAQ’s, and encouraging interaction and engagement, by way of the comments section.

A blog on your website will provide a cumulative resource of useful information and collects a history of your business progress, useful for both you and your clients, especially if you offer a ‘search’ facility.

What’s more, it provides content for your email newsletters and a unique URL for use with social media. Remember customers and clients will interact with you via different mediums and at different times of day. Make it easy for them to find you and make sure you’re front of mind. If you snooze you lose, as they say!

Before you start

I’m often asked how frequently one should post a blog; well, quite simply, the more frequently you update your blog, the more frequently the search engines will index your content. However, it’s also important that you consider the following:

  • Your objectives and your resources – what works for you and what can you do regularly, as regularity will be key
  • Your target audience – when might they want to hear from you and what works for them
  • Consider the type of post, ie, news, analysis or information. News will obviously need to be on the button!

A simple structure

Think back to your school days, when you were taught how to structure essays with a beginning, a middle and an end, it’s very similar with blogging!

  • Create your headline
  • Identify your sub-headings – making sure they’re ‘on topic’ with your subject matter
  • Fill in your paragraphs – making sure they’re relevant to the headings
  • Add a call to action – what were your objectives for this blog?
  • Complete with an image to add visual inspiration
  • Promote and share!

Top Tips for effective blogging

  • Make sure your blog is ‘on brand’, and use an appropriate tone of voice and style, and be authentic!
  • Use words that your customers will understand and associate with
  • Think about your target audience and what you can do for them, ie, inspire, educate, offer advice and information, so it becomes more ‘you’ than ‘me’ and ‘I’
  • Add value with your blog, make sure you’re offering useful information; a business blog is not a medium for either a rant or a ramble!
  • Ask for comments, thoughts, similar experiences – most blogs will allow you to review these before accepting, to avoid any potential spammers
  • Do categorise and tag your blogs for searches and SEO
  • A blog of around 400 words is perfect, but equally they can be less occasionally or, indeed, they can be graphical. If much longer than 400 words, its probably better to break them up into a series
  • Do consider how people read online, which is different to say books or magazines, so break up the copy with sub headings, bold and bullets

If you’re interested in registering for information about future workshops, please click here.

What’s more, if you find you’re struggling with blogging, where to start, perhaps finding the time, or perhaps writing is just not your ‘thing’, then do give me a call and I’ll be delighted to help.

Tel: 07963 002065 or email to: hello@alisonpagemarketing.co.uk.