The case on Blogging for Business

Blogging for Business

It is still one of the best ways to get improved online visibility; still many business owners scratch around and do not blog.

A blog is still defined as a website containing a writer’s observations and opinions. Blogging for Business is being crafted and consumed in increasingly refined ways and is widely used by many businesses as a tool for growth.

“I think the blog has become more part of the culture in the UK, certainly,” says Jody Thompson, blogs editor of The Huffington Post UK – the news and blogs site that counts Sir Richard Branson among its 5,600 bloggers and boasts 5.4 million readers a month. “I think blogging used to be seen as something a bit strange, but now people understand that it is an effective social media platform – a platform they would not have had otherwise.”

The business case for Blogging

With inbound leads costing 61% less than outbound leads, it is easy to see why 81% of businesses now report that Business Blogging is extremely useful for their business growth.

• Businesses that blog get, on average, 55% more website visitors than those that do not.
• 57% of companies that blog reports that they have acquired more customers from their blog.
• And 92% of companies who blog multiple times daily report that they have acquired customer/s from their blog.

There are many available blogging platforms to choose from, each with strengths and weaknesses. However, if you are looking for the best option for your business, there is only one winner: WordPress.

WordPress is a free, open-source blogging tool and content management system (CMS). It is the most popular blogging system and is used by over 16.7% of Alexa Internet’s “top 1 million” websites.

Questions to ask before you start Blogging for Business

Many people and businesses, who fail at Blogging for Business, do so because they did not properly understand the challenges; they started blogging with unrealistic goals and expectations. Building an audience for your blog will take time and consistency; start by defining your audience and readers.

Ask yourself:

• Who exactly do you want to read the blog?
• Can they become your customers?
• Which content would they find valuable?
• How often will you need to post to generate a return?

If content is king, then networking is queen! With your blog, you will also have to build relationships and grow a community around your blog and its content. Networking will be a key skill in how fast you can attempt to grow.

Also, blogging is a good tool for building your subscriber list. You will require each reader to either sign up or leave their email address before allowing them to comment on your blog.

How to write your blog for easy reading

People scan rather than read from start to finish through online. Using subheadings breaks up the posts providing the reader with the opportunity to scan and digest at different levels. Shorter rather than longer paragraphs work best online. A good way to manage paragraph length is to stop at the end of three sentences and then start to figure out the transition to the next paragraph.

Bullet points and numbering further help break up your posts and make them more readable.

Images add the visual element that helps you to communicate with more impact! Also, if you consider social media platforms such as Facebook, not using images will put you at a significant disadvantage in the newsfeed.

How to write your blog for SEO

Say, I am a web developer and wanted to write a blog post to target businesses that need a new website. I might consider “We build websites for your business” a good blog post title, but is it? If I go to Google keywords tool and search for “We build websites for your business”, I get zero searches! Next, I will input “create your business website”. OK, that is better; it now shows 2900 searches per month. With this, you will have a better chance for your blog to be found in searches.

How can I optimize “How to make a Web Site” so I am targeting the right type of reader? In my example: businesses that might be considering building (and paying for) a new Web Site.

Let’s look at some titles that will make my blog post more razor-sharp:

• “How to make a Web Site to get your business noticed.”
• “How to make a Web Site that delivers new customers and more sales.”
• “How to make a Web Site that returns on your business investment.”

Note: Position your keywords nearer the start of your title as search engines and people put more weight on the early words.

Get Blogging for Business

Even if you do not have time to write a blog every day or week, do not let that stop you. By blogging once a month, you can slowly establish yourself as an expert commentator in your field. And once you are up and running, you must promote your blog widely via social media, article sites and other blogging sites. The more you ‘social share’ your blog posts, the more you will get the conversations going – so yes, Google+ them, LinkedIn them, Facebook them and tweet them at as many places as possible. This will get new links back to your website – which again helps SEO – and get in front of a new wider audience.

I hope you enjoyed some of the insights in this short write-up on Blogging for business. We will have more on this topic later on. If you have some insights you would like to share; please do so by leaving a comment.

All the best 🙂