We know how important it is to maintain a good blog on your site. It is not only important for customer engagement but is critical for maintaining good SEO on your site. But what do you write about? This can be a difficult one and does depend on your audience. Here are a few tips to help you along the way on your blogging for business journey.
1. Have a clear objective
When blogging, don’t just sit down and write, think about what you want to achieve from each post. What is your goal? Be it advertising, a newsletter, audience building or even amusement, know your audience and target them.
2. Consistency is important
Try and create a style, language and branding template that all can follow. Your readers need to identify with you and build the relationship. Consistency allows trust to form and will inevitably drive your audience back for more.
3. Don’t tangent too much
Stay on topic, the reader will have chosen to read the blog because of your heading so the more you stray away from that the less likely to sustain their interest. Some divergence is acceptable providing you draw a concluding remark that can be related to the original topic.
4. Headings are important
This is ultimately what will drive the search so make it focused on the message you are trying to get across. Some blog readers will scan a title and if they aren’t drawn in they won’t read further. The heading is your one chance to grab their attention!
5. Are comments important?
The short answer is yes. Comments will promote debate, justify your writing or criticise it. Remember that not all criticism should be treated as negative. Policing of comments is necessary though, particularly spam, so get yourself a good filter.
6. Are word counts important?
Varying word counts aren’t an issue, but a general rule to use would be to produce content that is 400 words minimum. This is the level Google targets as relevant content. Beyond this it remains up to you. It’s a case of getting your point across without waffling on.
7. Provide varied topics
Don’t see your industry as a restricting boundary. Explore how your industry may overlap others and see how that can be converted into interesting content. Always utilise readily available material, such as magazines and social media, to gauge feelings towards the topics you are exploring.
8. Keep it fresh and current
Try and stay up to date with current trends in your industry and convey what’s happening to your readers. The likelihood is that what you are writing about has been done before, so try a new twist on what’s already been done. In trying to get the best from blogging, make sure you do your research and read what’s been done and try and see new angles.