Follow These Steps to Improve Your Business Blog

Man sits in office writing a business blog on his laptop as his boss watches — Photo credit: Sebastiaan ter Burg

Do you know who's in charge of your business blog? If it's you, are you creating great content for your own company, or for someone else? All too often, we come across small business websites where the company blog is either non existent, impossible to find, or poorly written. In other words, there's more to running a blog than just slapping together a few paragraphs...you have to make sure the content is good, you're reaching the right audience, and posting at opportune times!
If you want to build a stronger base of readers that are more connected with your brand, check out these strategies to keep people coming back to your website's blog:

1. Stay consistent

Say you were having a conversation with someone on Twitter, and they refer you to a service or product to check out. You go to the company's website, eager to learn more about them, and stumble upon their business blog. Inside, you find that it hasn't been updated in over a year. Did they just happen to forget, or did they stop caring about communicating with their audience? That's the first impression you'll give off to a potential visitor if you post irregularly.
When posting blog content, pick a frequency that works for your company. Once or twice a week, once every other week, or once a month—the choice is yours. Build a list of ideas or topics to write about that answer questions your customers may have. Alternatively, you could present a nice balance of personal and promotional information about your company in an interesting manner. Can you find a clever way to relate Arnold Schwarzenegger to your business? Go for it!

2. Get everyone involved

The company blog doesn't have to rest solely on your shoulders. If you have co-workers or employees, ask them questions! Have they had an interaction with a customer who had a great story? Share it! Do they know the answer to a certain question your readers may be interested in? Polling those you work with and including them in blog content is a great way to get the entire team involved, and to make your company more engaging.

3. Style and format your business blog

Layout. Spacing. Links. Headings. Images. These are all key components to having a great blog that is easy to read. You may have great content ideas, but you need to execute them properly too! One of the biggest mistakes company blogs tend to make is having what we affectionately refer to as a "wall of text", where it looks like the writer never hit the enter button to start a new paragraph.
When writing a blog post, you also want to:

Avoid using too much industry jargon. Assume your customer has very little prior knowledge of your industry, and write as simple (but efficiently) as possible!
Come up with a catchy headline that will draw your readers in. Most headlines are formed around how-to articles, lists, or action words that compel you to click on the post and read more about it.
End with a call to action. Someone just read your blog post, and they want to learn more about what your company does, or what you can offer. What should they do next? Let them know (like we do below) !

Is your company doing everything it can to create a great business blog? If you're looking for more ideas, or need a hand in creating content, we're here to help. Contact us and see what we can do for you!