5 Tips for Writing a Business Blog Post

This is the second entry by guest blogger, Emily Sidley from Three Girls, a PR firm that specializes in Media Relations. Too often people slap together a few random items and flood the media channels in hopes that someone will pick up the news. Follow these steps and you’ll have a much better chance of being noticed.

As we often say, maintaining a blog is a great way to establish yourself as an expert in your field, help visitors to your site get to “know you” a bit before potentially working with you, and increase your website’s SEO.

Blogs have come a long way in the past few years. With most major companies and news organizations hosting a blog on their site – not to mention experts and practitioners in a wide variety of fields – blogs are starting to lose the stereotype of a 13-year-old’s online journal. Writing a personal blog is extremely different than writing for a business blog, though. So how do you get started?

Here are 5 tips for writing a business blog post:

  1. Pick a Topic. What do you want to write about? You can include a list of tips, provide your commentary on industry news, answer frequently asked questions about your company, share client case studies, etc. The sky is the limit when it comes to coming up with topics for blog posts.
  2. Brainstorm Content. What do you want to include in your blog post? Although you want it to be promotional, remember that the purpose is to provide something of value. What helpful information can you share for your readers?
  3. Write the post. Once you have your topic and know what you’re going to write about, start typing out the actual post. It’s always a good idea to write as if it’s a note to a friend. In addition to keeping the tone pleasant and casual (as blogs tend to be less formal), this will help you avoid the industry jargon. How would you explain it if you were talking to a friend that doesn’t work in your field? Use the same language for your readers as well.
  4. Edit. This is a step a LOT of bloggers miss, but it’s extremely important! Read over the post you’ve written and check for words spell check mis-corrected, sentences with extra words, and typos. Since your blog is a way of introducing yourself to potential customers, you want it to be as accurate as possible. Even if you aren’t a trained writer, your credibility is established through correct grammar and spelling. For editing tips, read this blog post.
  5. Publish. Once your post is ready to go, upload it to your blog and publish away! I always recommend previewing the post before hitting “publish” as you can often catch last-minute typos and formatting errors. Feel free to include an image within the post, too, as it can make the article even more appealing to readers.

We want to hear from you! How do you approach writing a blog post for your business? Do you have any tips to share?

Twitter Chatter: F**king Writers

F**king Writers

WARNING: Language, as suggested by the title, and riveting reading in this post. Make sure you read the ensuing comments as well.

Writers and the pay they get–while there are some who can write great sentences in a jiffy, others have to sweat it out, so who’s honest who’s not?  Who’s good, who isn’t?

Where do you stand on this issue? Feel free to comment.

Avoiding the Glazed Eyes Syndrome – Writing for Your Website Front Page – Part II

It’s a  fact. There is nothing more appealing to us than to know that we matter to others.  Creative use of web data mining by way of Google Analytics can help you unearth the hidden gold  “in them thar hills”.  The golden nuggets of information that, when used correctly in good content writing, can make your site visitors feel like the King of the Mountain.

When you meet a new person for the first time, do your eyes glaze over and your ears stop hearing them after a while, when all they can do is to go on and on about themselves?  How great their service is, how fantastic their qualifications are… on and on….

You want them to hear about you as well – a give and take of conversation.  Well, it’s exactly the same on-line.  If your Home Page isn’t focused totally on who your site visitor is, what their concerns and needs are, then they will do the on-line equivalent of the “glazed eyes” which is, to click-off your site and go elsewhere – where they are more appreciated and their concerns heard.

Use of  Google Analytics,  either on your own, or by using a web analytics consulting company,  can make the task of finding out what is going on with your site visitors so much easier.  Why  keep digging in soil that has no vein of gold? When just a few feet away the proverbial Mother Lode may be waiting for you.  Discovery may be as simple as website analysis.

In order to provide your on-line visitor with an experience that makes them feel heard and appreciated, you need to clearly understand who your visitor is – the whole demographic package.  Once you have this crucial piece of information you can use that as the foundation for your writing.

Your writing will be totally different if your primary audience is 20 years old, male and going to college verses 45 years old, female and working in a corporate job.

Until next time, Happy Data Mining

Suzanne Elliott
Website Content Copy Writer
www.sueelliott.com

Your Front Page – It’s Not About You…

One of the most important things you can do to improve the content of your Front Page, in addition to use of Web Analytics,  is to ask yourself this question.   “Does this page address the concerns and needs of my site visitor?” – Will your site visitor immediately feel a connection and want to keep reading your content – and then take the next step, which is to be interested enough in your site to stay and check out some more information – maybe even sign up for your ezine or special offer… Continue reading “Your Front Page – It’s Not About You…”
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