In my last post I explained why blogging should be part of your marketing plan. As a follow-up, here are my nine proven tips for developing a successful business blogging strategy. Consider sharing these guidelines with your team to get them excited about blogging and to alleviate any potential nervousness about writing their own posts.
Find a topic: Write about a topic that you know well or on an area that interests you. Still stumped? Once you have a topic, search for the term and "blog ideas" to find suggestions from others to help you figure out new blog post ideas.
Develop a style: Be casual. Be yourself. Show your unique personality while upholding professionalism and the reputation of your company.
Write to engage readers to leave comments: Select a blog post topic that others will want to discuss more. Keep in mind what will potentially elicit interaction from visitors.
Moderate all comments. Publish those comments that add value or interesting opinions on the topic. Respond as necessary.
Set a standard length: Blog posts do not have to be long, as long as they are relevant. Three to four paragraphs with a call to action linking back into the site is a standard blog post length. By keeping to approximately 300-400 words as a standard length (minimum of 250 words), your posts will be focused. In some cases longer posts work, especially for complex topics. Just be sure to break-up longer blog posts into manageable sections.
Incorporate helpful links: Add links to third parties, related resources, and back into the main website in each post.
Outbound links must be valid and reputable.
Outbound links should open in new windows.
Add subheadings to make posts easy to scan: Sections of your post should utilize subheadings or subtitles consistently. This helps break up the information and easily make your point, especially in longer posts.
End with a call to action: Each blog post should contain a call to action at the end that mentions your company and links to a related service or page within your website.
Place at the end of the post.
Develop a consistent style and general tone for all ending call to actions within your posts.
Integrate relevant keywords: Each post should focus around a keyword, phrase, or topic. The selected keyword should be used once for every four-six sentences (approximately four times per post).
If appropriate, emphasize keywords using bold or italics.
If you can naturally repeat your keyword/phrase in the first sentence, that is good for search engine optimization.
Provide samples of relevant keywords for your business or organization for team members to draw from.
For example, for TBH Creative, these keywords include but are not limited to: web design Indianapolis, Indianapolis web design, website design Indianapolis, search engine optimization, web professional, web strategy.
Business blogging is a great marketing tactic for increasing your search engine optimization, showing your expertise, and more. We have found that blogging also keeps our staff learning more about the industry and website design and development trends.
Need help getting started with a business blogging strategy? It doesn't matter if you use Wordpress, Blogger, MovableType, Facebook notes, Compendium Blogware, or another platform. We can help you evaluate options and plan an effective and powerful online marketing strategy.