Are you currently looking to add a blog to your website? You definitely should. Blogging is becoming an increasingly useful way to inform and draw in potential customers and to also educate your current customers. Blogging allows you to add fresh content to your website easily and this is great for SEO.
Why should I frequently publish blog post?
A blog is a great opportunity for you to learn, and in learning you will become a better professional in your industry. Writing about and researching things related to your business and daily tasks can establish you as an expert in your field. Your customers want you to know exactly what you’re talking about, and to be able to explain it to them in a way that they understand. If you’re not talking about it they may not know that you offer a particular product or service.
As well as your customers learning about you, you have an insight into them. Google analytics can allow you to track your blog readers, click-throughs, popular posts, shares and comments. The comments section allows you to connect and interact directly with your visitors informally which is great for building relationships.
When you put your focus on core content and competency, social media marketing is easy. It gives you something to post about, and establishes your value and credibility. You can use tools like IFTTT and Hootsuite to automatically post to your social media pages as soon as you have hit publish on your WordPress blog.
Overall it’s a good chance to provide a reflection or set a tone for your company. Your blog can give your viewers a sense of your corporate standards and also personality.
I will struggle for things to write about…What should I blog about?
So if you’re now convinced that blogging is a good idea, but are stuck about what to post about, here are some pointers:
1. Helpful how-to’s
Tutorials are useful and informative, and often people search specifically for them, meaning more traffic to your page. Here’s an example “how-to” blog post I did on migrating your website from http:// to https://.
2. Solve a problem
Is there a commonly encountered problem in your industry? Address the problem and suggest ways to fix it. This could spark discussion and that’s always a good thing too.
Here’s an good example of a question that I often get from my clients:
3. Promote products / services
If you have or are about to release a new product or service and want to explain it in more detail, the blog is perfect for this.
4. Share industry related news
Is there something new in your industry that everyone is talking about, and that might change the way things work? Make sure you and your customers are well informed.
5. Google alerts
Set up Google alerts for your direct competitors so that you can keep an eye on what they are blogging about. Chances are, it will be relevant to your customers too!
Tips for a good blog
- Update content regularly: search engines reward fresh content. You can even set up a blogging calendar to make sure that you stay on top of these regular updates. Share the workload with colleagues and even partners of the business.
- Internal links: as long as they’re relevant and useful!
- Create interesting to-the-point titles: keep search engines in mind, what will people search for?
- Be original, relevant, and entertaining: copying content will result in a punishment from Google
- Develop a tone and stick to it: this can reflect your company’s identity
- Use images, video, and strong headlines: these help break up blocks of text, and are especially useful in how-to posts
- Not too long: make your content easy to scan so the important bits are seen quickly
- Do not use your blog as a sales pitch: this can be off-putting and users won’t stick around
Essentially a blog is a free marketing tool, and it’s worthwhile to put some effort into making yours a valuable platform. Generating traffic to your website is always a positive, and you can learn and stay up to date with news in your industry. Make the most of what a blog can do for your business.