Blogs offer an inexpensive and relatively easy way for you to gain visibility for your business, and to interact with your current and prospective customers. Your blog also helps keep your web presence fresh. Even if most of your site has evergreen content, your blog can provide a steady stream of new (and keyword-rich) content that helps draw new visitors and pique the interest of repeat visitors. When you blog for business, you essentially have a blank slate on which to etch the personality of your company and your brand. Here’s how to use it to the greatest advantage:
Plan Your Content
Your blog has to be current to be valuable. When your most recent post is dated more than a month ago, you’re in trouble. Nip this problem in the bud by creating an editorial calendar. Map out how many posts you’ll do per week, and decide what general topics you’ll tackle. Of course, your calendar doesn’t need to be set in stone. If something interesting or timely comes up, feel free to swap out topics. The calendar will give you something to fall back on when you’re not feeling quite as inspired. And it will hold you accountable to a deadline.
Write About the Super 7
Several types of content are particularly well-suited to company blogs. Remember, you have much more control over the content of your blog than you do via other social media channels. Use it to your advantage with these 7 content strategies:
- Promote new products and services
- Position you as an expert (i.e., offering tips, advice, and guidance to readers)
- Announce new or recently completed projects, launches, etc.
- Share flattering stories about your company (for example, how you went out of the way to provide great service)
- Answer customer questions
- Publicize accomplishments, awards or industry recognition
- Advertise job openings
Plant Those Keywords
When you’re planning out your content, keep keywords in mind. All content on your blog, from your titles to your tags, should be optimized with keywords. Spend some time researching popular keywords in your industry (Google Insights is a handy tool for finding good keywords) and sprinkle them liberally throughout your content. For help with keyword research and search engine optimization for your blog, contact us.
Submit to Search Engines
Well-placed keywords will get you more clicks–if you’ve submitted your blog to relevant search engines. Submit your blog’s URL to Google, Yahoo, Bing, and Technorati . In some cases, you’ll need to create a free account to complete the submission process.
Link to Other Blogs
See a post on another blog that you find useful? Talk about it on your blog and post a link to it. Be sure to favorably on the original post and include a link back to your blog. It’s a good way to entice readers to check out what you’re saying about the topic. When you link, set a trackback or a pingback. These are special types of links that automatically inform another blog owner that you’ve linked to his/her blog. Usually, a trackback URL to your blog will appear with your comment. Many blogging softwares let you set trackbacks fairly easily, or automatically.
Write a Guest Post
Find a heavily trafficked blog that’s related to your area of expertise and offer to do a guest post. Popular blogs are often hungry for fresh voices and perspectives. (As a courtesy, should also extend an offer to the blog owner to write a post for your blog.) When selecting a blog to guest post for, look for ones that concentrate on separate but related fields to yours. For example, if you’re a real estate agent, find a home improvement blog and write a post about the “5 Home Improvement Projects that will Increase Your Home’s Value.” Make sure to include a trackback (see above) to your blog and website.
Integrate with Other Social Media Channels
Every time you publish a post, put a link to it on all of your social media channels; especially Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Or automate the process by connecting your accounts. (For more about how to do this, join PowerUp; our free email curriculum includes helpful tips on automation as well as overall social media strategy, planning, content and more.)
Mansoor Shaikh