Pardon the alliteration, but this post just begs for a fun headline. Now that we’ve said it out loud, we still want to bring your attention to blogging for your business.
The most obvious benefit to blogging is the generous amount of space it affords to writers. Unlike Facebook and Twitter, this social media tool doesn’t necessitate a truncated conversation with your audience.
If you’ve been blogging for a while, are a blogging newbie or even if you’re contemplating running a blog for your business, we have a few housekeeping tips for you to bear in mind.
1. Strategize
The first question, as always, is to know what you want to achieve with your blog. Experts recommend not beginning a blog if you can’t create enough content to keep going.
Fair enough, we say.
However, if you can keep your blog updated consistently and in a timely manner, we recommend a written strategy to propel yourself further. Know what you want to accomplish with your blog posts, position yourself as an expert, and plan ahead.
And while you’re at it, spend some time ensuring that your blog content is creative and original.
2. Understand your audience’s needs
Too often, company blogs and small businesses feature posts that only an insider could understand. Take a look at your recent postings. If you’ve stumbled across industry terms 5 times too many, you’ll probably need to raise a red flag.
Because the last thing that you want to do is to sound like a textbook. Even in a niche market, content littered with jargon, statistics and hard numbers can only help for so long. Eventually, you’re going to find your readers – and potential clients – turning away if the content or the conversations aren’t accessible or easy to understand.
3. Hyperlinks
Blogging well is very much like writing an academic paper – except with more paragraphs. You still have to cite your sources and give credit for borrowed information, for 2 major reasons.
1. You’re not the one who researched and wrote the original content, and
2. Linking to your source helps create an opportunity to network within the industry.
Speaking of hyperlinks, this is a good time to state the obvious from a design perspective. Leave your hyperlinks colored blue; don’t make your hyperlinks blend into your content or give them a color that’s barely visible or fades the text, because in some cases, widely accepted web standards are a good thing.
4. Multiply the media
It’s not just college students. No one likes reading an endless ocean of text. It’s no secret that attention spans have shortened to accommodate the need for 21st century multi-tasking, which means incorporating video and images into your blog posts will bode well for you.
5. Interact
If managed well, your blog can be the perfect platform for engaging your audience, encouraging conversations and building communities.
And it requires an investment of time and patience. Take the time to respond to negative and positive comments. They display your willingness to be transparent and encourage feedback.
In the long term, you’ll have built a rapport with your audience, industry experts and writers within the community.
