Are you thinking about starting a business blog? Perhaps you’ve already started one, but have run out of inspiration. You may have started out with all the best intensions in the world, but its weeks since your last post and your visitor numbers have dropped off to almost nothing.
What do you do? The good news is there’s no need to panic, because whether you’re about to start a business blog, or you have one that’s floundering on the rocks of inaction, there are a few simple tips that can make you go from blog standard to blogging brilliance.
The first thing to bear in mind is you need to be able to write to a decent standard. This doesn’t mean you have to have a doctorate in English, nor does it mean you should be a published writer, but you do need to be able to communicate well in words in a style that is easy to read.
If you feel this is not your forte (and let’s face it, you probably didn’t go into business to write the next great American novel) then it may be worth thinking about outsourcing your content writing.
If this isn’t something you want/can do or if you’re confident in your ability to write your own blog in clear and concise English, then you just need to follow a few guiding principles to get the most from your blog.
Business Blogging Tips for Success
- Write regularly. This is perhaps the greatest cause of losing readers (or failing to attract them in the first place). A regularly updated blog will become a habit with readers, who will keep coming back for more. If they start to find updates are lacking, they’ll move on and when you finally get around to updating your blog you’ll find a lot less people reading it. You certainly don’t have to update daily (although this is fine). Weekly is perhaps the best option, but you could even get away with monthly posts, as long as this is a regular thing and your readers know what to expect.
- Expert blogger Jay Baer suggests blogging on consecutive days: blogging on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday shows readers they can regularly come to your blog for information. He’s even found success in blogging on Sundays.
- Be interesting. OK, this can sometimes be easier said that done, but it’s not as hard as it seems. Sure, if your post is about screw heads, then it may not gain as many readers as the latest celebrity gossip, but there are still ways you can make it more interesting. A great trick is to tie it into a current news story or event (perhaps a new film). Start your post by wondering what screw heads Iron Man uses in his new adventures. It’s a fun way of engaging your readers. Coming up with an interesting title is half the battle.
- Link to other posts. It should go without saying that you should be reading sites/blogs by others in your field and beyond, so when you find something you feel may be of interest to your readers, link to it. You may well get the linked site linking back to you. Once your post goes life tell those sites you linked to that you did so. They might be apt to share with their followers on Twitter and Facebook, thereby getting you more traffic to your post.
- Promote your blog on your own, or use the tip above and share it with others who you link to or talk about in your post. Ask to get RT’d. Dan Zarrella, a genius Twitter “Scientist”, discusses in his “Science of Retweets” that simply asking for a RT can help you spread the word about a blog post, article, image, video, or website.
- Submit your blog to Google News. If you have valuable information and can provide Google News with great content to index then be sure to submit your blog to Google News.
Following these tips will help your blog flourish and will help ensure you maximize the number of readers subscribing to your blog.
Do you have a business blog? How much success have you had with it increase traffic to your site?