Blogging is an activity you can do today to improve your SEO and achieve your business goals free of charge - you need only invest your time. A blog is a great resource that helps you connect with your community and:
- strengthen your brand
- bring in sales
- generate more leads
- achieve your business objectives
Frequent blogging shows search engines that your site has fresh, new content added on a regular basis which will help improve your visibility in organic (unpaid) search.
Create content plans
Before you start blogging, there are a few things you’ll need to devote some time to including the creation of a content plan and schedule. Ideas for blog posts won’t always come easily, and neither will the flow of your creative juices, so run with it when you are feeling creative; write multiple posts and save them for later when you may be less motivated to write. Whatever you do, don’t copy and paste content from another webpage; search engines penalise websites that publish duplicate content.
Wondering what to post?
- Product/service launches
- Industry news
- Expert advice and tips
- Top 10 lists
- Company updates
- Guest posts from industry experts, company heads, even clients
Still stuck? Have a brainstorm session and consider all the keywords and topics relevant to your business. Google’s Keyword Tool can help you with this, too. Just type in your URL and search.
Set a schedule – and stick to it!
Create a schedule that works for you and stick to it – whether it’s daily, weekly, or bi-weekly. Your readers will come to expect a post on that schedule so don’t disappoint them. If visitors notice your posts aren’t happening on schedule, you may lose their return visit.
Be readable
- Use a conversational tone and speak in the first person wherever possible.
- Try to set a 200 word minimum on your blogs and keep the content meaningful. Try to limit your posts to 1,000 words – people are generally less keen to ready essay-length posts online.
- Keep paragraphs short – it’s generally more difficult to read anything of length on a computer screen than it is on paper.
- Use upper and lower case text – not only are caps more difficult to read, they set a different tone for your writing.
- Check for spelling mistakes.
- Use bullets when typing a list of items.
The technical stuff
- Now that you’ve written your post, you’ll want to maximise your effort. Here are a few things to keep in mind when posting:
- Mention any keywords relevant to your business throughout the post. Be careful to not go overboard. Write for both your audience and for search engines – don’t focus on just one.
- Use keywords in the title and make sure the title is in Header 1 tags. Only use one tag per page.
- Don’t copy from MS Word and paste directly into your content management system. In general, you need to remove formatting or select Paste from Word to prevent the post from looking odd once published on the web.
- Add any relevant blog tags or category topics to the post
Integration
If you're working with a digital agency, ask them to create a blog area for you that is housed within the same domain as your website (ex: yourcompanyname.co.uk/blog). If you want to set up a blog on your own, you can start in minutes by working with templates from free web software like WordPress.
Mobilise your reader
If you want the reader to make a purchase, visit, register, or engage with your brand after reading, make sure you have a clear call to action, for example: Call today, Visit us, Buy, Shop, Register, Sign up. When doing this, make sure you link to the relevant pages or products.
Spreading the word
Let your social network know when you’ve published a new blog post - update your Twitter feed, Facebook page, and Google + page with a teaser. Engage with your readers when they share their comments and keep the conversation going. Remember: blogging done right is a two-way conversation.
Photo courtesy of futureshape on flickr.
