Best practices for business blogging support company growth and create value for customers. A successful business blog emphasizes lead generation and conversion, not the number of impressions. That’s because a person can view your site many times during a week, but the result is, at best, one lead. So, business blogs require some tactics that differ from those used for personal or media blogs. The bottom line is that you need to present the correct mix of content to satisfy and grow your audience.
Blog like a vertically integrated online publisher – You need to create relevant content, figure out the best strategies to maximize the reach of your content, and define/manage advertising opportunities. All of these tasks are necessary so that your content is both valuable and also supportive of lead generation.
Target non-branded keyword content – Business blogs shouldn’t be advertisements for your company, but rather sources for valuable industry information. Readers will avoid blogs that simply tout the merits of your company. Instead, write about industry best practices and offer suggestions and answers to common questions. Non-branded keywords (not your company or product name) should be used to boost your search engine results and volume of traffic.
Satisfy reader desires – You certainly have your own list of blog topics, but you should also canvass readers to see what they want you to write about. By surveying readers, you obtain valuable feedback about which topics they want covered in future posts and whether you should include more audio/video features. Provide space on your blog for comments so that readers can express their own suggestions.
Leverage blog readership – Blogs are an important way to attract potential leads to your website. Make it easy for viewers to connect to all the features on your website from your blog using links, buttons, calls-to-action, menu items, etc. Whether your corporate blog is a subdomain or a page, it is an important way to introduce first-time visitors to the products and services your company offers.
Business blogging is an essential component of online marketing. It results in more exposure, larger audiences, and industry leadership. You will see an increase in search traffic and lead generation when you post frequent, high-quality blogs. Supplement your blog posts with other content, such as brochures, e-books, industry reports and whitepapers. If you widen the number of blog participants within your company, you have a better chance of achieving your goals.