Blog

Nowadays, many businesses use blogging to complement their website and other platforms, boost rankings on Google, attract new clients and share information. In fact, if your business relies on strong internet presence, it’s probably a very good idea to start a blog. But first: check out these do’s and don’t’s of business blogging.

1. Are you sharing good information?

DO write your articles with the main purpose of sharing information – not selling your business services. Sharing information for its own sake – without making any demands on your readers – is a feel-good exercise of mutual benefit to you and your visitors: you feel good because you’re helping people by giving them helpful information, and they feel good because they’re getting something for free. If like me you’re a strong believer in ‘what goes around comes around’, it’s also never a bad thing to share information that will only be of interest to other people in your industry (that aren’t likely to ever need your services). It’s also important to make sure you only write about what you know; i.e. that the information in your articles is correct.

DON’T write an article unless you know what you’re talking about i.e. don’t pretend to know what you don’t. Don’t load your article with allusions to your business services; if your readers feel like they’re reading an advertisement, they’ll click out of your article like a hot potato.

2. Is your blog interesting?

DO make sure your blog is interesting not only to you but to your readers, and if your articles are interesting to the sort of readers that may be potentially need your services, then your blog can attract and win new clients for your business. It’s also important to make sure your articles are well-written, edited and proofread because if they’re easy to read they’ll be more interesting.

DON’T be too wordy or formal and keep your blog articles relatively short so the reader’s more likely to read it to the end. Listen to feedback: if your article doesn’t attract any comments or likes at all then it’s possible that no matter how interesting the subject is to you, or how good you think the article is, it’s simply not interesting to other people. If the feedback indicates people are really interested in the subject or really loved the article, write more articles about that subject because people find it interesting.

3. Are you using your blog to promote your business?

DO include some information about your business or services if you can do so naturally without it sounding like an advertisement. Mentioning who you are, what your business is about and what you’re selling in a little paragraph at the end of the article is fair to readers (who can skip over that bit if they want) and a polite way of offering information about your business to any readers that may be interested. If the information you’re sharing in your article is based on your own experiences in your industry or running your business then you can allude to your experiences (which may include mentioning your business) without it being an advertisement, thereby sharing information about your business as well as what you’re selling.

DON’T include too much information about your business or what you’re selling: if it sounds like an advertisement your readers will be annoyed and, you guessed it: click out of your article like a hot potato.

4. Are you utilising metadata and SEOs to your best advantage?

 DO make sure you know how to insert relevant metadata and SEOs. Make sure most of the blog articles you write are at least partly relevant to your business (because that means they will contain relevant SEOs). Try to include SEOs in the names of the photos that go with your articles. Not all your blog articles have to be relevant to what you’re selling but be aware that if they’re not, and if they don’t contain any relevant SEOs, they will not be targeting 1) the sort of clients you want to be reading your blogs, from a business point of view or 2) Mr Google who won’t be interested in your blog unless it contains relevant metadata and SEOs. It’s also important to not just have a website and blog full of relevant metadata and SEOs: to satisfy today’s potential clients, and Mr Google of course, you need to write and share your blog articles, and/or advertise your business, on multiple platforms.

DON’T bother blogging for business purposes until you learn how to use metadata and SEOs because without using those tools, the blog will miss out on all those Google-directed potential clients. Don’t under-estimate Mr Google: don’t insert metadata that’s not relevant to your article. Don’t under-estimate your readers: don’t insert SEOs for their own sake throughout your article. If your article has too many SEOs, or SEOs that aren’t entirely relevant to your article, your readers will simply do what’s so easy to do online: click out of your blog like a hot potato.

For more about blog-writing…

• 7 tips for writing an effective blog
• Blogging for building relationships with customers
• Why keep your blog articles short

Image: Copyright SW Kane