Before I begin, let’s address the elephant in the room – yes I am writing a blog about why its great to blog, how ‘meta’. Everyone has a rough idea of what a blog is, but you may not have a great deal of understanding of how or why you should blog as your business. So first, let’s go back to basics.
What is a business blog?
- Regular (written) posts about your business
- You can create video blogs instead of text blogs – these are known as ‘vlogs’
- Generally blogs are posted on your website but you can also blog on LinkedIN, blog forums like Medium, you can guest blog on other people’s website etc.
- In the case of video blogs, you will often find these on YouTube or other video sharing sites
- A blog should contain in-depth, detailed information usually on a very specific topic
- You should think of your blog as solving a problem for your potential customers
Why should you blog?
- It can increase traffic to your website
- It can increase inbound links to your website which is important for your Search Engine Optimisation (i.e. it improves your search engine rankings)
- Google likes websites with regularly updated content – blogs are a really easy way to do this
- People trust blogs – if you have taken the time to do all that research on a topic and then write about it, you must be knowledgable and you will seem like you really care about the topic
- It helps you become an authority within your sector and validates your expertise
- Not everyone wants to talk to a person – some people want to go through their whole buyer journey online and never pick up the phone or even send an email. In order to do this, they need to be able to find a wealth on information on your website to enable them to make an informed decision.
My Process for blogs
Below I have given the full blogging process I will go through with my clients. I won’t conduct each step for every client; for instance some clients may want to upload the blog to their websites themselves or get their web designer to do it. Some might have plenty of images and videos already which they want me to use. Some may send me research papers or information to help me write the blog. The level of client involvement and support will affect the cost.
- Discussion with client – what is their focus? Is there a particular product they want to highlight or customer they would like to target
- Research popular topics and search engine queries to help define the subject of the blog
- Decide on the subject of the blog
- Research the topic
- Write the blog
- Find and create images, videos and infographics to use within the blog
- Editing and proofing
- Upload the blog to the client’s website
- Optimise the blog (SEO)
- Share the blog on social media channels, by email etc.
- Seeking backlinks – if there is another brand I have mentioned in the blog I will ask them to share it. I can also send the blog to any other organisations who I think would be interested in sharing it
Blogging for you business is an important part of your overall digital marketing strategy. However, to do it right takes time and energy that you may not have if you are busy running a business. To add to that, not everyone is a natural born writer. Of course you can learn to be a great writer but it is not something everyone feels comfortable or confident in doing. If you find yourself in either of these categories, I can help you produce interesting, specific, traffic-driving blogs. Get in touch to find out more.
Katie Mullen Digital Marketing – putting the passion back in your business communications.