How Do I Start Blogging for My Business?
If your business is online you’ve probably heard about blogging or, can be sometimes called, ‘Content Marketing.’ Used as part of your Content marketing strategy, this form of long-form writing gives 'detailed and deeper' information about you and your business that’s helpful and useful to potential customers.
Content Marketing can take all sorts of forms, from written blog posts, infographics, podcasts to videos. Imagine you’re the marketing director for a big DIY company. What could you write about that would be helpful for your customers? Well, a good place to start would be with a series of ‘How to’ posts. For example, ‘How to Change a Plug’ or ‘How to Unblock a Sink.’
Not only are posts like these useful, they demonstrate that your company is helpful and knowledgeable. And when people need to buy equipment, like screwdrivers (to change their plugs) or plungers (to unblock their sinks), you’ll have established a relationship with that person that is based on goodwill and trust. Great for brand building and great for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).
Creating Authority Driven Content
Blogging is a perfect way to build your authority online. A way of positioning you as the go-to expert in your profession. A way of developing trust and awareness. A well written, well researched blog post is a powerful way of engaging with your audience and earning their trust and loyalty. It's worth the investment of your time to produce this type of content.
Need help with using your blog to drive business?
Get in touch and we can advise which is the right platform for your blogging needs and how to use your blog to drive business and convert visitors into customers. With strategic Search Engine Optimisation, promotional ideas and processes that will save you time when creating regular blogs.
Start blogging today
The sooner you start the sooner your business will see the benefits of blogging.
The sooner you start blogging, the sooner you will develop your distinctive style.
Business Blogging - The Right Tools for the Job
Just as you need the right size and shape of a screwdriver to change a plug, you need the right platform for your blog. A ‘platform’ is something like WordPress (Read why WordPress is our Content Management System of Choice) or Tumblr, and it’s is the online version of deciding if you’re going to write with a pen or a pencil, on lined paper or plain. Different platforms are better for different projects, so the best choice for you depends on what sort of blogging you want to do.
Here are some of the popular platforms we like:
WordPress - “a state-of-the-art semantic publishing platform with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability.” Our preferred blogging and CMS platform
Tumblr - “so easy to use that it's hard to explain.”
Blogger - "Simple publishing tool."
Ghost - “a simple, powerful publishing platform that allows you to share your stories with the world.”
Medium - “See what your friends are reading and writing. Keep in touch with your favourite authors and publications.”
Silvrback - “a hosted, Markdown-powered blog combined with a bio page.”
Svbtle - “The dashboard is a flow of unpublished ideas, or draft works-in-progress, on the left side, and a list of published articles on the right.”
[bctt tweet="How to start blogging for your business." username="arttia"]
What’s the difference between a website and a blog?
Confusingly, a blog can be a website in itself. If your business relies on fresh new ideas, regular updates and lots and lots of material, a blog could negate the need for a website. But, if your business is more structured, and you need to give out set pieces of information, then a website that incorporates your blog is the best option.
TOP TIP: Your domain is your website address, so, for example, our domain is www.arttia.co.uk
Think back to that ‘paper’ we mentioned – your platform.
Ideally, you want all the information about your business and what products or services you offer to be in one place as if it was in one big hard-backed big book. Easy-to-find. Full of useful information, like your contact details and company phone numbers.So it's ideal if your blog is situated on your domain route, hosting package.
TOP TIP: Your hosting package is the place where your website ‘lives’, like a business address in the sky that you pay rent for. If you're going to create a high traffic blog, then you will need robust hosting. You get what you pay for, and cheap hosting can slow down your blog which is bad for readers.
Need help with setting up a blog on your domain? Contact Arttia Creative for specialist assistance.
This is so that your one ‘big book’ stays in one place and people can find it. It also means that you aren’t writing content on a series of different sites that take your readers away from your main website address, where your sales messages and contact details are).
Search and Traffic
Having searchable content is key for blogs. What's the point of creating high quality, informative content if no one can find it?
When you're planning your blog, and its content, make sure you have a robust keyword strategy and understand searchers intent for your content. Search Engine Optimisation for every blog post is critical.
Here are some additional useful blog posts I've written about Search Engine Optimisation.
Thin content just doesn't cut it anymore. Blogs with over 1,500 words continue to rank higher and get shared more. Create more content that is in-depth and provides value and insight to your audience, then promote it widely. That should be your goal when blogging. When used correctly business blogging can increase traffic, reduce bounce rates and increase time-on-site. All will boost your Search Visibility and Domain Authority.
(Search Visibility: Definition)
(Domain Authority: Definition)
The Takeaway
It's not always beneficial to build your audience and authority on sites like Facebook and Twitter, both are brilliant channels to promote your business. Just be careful not to make the mistake of putting all your efforts there.
Write a blog post that has plenty of internal links to your website's core service pages and then promote this new content many times. Embed a video onto your site and then Tweet it. This way, if Facebook or Twitter - or any of the other social sharing sites out there - change their rules or their settings, all your hard work can’t disappear into the ether.
If you're serious about developing a business driving blog that builds your authority, drives traffic and creates revenue then contact design@arttia.co.uk and we will work with you to drive leads and build sales.