Are you convinced that you need to set up a blog for your business but not sure where to start? Will you take the plunge if you can setup your blog in 7 easy steps?
An astounding 50 percent of all blogs are abandoned within 90 days of creation. Don’t let your business blog become a part of this sad statistic! Read on for a list of the 7 steps you must take to ensure your business blog is a success.
The fact is that web sites with a blog received 55% more visitors, 97% more inbound links and 434% more indexed pages than those that didn’t have a blog. Businesses in particular can capitalize on this because businesses that blog experience 126% higher lead growth than non-blogging businesses. Can you really afford to miss this opportunity? – HubSpot – Checklist: How to Start a Business Blog
1. Figure Out Where You Will Host Your Business Blog
If you do not already have a company website then you need to get busy. Go buy a domain name and decide which blogging service you will use.
Want to make your blog setup easy? Use WordPress. WordPress is the most commonly used blogging platform, and you can complete the setup in 5 minutes or less.
If you have a company website but no blog then get your new blog setup on a subdomain or page of your main site. Don’t setup your business blog on a separate domain because you will lose any SEO benefits from your blogging efforts.
2. Determine Your Business Blog Goals
What is your objective or goal for your blog? Some goals to consider are:
- Build your customer list
- Create a content library that makes your company a thought leader
- Engage customers in open dialogue
- Get better organic rankings from the fresh content
Your goals will help you determine the types of content that you will create.
3. Develop a Blog Style Guide
Your choice of writing style will determine how readers perceive and respond to your content. Document your writing style to ensure your blog represents your company personality and blogging goals.
What kinds of things should this include?
- Post structure
- Use of hyperlinks
- Elements to include in a post
- Visual appearance and use of pictures
- Capitalization & punctuation
4. Identify Your Target Readers
Have you taken the time to create buyer personas for your business? Per Wikipedia, buyer personas are fictional characters created to represent the different user types that might use a site, brand, or product in a similar way. If you still need to do this, check out Ten Tips for Creating a Buyer Persona Template.
You must know whom you are writing for in order to make sure your content is interesting and engaging. Use your buyer persona templates to make lists of the problems your ideal customers want to solve. You’ll use this in step 5.
5. Brainstorm Keywords
Every single blog post should focus on a single keyword phrase. Using your list of problems from step 4 write down a list of keyword phrases that you want to use as the basis for each blog post.
It is easier to rank for long-tail keyword phrases that are 3 to 4 words long. If your business only services customers in a specific location, you can include a geographic area as part of your keyword phrase.
Most of your blog posts should have keywords that are highly relevant to your business, but lower is search volume. More obscure keyword phrases are easier to rank for. Easy rankings = front page Google listings and more traffic.
These long tail phrases also tend to be more specific to your business and more focused on the specific products and services you provide. This is key to driving quality traffic to your blog that results in customers.
6. Write Your First Post
Your business blog posts should be educational, provide links to other online resources, and provide value by answering a question your reader has. Don’t ever have a sales letter masquerade as a blog post!
Brian Clark, who is the publisher of Copyblogger.com, recommends the creation of “cornerstone content.” This simply means the creation of a series of posts that communicate your core message and provides new readers with an overview or introduction of what they can expect to learn from the blog.
Include a call to action in every blog post that ties back into the goals that you have set for your blog. For example, if your blog is created primarily as a lead generator, then you want to make sure you have clearly defined easy-to-follow steps on your blog that will guide your readers to subscribe to your blog updates.
Need an example creating a compelling call to action? Look below and see how we encourage you to download the 30 Greatest Lead Generation Tips, Tricks & Ideas.
7. Keep Going
You are setup, and now you need to keep on writing. Business blogging is a solid content marketing strategy that can generate a steady stream of new clients over time. If you want to make sure your blog is successful, be sure to read 10 Keys to Building a Successful Business Blog.
Done correctly, your business blog is an opportunity to humanize your business and reach your customers on a deeper level. Just remember that the more preparation you do before you create your blog, the more successful it will be, and once it’s up and running, your blog will be a powerful marketing tool for years to come.
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