Blogging is a critical part of your marketing strategy. If you’ve thought about leaving your blogging behind, or not starting one at all, you should reconsider. Not only does it play an important part in keeping your website up-to-date, but it helps attract new users to your site, who could potentially become customers. According to SEO Tribunal, 57% of marketers say they’ve gained customers specifically through blogging. While a blog is a tool that’s highly successful at driving traffic to your website, it should also provide genuine value to users in order to achieve these goals.
But making your blog a success isn’t as simple as writing a few posts, there are specific tactics that should be followed in order to make blogging an effective use of time and resources for your business. In this guide to successful business blog tactics, we’ve outlined important aspects of any good blogging strategy. To provide context for how you can use these tactics in your own blog, we’ve also provided examples featuring the ShareAble for Hires blog.
Blog Organization
The way you choose to organize should have one primary driving factor in mind, user-friendliness. When you’re setting up your blog (or reorganizing it), you want to think about how easy it is to navigate. If users can’t find what they’re looking for, they won’t consider you a valuable resource.
1) Using a Clean Layout
Navigating a cluttered or confusing layout can interrupt reading or even cause users to leave your site in search of something that’s easier to follow. To create a clean layout you should:
- Leave some white space
- Limit the number of graphics on a page
- Use an easy-to-read font
- Only include useful navigational links
- Set up easy search functionality
- Implement clearly defined sections within the copy
- Limit how many colors are used (brand colors are highly encouraged)
2) Posting Consistently
The frequency of blog posting you choose to commit to depends on your resources. For example, if you’re a smaller-scale business with one person in charge of all of your content marketing efforts, once a month may be the most realistic option. However, if you have a team of blog writers, you may be able to post weekly or daily.
Whichever posting frequency you choose, just make sure you can sustain that consistency. Using a production calendar to ensure that your content and assets are on-track for publishing can be helpful in
3) Categorizing Blog Posts
A critical component of effective blog organization is categorizing your posts. This will allow users to find related posts on the topic they’re interested in and in turn, they are more likely to spend time on your site. Plus, the more posts they read, the more times you have to plug your products or services.
Take ShareAble for Hires blog for example:
Blog Content
1) Creating a Targeted Theme
In order to cultivate a following and provide the most value to users, it is important to establish a targeted theme for your blog. Your blog should be a resource for readers looking for information regarding your expertise. By honing in your blog content around a central theme and specific topics, you can carve out a space to become an expert, which will keep readers returning to your site. And, when people need a professional’s help, they are more likely to reach out to you.
For example, if you operate a remodeling company, you would want to focus on your blog posts around relevant topics such as how-to’s for renovations, topics regarding hiring contractors, and education on different types of materials. These topics also provide you with the chance to mention your services or products as a solution, without blatantly advertising them. Then, if a reader decides they do not want to do the project themselves or are looking for a reliable provider, you will be top of mind when they’re ready to make the move.
2) Providing Valuable Content
Throwing just any content onto your site isn’t going to be helpful. In fact, it could even be detrimental to your brand. Instead of focusing on quantity, you should focus on quality. High-quality blog posts can be an important part of your SEO (search engine optimization) strategy, by contributing to better search rankings.
You want to create copy that answers questions readers may have and present solutions, so that you can become a valuable source of information that they will keep coming back to. While you may want to tie in your product or service to the topic, you must do so tactfully.
Valuable copy should be:
- Well-written
- Free of major grammatical errors
- Credible and factual (to the best of your knowledge)
- Targeted to your audience
- Clear, concise, and helpful
3) Using Engaging Graphics
It’s no secret that many readers skim, meaning that they could miss out on important points you’re trying to make. Graphics can help get your key takeaways across and keep readers more engaged in your content. Plus, according to SEO Tribunal, using images in blog posts gets 94% more views.
However, just like anything else overly complicated, cluttered, or irrelevant graphics will take away from your copy, so be sure to only include graphics that add value.
Example of a relevant, engaging graphic from TransUnion My Smartmove:
This graphic from their blog post on “What is Vacancy Rate” supports the copy, is visually engaging, and provides added-value to their blog post.
Blog Promotion
Once you have your blog organization and content optimized, you’re ready to take the next step, promoting your blog. These are some of the most effective ways to expose new users or current customers to your blog:
1) Sharing the Post on Social Media
Sharing your blog content on social media allows it to directly reach your audience and gives you the opportunity for your content to be shared amongst users, further increasing your reach. While you don’t want to spam users with the same post over and over, you can create several social media posts to promote a new piece of blog content by framing it in different ways, highlighting key takeaways, and using graphics to grab your followers’ attention.
2) Plugging It in Your Email Newsletter
Your email newsletter goes directly into the inboxes of those who have signed up to receive it, making it a great opportunity to get more eyes on your blog post. You can include a link to your newest blog post(s) in your email newsletter. If it’s relevant, you can include it within the newsletter copy itself. If not, create a separate section that highlights this information with a brief summary that will help direct traffic better than just dropping the link.
3) Featuring Blog Posts
Have a carousel on your site’s homepage or on the main page of your blog that features your latest blog posts. Featuring your blogs in key real estate areas on your site will make readers more likely to view them. Keep in mind that this should be reserved for a few new posts that need extra attention. If you overwhelm this section of the site, it loses its value.
Key Takeaways for Blog Tactics You Should Implement
While there is no secret recipe to ensure your blog is a hit, these tried and true tactics can help you make your blog more enjoyable, useful, and effective. By focusing on organization, content, and promotion, you can improve the most critical aspects of your blog and take it to the next level—even with limited resources. With these 9 tips as your blueprint to successful business blogging you are equipped to make the most out of investing in your blog to help improve your website’s performance, become a valuable resource to your target audience, and grow your business. What are you waiting for?
Author Bio
Alexis Maness has a Bachelor of Science in Integrated Marketing Communications and is a contributing editor for 365businesstips.com. As a professional content writer, she has over five years of experience and is a contributing writer for several San Diego magazines. Alexis specializes in topics related to business, marketing, finance, and hospitality and tourism.