Are you thinking about starting a business blog? Perhaps you’ve already started one, but have run out of inspiration. You may have started out with all the best intensions in the world, but its weeks since your last post and your visitor numbers have dropped off to almost nothing.
What do you do? The good news is there’s no need to panic, because whether you’re about to start a business blog, or you have one that’s floundering on the rocks of inaction, there are a few simple tips that can make you go from blog standard to blogging brilliance.
The first thing to bear in mind is you need to be able to write to a decent standard. This doesn’t mean you have to have a doctorate in English, nor does it mean you should be a published writer, but you do need to be able to communicate well in words in a style that is easy to read.
If you feel this is not your forte (and let’s face it, you probably didn’t go into business to write the next great American novel) then it may be worth thinking about outsourcing your content writing.
If this isn’t something you want/can do or if you’re confident in your ability to write your own blog in clear and concise English, then you just need to follow a few guiding principles to get the most from your blog.
Business Blogging Tips for Success
- Write regularly. This is perhaps the greatest cause of losing readers (or failing to attract them in the first place). A regularly updated blog will become a habit with readers, who will keep coming back for more. If they start to find updates are lacking, they’ll move on and when you finally get around to updating your blog you’ll find a lot less people reading it. You certainly don’t have to update daily (although this is fine). Weekly is perhaps the best option, but you could even get away with monthly posts, as long as this is a regular thing and your readers know what to expect.
- Expert blogger Jay Baer suggests blogging on consecutive days: blogging on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday shows readers they can regularly come to your blog for information. He’s even found success in blogging on Sundays.
- Be interesting. OK, this can sometimes be easier said that done, but it’s not as hard as it seems. Sure, if your post is about screw heads, then it may not gain as many readers as the latest celebrity gossip, but there are still ways you can make it more interesting. A great trick is to tie it into a current news story or event (perhaps a new film). Start your post by wondering what screw heads Iron Man uses in his new adventures. It’s a fun way of engaging your readers. Coming up with an interesting title is half the battle.
- Link to other posts. It should go without saying that you should be reading sites/blogs by others in your field and beyond, so when you find something you feel may be of interest to your readers, link to it. You may well get the linked site linking back to you. Once your post goes life tell those sites you linked to that you did so. They might be apt to share with their followers on Twitter and Facebook, thereby getting you more traffic to your post.
- Promote your blog on your own, or use the tip above and share it with others who you link to or talk about in your post. Ask to get RT’d. Dan Zarrella, a genius Twitter “Scientist”, discusses in his “Science of Retweets” that simply asking for a RT can help you spread the word about a blog post, article, image, video, or website.
- Submit your blog to Google News. If you have valuable information and can provide Google News with great content to index then be sure to submit your blog to Google News.
Following these tips will help your blog flourish and will help ensure you maximize the number of readers subscribing to your blog.
Do you have a business blog? How much success have you had with it increase traffic to your site?
Article by stevelazuka
Steve Lazuka is the President of Interact Media, a company specializing in seo content writing, business blog writing service, and more. He's active on Twitter, and you can find him @SteveLazuka.
17
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
Great information. I learned a few tips. But did you have to bring up the part about, “be interesting?”
John
It seems very easy and I really have to agree with all the above mentioned, I actually find it interesting but the thing is, how often to I write. Do I really need to make it a habit to write everyday? I guess the hardest part is the generation of ideas. But thanks really, I’ll have to keep this in mind and hopefully with the help of some practice it will be a daily routine for me.
.-= NEW from Teena´s last blog ..A perfect online software? =-.
Twitter: profitmc
May 6, 2010 at 11:26 am
Wow, this is really some good post. my blog is focused on business marketing and most times is just seems no one really want to hear about those things. Every one tends to look for blogging tips nothing more.
Thanks for sharing
.-= NEW from Chadrack@Home Business Marketing´s last blog ..$19,521.06 a month with ClickBank on Autopilot? =-.
One aspect of business blogging is targeting local terms. Local terms (keyphrases) are generally not that competitive and folks will find you when doing search.
.-= NEW from Colleen@Kennewick Real Estate´s last blog ..Tri Cities Has Lowest Cost of Living in the State =-.
Just know about Google news. I will took a look on it to find if it can help my blogging.
.-= NEW from Dana @ Blogging Tips Blog´s last blog ..Another Blogging Disaster To Be Anticipated =-.
Twitter: bloggingaccess
May 3, 2010 at 1:45 am
This is great and interesting. Thanks for sharing it my friend.
.-= NEW from Real Blogging Advice´s last blog ..How to Choose Profitable Keywords Using Google Keyword Tool =-.
Twitter: BabyBoyKharim
May 2, 2010 at 7:02 am
These are very great tips Steve. I have applied some of them on my blog. I try not to let a week pass without posts at least 3 blogs because I don’t want my readers or subscribers to leave. Nice post
.-= NEW from Kharim´s last blog ..April: Great Blogging Journey =-.
Personally, I make sure my blog has at least 2 posts per week. I don’t have a set schedule, but I do think my posts are capturing my visitors’ attention and turning them into readers.
.-= NEW from Karan @ Trafficke SEO Firm´s last blog ..2 Terrible SEO Techniques =-.
Twitter: BabyBoyKharim
May 2, 2010 at 11:34 am
That’s true. Well I post when I think it is necessary to do so. Always have to keep my readers up to date with fresh new content
.-= NEW from Kharim´s last blog ..April: Great Blogging Journey =-.
Starting a blog or any website is easy but to keep it up and as you have mentioned keeping readers coming back is the harder part if you are in blogging fulltime this becomes simpplier as we all know a blog without traffic is like a car without fuel. you ideas mentioned in your post are simple guidelines for any blogger to follow .thanks for sharing them and welcome to famousbloggers.net
.-= NEW from lawmacs´s last blog ..Can you get rich by blogging ? This is a question which i am being asked by many of my friends who aspire to be a blogge =-.
Twitter: another_blogger
May 2, 2010 at 3:51 am
I did all your tips bro by nature
thanks for remind me.
Mid week is a great day to post an article but sometimes I can’t hold to post everyday, lol!
.-= NEW from Latief@AnotherBlogger´s last blog ..5 Tips For Writing Article For SEO =-.
One failed attempt at business blogging was Walmart, and that was a perfect example of of upper level management seeing blogging as a sales tool instead of a communication medium!
.-= NEW from Tom@Geoarbitrage´s last blog ..What Is Geoarbitrage? =-.
I’m thinkin’ your stuff has to be pretty special to make Google news, yes?
.-= NEW from Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..Comment Contest April – – Winners! =-.
Twitter: MurrayLunn
May 1, 2010 at 3:25 pm
I’ve just recently convinced my boss to start a business blog. It’s such a perfect idea because the fellow employee that will be helping me has been in the business for over 8 years and knows a ton.
He doesn’t have a lot of time to write but since I’m very much at home about blogging, I’m going to help bridge his expertise to the blog.
I can’t wait to get it up and running, it’s going to give people a ton of great information.
.-= NEW from Murlu´s last blog ..How To Make Money Online With ArticleMe =-.
Solid tips Steve. Posting frequently has been a traffic driver for me. People crave content. The more frequently they receive this content the better.
As for writing proficiency when you blog daily your skill level naturally increases. I was scared to post in the beginning for fear of being criticized. When I began to get into my writing the words flowed more smoothly. Also read other’s blogs on a daily basis. Just by reading experienced bloggers your writing style will improve by osmosis.
One tip for successful blogging is to read your post allow before you hit the “Publish” button. You can hear if the words sound right or not.
As for Iron Man, I can’t wait for May 7
.-= NEW from Ryan´s last blog ..6 Cash Gifting Red Flags =-.
Stever great post.. I try to post on days others are not. I seem to notice a bigger drop in my Alexa doing that. Since I’m on a different post day then another niche blog.
Great tips.
.-= NEW from John Paul@How To Make Money With A Blog´s last blog ..There Is A New Blogging Star Born Everyday, Are You Next? =-.
WOW! This is a great post worth reading. You don’t have to be a perfect English writer before you can be a successful blogger.
Posting frequency also impacts your traffic a lot, I get more than times two of the traffic I get now when I do update my blog everyday.
Thanks a lot f0r the great post,
-Onibalusi
Twitter: BabyBoyKharim
May 2, 2010 at 7:09 am
That’s true. All you have to do is read different types of articles from different authors and that will help to build up your writing skills. I also wrote a post on this
.-= NEW from Kharim´s last blog ..How To Develop Good Writing Technique =-.
Twitter: bloggingaccess
May 3, 2010 at 1:49 am
Hello Kharim,
I visited your site and I love to learn more writing tips from you. Yeah reading different articles could help you on developing your good writing skills. You can also expand your vocabulary.
.-= NEW from Real Blogging Advice´s last blog ..How to Choose Profitable Keywords Using Google Keyword Tool =-.
Twitter: BabyBoyKharim
May 3, 2010 at 5:41 am
Thanks for your visit. I really appreciate it
.-= NEW from Kharim´s last blog ..Blogging Abbreviations: Get To Know Them =-.
{ 2 trackbacks }