This morning I received an email from one of our clients, and it had a very common question: “Where should I start with entries for theblog?”
I thought I would take this opportunity to start from the beginning of small business blogging and highlight where you should spend your energies as a small business blogger.
Keywords – Do your keyword research for every blog post. Your blog will inevitably have a number of terms relating to your business. You can use your blog as a way to get links back to your site, but using some strategy about which keywords to link with will get you more traction.
Writing a blog is also an easy and efficient way to get long-tail keywords linking back to your site. Long-tail keywords are keyword phrases that have at least three, and sometimes as many as six, seven or eight words in the phrase. Long-tail searchers are usually looking for something very specific: “How do I __?”, “what’s the difference between __ and __?”
Story – Use your blog to tell the story of your company. When did you open? What drove you to begin this company? Is it run by your family? Was it passed down for generations? How did you acquire your skills? While this may or not be interesting to every potential customer, this information will help personalize your business.
Resource Posts – Resource posts are usually in the format of a list. If you read blogs, you probably see these all the time, whether it’s the Top 5 dresses at the Oscars, or top 10 selling products on your website. These posts are easy to read. They are easily digested by readers and are usually somewhat easy to write.
Customer Questions – Is there a question that comes up often? Use your blog to answer questions before they arise. These questions might also tie into the long-tail keyword strategy discussed above.
Comparisons – Compare and contrast your products or services. How does Product A compare to Product B? How do the expensive tennis shoes compare to a similar more expensive pair? How does a granite countertop compare to marble?
Communities – Make sure you are active in Blog communities. Search engines are not going to visit your site on a daily basis, so use your off days to read other peoples blogs. Not only will this give you some more ideas for your own blog, but it will also allow you to comment on relevant posts and become more of a contributor in your field.
Blogging No-no’s
Bad writing – Blogs have the potential to be fun and personal. But your writing should still be professional. Bad writing will give the wrong impression to your potential customers. Typos might imply a lack of care.
Present instead of conversing – Use your blog to speak to people. Don’t just try to sell products. An entire blog entry about your top product could be very helpful and informative. But your blog shouldn’t look like an online retailer. So, don’t be too promotional.
What else?
Use your social sites to promote your blog. When you post a blog, alert people with a Tweet and a link in your Facebook status. If your blog is lacking in comments, ask your friends, followers and social contacts to leave some. Ask for suggestions or ideas based on your blog post.
Use technology to make your blog interesting. There are so many formats available now, that are becoming easier and easier to post on the fly. Video and photo galleries will add variety. But, be sure to transcribe your videos and describe your pictures thoroughly. This allows the content to be indexed.
And, don’t forget to install analytics on your blog. That way you can see which articles are getting more readers and commenters. Use this data! Tag your posts accurately so people can find similar articles easily.
Utilize all these avenues and your small business blog will serve its purpose.
– By Chris Schepici
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