Things to Remember Before Starting a Business Blog for Your Client

Starting a Business Blog

In 2018 there is hardly a business out there that doesn’t try to apply content marketing in this or that form in its promotional video campaigns. However, the efficiency of these efforts can vary from outstanding to negligible – and those responsible for it often have little to no idea what causes this or that result.

In this article, we will cover some of the most crucial things you should know about promoting your business via blog this year.

Quality beats quantity

The usual advice to business bloggers is to update regularly and as often as possible. However, there is no proof that lots of shallow articles (and you are unlikely to find enough time to write more in-depth pieces) attract more traffic and result in more sales. Quite the opposite – blogs that update only when they have something really valuable to say gain a better reputation. If you acquire a reputation of a blog that only publishes content that is top-notch, that is better than anything else on the Internet on this topic, you will both get new traffic and old visitors coming again.

Use video: both live and animation

Starting a Business Blog

Times when blog posts were primarily text, sometimes interspersed with small images, are long in the past. To attract the attention of potential audience, today blog should use everything from the rich inventory of multimedia attractions, including video, both live and animated.  Animation can be particularly helpful because it doesn’t require costly equipment to produce. These days you don’t even have to be an expert in this field – with the use of readily available tools and an excellent in-depth guide one can easily start making his own whiteboard animations.

Follow a Content Calendar

You may not publish every day or even a few times a week, but once you’ve established a routine, you should follow it religiously. If, for example, you’ve established a rule to publish every Monday, you should follow it without fail – your readers must know that every Monday they can expect a piece of high-quality content from you. Miss it once, and their loyalty to you will waver, miss it twice, and they will start forgetting you – there are so many other exciting and useful things on the Internet, after all.

Focus on Context, not Keywords

Even in 2018 many brands still try to do the same thing they did five and ten years ago: write blog posts with strategically chosen keywords, often neglecting the actual content or delaying a post because it isn’t ideal from SEO standpoint. As Google’s algorithms continue to shift we get closer and closer to a situation when keywords are becoming mostly irrelevant – the important thing today is to write naturally, to the point and with a clear purpose. Contextual keywords will find their way in your text naturally, without being forced, and your posts will look much more natural at that. Your goal is not to stuff your text with keywords – it is to increase the volume of contextual information on your website gradually.

Use blog to give value, not to promote yourself

Or, rather, if you do the former, the latter will come naturally. Remember that your audience visits your blog not to read about how awesome you, your company and your product are, but to solve their own problems, to get something that is valuable for them. In the case of a blog, it is information – high-quality, reliable, professional information related to your industry. Position yourself as an expert in your field, not as a person trying to sell something to its readers, and they will be grateful to you.

Establish categories and stick to them

Before you write your first post, you should have an obvious idea of the structure of your blog – namely, into what categories your posts are going to be divided. Initially, it is best to keep them somewhat limited – no more than five – and add new ones if the need arises. Decide beforehand what kinds of posts you are likely to write – this way you will be able to easily optimize and manage a few clearly defined categories, not a wiggly mass of posts that don’t belong to any particular subdivision.

See Also
Why You Should Try a Post Series For Your Blog

Write long-form posts

Long-form posts offer better value than the same number of words spread over a few smaller ones. First, select topics you want your blog and your business to be associated with. Then, prepare a long-form (over 2,000 words) post that covers this topic comprehensively and better than anything else that can be found on the Internet. Such articles are rare and, therefore, more valuable. They get more incoming high-quality links and social shares, making your blog rise in rankings.

Think about hiring an editor

Of course, your blog reflects your thoughts and yours only. However, it is also the face of your company on the Internet, and not all people are created equal when it comes to writing. Some of us cannot write a coherent piece of text to save our lives – and if writing isn’t your strong suit, hiring an editor can save you from many embarrassments. There is nothing more undermining for one’s status of an expert as grammar mistakes, incoherent writing and illogical connections between parts.

Business blogging has never been easy, but constantly changing SEO requirements and market tendencies make navigating this field even more daunting. We hope that these tips will help you stay abreast of your competition and achieve continuous success.

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