Do You Need a Business Blog?

Not sure about you, but this is what used to come to mind when I heard the word blog:

Definition: A page you find on Pinterest that forces you to endlessly scroll through an obnoxiously long anecdote of a stranger’s life moments when all you want is the damn quiche recipe.

Am I the only one who has thought this? 😆

In all seriousness, a blog (if done correctly) can be an enormously valuable tool to enhance the SEO on your site and drive more traffic to your small business.

Why Have a Business Blog?

• • It gives you more opportunity to fill your website with those goldmine keywords you want your brand to get recognized for.
  • If done regularly, it shows search engines that your site is active and consistently producing new content.
  • It allows you to let your brand personality shine and attract like-minded audience members who appreciate the value of your content. And like-minded audiences can turn into like-minded paying clients!

How to Get Started with Your Business Blog:

Not everyone is a born writer. To many of us, there’s something about looking at a blank screen and suddenly getting panicked and overwhelmed about the prospect of filling it with words. And not just any words – words that are strategically-placed magnets to pull the right people in.

Auuughhh! The Pressure!

It brings back memories of school papers, except now there are millions of virtual readers waiting to critique your work.

Get past that writer’s block and performance anxiety by following these handy tips. Those creative juices will start flowing in no time!

Step 1:
Brainstorm on topics that you think would be valuable for your target audience and brand voice. If you’re feeling stuck, try a tool like Hubspot’s Blog Ideas Generator to get some inspiration.

Step 2:
Once you have a list (aim for 3-5 to start with), take time to write down any ideas, statements, or other tidbits you can think of that relate to each one. This isn’t the time to start writing in paragraphs. You just want to start gathering the concepts.

Step 3:
Give yourself some time to let the ideas circulate through your brain. If you’re anything like me, inspiration might hit you in random order and when you least expect it – while you’re on a walk, working on something else, or laying awake in bed at 3AM…have a plan for recording those thoughts as soon as thy hit so you can start developing the concept further!

Step 4:
After you get through the initial hump, the words might really start to come out more freely. But the work doesn’t stop there! Once you have a good foundation of content, make sure you are writing it around the keyword phrases that you want your small business to be associated with in searches. And. Make. It. Sound. Natural! No keyword stuffing here. It needs to flow so the audience can appreciate the content without realizing what’s hitting them.

How to Be Strategic with your Business Blog:

So you’ve gotten it down in writing and you’re ready to post. How do you make sure blogging actually starts working for your business?

• Make it eye-catching. Use images, graphics, bullets, & other elements throughout the blog to help break up the information and keep readers’ attention. It gets tiring to stare at too many words at one time. Your audience is more likely to keep reading if you provide visual cues that help illustrate your points and enhance the flow.
• Be consistent. You can’t just throw a few blogs on your site and then forget about it. The key is to post on a schedule that builds brand awareness and shows current relevance to search engine algorithms. This doesn’t mean you need to be posting every week, but shoot for at least 1-2 high quality blogs per month.
• Size matters! You need a minimum of 300 words for the search engine robots to start noticing your content, but your best chance of ranking is with posts of 1000+ words. Fill up as much space as you can but….
• Stay on topic and provide value! Don’t just write for the sake of hitting the word quotas. And please, for the love of God, if you’re promoting your post for a specific product or solution, don’t ramble up front about how your child made a cake and dropped it on the cat unless it actually relates to your value-driven point. Like I said before, just give me the damn quiche recipe!
• Include a final call-to-action. This doesn’t need to be a sales pitch for every post. It might be linking to another page on your site to download a freebie or inviting them to subscribe to new blog post notifications. The key is to keep them thinking about you and coming back for more!
• Remember that practice makes perfect. Yes, it’s gonna feel awkward and clunky at first. But keep at it, and it really will get easier with time!

So What’s Holding You Back?