Blogging – Getting it Right
What you have to do
A blog when it is done properly, is a very powerful tool to show off your expertise. It also keeps your website fresh with customers coming back to read your new blogs on a regular basis. A blog is considered one of the most effective tools for search engine optimisation (SEO). However, when a blog is not done properly it can have the opposite effect and actually be detrimental to your business – so it’s important to get it right.
The following are some tips on how to get your blogging right:
1. Post on a regular basis
Most people have come across a website where there has been a rush of blog topics written – usually when the website has been developed. After this initial rush, no blog topics have been written for months or even years. This gives a bad first impression to visitors to the website – it may even imply that the business is no longer operating.
The key to blogging is consistency. It is generally recommended that you write blogs every four to six weeks. Depending on the nature of the business; eg an online fashion retailer; more frequent blogs may be appropriate. However, do not blog for the sake of it. You need to keep the content of the blog relevant to your audience – so that you keep then engaged.
2. Leverage social media
If your business uses social media such as Google+, Twitter and Facebook, post your blogs to these sites. By posting to these sites you are helping to keep them up to date as well as creating links back to your website.
3. Content is king
It won’t take long for an audience to disengage if your blogs are not interesting or relevant to your business. Work our who your target audience is and write to that audience. You also need to remember that a blog should be informative and not just a tool to sell your services. For example, if you are a plant nursery, some of your blogs should be on gardening tips, rather than just on the different plants you sell.
It can be difficult to come up with blog topics on a regular basis. The best way it come up with topics is to plan 6 months of topics at a time. This can be done by doing a bit of research to find out what the hot topics are in your industry.
4. Emailing blogs to your customers
You will have a much greater reach if you email your blog to your customers rather than just posting it onto your website. Some businesses even offer vouchers or discounts to customers if they sign up to their blog. Always make sure that when you email your blog that it contains a link back to your website (preferably directly back to the section that is relevant to the blog itself)
5. Catchy titles
Sometimes the hardest part of writing a blog is coming up with a title that is interesting and wil make people want to read the blog. However, there is no point in writing a blog that no one will read because you have a title that does not make the topic sound interesting.
6. Make your blog easy to read
Don’t write your blog in long paragraphs. It makes it hard to engage your audience quickly. Split your blog up into small paragraphs and have numbered sections (like this blog) to break up each sub topic up. By breaking up your content, your audience can skip to the sections that interest them the most. The ideal length of a blog is between 400 and 1,000 words. You should also include a photo to go with your blog as this also helps to break up the writing into sections. There are a lot of stock photo websites where you can buy photos from. One of them is www.dreamstime.com.
7. Link to relevant websites
If there is an external website that you think may be of interest to your readers you should include a link to it. For example, if you are an accounting firm and you are writing a blog on taxation, you should consider adding a link to the Australian Tax Office.
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Dynamic Websites specialise in small business web design. We are based in the Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn and provide services throughout Australia. We understand what it takes to get a small business online at an affordable price and with the minimum of fuss. Along with designing websites for small business, tradies and NDIS service providers we provide online marketing services. Our online marketing for small business extends to Google Ads, Google My Business, Microsoft Advertising, search engine optimisation (SEO), content writing and, blog writing.
