When blogging first burst onto the scenes in the late 90’s the new form of online publishing catered mainly to open-minded, creative individuals who didn’t shy away from giving this public form of journalism a try. As blogging started to really pick up speed, “A Blog” became a sort of mother ship that encompassed several diverse forms of online publishing. The online platform allowed people of all walks of life to log onto their computers and start typing. It didn’t take very long for people to discover that with a little bit of knowledge about a topic, they could single-handedly create a website where they could be writer, editor, photographer, and boss.
Along with the surge of new subcategories of blogs came the business blog. This unique style of blogging opened many doors for businesses worldwide, and created a ground where anyone related to a particular business could connect. A business blog can be an excellent way to effectively market a service, product, or corporation, but creating a successful business blog can be tricky. Recently I have come across a few would-be successful business blogs, had it not been for some critical mistakes. So, with my findings in hand, I thought I would list some of what I believe are crucial steps to creating a successful business blog.
Step One: Deciding Whether a Business Blog is Right For You
Often times people set out to start a business blog with all of the right intentions, but their plan quickly fails. Why does this happen so often? Well, the first step to creating a successful business blog, is knowing whether a business blog is right for you. In my time parading around the World Wide Web, I have come across many bloggers who wear multiple hats. While this is a great characteristic for bloggers who want to start a more general website, the business blogger must keep in mind that being Jack of all trades won’t help drive his business blog to success. A business blog is meant to be the online publishing ground for a specific business, and while I am not saying that an expert in several fields cannot start a blog, a business blog is meant to be just that: a blog for a business. So before you set out to start a business blog, take a moment and ask yourself, do I have multiple interests that I want to discuss on my blog, or do I have a business, or am an expert in a certain field, which I would like to promote and use as a platform for a new blog? If you answered “yes” to the latter, then you are already on the right track.
Step Two: Choose a Design That Reflects Your Business
When designing your business blog, one of the most important steps is to choose a web design that will best reflect your business. The first impression a user makes of your blog will not only stand true for your website, but for your business as well. Try to develop synergy between your business and your business blog. If your have a shop, think about using similar color schemes from your shop on your site. Remember to keep the design on your business blog sleek and clean, and when it comes to your posts, be sure to produce well-written, informative content. What differentiates a business blog from other blogs is the level of expertise that is expected from a business blog. So in order to create a successful business blog, be sure to maintain a high standard for posts, and articles you publish. By posting unique content that allows users to learn you will be pushing your business blog in the right direction. Don’t forget about relevant visual cues as well.
While you should aim to focus on content, and keep the pages of your business blog clean, relevant images will certainly help relay your message, and portray your business in a more creative light. Photographing any products you are trying to promote, or taking neat pics of your shop or work, can be a great way to save on money and time. However, if you aren’t great with a camera, or is your workplace isn’t really photo shoot appropriate let imonomy automatically serve free images that will relate to the content you publish. Ultimately, every business has their own way of going about styling, and creating their business blog, and I don’t think there is a right or wrong way. Just keep in mind that one of the steps to success is building a business blog that users want to click to, and stay on.
Step Three: Make The News Public
Once you’ve got your business blog off the ground, the next important step is to make that news public. I have come across many bloggers who blog under the assumption that once the website is created, the followers will come. That, however, is rarely the case. The creation of a new business blog, is not the same as the building of a new sky-rise. People don’t drive by regularly, curious as to what is going on. So, once you get your business blog in motion the next important step is spread the news. Use social media to your advantage and share your latest posts on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and any other platforms. If your company already has a mailing list, send your contacts an email with a link to your new site. Word travels only as fast as you spread it. So if you want to run a successful business blog, be sure to take charge of the campaign and let people know that there is a new website that they should check out. The whole process is often easier said than done, so for tips on how to make a single blog post go viral, check out our post on SiteProNews.
Step Four: Put the ‘Pro’ in Professional
One of the most important steps to ensuring the success of your business blog is building your website professionally. Once you have the design in mind, now it’s time to ensure that the infrastructure of your blog is built up to code. Make sure your blog is SEO friendly, while this may be a no brainer for some blogging professionals, this important step cannot be stressed enough. Ensure that there are no broken links, and that all of your images come with the necessary Alt attributions a feature which, by the way, imonomy takes care of automatically. While there is no magic number for the amount of words needed in every post, commit yourself to publishing posts that have enough meat in them for users to really sink their teeth into. Every once and awhile, publishing a short review piece, or editorial snippet is allowable, but generally speaking, your posts should all be full length and filled with enough information to really underline the topic. An essential part of this step is to stay in tune with new changes to search engine algorithms. Being the owner of a successful business blog means being on top of your game, and knowing when Google comes out with its latest rules and regulations for new publishing. If your website abides by the rules, there is no stopping the amount of success you can reach.
Step Five: Build a Solid Blog Team
In order to run a successful business blog, you need to have a solid blog team in the same way that your company needs dedicated employees to manage different aspects of the job. As the owner of a business blog, your plate is most certainly filled with a plethora of things to do. So, if you find yourself a bit in over your head, don’t shy away from the possibility of hiring new people to join your team. Add an official blog administrator to your roster, and get a group of qualified guest posters together. Having an established team working together on your business blog will ensure diversity and success. Similarly, having guest posters who already have an stable number of followers, means that your business blog may start to see some significant peaks in traffic when these guest posters publish on your pages. Keep a watchful eye on your blog’s comment section, and if you don’t have the time to manage it, be sure to have another member of your team make it their priority. Your business blog is your platform to effectively market your brand and connect with your customers, followers, and potential clients. In order to turn your business blog into a success story, it is imperative that you stay as connected as possible with your business community.
Aside from the steps to running a successful business blog, I have another tidbit of advice for any business bloggers, or business bloggers to-be. The key is to stay focused on your topic. Users, and followers of a business blog click onto the website in search of information on a specific topic. Once you have laid down the ground roots for your niche, try to stick to it. Not only will focusing on content allow you to generate a more devoted group of followers, it will also allow your posts to be keyword rich, which is another great way to boost SEO.
Running a successful business blog is hard work, but putting in the hours will certainly pay off in a big way if you play your cards right. Luckily, for anyone new to the game there are a lot of very well-established, successful business blogs that you can turn to for inspiration and guidance. A successful business blog can help generate an extraordinary amount of buzz. So, thinking about starting a business blog? Now is a better time than ever.
Co-written by Avishai Sam Bitton and Leytal Ross