Content Mastery Guide

Editor and Ghostwriter

Blogging Encourages Longer Website Visits

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Woman-fascinated-by-blog.jpgWhen people are getting value from reading your blog posts, they will stick around longer to read more. The longer someone spends reading your blog, the more likely they will:

  • Associate your company with that topic (your area of expertise)
  • Remember the value you provided
  • Visit other pages on your website to learn more about your business and its products and services

That's why I encourage people to make a blog part of your business website - so that prospective customers are always only one click away from taking the next step to doing business with you.

Here are five blogging practices that will encourage longer website visits:

  1. Post consistently – How you do anything is how you do everything, and keeping up with your blogging shows people they can count on you. 
  2. Invite readers to explore – There are tools such as YARPP and LinkWithin that will automatically display links to your related articles at the bottom of each post.
  3. Craft compelling titles – When readers see those links, you need to quickly capture their attention by summing up what they will find if they click.
  4. Embed links within your posts – If you mention an idea that you've covered in a previous blog post, provide permalinks that lead back to your goldmine of archived content.  
  5. Provide clear and relevant topics - Display your blog post categories in the sidebar and use these to tell your readers exactly what topics you're knowledgeable about. 

People will also stay on your blog longer if your posts are relevant, readable, relatable and varied, and if there are interesting visuals to go along with your text.

Ultimately, when you provide valuable content and make it easy to find more of the same, you're creating goodwill with your blog. People will remember that when they need help later.

How Can My Business Blog Stand Out?

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Red-pencil-blogging-stands-out.jpg

A client recently asked, "How can we make sure our blog stands out from the rest?"

A great question, considering the vastness of the Internet and the number of websites and blogs from all over the world that may have similar information as yours. 

Here are some of the points I shared about making your business blog stand out:

  1. Be yourself. Trying to stand out is a little like trying to be a thought leader. They will both happen as a result of you being the best you can be. So as you achieve new innovations in your business, make sure those are reflected in your blog posts.
  2. Commit to quality. Ask for feedback about your writing and use the suggestions. Proofread your blog posts for errors. Give yourself time for all stages of the blog writing process.
  3. Narrow your expectations. You don't want or need to stand out to everyone, only to a very specific set of people who are your ideal customers, or who can connect you with your ideal customers.
  4. Get the word out. Make it easy for those right people to come back to your blog when you have new content. Post multiple times on social media sites so you catch them when they're looking.
  5. Stick with it. Just by blogging consistently, week after week, month after month, year after year, you will stand out from all of the businesses who've abandoned their ghost town blogs. 

Though it may seem intimidating to add your business to the busy blogosphere, if you keep these tips in mind you will find your own place – and the right customers will find you.

P.S. Client questions like this are one of the best sources for blog post topic ideas. If one client is asking, it's guaranteed that more clients and prospective clients are wondering the same thing. What's a question you heard last week? Turn that into your next blog post!

10 Steps to a Top 10 Blog Post

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10-steps-top-10-blog-postSitting down to write a blog post can be intimidating, especially if the whole idea of blogging is new to you. With so many important responsibilities competing for your attention, I know it’s easy to let this one slide.

Yet if you start blogging and then stop, it can damage your credibility. And if you’re not blogging at all, you could be missing out on attracting new customers and gaining more visibility for your business.

I often suggest that new or newly stuck business bloggers use a structure so they have somewhere to start, and readers and writers agree that the top 10 list is one of the best.

(If you’re using my weekly blogging method, a top 10 list makes a great “how to” article for your monthly feature.)

Ready to jump in? I’ve put together these simple steps for writing a top 10 article as a blog post:

  1. Define your audience. Think about the ONE ideal reader you are writing this article for. Imagine he or she is sitting across the desk from you. What are the types of problems you can solve for this person?
  2. Start with the title. What title might grab that person’s attention? Here are some examples to get you started:

    Top 10 Ways To
    Top 10 Reasons Why
    Top 10 Benefits Of
    Top 10 Signs That You
    Top 10 Mistakes
    Top 10 Symptoms Of
    Top 10 Clues That
    Top 10 Times To
    Top 10 Excuses For
    Top 10 Lessons About
    Top 10 Rules/Commandments Of
    Top 10 Myths About
    Top 10 Truths About
    Top 10 Tips For
    Top 10 Steps To
    Top 10 Uses For
    Top 10 Resources For

  3. Open the floodgates. Brainstorm and write freely without censoring yourself. See just how many ideas you can come up with.
  4. Select the best. Now pare down your notes and choose the 10 tips you think are strongest. Maybe there aren’t 10, and that’s okay, too. Top 5 and Top 7 lists also work well!
  5. Revise for consistency. Check that all list item titles are approximately the same length and style, and only contain one point. They should all be short sentences or headings, from one to five words long.
  6. Give more information. Expand each of your points into one or two sentences that give the reader more information. Again, try to be consistent with the length and format of each item.
  7. Introduce your article. Try to answer these two questions: What is the problem you are solving for the reader? What impact might this problem be having? This paragraph can also serve as your blog post’s excerpt for social media links and search engine results.
  8. Conclude your article. At the end of your article, sum up what you’ve delivered and point out again why this is an important issue.
  9. Edit and proofread your article. Step away from your writing for a few hours or even a few days, so that when you come back you can be more objective. Read the article out loud and listen for any run-on sentences, confusing ideas or missing words.
  10. Publish and promote. Post the blog post onto your site and immediately send the link to your social media contacts. Then follow up with additional social media posts during the week.

If you’re stuck in the blogging process, this 10-step method can jump-start your creativity. And if your 10 tips succeed in helping someone with an important problem, that could open the door to new readers, new referrals and new business.

Photo credit: extranoise via photopin cc

Business Blogging FAQs

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Questions

Here are my answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about blogging.

  1. How do I share other people’s content without plagiarizing?
  2. How long should my blog posts be?
  3. How do I get people to read my blog posts?
  4. Will blogging get my website to show up first on Google?
  5. How do people make money with blogging?
  6. How do I make the time to put blogging at the forefront of my To Do list?
  7. How can I feel like what I’m contributing is fresh and new?
  8. How will business blogging get attention from the media?
  9. How can I combine blogging and social networking?
  10. Are there any tricks that will improve my “open rates” when I email articles to my newsletter subscribers?

Was your question answered? If not, please visit the Content Mastery Guide Facebook page and post your question there.

Business Blogging for Beginners

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Baby-blogger

Are you wondering just how to get started with blogging for your business? Here are my suggestions.

(You can also click on the embedded links for more information about each topic.)

  1. Decide if blogging is a good strategy for YOUR business. Consider these top five benefits of blogging and the blogging for business formula. Find and review other blogs in your industry and notice what you like and don’t like. During this process, be sure to bookmark the ones you like best – these will provide inspiration and ideas for your own blog posts, as well as content to share with your social media networks.
  2. Make a commitment to blogging. That includes spending the time, energy and attention, and in some cases the money. Decide on a blogging schedule that works for you, and how you will make the time.
  3. Get a blog onto your website. It’s a lot of work to move a blog from one platform to another, especially once you’ve already written a mountain of content (believe me, I know!). So get this right from the start – when people are visiting your website to read your blog posts, they’ll be one step away from doing business with you. Upgrading your website to include a blog may take some time, but don’t let that stop you from blogging – get the posts ready and you’ll already have great content for when your blog goes live.
  4. Create a blogging plan. Include a mission statement (who will read your blog, what you will deliver to them, and how that will improve their lives or businesses), categories, topics and titles that will fulfill that mission, and an editorial calendar that will help you deliver that content in a balanced way. Remember, you don’t need to write a full-length feature article every week – use connective content to keep your blog fresh.
  5. Follow your blogging schedule! For example, you might devote time one day to research and blog planning, while the next day you can start drafting your ideas. Reserve your peak creative time for writing, and don’t forget to edit. Give yourself plenty of time to find a photo, format and publish the post, promote the post on social media and respond to any comments or conversation.
  6. Review your results regularly. Just be sure you’re tracking the most meaningful things for your business. When people comment on and share your blog posts, it helps increase your visibility and credibility, but don’t get too caught up with your popularity on social media. When certain posts get a lot of activity, write more blog posts about those topics, but at the end of it all, do you want a lot of comments, or a lot of calls from new customers?

P.S. Want to get the best results from your business blog? Be sure to avoid these ten business blogging mistakes.

P.S.S. For help with your business blogging, check out Content Mastery Guide’s blog writing service, blog editing, and content curation services.