Blog With Confidence: 14 Do’s And Don’ts For Your Blog Posts

The Benefits Of Blogging For Your Business

Blogging offers many benefits for your company. Here are ways your business can profit from an active blog:

• Boosted Visibility: Search engines love fresh, new content. Adding new posts on a consistent schedule will increase your odds of being found through an internet search.
• Reputation Of Industry Expertise: Knowledge is power. Show your audience and competitors you know what you’re talking about and have a vast amount of expertise in your industry.
• Increased Audience Reach: Blogging is a great way to reach people outside your local region nationally and internationally. Anyone who has access to a computer or mobile device can find you!
• Improved Credibility. Sharing information from other industry leaders and collaborating with them establishes your business as a strong force in your field.
• Amplified Brand Recognition: Publishing a blog post is quick and easy! This ability to share posts on multiple different channels increases your audience’s awareness of your brand.
• Boosted Website Traffic: People must visit your website to read your posts. These readers will be more likely to explore other areas of your site.

If your business isn’t blogging and building a social media presence, your potential customers will wonder why they don’t see you on the web and may go with your competitor instead.

Valuable Blogging Statistics

Blogging provides many benefits for your business.

Numbers don’t lie. These statistics back up how valuable blogging is for businesses and how you can benefit from it.

• Seventy-seven percent of internet users regularly read blog posts.
• Over fifteen percent of B2B buyers consume blog content.
• Sixty percent of people purchase a product after reading a blog post about it.
• Content marketing is 62 percent cheaper than traditional marketing.
• Sixty-one percent of Americans spend more time consuming blog content than emails.
• Having a blog increases your chances of ranking higher in search engine results by 434 percent.
• Once you publish 21-54 blog posts, your traffic can increase by 30 percent.
• Blogging influences six percent of e-commerce sales (12 percent for businesses that blog regularly).

It is amazing how effective blogging can be! The ability to share news, photos and opinions in one place is one of the greatest technological advances in the public relations industry to date. Surprisingly though, many businesses are still not taking advantage of the benefits and proven results.

8 Do’s Of Blogging

Make sure you follow these eight suggestions for blogging for business.

Now that you’ve seen the wealth of potential benefits, you’re probably ready to jump on the blogging train. As you start to put together your business’s blog there are some important tips you should know to get the greatest results. These eight suggestions will help you reach your blogging goals.

1. Use Catchy Headlines. Your headline is the first thing a reader sees and helps them determine whether your content is worth reading. There are numerous tools on the web to help you generate strong, attention-grabbing blog. CoSchedule has a terrific headline analyzer that scores your titles for SEO performance.
2. Post Frequently. The more frequently you post, the greater your results. Updating your blog at least once a week with new content is a great target, but posting more often is even better. Whatever you decide for your posting schedule, be consistent with it.
3. Use Keywords Strategically. Gone are the days of keyword stuffing. Stick to one or two specific keywords and use them strategically through your post. They should flow naturally in your writing and appear in your title, subheadings, first sentence and about every 100-150 words.
4. Stick With It. Blogging, like all other inbound marketing techniques, takes time – at least 12-18 months – to show results. Don’t give up if you do not see the results you want immediately. Your patience will be rewarded in the end.
5. Utilize Graphics. Graphics are a great way to catch the reader’s attention and bring them down the page to keep reading. Make sure they are relevant to your post and add to what you’re saying. Images with faces in them receive an extra SEO boost, too.
6. Write At Length. Typically, long-form blog posts of at least 2,200 words do better in search results than short-form posts. They provide more value and information for your audience and showcase your expertise. Short-form posts of 500-700 words also hold value and provide a quick resource for readers; however, the meat of your blogging efforts should focus on longer posts.
7. Edit: Editing is a vital part of successful blogging but is often overlooked. If this isn’t your strength, set aside your post for a few hours and come back with fresh eyes; it’s easier to see mistakes and typos after giving yourself a break. Before you publish your post, ask someone on your team to give it a once-over to make sure you didn’t miss anything obvious.
8. Share on social media. After you publish your blog posts, don’t forget to share them on all your social media platforms! This cross-channel communication is a great way to gain visibility, acquire new readers and reach potential new customers.

6 Don’ts Of Blogging

Pay attention to blogging “don’ts” when creating your posts.

Now that you know what you should do, it’s also important to understand what you need to avoid. When planning your blogging strategy and outlining your posts, these six mistakes can have a negative impact on your efforts.

1. Inconsistent Posting. Publishing blogs on a regular basis keeps readers engaged and returning for more. Have a set day of the month or week designated for publishing new blog posts. This will keep you on track, and your readers will be effectively engaged and know when they can expect your next post (plus it’s a big boost for SEO).
2. Irrelevant Topics. Readers stick with blogs they read on a regular basis because they can depend on the content to be reliably informative. While it’s important to have diverse content within your specific set of topics, straying too far might deter your audience from staying loyal readers.
3. Negative Posts. Positive content is more likely to be shared by readers than negative content. Blogs are a great way to convey your thoughts and opinions but keep them upbeat to increase your chance of a post getting shared on different channels.
4. Poor Design. Blogs that are outdated or unorganized drive away potential customers. A clean and simple design is better than a complicated setup that can hinder the audiences’ ability to find information.
5. Poor Platform Optimization. Your audience is just as mobile as you are, meaning they often attempt to read blogs on-the-go with a mobile device or smartphone. Ensure your blog is optimized for desktop and mobile viewing to reach everyone in your target audience.
6. Lack Of Focus. Your blog should not be treated as a diary for posting your random thoughts. Make sure that what you write is valuable to your audience and relevant to your brand. Keep your posts on topic and to the point rather than going off on tangents.

With time and effort, blogging will be one of the biggest game-changers for your company, at a fraction of the cost of other techniques. Avoid simple errors while putting into practice the effective tips we have offered to allow your blog to flourish and reach new heights.

Want to learn more about blogging? Contact us today for a complimentary consultation with our CEO, Erika Taylor Montgomery. She’d be happy to share more about how this tactic, and other content marketing strategies, can benefit your business!

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