Blog is indeed a four-letter word. But, it doesn’t have to be a negative one. Your blog is the key to other four letter words like “sale,” “call,” and “link.”
By now we all know that blogging is critical to your online success. Why? Because the search engines and particularly Google are rewarding websites that provide:
1. Quality, relevant content
2. Dynamic sites with frequent input
3. Anything that keeps site visitors engaged
And, the easiest way to accomplish those ends is with a blog. However, too many companies set up blogs and then make one of two mistakes. They either post too often or too seldom. So, how often should you blog? As always, it depends upon your products or services.
If you have an international eCommerce site with thousands of products, you could easily blog about one of them each day without overwhelming those you are trying to attract. If you are a local plumber, maybe once a month is enough. The most important thing is to attend to it routinely and offer content with definitive benefit and interest.
The first step should be determining a reason for your blog and keep that with you during every post. It probably comes down to one of these three:
• Developing content for search engine optimization
• Building readership and interest, or
• eCommerce sales
After you determine your purpose and frequency, it is important to schedule time to do the actual writing and stick to it. Make a calendar entry with no ending date that is not likely to be interrupted. Of course, it is more likely that you will blog if you happen to enjoy writing and do it well. If both of those do not apply to you, by all means hire a capable writer. They are well worth the nominal costs.
One of the best ways to build your blogging prowess is to frequent other industry blogs. Since they will be closely connected to your business, you will often find the reading interesting and informative. After all, the true purpose of a blog is to provide readers with genuinely interesting subject matter. By all means, leave thoughtful comments that provide reader benefit and improve the conversation. This is a great way to increase the traffic to your blog as well.
Finally, the ultimate goal of your blog is to improve the performance of your website. As a result, always include a link to a pertinent landing page on your website, like this one to our PDFs. These are your calls to action. Let readers know about your newsletter and easy ways to sign up for it. Encourage them to “Like” you on Facebook or send a Tweet.
If you blog with consistency, with purpose and offer meaningful content, you will soon begin to see an increased readership and ultimately, leads and buyers for your products.