You might already know that business blogging is an important part of any company website. Your blog can help you brand yourself as an expert in your field, can make your site easier to find on the major search engines and can keep people coming back for more. However, you have to take the best advantage of each blog post that you can, and that means that you should always include a few things. These are the 5 key elements that should always be found in every blog post that you write for your company website.
1. Links to Other Parts of Your Site
First of all, you should be linking to other parts of your site in every blog post. This helps with SEO and can also help encourage readers to check out everything that you have to offer. Link to other blog posts that explain or expand on points made in your blog post, and link to pages that show off your products or that explain about your services.
2. Social Media "Buttons"
Remember - You want more than just a handful of people to be reading your content! One great way to make your content go viral is to allow your readers to promote it for you, via social media. You can use plug-ins on your blog to make it a breeze for readers to share your posts with their followers on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or any other related social media site.
3. Personal Anecdotes
In an age in where people are communicating with their favorite brands through social media, watching their favorite celebrities live their lives on reality shows and listening to or watching their idols on podcasts or social media videos, they all have a common urge: they want to feel connected!
If you want your business blog posts to really work their magic, you have to ensure that your readers feel connected with you and your business. It's not for everyone but one way to do just that is to include personal anecdotes. Tell funny stories or tie in some part of your personal life - like telling a story about your spouse or your kids. You shouldn't get too personal and talk about controversial topics or anything that can make your business look less than professional, but adding a personal touch can make your business that much more personal for your readers.
4. Information That Can't Be Found Elsewhere
When doing your online research, you might have found that a lot of articles are very similar in content and just regurgitate all of the same information. Many sites use this type of content, but this isn't the right strategy for a business blog. Boring, unoriginal content isn't going to make your company blog stand out against your competition and isn't going to keep people coming back.
With that in mind you should strive to provide the best, most unique content that you can. Make sure every blog post features information that your readers won't be able to find all over the Internet. This will make your blog stand out against a sea of boring business blogs and will keep your readers constantly reading to see what you have to say.
Why not take it a step further! Look at what your competition or other companies in similiar spheres are writing about and, crucially, what they AREN'T writing about. Look to differentiate yourself, it's a great way to stand out in a crowded space.
5. An Attention-Grabbing Title
If your blog titles aren't interesting, then people won't click on them to read your posts. Therefore you should take the time to compose the perfect title for everything that you post on your blog. Include numbers if possible, and consider including an actionable title that will encourage your readers to read your post and then take action.
Executed correctly, your company's blog can work wonders for your online marketing and should be practiced by every organisation, regardless of size or industry. The benefits far outweigh the investment required and, coupled with a holistic Inbound Marketing strategy, it's proven to be one of the most effective routes to greater traffic, leads and customer levels versus more traditional approaches.
