How do you run a successful business blog?

Why should you consider creating a blog for your business? How do you make your business blog successful? And what is the difference between an SEO blog for business and a standard blog? There are plenty of questions surrounding blogging for business. The truth is, all the answers vary depending on the nature of your services and your clients. However, regardless of whether you’re a multinational fin-tech business or a national retailer writing a lifestyle blog, there are a few ‘dos and don’ts’ that apply to all business blogs, and we’re here to guide you through them…

DON’T doubt yourself and your business

(DO have faith in the benefits of a blog for your business!)

So many businesses miss out on the benefits of blogging simply because they think their product is too niche and therefore not blog-worthy. Of course, blogs on broader, more popular themes tend to attract more readers, but don’t see that as a reason to deny your own business a blog. Businesses of any size/industry can benefit from blogging as a way to add fresh content to their website. And Google loves fresh content!

Besides, a business with any customers is a business with potential blog readers. Likewise, a business blog with readers means a business with more potential customers! No matter what you sell, your business simply can’t afford to miss out on the positive impact of such a virtuous cycle. So, we suggest that you don’t doubt the ‘bloggability’ of your business, and that you do give it a go no matter what industry you’re in – you might just be pleasantly surprised!

DON’T be afraid of sales messages in your blog

(but DO take care to strike a balance…)

No matter what you’re writing about, the purpose of your articles should be to provide readers with interesting, useful content. Your business blog should always prioritise being helpful and/or entertaining. That being said, there’s no need to be afraid of sales messages. Your readers aren’t stupid – when visiting a business blog, they expect to come across the occasional soft sales message. Selling via your blog is all about striking a balance.

Of course, you should never be bombarding your visitors with promotional content. However, if a blog post you’re creating relates to a product or service you provide, you’re allowed to let readers know! For example, it just so happens that HDY Agency offers an Optimised Content Creation service for business blogs. If you want to know more, you can make an enquiry here, if you don’t, that’s fine – you can continue reading and still benefit from all of the helpful business blogging tips we have provided in this article. Do you see what we did there?

DO show off your expertise, DON’T use jargon.

Potential customers often peruse a business blog before making an enquiry to see whether you ‘know your stuff’ or not. Never be afraid to show off your expertise in your blog posts… After all, no one understands your field better than you! Believe it or not, readers want to see you position yourself as an expert and thought leader in your industry. This gives them confidence in their decision to choose you.

The one thing that tends to put people off though, is jargon. A few specialist terms where necessary are fine, but don’t confuse your blog readers with too many complicated words! The ability to translate your knowledge into simple, accessible terms is much more impressive than just stringing together technical babble.

DON’T avoid Search Engine Optimisation.

We know, we’ve just told you to avoid jargon in your business blog and here we are mentioning SEO in ours! The truth is, this is one technical term you just can’t avoid when business blogging. The simple difference between a standard blog and an SEO blog is that content is created with both human readers and search engines in mind. As complicated as it sounds, SEO simply means making your business blog as Google-friendly as possible.

By following basic SEO best practices, you can make a great different to the optimisation of your blog. This will mean that the content you put time into will keep on giving back. If you need help with this, we wrote a great blog post about SEO best practices that you might want to check out. Which brings us to our last ‘do’: do link back to other posts on your blog to make sure your readers can find all the information they need, giving them the chance to linger on your site for a little longer.