bloging tips
Want to get your business blog in gear? Here are 10 (plus 1 bonus!) Battle-tested tips that you can start implementing today:
* Host on your own domain: One of the biggest mistakes made by business bloggers is hosting on a third-party domain, such as "typepad.com" or "blogspot.com". It can be a great way to get up and running with minimal fuss technical, but in the long run it will come back to bite you. Once you've built an audience, search engine value, and so on., You're tied to that domain. Get off on the right foot, and make sure you're using your own domain name from the beginning.
* Get a real design: Marketing is ultimately about differentiation, and you'll have a hard time standing out when your business blog looks just like a hundred others. Skip the free themes, and put some money toward hiring hiring a blog design company to do the job right. Never underestimate the effectiveness of powerful design.
* Integrate the blog with your business site: The classic business blogger story goes something like this - "Blogger gets website. Blogger writes and writes and writes. Blogger builds an audience. Blogger wonders why no new business is coming in.. Blogger had forgotten to tie the blog back to his business website. "Do not be that guy. Integrate the blog into your business site. Make sure readers know who's doing the blogging, and what else you can do for them.
* Keep it simple: It's exciting for your inner geek to play with widgets, plug-ins, add-ons, modifications, customizations, and so on., But your readers really do not care about that stuff. They came to read blog posts. The cleaner and more pure you can make your blog, the better. Cut clutter as much as you can.
* Define an "audience of one": Narrow your audience down to a specific niche (ideally one that meshes with your company's target market), and then create a persona profile that describes an individual from that niche. Give him or her a name. Find a headshot you can use. Figure out what he or she wants out of your website, and then write all your blog posts to that one imaginary person. This will keep you focused on your audience at all times, and your voice will give a more personal touch.
* Stay on topic: Related to the last point - once you've defined your audience, only post things that are relevant to your audience. (Do not dilute your blog with posts about your family, a great new movie, or how you are sorry for not posting more. Save that stuff for your personal site.)
* Provide content, not commentary: Rather than just "reblogging" links to other sites or blog posts with a quick how little of your own, focus instead on being the site that other people are talking about. Post original thoughts, views, tips and so on., Not just your rehashing of what other people have already done.
* Promote the business through your blog: Business blogging is a two-way deal. Instead of just using it as a lead-generation tool, make sure that your current customers know about the blog as well. It will help to build awareness, increase loyalty, and increase your ability to communicate on important topics.
* Answer the big questions: Business blogs are most useful in a time of change, and yet this is when many businesses panic and neglect their blog. When something is happening, many people will be hitting your blog for answers. Do not let them down. If your blog seems to be pretending nothing is going on, people will lose trust in it, even during calm times.
* Enable discussion: If you want to have a conversation, you've got to be willing to take a few thumps. Enable comments on your blog, and do not go around deleting everything that's unflattering. The only things that should really be moderated are blatantly offensive trolling and obvious spam.
* Do not obsess about traffic: It's fun to watch your traffic spike when you get on Digg, or get a link from a major blogger, but the reality is that these traffic spikes have little effect on the overall success of your business . Stay relevant to your core audience, work hard to get the word out, and then be happy with whatever you've got. Even one interested reader can totally change the course of your company.
* Host on your own domain: One of the biggest mistakes made by business bloggers is hosting on a third-party domain, such as "typepad.com" or "blogspot.com". It can be a great way to get up and running with minimal fuss technical, but in the long run it will come back to bite you. Once you've built an audience, search engine value, and so on., You're tied to that domain. Get off on the right foot, and make sure you're using your own domain name from the beginning.
* Get a real design: Marketing is ultimately about differentiation, and you'll have a hard time standing out when your business blog looks just like a hundred others. Skip the free themes, and put some money toward hiring hiring a blog design company to do the job right. Never underestimate the effectiveness of powerful design.
* Integrate the blog with your business site: The classic business blogger story goes something like this - "Blogger gets website. Blogger writes and writes and writes. Blogger builds an audience. Blogger wonders why no new business is coming in.. Blogger had forgotten to tie the blog back to his business website. "Do not be that guy. Integrate the blog into your business site. Make sure readers know who's doing the blogging, and what else you can do for them.
* Keep it simple: It's exciting for your inner geek to play with widgets, plug-ins, add-ons, modifications, customizations, and so on., But your readers really do not care about that stuff. They came to read blog posts. The cleaner and more pure you can make your blog, the better. Cut clutter as much as you can.
* Define an "audience of one": Narrow your audience down to a specific niche (ideally one that meshes with your company's target market), and then create a persona profile that describes an individual from that niche. Give him or her a name. Find a headshot you can use. Figure out what he or she wants out of your website, and then write all your blog posts to that one imaginary person. This will keep you focused on your audience at all times, and your voice will give a more personal touch.
* Stay on topic: Related to the last point - once you've defined your audience, only post things that are relevant to your audience. (Do not dilute your blog with posts about your family, a great new movie, or how you are sorry for not posting more. Save that stuff for your personal site.)
* Provide content, not commentary: Rather than just "reblogging" links to other sites or blog posts with a quick how little of your own, focus instead on being the site that other people are talking about. Post original thoughts, views, tips and so on., Not just your rehashing of what other people have already done.
* Promote the business through your blog: Business blogging is a two-way deal. Instead of just using it as a lead-generation tool, make sure that your current customers know about the blog as well. It will help to build awareness, increase loyalty, and increase your ability to communicate on important topics.
* Answer the big questions: Business blogs are most useful in a time of change, and yet this is when many businesses panic and neglect their blog. When something is happening, many people will be hitting your blog for answers. Do not let them down. If your blog seems to be pretending nothing is going on, people will lose trust in it, even during calm times.
* Enable discussion: If you want to have a conversation, you've got to be willing to take a few thumps. Enable comments on your blog, and do not go around deleting everything that's unflattering. The only things that should really be moderated are blatantly offensive trolling and obvious spam.
* Do not obsess about traffic: It's fun to watch your traffic spike when you get on Digg, or get a link from a major blogger, but the reality is that these traffic spikes have little effect on the overall success of your business . Stay relevant to your core audience, work hard to get the word out, and then be happy with whatever you've got. Even one interested reader can totally change the course of your company.
posted by news of france at
3:42 PM
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