Kate Robertson
I’m a huge blog supporter. I’ve been blogging myself for years and it’s something I cherish as my side hustle. Blogging can be a great opportunity for businesses too. A business-focused blog can position you and/or your business as a thought leader, connect you with even more people (hello, potential clients or partners), grow your community and in turn grow your business.
A business blog may sound like an overwhelming thing to launch; to be honest, it is at first. But once you fall into a rhythm, you’ll wonder how you got by without it.
Here are six tips for managing a successful blog for your business:
Plan your content in advance.
You don’t always have to maintain a rigid content calendar, but some degree of a plan keeps a blog focused and organized. You don’t have to outline your posts to a T, but having an idea of topics, themes, etc. that you’d like to blog about over the next week, month or several months will help your blog stay on track.
Make your content easily digestible.
No one likes to read long paragraph after long paragraph. Do your readers a favor and keep paragraphs under five sentences. Headings and subheadings are also great for creating digestible content. Organizing posts into sections breaks content into easy to follow chunks. Visually emphasize main points by bolding or highlighting them so your readers’ eyes will be drawn to those as they skim your post.
Use visuals.
Visual elements add enormous value to your content. Charts or graphs enhance your talking points and provide data to back up your arguments. Even a couple of photos can do the trick if you don’t need a graph.They’re also great for breaking up those paragraphs and adding some variety to your post.
Make your content easily sharable.
If people like your content, they'll want to share it. Include some easy share buttons at the top or bottom of your post so readers can share it across their social media platforms.
Share your own content, both past and present.
Promote, promote, promote. Your content won’t reach as many people if you don’t share it. I share my newest blog posts up to eight times a day across three platforms, and then another few times over the following days. Aside from social media, e-newsletters and email signatures are great places to promote your latest content.
Be consistent in your posting.
Whether you’re posting three days a week, once a week or once every other week, maintaining a consistent posting schedule will keep readers engaged in your content. They’ll know when to expect new content based on your previous posting habits. Having a calendar helps with this tremendously. If you aren’t posting anything new, continue sharing previous posts to keep readers engaged.
. . .
Blogging can take your business to a whole new level. It’s easy to get started and if you keep these six tips in mind, it’ll quickly become an integral part of your business.
Kate spends her days at VaynerMedia and her spare time blogging at A Thought and a Half.
