Your business blog is the place where you get to shine. This is the place to comment on new trends, popular misconceptions and generally, anything that you think your target audience may find interesting or helpful. Maintaining a blog that continually delivers high-quality information to the public can be one of the most powerful lead generators in your arsenal.
Make It Easy to Scan
Nothing ruins a blog faster than an unorganized page layout. If your page has ads, and links and animated characters bouncing around it, the sensory overload may be too much for your readers to handle. A simple, professional webpage devoid of extraneous information is what you need to go for. In general, the best organization method is to host each individual blog post on its own page and run a front blog page that lists the title of the blog and the first paragraph or so as a teaser. The easier it is for your readers to engage with your content, the better chance they will stick around to read it.
Have a Clear Focus
The content you place in your blog is of the utmost importance. From the moment you decide on the subject of your post, every line should support that focus. You don’t have to be stodgy, in fact, blog posts with a bit of personality help your readers see your company as more than a cold machine. Your purpose in every blog post is to give something of importance to your readers – not to sell them your product. The more free information you give, the better your standing in the community will be. Write about the latest trends, the newest products, industry standards and your take on them and most of all give solid advice to your readers. Your blog will become a destination for the latest and most important news in your industry.
Provide Actionable Information
Your blog should be filled with information that your readers can actually use. Actionable information that makes the lives of your readers better is the kind of item that’s shared on social networks. This is very important. If your blog post gets shared, your readership will grow, and it will open up your brand and products to an entirely new audience. This, in turn, results in more leads. It also has a secondary effect, one that is almost as important in lead generation as the first. Links from social network sites like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+ and LinkedIn are some of the most important SEO factors in the Google algorithm. The more often your posts get shared by the general public, the higher Google believes your authority to be. A higher authority ranking in the algorithm will place your blog and your domain higher in search engine returns. Since the majority of purchasing decisions are now made after consulting the web, being in the top search returns means you will be one of the first sites to influence a buying decision.
Write Often
The more content you have on your blog, the better. With every new piece of content that you put up your authority grows. As your blog becomes a repository for useful information, it makes your site rank higher in the Google returns. In addition, new posts on the web are artificially given a high rank in their first few days of existence to help them compete against existing pages. By publishing often, you are always assured of having at least one high-ranking page.
Takeaways
- Make your blog as easy to read as possible.
- Give your readers a reason to come back with actionable advice.
- Write as often as you can to keep your site fresh and relevant.