How to create a successful company blog
We believe having a blog offers the perfect opportunity to gain visibility for your business, present your professional face to the world and to interact with your current and prospective customers (hi!).
Many of our favourite interior brands have fantastic blogs that we are always keen to catch up on (check out Red Candy’s Big Red Blog for inspiration on how to decorate with red and Ellie Ellie’s blog is full of ideas for styling up their jewellery as well as recipes and reviews.)
As it can be updated as often as you like, your blog also helps keep your web presence fresh – we constantly find ourselves coming up with new blog post ideas that we’re eager to share with the world – often far too many to actually get posted up here in time!
So, even if most of your site looks much the same all year round, we believe your blog can provide a dynamic stream of content that can help pull-in new visitors (through search) and engage current customers, and ultimately give them a reason to spend longer on your site, which can only be a good thing.
It’s good to think of your blog as a blank whiteboard on which you can paint a picture of your company and brand – it’s to let your personality shine through!
Here’s how to use your company blog to the greatest advantage:
1) Plan your content
A blog’s not just for Christmas! If you decide to assist your company in stepping into the blogosphere, it is crucial to keep content fresh and new. It’s not a great reflection on the company if the last post is dated 6 months ago! Plan out how many posts you’ll do per week, and decide what general subjects you’ll tackle. Of course, it’s always good to swap posts to something topical at the time.
2) Top topics to remember
Not everyone is a natural born wordsmith, but with company blogs the key is to capitalise on the interest in your industry. If inspiration isn’t forthcoming, the following topics should form the framework of your blog.
Promote new products and services
Offer tips and advice to your readers (remember, you are the expert in your field!)
Blow your own trumpet – your blog is the place to shout about current projects or launches
Big yourself up – if you’ve been commended for customer service tactfully let it be known on your blog
Address customer questions
Tell the world about any awards/nominations your company may have won
Publicise job openings
3) Sow Those Keywords
Your blog is exactly that, yours. It’s the only piece of editorial in which you can control the wording, so take advantage of this and optimise the content with keywords. It’s a good idea to research keywords in your industry (Google Insights is a handy tool for finding good keywords) and scatter them throughout your content.
4) Submit to Google
Clever (read: non-spammy) keywording will earn you clicks, but only if you’ve submitted your blog to relevant search engines. Submit your blog’s URL to Google, Bing, Yahoo! and all the main search engines and let interested customers find you!
5) Spread the Love
It can be lonely out there in the blogosphere, so linking to other blogs that you found useful or interesting is a good way to make friends. If the content is relevant to your industry you may even earn a linkback. If not, it’s always worthwhile commenting on a post if you have an interest in the subject you’re likely to entice readers to check out your blog as a result.
6) Be the Perfect Guest
Once you’ve made a few friends it may be a possibility to offer your services as a guest poster on a different blog. It’s best to find a popular and respected blog in your industry. ‘Top tips’ or perspectives make good guest post content. Make sure to include a linkback to your blog and website – and offer the blog owner a chance for reciprocal post.
7) Integrate with Other Social Media Channels
Post once, replicate many times. It’s important not to think of your blog as a single entity but as one part of your social media strategy. If a tree falls in a forest with no-one around to hear it, does it make a sound? Once you publish a new post you need to publicise using all of your social media channels, but especially Twitter and Facebook. Every publicity post opens up your blog and your company to a world of new customers!
How useful did you find these pointers? Are there any more that you think we’ve left out? Let us know by tweeting @zero2onepr. We’d love to hear what you think!