Having a blog for your small business is one of the very best ways to have global reach, to build your credibility, your influence and to attract the right people to your business. There are a few best practices to consider when you start blogging.
What is blogging for business?
Blogging is the way that you actually create a powerful presence for your small business on the web. The blog is your home base. It is one of the least expensive ways to do this on the web because a blog can be free or low cost to setup.
The blog is where you have the opportunity to demonstrate your expertise and expose your personality. It gives your audience the chance to get to know you, like you and trust you.
Your blog is where you share valuable, useful content that can serve your potential customers. It’s where you share content and information that will make their lives better and that solves their problems.
Your blog is really a forum because blogs are interactive tools as people can comment on them. It’s where you can guide the public conversation and when it’s appropriate, you can take it offline into private email or client engagement.
10 Benefits your business blog will give you:
- Expand your small business’s Web presence
- Increase your search engine visibility
- Help potential customers discover you and your business
- Improve visitor loyalty
- Showcase your professional knowledge
- Enhance your credibility
- Develop your relationships with existing or potential clients
- Involve users in the discussions
- Get immediate, undiluted feedback
- Ask visitors to take action
Blogging best practices
It is good to follow some best practices to achieve the benefits you want. Your blog must speak to your potential clients in your authentic voice. Remember to let your personality shine through. Where else would you or your business have such a big audience that is eager to hear what you have to say?
Your blog should attract more internet traffic, especially when it is optimised for search engine traffic, meaning that your blog posts are keyword rich.
Your blog should let website visitors know what you have to offer. Always make it easy to navigate around your website. It is like arriving in a new town. If you don’t see street names and clearly marked sign posts, you already feel lost and not enthusiastic to explore the town!
Lastly, your blog should ask visitors to take action. This could mean you ask them to make a comment, listen to an audio, watch a short video or subscribe to your blog or ezine etc.
In today’s WEB 2.0 world, blogging has become an essential business tool for small businesses who want to be found online!