Different from your website

Your website is an overview of what you do and offer. It’s a source for facts and details, case studies, testimonials, team profiles and product photos. So if you have a good website, why blog?

Your blog is conversation and education. A blog adds a personal perspective to your website. It lets you demonstrate your expertise, offer opinions and answer frequently asked questions. It’s one of best ways to build your online brand with fresh and relevant content. If you missed our last eblast, download our two-page 12 Tactics for Better Blogging.

You’re in control

Unlike social media, where the rules keep changing, your blog is your opinions, your perspective and your content. You can manage the conversation, own the copy and enhance how you will be found, on your own terms.

Google scans for valuable content to return to their searchers. Add more answers around your topic, category and industry and Google will send more visitors to your posts.

Help more people find your blog

Use our blogging checklist each time you write. When you’ve finished a new blog post, spread the word.

• Use your social media channels for a brief intro and link to the post. Offer a good reason to click, the “why should I care?”
• On Twitter, schedule the tweet multiple times. The lifespan of a tweet is very short, so you’ll reach more people when you duplicate it over a few weeks.
• Use the photo from your post to increase visibility in all your social channels.
• On LinkedIn, link to your post on your company page and personal feed. Use it to frame a question in appropriate groups.
• Set up your Google authorship profile, so your name and photo show up in search results.

Please don’t make me squint!

When they find you, keep them reading. People will click away if your blog content is hard to read.

• Don’t use reverse type (white on black) or other low contrast options.
• No tiny type. Just ask a Boomer with bifocals, is the type too small? Increase your body font size to at least 16 pixels and all your readers will be happier.
• Control your line length. Think about newspapers and magazines—they use columns because shorter line lengths are easier to read. If your text is the full width of your page, the line length is too long.

It’s worth the time and effort

I have seen our blog’s traffic increase exponentially since I’ve been blogging with these tips in mind. That has driven more traffic to our website and more leads into our sales funnel. It works!

For a quick reference to use each time you write a new post, download our one-page blogging checklist.

If you have questions about setting up, organizing and writing a blog, just click reply. Happy blogging!