5 essential blogging tips for any business

By Amy @BubbleJobs

It’s no secret that ‘Content is King’ now and forever more when it comes to high rankings and Google love and a blog is one of the easiest, most legitimate ways of getting unique, quality content on to your website.

Although blogging is a relatively easy exercise for businesses and individuals alike, even some of the most tech-savvy businesses shy away from blogging because; a. they don’t know how to do it, and b. they don’t want to do it. That’s a big mistake – blogging is one of the easiest ways to add new content to your site, drive traffic and make Google stand up and take notice of your site once and for all.

Like the idea of a business blog but don’t know where to start? Check out our top 5 blogging tips for any business.

1. Appeal to your audience: When it comes to setting the tone and subject for each of your blog posts you need to think about what’s going to appeal to your customers/readers. If the content on your main site is written in a fairly relaxed, informal style (a la Bubble), it’s a good idea to carry this style over to your blog. A blog is a great place to show your customers and Google just how much you know about your industry – the idea being that Google will see you as an authority in your industry and your customers will be more inclined to buy from you as a result.

2. Be useful: Knowing where to start is often the first stumbling block when it comes to blogging but it really shouldn’t be. The trick to a great blog is unique, informative content that your customers/readers actually want to read. Think about what you’d like to see from a blog in your industry and go from there. The great thing about blogging is there are no hard and fast rules about what you can and can’t post (within reason!). Industry news, opinion, latest product launches, office news – you name it, it can all go on your blog if you think it’s relevant (and appropriate) for your readers.

3. Make sure it’s unique: Whether you’re blogging about your latest industry news or your latest products, it’s important to make sure your post is unique in every aspect. OK, so when it comes to industry news it’s highly unlikely that you’re going to have an ‘exclusive’ story that no-one else has covered in your industry – covering the same story is OK but all-out duplicate content is a massive faux pas. Posting duplicate content on your blog (aka nicking it from another site) might feel like a quick win now but believe me, it won’t go unnoticed! In addition to showing your customers you’re too lazy to write your own content, you’re also showing Google that the content on your site isn’t 100% unique - and we all know (apart from spam links) there’s not much Google hates more than duplicate content.

4. Get into a regular rhythm: When you start blogging it’s important to get into a regular rhythm as quickly as possible. In a perfect world, you’d be able to find the time to blog every day (especially with a brand new website) but in the real world, that’s all but impossible for anyone that’s got their hands full trying to run a busy business. Whether you decide to blog every other day or just a few times a week, it’s important to get into a rhythm and stick to it – not only will this help your dedicated readers to know when to come back for your latest post, but it’ll also help Google to know when to come back and crawl your site.

5. Don’t give up: When it comes to blogging it can be extremely tempting to just pack it all in after a few weeks – after all it’s taking up hours you don’t have and the only comments you’re receiving consist of gibberish spam with a URL thrown in for good measure right? Wrong! Just because you’re not seeing any immediate ‘buy-in’ to your blog, it doesn’t mean that it’s not working! You don’t have to get lots of comments and feedback to tell you you’re getting visitors to your blog. Still not convinced in the power of blogging?Just remember that every time you’re adding a blog to your site, you’re increasing the size and appeal of your site, not just to your customers but to those clever little search engines too!

Tags: blogging guide, business blogging tips, how to blog effectively, online content strategy, online content tips

About the Author

Amy Edwards Amy Edwards is the SEO Manager for Bubble Jobs. With a strong background in online content and copywriting, Amy is responsible all the on-site and off-site SEO of Bubble Jobs and the Bubble Jobs blog. You can follow her on Twitter here or add her to your circles on Google+ here.