Hi guys!!!!!! welcome back to my blog. Today we are talking about business blogging but before I dive into that, here’s a little story:
About two years ago, a friend of mine decided to start a business. I was excited to see him trying to make things work for himself. In the course, I realized that after going through the necessary process created a blog and started sharing information about his product through the blog and by word of mouth. Long story cut short, after a while most of the people who became his most loyal customers were those who read his blog posts.
From this we realize how important it is to consider business. According to a research report conducted in 2018, has revealed that 10,110,000 Ghanaians are using the internet. This figure represents 35% of the total 29,150,000 population. That being said, today we’ll be talking about what a business blog is, it’s benefits and how to create a successful business blog. Emphasis on successful because it is not enough to only create a blog but one that goes viral too. Let’s go!
What is a business blog?
Before
we dive into what a business blogging is all about, blogging involves creating
content about a particular subject by writing and sharing. A person who does
this is called a blogger.
So,
business blogging or b-blog is a blog where information about your company or product is talked about and posted on the Internet for everyone to read. This makes it easy for people
who visit your site or social media pages to find the information they need without stress. To make
this possible, a company usually hires a blogger who posts information about
the company in its voice. From the stats above, its only in the best interest
of a company to consider this strategy because like all good things, it comes
with its benefits. Let’s take a look at a few.
- · Thought Leader: Growing
up, I always wanted to know random things just to be able to provide information
for anyone who wanted it. As a result of that, anytime a question about general
things was asked, everyone expected me to answer because they knew I had
something to say about it. That’s the same for business blogging because as you
build up authority in your niche the more you are regarded as a thought leader
in your industry.
- · Visibility: When
you start business blogging, you literally come out of your shell and let your
audience know what you are about as a company. It actually puts you in their minds
when they are in need of information relating to what you offer. The more
information you put on your site, you increase the optimizing of your site
making your site trustworthy.
- · Lead Generation: According
Wikipedia, lead generation is the initiation of consumer interest or inquiry
into products or services of a business. With the help of business blogging,
you can easily get clients because your content gives them exactly what they
need. In plain words, your content should make your audience want to do
business with you.
- ·
Website
Traffic: Research shows that the more information a site provides,
the more traffic it gets. Think of blogging as fishing. The more hooks you have
in the water, the more fishes you catch. Imagine giving vital information about
a particular subject a lot of people can barely find. The moment they chance
upon your site, you will have so many people visiting your site just because
you have something no one does. And there’s even better news: The more traffic
you generate, the more leads you get which means more sales.
- · Credibility and Trust: Trust
for your product by your clients is one of the biggest blessings you can ever
get. This trust however, is earned by being a transparent seller. Business
blogging will gain you trust from your clients. Aside trust, business blogging
makes your site credible. In marketing, it’s called brand positioning where
your product is on the minds of your clients. Thus, you come first to their
minds before they think of anything else.
- · Provide Value: When
you start a business blog, you give your audiences value for your product. Some
products have importance and others have value so business blogging will set
you apart from your competitors.
Now that we know what we stand to gain
with business blog, let me give up a heads up on what to do to get more
traffic, more leads and more money while at it.
- · Quality Over Quantity: When I
started blogging, I was concerned with hitting at least 3,000 words because I
wanted about three pages but I read later and realized I was just saying
unnecessary things and saying the same things over and over again. In order to
avoid leading your audiences into boredom, your blog post should be between
1,500 to 2,000 words. When your audience realizes that your content is short and
straight forward, it makes it easy for them to understand the message you’re
trying to put across.
- · Know and Have Your Audience in Mind:
Before you start blogging, you should understand that you are talking to people
through text. This means creating a buyer persona to have an idea about your
target audience. They may never meet you
but write the way you talk. In Journalism, this concept is explained with an
acronym called K.I.S.S which means Keep IT Short and Simple. It’s not necessary
to use huge words that would require your audience to have a dictionary with
them anytime they are reading your posts just because you are using “big
words”. When you blog, it should be conversational. Your audience should feel
like they are having a face-to-face chat with you.
- · Good Headline: Remember
the popular saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover”? That’s what the headline
or topic of your blog post can determine. A reader can just see your headline
and keep scrolling because it’s not straight to the point and doesn’t look like
it will give them the information they need. When deciding the kind of headline
to use, think of your reader. Is he a beginner or an expert? Asking yourself
questions like these will help you know what to use. For example, for
beginners, headlines that start with “how to” will definitely having newbies in
the industry reading your post.
- · Include images and links:
Growing up, it wasn’t fun reading books that didn’t have pictures. It’s
important to give your audience a visual depiction of what they’re reading by
giving them pictures, info graphics, stats and links to make their reading easy
and fun. With regards to links, it’s important to refer them to a site or a
previous post you have written so they can read further. It’s like providing
references in a text book for students to understand the text better.
- · Have a content calendar: Planning
is everything. Richard Crushing said “Always
plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.” As a blogger, you should also plan when you will post what. Let’s
assume that you are in the fashion industry. You could choose to post about
clothing this month the shoes the next then bags. This makes it easy to know
what you are about.
- · Promote and Share: As
mentioned in the previous point, you should share your content for your
audience to be aware that you are interested in making everyone see your
content. If you don't share your content, you cannot generate traffic which
means no leads then no sales.
Today,
we talked about business blogging. Business blogging is a great way to improve
your reach online and build stronger relationships with your customers. It
comes with so many benefits like making you a thought leader in your industry, gaining
your product and service credibility and trust, giving your site website traffic,
generating leads for you which means more sales, giving you visibility, and
makes you provide value.
To
create a successful blog, pick quality over quantity, know your audience and
write for him/her, good headline, add images, include links, have a content
calendar, keyword research, blog consistently, promote and share
Leave
a comment, share on social media or talk about your experience with business
blogging.
Great work. I enjoyed and learnt so much
ReplyDeleteThank you!
ReplyDelete