Every business website should have a blog. Don't agree? Well, let's just say that every business looking to generate website traffic should have one.
Business blogging is a crucial element in an effective inbound marketing campaign. Having a blog for your business can be a great way to generate leads and communicate your brand's story. But just posting an occasional article now and again is not all that effective.
Your business blog needs frequency and consistency, among other things.
Part of the success of inbound marketing is the effective use of business blogging. While a blog by itself is not your entire marketing strategy, it is a fundamental part.
While there are differing schools of thought on how often you should post on your blog, it is generally agreed that a minimum of two posts per month are needed. Once a week is better. Frequency is important and regularity, or consistency, is as well.
Your regular readers will come to expect new great content from you on a regular basis. New visitors will scan your past posts to look for other interesting topics. If they see that posts are random and far and few between, it gives a strong impression that your content is not a priority for you.
And the search engines take note, as well.
Business Blogging 101
We've established, then, that two of the fundamental requirements of successful business blogging is consistency and frequency. This means that if you publish a blog for your company you must commit to a schedule and stick to it.
Both your audience and the search engines will appreciate it.
Again, how often you choose to publish blog posts is ultimately up to you. Some businesses feel that one post per week is sufficient. Others have determined that two or three times each week is more effective for their content marketing objectives. More content will, eventually, generate more SEO 'traction' and more visitor traffic.
But consistency and frequency alone does not guarantee you will create a successful business blog.
Successful blogging for business also relies on creating successful blog posts! This means posts that attract, engage, and inform your audience. Don't panic - we're not talking about Pulitzer Prize writing here - but simply good content that will draw in your audience and that will answer their question or solve their problem.
Four Basic Things Your Blog Posts Need
So, what's required for a successful blog post?
In addition to being consistent and frequent, having these four key ingredients will help ensure that you are hitting the mark with your blogging:
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A Great Business Blog Fuels a Great Inbound Marketing Strategy
But it's not the only thing your strategy needs.
A great blog is an essential and critical component of a successful inbound marketing strategy, but it must be combined with other, equally critical components. For example, creating and publishing periodic eBooks in the form of guides, tip sheets, or checklists can be combined with an email campaign to follow up with the leads your blog has generated.
Incorporating video and infographics into your blog can be a powerful and engaging addition to your inbound marketing mix of tactics. Ultimately, while a great blog can serve as the foundation of your overall strategy, having a multi-pronged strategy will help you make a real impact.
Expanding your reach with effective content distribution can boost your reach and your impact when done well. Leveraging social media platforms, other bloggers in your industry, online publications, and various content distribution sites such as Outbrain and others. These last ones are typically paid sites which is not looked upon quite as favorably by Google, by the way.
And it is always a good tactic to look for help in improving your business blogging efforts.
Want Expert Help For Your Business Blog?
Here is an additional tip for creating and publishing an effective business blog: get outside expert help. Digital marketing agencies, such as BroadVision Marketing, can offer expertise and tools that the typical business owner or marketing manager may not have.
It often helps to have an professional marketer's perspective to assess your content marketing strategy. Acquiring the insights and assessment of a third-party professional can be an investment that will bring a quantifiable return.
BroadVision Marketing offers all this and more. Get your Free Complimentary Inbound Marketing Session to help you make an informed decision or call BroadVision Marketing at 707-799-1238.
