5 Best Practices to Profit From Business Blogs
June 2008 By Britt Brouse, Associate Editor, Inside Direct Mail
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Blogs are picking up speed as a channel for winning better organic search results, converting more prospects and developing a more humanized, authentic brand. “Blogs are still not quite here yet in the majority of businesses, but the adoption is becoming quick because people are starting to finally recognize that this gives you a way to humanize your business … and get back to people-to-people interactions,” says Chris Baggott, CEO and co-founder of Compendium Software, a blog software provider based in Indianapolis.
With minimal setup costs, the benefits of starting a blog are just as powerful for small and large companies—with small companies pulling more search traffic and large companies expanding their brands. Like with any new marketing initiative, it is necessary to have a good plan in place. The practices discussed below illustrate how to get started with and manage a highly effective company blog.
1. Prepare a Strategy
“It should be organized, you should have some kind of blog editor, and you should have multiple authors that you’ve chosen and vetted because they write well and have something interesting to say,” says Debbie Weil, Washington, D.C.-based corporate blogging consultant and author of “The Corporate Blogging Book.” Open up authorship to employees other than the CEO or public relations representative. “This is not just PR; it’s people that are really hands-on and involved with the product, service or company, and they’re telling readers something that they can’t get elsewhere,” Weil says.
For content strategy, Baggott advises using search keywords to brainstorm topics. “What are the terms that people are typing in that you want to win? Then blog on those topics … You tell real stories and humanize the company, but just make sure you use keywords in your blog post,” he says. Don’t write only about your product; develop posts with your demographic in mind. “If you are Clif Bar, you could blog about bicycle racing, hiking or outdoor activities—things that people who buy Clif Bars are interested in,” Weil says.
2. Focus on Search
Blogs are frequently updated and can beat your homepage in terms of winning organic search results. To organize your content, and provide focused results, Baggott advises looking at each blog entry as a search landing page. “Just like if we were doing PPC [pay-per-click] ads, we’d have a specific landing page for a keyword phrase. You know where [visitors] are coming from, so you provide a page that directly reflects what their search query was,” Baggott says.
With minimal setup costs, the benefits of starting a blog are just as powerful for small and large companies—with small companies pulling more search traffic and large companies expanding their brands. Like with any new marketing initiative, it is necessary to have a good plan in place. The practices discussed below illustrate how to get started with and manage a highly effective company blog.
1. Prepare a Strategy
“It should be organized, you should have some kind of blog editor, and you should have multiple authors that you’ve chosen and vetted because they write well and have something interesting to say,” says Debbie Weil, Washington, D.C.-based corporate blogging consultant and author of “The Corporate Blogging Book.” Open up authorship to employees other than the CEO or public relations representative. “This is not just PR; it’s people that are really hands-on and involved with the product, service or company, and they’re telling readers something that they can’t get elsewhere,” Weil says.
For content strategy, Baggott advises using search keywords to brainstorm topics. “What are the terms that people are typing in that you want to win? Then blog on those topics … You tell real stories and humanize the company, but just make sure you use keywords in your blog post,” he says. Don’t write only about your product; develop posts with your demographic in mind. “If you are Clif Bar, you could blog about bicycle racing, hiking or outdoor activities—things that people who buy Clif Bars are interested in,” Weil says.
2. Focus on Search
Blogs are frequently updated and can beat your homepage in terms of winning organic search results. To organize your content, and provide focused results, Baggott advises looking at each blog entry as a search landing page. “Just like if we were doing PPC [pay-per-click] ads, we’d have a specific landing page for a keyword phrase. You know where [visitors] are coming from, so you provide a page that directly reflects what their search query was,” Baggott says.
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