Blogging for Business – Top 4 Best Practices

Statistics reveal that business that blog are reaping the benefits in terms of increased ROI, increased inbound links, website traffic and lead generation.

That being said, not all of them are getting it right. That’s why we’ve put together the top 4 blogging best practices that will ensure each and every one of your company’s articles is sure to be a success.

Why blog?

Blogs are not only a method to convey thoughts, ideas, opinions and news on certain topical spaces; they also serve a functional purpose, especially from an SEO and content marketing perspective.

The statistics are overwhelming, for example, businesses who blog generally receive 97% more inbound links than those who don’t and 37% of marketers say blogs are most valuable type of content marketing. Have a look at Active Blogs for a whole load more current blog stats.

Actively blogging for your business not only supports your content marketing strategy but also serves the following functions:

• Creates original content collateral – adds to your content marketing mix
• SEO purposes
• Generates new and returning visitors to the website
• Increases sales, ROI and leads
• Supports brand positioning and authority
• As a tool to increase engagement and shareability

Next up, comes the best practices.

1. Best practice 1 – Be Linkable

Always use links in your blog. Use a mix of outbound and inbound links, linking to other related websites and sources, as well as linking to other pages and articles within your own website.

Don’t forget to:

• Use strong, relevant keywords in your anchor text
• Interact with other blogs and link back to your own

This is paramount for good SEO and quality links will help to increase search engine results.

2. Best Practice 2 – Be Scannable

Breaking your text up into easy-to-read and scannable chunks is essential for maximum web readability as users scan the page for the information they’re looking for.

An effective blog post can be broken down into 4 parts:

1. The headline
2. The into
3. The body
4. The conclusion

Always remember to:

• Use an inverted pyramid intro: start the article with the conclusion – about 170 -180 words
• Use images and headers
• Use numbered lists and bullet points
• Break up your writing and make it visually appealing and succinct

3. Best practice 3 – Be Social

Social media not only helps to significantly enhance your blog’s visibility, as well as SEO ranking, it also helps to engage with your online blogging community and lends strong credibility to your blog.

Top tips:

• Social sharing buttons are a must for any blog article – gives readers the chance to share your article online
• Post your articles on your social media channels – this increases visibility
• Respond to comments on your blog
• Engage readers in conversation

4. Best practice 4 – Be Searchable

Optimising your content for SEO will ensure your article is ranked and indexed by the search engines. That being said, SEO is quite involved, with many different factors that need to be considered.

Here are the basics to remember when blogging:

• Use keywords – find a main keyword for your heading and focus on 2 – 3 long tail keywords to include in your article
• Use a clever mix of inbound links
• Optimise your URLs and meta description
• Optimise your images with alt text
• Remember to make your blog responsive and mobile friendly

Now blog!

Blogging for businesses should be considered a crucial element of your overall SMART digital marketing strategy. If you remember to follow the top 4 blogging best practices, you’re sure to have an article that is relevant, engaging and generating leads in no time.

Do you have a blogging best practice that you think we missed?

Share your thoughts with us.