Make the Most of Your Blog

Why is a blog so vital to your business? Because it makes you the expert. Every post you put up is an opportunity to show everyone that you know what you’re talking about. And if you do manage to sound like you know what you’re talking about, people will come to trust you, and by extension your business. Because we’d all rather buy something from the guy who knows everything there is to know about what he’s selling than from the guy who doesn’t have a clue.

It’s important to present yourself as the expert in your field. A blog is a great way to do that. You can post information, news, opinions, product reviews, etc., and if those posts are done well they will show your readers that you’re the guy to talk to about this industry. You also get to interact with readers through the comments. So you can answer questions, interact with consumers, and attach a human face to the expert label.

Drive Traffic to Your Website
The blog isn’t where you make your pitch, or your sale. It’s simply where you share your passion for your business with anyone who’s interested. The ultimate goal is to drive people to your website, or maybe to your physical location, to make an actual purpose. Blogs help drive traffic in two ways. As previously mentioned, they set you up as the expert, making people want to visit your site and learn more, or make a purchase. Also, a blog is the best way to frequently add new, good content to your site. And when it comes to getting found by the search engines, content is the name of the game.

Blogs can also drive traffic to your social media profiles. Just add social media buttons to each page of your blog to make it incredibly easy for readers to find your profiles. Make it easy for people to follow you on Twitter, friend you on Facebook, or share your post with their own social networks. You should also put the link to your blog in your social media profiles, so that people can come through that way as well.

Blogging Like a Pro
Now that you know why to blog, it’s time to learn how to blog. It’s not as simple as writing a small post a few times a week and assuming the world will discover and love them. Start by following some blogs. If you’re already subscribed to some, ask yourself what you like about them. What makes you want to read those blogs? If you’re not already subscribed to any blogs, find some to follow. Technorati is a good resource for finding blogs on a particular subject. You can also look up companies that already interest you and see if they have blogs. You can also check out some of the really big blogs, like Huffington Post or Seth Godin’s blog. Start following and decide what you like, and what you think really works on a blog. Then you can incorporate those things into your own blog.

Don’t do it all yourself. Get other people at your company to contribute. Everyone can write about their own particular area of expertise. That means more targeted content and less work for you. Guest posts by people who don’t work for you are also a good idea. Or maybe you can guest post on someone else’s blog to promote your own.

Don’t do a sloppy job. Instead of just throwing up random posts whenever the mood strikes, create a content calendar. So you can give out assignments to your people in advance and know exactly what will be going up when. Schedule topics, post regularly. A content calendar is also great for scheduling posts related to specific promotions your company is having. Make blogging part of the routine, and always respond to comments--remember, you’re the expert.

SEO Tips
And let’s not forget, blogs are great for SEO. But you have to know how to write them properly. A few SEO tips for blogging:
● Keep the title to 40 characters or less. And make it catchy.
● Keep the post to less than 300 words, with the main point summarized in 3 sentences or less.
● Organize the post into 3 parts and bold all subheadings.
● Use keywords in the title and in the post, but they must flow naturally in the text and should not be forced or overused.
● Tell people to go out and do something.

Once you know all of this, you’re well on your way to becoming a superblogger. Happy blogging! For more details visit http://www.manonymous.com/