Teach yourself starting and writing a business blog
The internet is awash with abandoned blogs, so often started with the best intentions but now left to slowly rot in the corner. If the abandoned blog is personal, then few people will bat an eye lid, however, if it is a business blog, it is doing harm to the brand. Unattended and out of date business blogs look unprofessional and paint any business in a bad light.
Blogs require planning and effort to be successful. Thinly disguised sales pitches, SEO spam or irregular posts do more harm than good. I would always say to any business, either do a blog well, or don’t do one at all. If a business takes the approach that the blog should be written when someone has a spare minute, it will fail. Who will admit to having a spare minute at work? Allocate time and effort as you would any other business function.
The links below are a great place to help get you started, motivated, and on the right track towards having a successful business blog.
Which blogging software to use?
The field has narrowed over recent years, but there are still some big names to choose from. I personally would choose WordPress (this site runs on it), but you may fancy something else depending on your needs and level of experience.
Before you start writing
The best blogs, the ones that are well written and make sense in the context of a business, are always the ones that have been thought out and planned before the writing starts. Here are some useful tips to help you before you start typing:
- The ultimate 11 step plan for launching a successful business blog in 6 months
- 21 business blogging tips from the pros
- Ten must read tips for starting a business blog
- 11 lessons learned from 9 years of business blogging
Ideas for what to write about
Having a blog is one thing, writing regular posts that people want to read and share, is another thing altogether. Here are some great ideas to help get you started, and to keep on writing:
- 50 ideas for your business blog
- 88 content creation ideas
- 7 effortless ways to find new ideas for your blog
Ideas to re-use old content
You don’t always have to keep moving forward with your blog and leave older, great content behind. Here are some ideas on how you can re-use great content again:
- 40 cool things to do with your posts after you hit publish
- 27 ways to reuse blog posts for content marketing
Getting readers
Don’t sit and wait for people to find your blog, be proactive! If people aren’t reading your blog, you are wasting a lot of time and effort for nothing. There are many tried and tested ways of increasing the number of readers you have, and here are a few of them:
- 21 tactics to increase blog traffic
- 10 effective ways to get more blog subscribers
- 8 ways to transform your blog into a must visit destination
[call_to_action title=”Subscribe to my blog.” text=”Stay up to date with my latest posts. No spam, no fuss! “][button text=”Subscribe” url=”https://www.matthewtelfer.co.uk/subscribe-marketing-nerd/” size=”big” icon=”thumbs-up”][/call_to_action]
Hey Matt,
Really great round up list here. Can I suggest a content? I think its worth adding to this blog post.
Btw, I just subscribe to your news letter. Keep up the good work man!
Cheers
Hi Ralf,
Please do. Let me know what it is and I’ll get it added.
Cheers,
Matt
Sent you an email Matt.
Follow up question:
In your own thoughts, what things should you consider before writing a topic or content?
Hi Ralf,
Thanks, I’ll have a read over the weekend.
In terms of what to think about when writing content, always start with your target audience in mind. What type of content will they find interesting and want to share with their peers? Once you get that down, life become a lot easier. That goes the same for any type of marketing to be fair. Quick Sprout is a good example of in-depth articles aimed at an already eductaed segment of digital marketers. All the content presumes a high level of knowledge already, and it is presented to a very high standard e.g. http://www.quicksprout.com/2014/12/03/how-to-write-a-great-value-proposition/
Cheers,
Matt