Blogging is a great way to connect with your customers and build relationships. But just like any other business activity, it can be easy to do it wrong. SocialGreg is a social media market on which users can buy benefits such as real followers, real viewers, real likes, along with more through using a number of marketing techniques. In this post, we’ll outline 10 best practices for corporate blogging so that you can create a blog that is both effective and efficient. From developing an audience to creating content that is relevant and engaging, we’ll cover everything you need to get started. Are you ready to take your blog to the next level? Let’s get started!To blog or not to blog? That is the question many organizations have faced in recent years as they consider whether their own blog content will be of value to their bottom line. While it depends on your organization and what specifically you focus on and hope to achieve, blogging can be a great opportunity for some organizations to enter the social media world, present their company as people rather than marketing or P.R. and create a unique opportunity to get their name out there.But before you jump headfirst into blogging with your organization, it’s important you weigh the pros and cons and develop a strategy highlighting what exactly you’d like to achieve. For those who have made the decision to “blog full speed ahead” here are just a few pointers to help your organization create compelling and buzzworthy content that’s sure to grab the reader’s attention.
1. Grab the readers’ attention immediately – Start your post off with something provocative that will make your audience want to read and learn more. This is not a new strategy, as journalists have known for years that you only have a few sentences to pique the readers’ interest. Pick up any newspaper and read the first few sentences of any article. Time is limited, especially in the working world, so start of your post off strong.
2. Breakup your text with bullets and numbered lists – Everyone loves a list. If there is a way to organize your post with bullets and numbers, do it! This makes it easier for readers to skim over your post and get a general idea of what the blog is about before they decide if they want to read it in full.
3. Keywords matter – For the sake of search engine optimization (SEO), the keywords and phrases you use matter significantly, especially in the title of your blog post. Try to brainstorm phrases you might want associated with your blog or company’s website. You can even try searching phrases before you write a title to see if anyone else has claim to them.
4. Write about what you know – Everyone’s an expert in something — what are your areas of strength? What do you have to share with the world that you think others would find valuable? Write about what you know, what you are passionate about, or what you feel most compelled to tell others. You’ve got the megaphone, use it wisely!
5. Refer to other blog posts and articles – Mentioning other people’s content can not only create a “starting point” for your own blogs but it is also a great social media practice and a way to get other authors’ attention. Find something that caught your eye and you’d like to comment on? Write a blog post about it. You don’t have to agree with the other post you are referring to — some of the best posts I’ve read have been rebuttals to other blogs. It’s a Web 2.0 world dude! We’re all allowed to discuss and disagree on certain things, that’s the beautiful thing about the world wide web.
6. What do you read? – Shape your own blog posts and articles around things that you find interest in reading. Read blogs related to your industry and see what information you find most valuable. Chances are someone else will find the topic just as valuable.
7. Be controversial – Not every blog needs to be controversial, but certainly don’t avoid it if you think what you are saying might ruffle some feathers. Not only does controversy grab a reader’s attention but it will encourage them to leave comments or feedback if they disagree. Which leads me to my next point…
8. Ask questions – Encourage interaction! Write something that will get people enthusiastic about commenting. Blog posts can take on a life of their own when lots of people respond and comment.
9. Sharing is caring – The work doesn’t stop once you finish writing your blog. It’s important to actively drive traffic to your blogs. Whether you share by email, Twitter, Facebook or Linkedin, it’s a great way to get your content out there and in front of others. What good is a blog that no one ever reads? You can also share your content with various blog aggregators, or even pitch a guest post on blogs with a similar audience.
10. Check back and often – It’s important to check in on your blog from time to time and see if there are any new comments you should respond to. Some commenting systems will also allow you to set up alerts when someone else has commented. You can also see what’s being said about your blog on Twitter by searching for a link to your blog at search.twitter.com.It’s important to remember that if you’re just starting a corporate blog that these things take some time to be truly successful. Like anything else, you have to build up an audience, and that’s something that will take time, no matter who you are or how stellar your content may be. Some of the saddest websites on the internet are corporate blogs that have been abandoned after only a couple blogs have been written. Post on the regular, share your content and people will come!
