We are proud to say that many of our clients have followed our advice and begun their own company blog. Many are seeing an increase in their web traffic as a result. However, some of our clients have expressed concern to us that their blog readership isn’t growing like they hoped. That’s not unusual in the early stages of a blog.
There are many things you can do to increase your blog’s readership, and here are a few of the basics:
- Be yourself. If you see something that seems to work for someone else, try it out. But be careful to be sure you are putting things in your own words. Google, and your readers want fresh perspectives written in your own words.
With the recent tweaks Google has put in place, using someone else’s content can severely hurt your rankings and therefore your ability to be found on your blog topics. Plus, your clients and prospects are looking for your views, not someone else’s. They’re your prospects and clients because they’re savvy business people who want to do business with YOU. Don’t insult their intelligence or their good will.
- Engage your reader. If all you’re doing is filling your business blogging with arbitrary SEO-inspired keywords, you’re not serving your reader with what they need – the expertise they came to you to deliver. Let your competition win the award for “Most Inbound Marketing Keywords In A Single Post.” Sure, it’s important that your reader is guided towards your blog with some well-positioned, contextually appropriate keywords. You don’t have to hammer them though. You want the business. Deliver the content and the business will come to you!
- Educate yourself on your audience. Your reader’s perspective on your topics may be different from your own because you generally know a lot more about your blog topic than your readers who come to you to learn do. Sometimes, it’s basic. You have products and services to sell. Your reader has desires and needs to be fulfilled. Remember to put yourself in your reader’s shoes…if you want to be successful, that is! Let your reader know through your writing that you value their position.
- Offer value! Your reader should come away from reading your business blog with something enriching. It might be a valuable piece of advice or information that you share. It could be a free e-book, an invitation to a readers-only webinar, maybe even links to more in-depth exploration of a particular issue. Whatever the case, your reader should feel better after reading your blog.
Remember that a blog does two things simultaneously: you’re not only writing a business blog to educate and attract new business, you’re also employing a valuable inbound marketing tool to reinforce your relationship with existing clients. Clients and prospects need to know that their business matters to you. Keep prospects and clients engaged by your expert command of those issues. You’ll keep them coming back because of the quality of your content.
What’s your experience been with business blogging? How do you choose your topics? Has this method of inbound marketing been working well for you? Please let us know in the Comments section below.
