Once you decide to have a blog on your business website, where do you begin? The first blog is likely to be easy: A short introduction to the blog and a description of what you intend to accomplish. But then what? It is a good idea to have a clear statement of the goal of the blog and a strategy for achieving it.
The first and most important question in developing your blog strategy is to know how it fits with your business image, your website design and the overall strategy for marketing your business on the Internet. For example, a conservative businessperson like a financial advisor, lawyer, or doctor is likely to have a conservative website that presents a reliable and credible image of the business and its owner. A blog for one of those sites would support this image by providing information and advice that are timely and appropriate to the business. It would probably be written in a straightforward, efficient style. A blog that appears to be off-the-cuff or have a "folksy" approach--if not very carefully written--could create an impression that works against the overall image of the website.
On the other hand, a fast-paced interactive business, like one that plans parties and special events, might benefit from having a blog that is light-hearted and fun. A blog that emphasizes the exciting and entertaining aspects of those businesses would add a dimension to the overall image of the website by showing that the business not only produces great events but also makes sure that the guests have a good time.
Knowing the role the blog will play on your website takes you to the next part of your strategy: the content and style of the blog. People who visit a blog expect some consistency from week to week. If one week's blog is a serious analysis of a particular investment option and the next week's blog is an informally written stream-of-consciousness piece, visitors who are drawn to the serious blog might be put off by a more informal piece with little content.
One of the best features of a blog is the ability to make it interactive with your customers and visitors. Many blogs include comments or questions from people who follow the blog. These types of blogs offer a couple of potential advantages. They provide credibility for the blog because people are clearly following it and are interested in participating. Encouraging questions and comments may also allow you to identify current issues that are of interest to others who visit your website. The right kind of issues and questions can also increase your SEO, if they deal with current events or trends that are in the news.
On the other hand, comments and questions have to be carefully reviewed and screened before posting. Letting one or two outrageous or offensive comments get onto your website can have serious consequences.
Another question to deal with up front is how often you will post to the blog. People following a blog expect some regularity, so they know when to view the latest posting. However, blogs take time and thought, so it's important to put together a schedule that you or the person writing your blog can realistically meet from week to week. Blog deadlines roll around very quickly when you are busy with other projects, and missing blog postings or posting intermittently will cut down on your traffic.
Humor and fun on a blog can be amusing and increase the blog's followers. However, people have dramatically different ideas about what constitutes humor and fun. Often, what one person finds hilarious can be offensive to someone else. Beyond that, writing with humor is tricky, so using humor in the blog can backfire. It's best--if you want to have a light or humorous business blog--to begin slowly and, over time, lighten the tone as you get a better feel for the tastes and interests of your blog readers.
Creating a blog on your website is a valuable strategy for building an image and developing a following for your website. They can also acquire a life of their own if they are useful and interesting. Many successful authors say that they don't really know when they begin a book how the characters and plot will work out, even if they started writing with a specific outline in mind. For example, when J. K. Rowling wrote the last of the Harry Potter books, she found that decisions she had made about characters and plot when she began the series had changed. The final book was different from her outline.
The same is true of a blog. As the blog grows over time, it develops its own style and approach as you get feedback from people who visit your website and as you get a clearer idea of what you want the blog to say. One of the keys to successful blogging is to remain flexible. This might mean incorporating new material or new ideas while maintaining the overall strategy or recognizing how the blog is working and refocusing the strategy itself. Whatever the outcome, writing a blog is an interesting and engaging process with an excellent potential for building visibility and credibility on the Internet.
We want to assure that every blog post in this series provides you with tangible suggestions and ideas for building or improving your website. Please share your ideas, comments, questions and suggestions with us through the comments down below or email Judy directly at
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Judy Cobb is an independent writer and business writing coach whose clients have included Parsons Engineering, Mattel Toys, The Los Angeles Times and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She has specialized in developing training materials for instructor-led courses as well as interactive online courses and websites. She holds advanced degrees from Columbia University and Stanford as well as an MBA from UCLA's Anderson Graduate School of Management.
Thanks for reading. Jason.
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