The Top 5 Business Blogging Essentials
Business blogging isn’t fast or easy. You have to master the writing, command your audience, and grasp the technology. Upload images and download plugins. Moderate comments and manage posts. It’s a ten-man job, there’s only two hands on the helm, and chances are they both belong to you.
If you’re lucky, you’ve got a partner or an assistant and you can spread the workload around a little. Otherwise, it’s all yours. So you grease up and get down to business churning out blog posts and moderating comments like a freight train barreling down a steep, slippery slope.
And what a slippery slope it is. I know, you’ve got your hands full. With a business to run and blog to maintain, who has time for the details? But there a few core essentials that every blogger should master, even if business blogging is simply a means for you to drive your online marketing efforts.
1. Master WordPress
Do you just log in, write a post, hit publish, and then go about your merry business? WordPress needs your attention. After all, it houses your blog. Like any home, it requires care and maintenance. A few quick tips:
- Always stay upgraded to the latest version of WordPress. Otherwise, stuff might break and your blog or website will not be secure (in other words, a hacker could get in).
- Fill in those fields. The tags and categories aren’t there for show. Make sure you don’t have a bunch of uncategorized posts and use your tags for Google’s sake.
- Check your dashboard. Don’t you want to know who’s linking to you? Don’t you think you should head over to their place and show a little love? Okay, if you’re a big shot blogger, maybe not. But if you’re a big shot blogger, why are you reading these tips? Plus, your dashboard provides a summary of how many posts and comments you’ve acquired to date, stats you should be aware of.
2. Embrace Plugins
Don’t neglect your plugins. There’s a reason a little red blurb pops up to let you know that your plugins require maintenance. When you see that red blurb, it means your plugins are jumping up and down, waving their arms in the air and yelling “Over here! We need your help!”
If you’re using the latest version of WordPress (see number one above), upgrading your plugins takes about two clicks and just as many seconds.
Don’t have plugins? Get some immediately. They’re there to serve a purpose – to make your blog run more efficiently and effectively. My favorites are: All in One SEO Pack, CommentLuv, and of course, the plugin nobody can live without – Akismet. Actually, there are a lot more but that’s a whole ‘nother post.
3. Track Traffic
If you don’t know how many people are visiting your blog, then how can you know whether it’s bringing in more business? Knowing how many visitors you’re getting on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis is how you will determine whether your business blogging efforts are paying off.
Some key stats to check:
- Unique visitors – how many individuals visited your site
- Pageviews – how many pages of your site people looked at
- Top landing pages – how people are entering your site
- Referring sites – who is sending traffic your way
- Time on site – how long people are hanging around
Where you do get this information? There are several options for tracking traffic, but I prefer Google Analytics (it’s free and easy to use).
Make sure you always keep the purpose and goal of your website and blog in mind when you analyze your stats. Lots of traffic won’t do you any good if your visitors aren’t buying whatever it is that you’re selling. In other words, don’t be misled by hoards of traffic.
4. Draw Traffic
The other day a friend and I were having a little chat about our blogs and when she complained about her statistics I asked her what she was doing to draw traffic. Her response: “What do you mean?”
I’ve said it before. I’ll say it now and probably again later: If you build it, they will come, but first you have to tell them about it.
If nobody knows about your website, how can you expect them to visit? If the only keyword you’re ranking for on Google is your name and you’re not famous (yet), how do you expect people to find your blog? The opportunities for drawing traffic are limitless but first you’ve got to make it a priority. Whether you use an ad campaign, social media, or word of mouth, you’re going to have to put a little effort into attracting a crowd.
5. Inform, Educate, and Entertain
None of this matters if your content fails to tickle readers where it counts. Every single person with an internet connection could visit your site but if the content isn’t compelling, all that traffic won’t do you one bit of good. A decent design helps and a spectacular one might push you over the top, but nothing beats good writing. This is especially true for business blogging because readers expect professionalism in a business blog.
Start by planning out your posts in advance. Schedule some brainstorming sessions so you have a nice big pile of ideas for topics. Then, write some killer headlines. Make sure your content has value – offer insider tips, free but valuable information, and a hearty laugh.
Don’t forget to establish your voice. That would also be the voice of your company, which is one part of its image. Are you clever and dry? Is your company image gritty or sleek? Develop a voice that is in line with your brand. And if you don’t have the time, skill, or interest, then hire a professional writer to do it for you.
Want More?
When it comes to business blogging, there’s a never-ending list of tasks to do. Even though these are the essentials, they’re easy to neglect, and often go unattended by small business owners and hobby bloggers who get caught up in other, distracting activities. Sure, there’s a lot more you can do for your blog and for your entire website, but if you don’t stay on top of the core action items, those extras won’t matter a whole lot. The pro bloggers know this and tend to their blogs with due diligence. You should too.
Scribizzy offers a range of blog services to help small business communicate with customers and market their products and services on the web. Want to learn more? Get a quote online.
About Melissa Donovan
Now, if only I could figure out how to upgrade my WordPress … it’s badly outdated on two of my blogs, but the automatic update doesn’t work and I simply do NOT have the web-skills to risk trying to do it from scratch. (Too many scary warnings like, “If you use any plugins or have made any changes, don’t use the simple instructions” and then the more detailed instructions are something like 92 steps long….)
–Deb’s last blog post..Bring Your Work into Focus
Hi Deb!!! I believe there are several ways to update WordPress but most folks I’ve talked to are able to do it from their web hosting panel. If you have the ability to do a one-click install of WordPress, then there’s a good chance you can also do a one-click upgrade. Try logging into your hosting service and see if they have that and if not, you might send an email to their support staff to ask if there’s a way they can help. Email me if you get stuck, I’m always happy to help out a fellow grammar lover
Getting comfortable with wordpress is definitely a must!!
Susan’s last blog post..The Bel Air Real Estate Theme
@Susan, I agree! That’s why it’s first on the list
Hi Melissa,
Very good tips. 5 well chosen points and it all affects traffic. I think the quickest way to determine how good a blog has become is to find out how much traffic it is getting.
Peter Lee
work from home ideas’s last blog post..How “Work From Home Ideas” Made Google Top 10
Not what I expected at all. I thought it was going to be more along the lines of how to structure content, punctuation and the rest of the blurb that comes when writing blog posts. Instead you went to the very internal basics of blogging which is in itself very important.
As for updating WordPress, it is a cinch if you use the automatic upgrade plugin.
Sire’s last blog post..Bloggers, Overworked And Underpaid
@Peter Lee, I tried to boil it down to the five basic essentials. In the coming weeks, we’ll look a little deeper into each of these, plus talk about more, but less essential, tasks. Thank you for visiting and commenting!
@Sire, Well you see, structuring content falls under number five, and yes, that is an essential. If you don’t have killer content, the rest is all for naught. There will be future articles about how to craft posts and write content that compels, something that’s always fun to explore. Thanks for stopping by and joining the conversation Sire
Great stuff, Melissa, and right on target. Especially talking about plugins; there’s just so many of them that will give you so much functionality that, if they’re being ignored, people just make it hard on themselves.
Mitch’s last blog post..Book Writing Series Step One – The Concept
Those are indeed the essential tips for any blogger. You’ve pretty much covered the basics and if there is one thing I could share is to backup your data less anything unexpected occurs. I’ would have lost my blog when someone hacked into my account not too long ago. I could imagine the worst if I’d not backed it up. It may sound trivial but you’ll never know how critical it is to have a backup copy.
Yan
Blog for Beginners’s last blog post..20 Reasons Why I Choose WordPress
Melissa,
Great stuff, well written 5 essentials but I still believe traffic is the most important factor because there is no point writing when no one’s reading
Norhafidz’s last blog post..I Changed My Tagline and Blog’s Title
@Mitch, I meet a lot of bloggers who don’t know how to install or use plugins and I always try to stress how they can improve a blog’s functionality and make it more attractive to visitors. My hope is that with the next release of WordPress, which will include plugin uploads from the dashboard (so you won’t have to FTP) more bloggers will embrace them.
@Blog for Beginners, You are absolutely right – making regular backups is an essential and something I’ll try to cover in a future post. Thanks for adding that to this list!
@Norhafidz, Traffic and great content just may be tied. On the one hand, if you’re not getting any traffic, your content is basically irrelevant. On the other hand, if you’re getting tons of traffic, it will just go to waste if the content is no good. The two pretty much go hand in hand, though that may depend on the blog’s purpose and the blogger’s goals. You make a good point though
See now, Melissa, you just told me something I hadn’t known about WP 2.7; that’s great news, although I’m going to reserve judgment until I see which ones it’s offering. If Automatic Upgrade isn’t one of them, someone should definitely complain.
Mitch’s last blog post..Book Writing Series Step Two – The Planning
@Mitch, I’m actually pretty excited about the upcoming WP release because for the first time it will allow people to manage everything from inside the dashboard, once it’s installed. I have a feeling that the plugin choices will depend on the plugin creator — i.e. if they make it compatible with the new version of WordPress, then you should be able to add any of them. I don’t use automatic upgrade because I can do updates from my hosting provider but it’s certainly something to look into
Very nice post Melissa. I would start with mental preparation and commitment. Without them a blogger can not go anywhere. First you need to find the passion within you, decide which topic to blog about, and define a small niche within a large blogging topic.
Mert Erkal’s last blog post..The Roadmap To Become A Blogger
Thanks Mert. It definitely helps a lot to be mentally prepared – whether you’re launching a blog or just sitting down to write a new post. And passion, yes, passion is essential when it comes to writing.