A Comprehensive Guide to Writing an Online Business Blog for All Types of Business

Before social media became so prevalent, online blogs were the best way to market your business and promote your brand. Today, blogging still tops the list of one of the most effective marketing tools in the digital world. The reason for this is simple: it provides a direct line of communication between you and your customers. No middleman required. The direct communication lets you build trust with your customers, increase brand awareness and increase sales all online! 

Here’s a few things you should know before starting your business blog: 

Know your purpose & goals for your blog.

Before you start writing your blog, you need to know what kind of content you're going to offer. Your blog should have a purpose and goals that outline what you want your readers to learn about your business and your services. These goals help determine some important company guidelines about blogging like length, frequency of posts and whether or not to have guest bloggers on your site.

If this is new territory for you, here are some examples of why businesses write blogs: 

• To provide product information (tips, tricks, how to’s and guidelines, etc. )
• To entertain their audience with stories from their personal lives (stories about the company and their special events, etc.)
• To share expertise in an area where they've been successful (marketing strategies, business tips, company branding, etc.)

Know who is reading your blog & your ideal reader.

To create a blog that is relevant to your audience, you need to consider who they are and what they want. Ask yourself:

• What do you want them to know about your business?
• How can you make it interesting for them?
• What exactly are they looking for from me? 
• Why are they reading this blog? 

Once you have a good answer for these questions, you have a good idea of who your average reader is. Figuring out your ideal audience is easy once you understand your purpose as a business. Use that purpose to figure out what kind of person is reading or is going to read your content. 

Know keywords that are relevant to your business. 

Research keywords that are relevant to your business and how you might incorporate them into your content. To build a successful blog, it's important that you use the right keywords. Keywords are search terms used by people when they're looking for a product or service like yours. Your blog needs to include these phrases in several different ways throughout its text. 

Once you've identified some quality keywords, it's time to make sure they're incorporated into each of your posts as naturally as possible. Don’t overdo it with keyword overloading. Use them like you would in anyday conversation about the topic. Also, make sure you stick to relevant keywords on the topic you’re writing about! Just because your company offers many services, doesn’t mean you need to include keywords that don’t make sense to your post. 

Know how to write readable content. 

Knowing keywords and your audience makes writing much easier. The first thing to consider is the writing style. Ideally, you should try to keep it simple and easy to understand. Avoid jargon and buzzwords that may be hard for the average person on the street to understand. Even if your target audience are industry professionals like you, use words that are easy for them, too! It’s also good practice not to use any word too long or hard-to-read, such as a 10-syllable word when a shorter synonym could be used. 

Blogs take time to build. 

One of the most important things to remember when starting a blog is that it may take some time to see results. Many people expect instant success, but this is not always the case. You need to be patient and consistent with your blog writing and marketing efforts, so don't get discouraged if you don't start making money right away. Google’s algorithm is always changing, and it takes time for the bots to crawl your content. Keep writing using keywords, and results come naturally! 

Writing an online business blog may seem like a daunting task, but when you break it down into small steps and focus on your goals, it becomes much easier to tackle. By taking the time to create a plan for your blog and understanding what your readers want, you are sure they keep coming back for more!

If you need blog writing services or have questions about the process, contact our team at Tier Level Digital Marketing. We have a team who can help answer any of your blogging questions!