A company blog should be the fulcrum of an inbound marketing strategy – it’s the pivot point, what everything else relies on. The blog is where your B2B company should be most active.
Here are 8 ways to improve your B2B company’s blog:
1. Editorial calendar: This is where you plan ahead. Before even beginning to write your first post, organize your future blog post topics and social media content in a shareable, structured calendar. Who will write what, and when? What search terms will you include? What’s your target audience? An editorial calendar is a perfect way to achieve overarching cohesion in your social media marketing strategy.
2. More than just posting articles: Your job is far from over when you hit “submit,” and your article is posted. Blogging requires much more involvement. Once content is created, you must publicize on your website and other various platforms (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn), and define advertising opportunities. Promote your work. What’s the point of a regularly updated blog if nobody can find it online? You’ll therefore also need to monitor traffic to determine if your strategy is successfully generating leads.
3. Related content: Allow your readers to move seamlessly from one article to the next. Include headlines from related articles (“If you liked this, then the following three articles might interest you as well”), an archive list, most popular posts, etc. The longer your readers stay on your blog, the better.
4. SEO keywords: Don’t forget that your job is always to improve search results. That means posting regular, engaging content, but it also means including relevant keywords in your posts and headlines. Most traffic comes from search engines like Google; anticipate what people might be searching for, and include those keywords in your blog posts.
5. Non-branded content: Business blogs give you the opportunity to write about something other than your business, products, or brand. Take a different approach: write about industry best practices, or answer common customer questions. Be informative. This will also allow readers looking for general marketing strategies or consulting tips, for instance, to stumble across your blog without specifically searching for your company or brand.
6. Headlines: Good blog post titles go a long way. Keep them short, clear, shareable, and sometimes intriguing. Convince your readers in just a few words that they need to read your article. A good headline can offer practical tips, teach you something you didn’t know, or make a bold statement – anything to attract attention, really. A great headline will do just that, while also including SEO keywords that will increase traffic,
7. Author pictures: Social media are about humanizing brands and companies. So why keep your blog’s contributors faceless? Let your readers know who they are; it’s inviting, friendly, and engaging. Include author pictures and names at the top of the article. While you’re at it, create author pages where readers can see a list of articles written by each contributor.
8. Make it pretty: Never underestimate the importance of appearance, especially online. User-friendly blogs – on mobile devices too – need to be visually appealing. That means everything from a good layout, pleasing colours, working links, and subtle, non-jarring adverts.
Blogging can be fun, easy, and hugely rewarding. Make sure your B2B company gets the most from its blog.
