9 things you need to know before you blog

If you’re on a tight budget, blogs are an effective way to build trust, boost your reputation, and provide value advice while subtly promoting your business.

Not a writer?  Too hard basket?  Spending time pulling together a few words to educate, inform, inspire your customers or clients is worth the effort.

1. Blog writing is a chance to establish yourself as an authority in your area of expertise and educate people about your industry.

2. You can use blogs for announcements, celebrating business milestones, and showcasing events or staff gatherings.

3. Choose a topic you can write easily and passionately about and don’t worry too much about word count.  As a guide, 300 words is a five-minute read but don’t worry if it’s twice or three times that length – as long as you break it up with subheadings and it’s bringing value to your client, let it flow.

4. Keep it relaxed and conversational. If you write as you speak, your customers will feel like they know you and be more likely to want to do business with you.

5. Try a simple ‘how-to’ or ‘tick-list’ style post or offer your perspective on a trending news article.

6. Avoid technical jargon or in-house jokes in your blog articles.

7. Check out your competitors to see what they’re writing about, then make sure you’re bringing fresh ideas, insight, and ideas to your blog.

8. Remember to direct followers to your blog on your social media platforms.

9. Consider SEO. Including keywords throughout your blogs will help your Google search ranking.  For example, if you’re a roofer in Wellington, make sure you include words like “roofer Wellington” or “best roofer in Wellington” because these are the words people use when searching for businesses like yours.

First things first:

• Come up with a blog topic
• What’s the attention-grabbing headline?
• List four key points to use as sub-headings
• Expand on each point
• Add an introduction, and a conclusion to sum up
• Finish with a ‘call to action’ – what should your reader do after they’ve read your post?

Most importantly, read your blog out loud to pick up glaring errors and then save, close, and read again a few days later with fresh eyes. Is it still a good read? Yes? Post it to your website blog. Congratulations, you’re now a blogger.