Having a blog can be a great tool for your business; it ensures your website is updated with new content, gives a more in-depth insight into your business to your customers, and helps with your search engine rankings – but, the key to a successful blog is not only regular posts, but interesting and varied content.
When you’re busy, creating a blog post can seem like a big task, and usually one that is put to the side. It may seem easy to write about one of your services and why people need to use it, but an overload in sales can (and will!) turn people away. Your blog needs to give your readers something, whether it’s advice, an expert opinion or even just a leisurely read, and chances are they will come back for more.
If you have a list of ideas and content sources handy, that’s a big part of the blog writing job done for you! So here’s a few business blog content ideas to get your writing skills flowing.
The News
Commenting on a newsworthy topic is a great way of creating content, especially if that news is from your industry. Earlier this year, there was a big change in the world wide web; new domain name extensions, or gTLDs were announced. This was said to be one of the biggest shake-ups to the internet, so we blogged about it.
Awareness Days
Did you know that coming up in September, we have Cupcake Week, National Gymnastic Day and International Talk Like a Pirate Day? There are awareness days for all different industries and causes now, so chances are there will be one that relates to your business. Websites such as national-awareness-days.com and awarenessdays.co.uk are a good place to start.
How To’s and Tutorials
The perfect opportunity to showcase your expertise without all the sales talk. Of course, your How To needs to be something simple that your customers can do, but then they know that if they have questions, or want to develop this tutorial further, they can come to you. Luke’s latest tutorial was all about schema.org microdata for products.
Research
This should be a key part of any business; looking into what is happening in your industry and what developments may arise in the future. While you’re researching, write a post about your findings, and remember to link back to any important sources, just like we did when we blogged about GoZeus and Cryptolocker security warnings; sharing interesting and helpful content is a great thing!
Your Own Experiences
Again, while you’re going about your every day business, think about how this could translate into a blog article. It may be a particular project you’re working on that you can’t wait to share, or even a ‘Day in the Life of…’ type of post. This will give a more personal insight into your business, showing your customers exactly what you do.
Round-Ups
This could be links to your favourite articles about a specific subject, a round-up of ideas or even a bit of fun like this April Fool’s Day post. Short, quick snippets of information will keep your article flowing, and your readers reading.
Answer Questions
Are there any questions you get asked time and time again, or has something happened in your industry that has lead to a whole new bunch of questions? If the answer is yes, then answer them! Again, this will highlight your knowledge, and this type of post can be referred to time and time again.
Write a review
If you attend an event, have a business lunch outside of the office, receive new furniture or use a new service, then why no review it? Many people tend to search for reviews online before ordering, purchasing or even enquiring, so with a few clever keywords and active promotion, those people may just come across your post. Peter blogged about his experience at The Business Hive’s monthly networking events, and they loved it so much that they shared it to their followers!
History
If you have a big business anniversary coming up, or are simply feeling a little nostalgic, then blog about that period in time. If you’re on Facebook or Twitter, you may have seen #TBT – or Throw Back Thursday – blogging and micro-blogging about the past is now a common thing to do!
Meet the Team
This could be a regular feature, or a post every time you say hello to a new member of staff. While a short biography can be interesting, a Q&A interview can be easier and more appealing to read.
Look at your website’s keywords
If you have Analytics tools installed (and you should!), take a look at what the most popular pages are on your website, and the keywords being used that brings traffic to your website – then blog about that!
The easiest way to ensure you update regularly is to set out a blog schedule, not only detailing who will be blogging about what and when it will be published, but when you will be writing the post too. Mix and match your articles so your readers receive a bit of variety, and think about what images you are going to use. Always share your new content on social media, in newsletters and in discussions with people, and link back to any other blog posts or pages on your website that are relevant, when possible, to keep those visitors on your site.
If you have any questions about your blog, or want to set up your own business blog, then we’re here to help!