30 Factors to Launch and Run a Successful Business Blog

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE 3 – Purpose & Authenticity

PAGE 5 – Audience & Design

PAGE 6 – Storytelling & Buy-in

PAGE 7 – Owning Your Niche

PAGE 8 – Personality & Learning

PAGE 9 – Strategy

PAGE 10 – Metrics & Keywords

PAGE 11– Competition & Rhythm

PAGE 12 – Influencers & Backlinks

PAGE 13 – Guest Blogging

PAGE 14 – Other Tactics & Roles

PAGE 15 – Consistent Quality

PAGE 16 – Research & Visuals

PAGE 17 – SEO & CTAs

PAGE 18 – Milk Your Content

PAGE 19 – Promotion & Patience

PAGE 20 – About the Author

230 Factors to Launch and Run a Successful Business BlogBy Will Blunt for BloggerSidekick.com

INTRODUCTION

There is no universal method to launch and run a successful business

blog. In fact, without proper guidance, learning and direction; successful

execution is far too often out of reach. There are countless levers that

need to be pulled, prodded and released simultaneously for your blog to

rise to the top. And only a small fraction of blogs ever make it to the top.

But the ones that do, the ones that persist, the ones that grind away

even when it feels like the wheels are spinning; they reap the rewards.

The rewards of a successful business blog are endless. If you are at the

top of the pops you command authority in your field, and your audience

waits with baited breath to hear what you have to say every day. That is

why you have to have a business blog. Otherwise you would always

wonder ‘what if’.

What if you were the out and out leader of thought in your industry?

The good news is that you are just as well equipped as anyone else to

do it. There is no magic potion, just hard work and determination.

The tips to make a successful business blog I offer in this e-book are

not the perfect solution, but they will help. They will help you understand

what really matters, and what really works.

But are you up for it?

PURPOSE & AUTHENTICITY1. HAVE A CLEAR PURPOSE

Create a community. That should be the ultimate goal of your business

blog. A successful business blog is clear and unapologetic about WHY it

exists. The people you attract to that blog are passionate about the cause you

are progressing, and they become part of your tribe. This is how you build a

community.

Are you a little unsure about what the purpose of your blog is? Ask yourself

these questions;

• What is the purpose of your business?

• Do your staff understand their role in pursuing this purpose?

• Do you have a compelling story that highlights your purpose?

• Once you have landed on a succinct statement to articulate your purpose

you should use it as an anchor for all blog content.

2. BE AUTHENTIC

The era of digital marketing has given us an opportunity to connect with

customers, on a more personal level than ever. Sadly many of us are missing

out on this opportunity and persisting with outbound, direct marketing tactics.

Marketers that are extracting true value from this era of opportunity are those

that are having an authentic conversation with their customers and aligning

their message to a core purpose. Creating this alignment and delivering an

authentic message should greatly influence your blog strategy.

If you are dedicated to fulfilling your purpose and anchor all of your blog

content to that cause, your message will sound authentic. Authenticity will

create trust with those that believe what you believe, and your

community will begin to grow.


- Seth Godin

“Making isn’t hard any more…

where you actually tell your stories

and authentically live up to what

you say you’re going to do – that

is where leverage is now”

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AUDIENCE & DESIGN

3. DEFINE YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE

Defining your target audience is a step that many marketers overlook

when it comes to running a successful blog. But it’s not just good

enough to ‘think you know’ who your customers are and what

information they seek to read. This mentality is riddled with assumptions

and potential risks.

Instead you need to document exactly who you are targeting, and

discover what makes them tick. Here is a general guide for the

information you may like to collect on your ideal blog readers;

• Where are they from?

• What level of education have they achieved?

• What does their employment history look like?

• Are any current events having a great effect on their lives?

• Economically, where do they fit in society?

• How would you describe their personality if you had to group them?

• What choices do they make from an ethical standpoint?

• Do they have any common hobbies or habits?

• What makes them tick?

• How do they like to consume information online?

• On what websites do they consume information online?

• What other products and services do they use?

• What challenges do they face every day?

• What are their biggest dreams?

4. MAKE YOUR BLOG DESIGN PROFESSIONAL

The design of your blog is vital. An ugly looking blog can diminish the

perception of your brand and discourage people from returning to your

site.

So what makes for a sleek looking business blog?

Here are some things to keep in mind when designing your blog;

• Use lots of white space and keep the colors basic

• Create consistency with your branding, images and design

• Make navigation easy for the reader – model your navigation design

on other successful blogs in your industry

• Use snippets – On the main blog page show a preview of your blog

rather than the whole thing

• Include social sharing buttons on every post

• Make sure your font is at least 12-point in size, and easy on the eye

• Include a sidebar to the right of your blogs with call-to-actions,

previous posts and relevant internal links (You may like to use some

‘social proof’ in this section too)

• Nail your ‘About’ page – This page is often the most visited page on

your site, make it compelling and interesting

• Optimize every page on your site to collect emails for your subscriber

list

• Optimize copy for SEO purposes

• Include images in every blog post

“46.1% of people say a website’s design is the number one criterion for discerning the credibility of the

company.” - HubSpot


STORYTELLING & BUY-IN

5. BECOME A STORYTELLER

We engage more with content that tells a story. It’s natural. We have

grown up with stories, our ancestors have shared history through story,

and the most successful modern marketers are expert storytellers.

So how do you tell a great story?

You may like to use the “5C’s of Storytelling” as a story structure. This is

something I came up with after collating a whole bunch of content from

thought leaders such as Nancy Duarte, Seth Godin and Peter Guber.

CONNECT: Create an emotional connection with your audience

CHALLENGE: Highlight a common pain point or challenge your

audience is facing

CONFLICT: Establish the opposing forces that contribute to a less than

favorable outcome. Use vivid details at this stage so the audience

connects with your characters

CONQUER: Show the audience how the characters overcome the

struggle presented from this conflict. Give them the hope and belief that

a positive outcome is possible

CONCLUDE: Provide a resolution to the challenge, ending on a

positive message the audience can take away. This is usually one part,

of one part. A small cog in a bigger solution.

6. GET BUY-IN FROM THOSE THAT COUNT

It appears this is a common sticking point for many marketers. Managers

want results, and they perceive results as immediate clicks or traffic to their

site. What many of them don’t realize is that buying clicks and traffic is a

short term approach to business growth. It doesn’t create sustainability.

Seeing you have made it this far through the e-book, I’m guessing you

believe in blogging and the power of content in building a sustainable

audience. But what if your boss doesn’t?

Getting the buy-in of your budget holder is essential in running a

successful business blog. The more buy-in you have the less pressure

you will feel, and the more you can concentrate on the tactics that work in

the long-term.

Here are 4 ways you can sell blogging to your boss.

• Get their input and stroke their ego!

• Fly under the radar until you get results

• Sell your strategy up front

• Collaborate on milestones and measures, and then develop a rhythm

for reporting progress

There are any number of ways you can approach this, you will find the way

that best suits your skills and personality. Just remember blogging can have

a great ROI for businesses of all shapes and sizes, so when you are selling

it to your boss be confident.


OWNING YOUR NICHE

7. WRITE FOR SUSTAINABILITY

Viral content is everywhere. Videos, images, graphics and blog posts all

of a sudden catch fire and spread to an audience much greater than the

creator could ever imagine. But we are becoming too obsessed with it.

If you want to create viral content, film a cat jumping into a wall don’t

blog!

Blogging isn’t about creating content that goes viral, it is about

creating content that will help your customers. It is about fuelling

the fire of a unique group of followers that believe in what you have to

say and nurturing them into advocates for your work. If you write

content with the sole purpose of sending it viral, you will start to forget

about your core group of readers and slowly whittle your audience away

to nothing.

Here are a few tips on writing content with a long-term mindset;

• Write evergreen content.

• Make your content useful.

• Don’t let your quality slip.

• Attract influential guest contributors to your blog.

• Create different forms of content.

Note: Guest contributors and a diversified style of content works for

some blogs, but not for others. For example If you have established a

reputation on the back of a specific style of writing, your readers come

to expect that style and may not appreciate other authors or forms of

content.

8. OWN YOUR NICHE

If you are going to run a business blog you want it to be the best in your

industry. When potential customers seek information about making a

purchase decision, or solving a problem they have, you want them to come

to your blog.

The key to out-blogging your competitors is all in the planning and strategy

phase. Here is a step-by-step process you may like to apply to your blog

planning, it will help you knock the competition out of the park!

STEP 1 – Conduct keyword research to uncover long-tail phrases you want

to target within your blog copy

STEP 2 – List out your next 5-10 blog topics and the keyword phrases you

will target based on your research

STEP 3 – Find out what other content has already been written by other

sources including these keyword phrases

STEP 4 – Audit the other blog content. What information have the other

authors included? What gaps are there in the content? What authoritative

domains have linked to this blog content? Document your findings.

STEP 5 – Research each topic looking for cool stats, images, case studies

and examples. Jot down a basic structure for each potential blog post based

on this research.

STEP 6 – Write and publish your blog posts. Make them in depth, engaging

and better than anything else you have found on that topic!

STEP 7 – Conduct an email outreach program. Contact people or domains

that have linked to those other blog posts and let them have a read of your

epic post. Hopefully they will link to your post, resulting in a bump up

Google’s search rankings.

Note: You may like to focus on one blog topic at a time rather than

complicating things with 5 or 10.


PERSONALITY & LEARNING

9. CREATE A PERSONALITY FOR YOUR BLOG

Much like your corporate brand has a personality, so too does your

blog. People want to connect with something or someone that feels

real, authentic and human.

Think about the impression readers will get when they first experience

your blog. Subconscious or not they will be looking at your writing style,

website design, choice of imagery, willingness to engage with

comments – they want to see who YOU are.

How do you create a unique personality for your corporate blog?

• Be authentic

• Stick to your brand

• Write the way you speak

• Use imagery that tells a story

• Talk to one person

• Elicit emotion in your reader

• Tell your story.

• Make employees the face of your blog. .

10. LEARN FROM OTHER PEOPLE’S SUCCESS (AND MISTAKES)

There is no secret that the best marketers of our time are all die hard

learners. I strongly believe that to truly succeed at anything you need to

embrace obstacles, learn from them, adapt and keep on fighting. Some of

the most awe inspiring entrepreneurs of our time had failures in their

corporate lives that would have stalled many less passionate people. Steve

Jobs is a key example. He was fired from the company he built from the

ground up and was later re-instated.

Let’s look at a blogging example. Alex Turnbull from Groove HQ shared

stories and tactics on their way to 100k in monthly revenue through blog

posts. This was ridiculously effective for growing their website traffic and

subscriber growth. But after a while these vanity metrics became irrelevant.

Most of their blog subscribers weren’t converting into customers. They were

writing content and attracting an audience based on topics unrelated to their

product. As soon as they flipped that mindset and started their customer

support blog, conversions skyrocketed. Groove learnt a valuable lesson, but

its because they were ready and willing to learn and pivot. Don’t get stuck in

your ways.

A couple of principles I like to live by when it comes to learning from others;

• Surround yourself with high achievers

• Play like a novice

• Embrace failure

• Be an explorer

These principles are somewhat individual in nature. But when applied to

business blogging they can teach you a lot. Take some risks, don’t be afraid,

and whatever you do learn from others. Those others are the ones who can

accelerate your journey.

“I strongly believe that to succeed at anything, you need to embrace obstacles, learn from them, adapt and keep

on fighting”


STRATEGY

11. CLEARLY DOCUMENT YOUR STRATEGY

Just having a blog doesn’t cut it. To create a successful business blog

you need to spend time documenting a strategy.

Many businesses fail to document their blog strategy, and it is a

common reason for the gap between positive intention and successful

execution.

To help you document your blog strategy I created the Blog Strategy

Canvas as a free download. There are 9 sections on the blog strategy

canvas, with each of them playing a vital role in the success of your

business blog. They are;

PURPOSE – Why does your blog exist?

CUSTOMERS – Who are your ideal readers?

COMPETITORS – Which of your competitors have blogs?

KEYWORDS – What keyword groups will you be targeting?

PLATFORM – Where will you distribute your blog content?

PROMOTION – How will you promote your blog content?

RESOURCES – Who is accountable for executing your blog strategy?

RHYTHM – How many blogs can you commit to scheduling every

week?

METRICS AND GOALS – How will you measure success for your

blog?

FREE DOWNLOAD: MAP OUT YOUR BLOG STRATEGY WITH

THE 60-DAY BLOG STRATEGY CANVAS

GET IT HERE >>>


http://www.bloggersidekick.com/blog-strategy-canvas/



METRICS AND KEYWORDS

12. LINK METRICS TO MEANINGFUL OUTCOMES

Setting goals and tracking those goals with the appropriate metrics

allows you to stay on a positive trajectory with your marketing efforts.

But metrics are only helpful if they link back to meaningful business

outcomes.

Start with these questions.

• What outcome do you want to achieve?

• Why do you want to achieve that outcome?

• What incremental goals will help you get to that outcome?

• Now, what metrics are appropriate for measuring those individual

goals?

If you work from the top down, you will start to make sense of all the

marketing metrics that blogging can throw at you.

So next time you say you want more ‘web traffic’ or more ‘inbound

links’, ask yourself why? How does this progress the purpose of your

business as a whole?

Set goals over a 60-day period. This allows you to test out your strategy

and course correct where necessary.

13. CONDUCT KEYWORD RESEARCH

Stuffing keywords into your blog copy, alt tags and meta descriptions is NOT

OK! Google will penalize you for this tactic and you’ll see your site dropping

further and further down the search rankings. Marketers need to write

content that engages humans, tells stories and helps people overcome

challenges. Inevitably search engine algorithms will favour this type of

content.

However, keywords are still important when it comes to blogging. They let

search engines understand what your content is all about. When one of your

customers search for a specific phrase you want to make it as easy as

possible for the search algorithm to pick up your content and show it to

them. Understanding the language and phrases your customers use when

searching content is the real key. These phrases are known as long-tail

keywords.

So how do you find long-tail keywords to include in your blog content?

STEP 1 – List out 5-10 keyword groups you are targeting.

STEP 2 – Type that broad term into KWFinder.com

STEP 3 – Document as many long-tail phrases you want that may suit your

business and blogging goals. For example, long-tail examples that stem

from ‘business blogging’ include ‘starting a business blog’ and ‘business

blogging plan’.

STEP 4 – Use your long-tail keywords to brainstorm blog ideas

Note: Once you know your keywords, make sure you use them when they

are relevant. Don’t load up your content with keywords that don’t make

sense.“Metrics are only helpful if they link back to meaningful

business outcomes.”


COMPETITION & RHYTHM

14. KNOW YOUR KEYWORD COMPETITORS

Who are your competitors?

That question is not as black and white as it appears. Most people

when asked who they consider competitors would list out a group of

companies that compete for market share in their niche. But from a

blogging perspective, your ‘competitors’ can sometimes take a different

form.

When it comes to blogging, your competitors are the websites and other

blogs that attract traffic based on the same keywords as you. Therefore

keywords are an effective way to create a competitive comparison.

After defining a set of keywords you can begin to analyze the

performance of your keyword competitors. You may like to adapt the

below process to your own business;

• Search Google & BuzzSumo, starting with fairly generic keyword

terms you are targeting. Document the top 3 or 4 pages for each

search you conduct.

• Document the 3 or 4 sites that appear the most in your searches,

these are your keyword competitors

• Conduct a content audit of your keyword competitors using a tool

such as Moz Open Site Explorer. Document where they are getting

inbound links, and note any gaps in their content.

• You should now have a bunch of blog ideas. Come up with headlines

and put these into your editorial calendar.

15. POST CONSISTENTLY

Consistent blog content appears to be a major problem for most businesses.

But some people get consistency confused with quantity. The key is to

commit to a blog schedule that is achievable. If you have the capacity to

blog every day, great, but most of us don’t. For those of us that can’t commit

to such an overwhelming amount of writing, look to publish better quality

content at consistent intervals; for example every week or even every two

weeks.

If you still aren’t confident you can maintain a consistent stream of blog

content, here are a few tools and tactics to help you out;

• Use an editorial calendar that your whole team has access to

• Create ownership within your team for writing blog content. To do this

link key performance indicators and employee reviews to the creation of

blog content

• Attract guest contributors to write content for your blog

• Create a link between blogging and business outcomes. Once people

within your team see the tangible value in blogging they will want to

contribute to the efforts.

• Do things in bursts – come up with lots of ideas at once and create

accountability by placing them into your editorial calendar

• Interview influential people in your industry and post it to your blog

• Write a list post (just like this one) and periodically explore each of its

components in subsequent blog posts

• Research blog content that has performed well in your industry and

improve on it

• Make employees the face of your brand. Encourage ambitious

employees to boost their own profile with your blog as a stepping stone.

• Conduct long-tail keyword research and document ideas for blog posts


INFLUENCERS & BACKLINKS

16. BUILD AN INFLUENCER NETWORK

If you have strong relationships with a group of people who influence

your customers, promoting your blog content becomes much easier.

But creating such a group requires a lot of upfront effort.

There is no perfect science to developing this network but this step-by-

step process is a good starting point.

STEP 1 – Make a list of key influencers in your industry. Influencers are

people that are perceived as authorities. They are trustworthy and

credible in the eyes of your customer. They may have a large network

of their own, or have access to authoritative sources.

STEP 2 – Begin placing deposits with this list of influencers by being

outrageously generous. Are they a blogger? If so, read their blog, share

it to your network and sign up to their email list. Do they have a

product? Buy it, review it and encourage others to do the same.

STEP 3 – Maintain regular contact with these influencers. You want to

continue placing deposits at consistent intervals in the future. These

deposits may be as simple as a short email message suggesting a blog

article they might find helpful, or sharing their content on social media.

Sometimes you may like to place a bigger deposit, such as a new

product purchase or direct client referral.

STEP 4 – Leverage this network sparingly. Don’t be afraid to ask your

new influencer network for a blog comment or a social share, but don’t

overdo it. The key is to make them always feel like they are indebted to

you, not the other way around.

17. SEEK BACKLINKS FROM AUTHORITATIVE SITES

Backlinks from authoritative sites are one of the top SEO ranking factors. So

if you want your content to appear on page one of Google, you should

actively seek them out. But be careful, there are lots of SEO consultants out

there preaching link building strategies that will in the end do more damage

than good for your site.

Here are some effective ways for gaining backlinks that won’t damage your

search engine ranking;

• Create epic content. Long-form content that blows anything else out of

the water will attract more interest and more backlinks.

• Create evergreen content. Evergreen content is content that is just as

applicable today as it will be in 6 or even 12 months. The longer the

lifespan of your content, the more chance it has to build credible links.

• Build meaningful relationships. Start to nurture those that influence

authoritative sites in your industry. Social media is a great platform to

initiate this. But make sure you build trust and share generously before

asking for anything in return.

• Conduct expert interviews on your blog. If you’re lucky, these experts

may link back to your content!

• Start guest posting. Writing high quality content for authoritative sites

gets you appropriate links back to your site. But don’t do this purely for

links. Use their platform to build your credibility and help their audience.

• Conduct an email outreach program. In section 8 ‘Own your niche’ of

this post you will see I mentioned researching specific inbound links

based on the keywords you choose to target. Try and contact the sources

that are linking to other content on the same topic.


GUEST BLOGGING

18. LEVERAGE OTHER PLATFORMS

There is some confusion within marketing circles about guest blogging.

Once upon a time posting your content all over the internet to credible

(or not so credible) sites was a back linkers dream. Links were links,

and guest posting gave you lots and lots of them. More links used to

equal a higher search ranking.

But things have changed. Matt Cutts (Google’s algorithmic

spokesperson) has openly shunned duplicate content and hinted that

guest posting will no longer benefit search rankings. With that in mind,

one of the world’s most respected and successful search engine

marketers is Neil Patel. Neil uses guest posting as a cornerstone to his

content strategy and has considerable success in driving revenue to his

numerous businesses with this tactic.

Guest posting from a pure link building perspective is dead, but

from a business growth perspective it is just kicking into gear. The

great thing is most people are still stuck in the link building era, so the

opportunity is all yours. The sooner you change your mindset about

guest posting the more success you will have.

WHY GUEST STILL BLOGGING MATTERS

Inbound links – If you post on other sites purely for links it will destroy

your SEO rankings. But if you post for thought leadership and avoid

the temptation to stuff your content with links, you will organically

attract more visitors to your site.

Thought leadership – All of us want to be perceived as a thought

leader, someone on the cutting edge of our industry. Guest blogging is

a great tactic for creating that perception in your customers’ minds.

Brand awareness – The more exposure you or your staff get on high

traffic websites, the greater exposure your brand has to the world.

PR Opportunities – Establishing yourself as a thought leader leads

to further PR opportunities. Once journalists or bloggers notice you,

the requests for further exposure will start flowing.

Social proof for landing pages and web copy – Attracting social

shares (and nice commentary) is a lot easier when you are blogging

on a well-established platform. You can leverage social shares in your

web copy by embedding Tweets or comments as social proof.

Growing your social following – Guest blogging provides access to

a massive audience and can subsequently explode your social media

following

Expanding your influencer network – Thought leaders want to be

friends with thought leaders. By guest posting you develop more

credibility and leverage to approach new influencers in your industry.


OTHER TACTICS & ROLES

19. INTEGRATE WITH OTHER TACTICS

Having a blog alone is not enough. It needs to integrate with other

levers in your inbound marketing strategy so it contributes to the growth

of your business.

So what are some other tactics you should be integrating with your blog

strategy?

• High impact web design – Your website design is a little bit like the

décor in your house. First impressions are often harsh and can be

lasting. Make it sleek, professional and simple to understand.

• Landing pages – The call-to-actions in your blogs should lead to

well-designed landing pages.

• Email marketing – Regular contact over email is still a fantastic

tactic for nurturing your readers into customers.

• Social media marketing – Blogging and social media are the perfect

couple. It’s very rare to see one succeed without the other.

• Free resources – Give away free stuff to your readers, they’ll love

you for it and be more inclined to share!

• Other forms of content marketing – Don’t spread yourself too thin,

but creating different forms of content is important to growing an

online audience.

Perhaps the most important element of these other tactics is email

marketing. You not only have to attract people to subscribe to your list

with amazing offers and great content, but you need to nurture them

into advocates over time.

20. DEFINE ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES

There are many one man bands that rule the blogosphere, but if you have

the resources available to you… Use them! Build an unbeatable blog team.

There are lots of moving parts when it comes to running a successful blog

which create risk. Clearly defined roles and responsibilities help mitigate that

risk.

What roles do you need to define accountability for?

• Strategy and editorial calendar governance

• Keyword research

• Facts, stats and examples research

• Copywriting; Actually writing the blog content

• Editing and quality assurance

• Creative; The visual stuff

• Promoting and community building

• Repurposing blogs into other forms of content

• Resource development; The downloads and resources you giveaway to

build your email list

• Email marketing

Note: It is common for one person to be accountable for several of these

roles, but still important to clearly define who that is.


“Your blog needs to integrate with other levers in your inbound marketing strategy so it contributes to the

growth of your business.”

CONSISTENT QUALITY

21. HAVE A TEAM EDITORIAL CALENDAR

You’d be surprised how few companies have an editorial calendar for

their blog. Even if they do, often it isn’t available to the whole content

team for collaboration purposes. A strategy without the governance of

an editorial calendar is like a yacht with no mast.

Have you ever said; “We’re in the process of making one now”. That

shouldn’t be an excuse.

Here is why you need an editorial calendar that your whole team can

access;

• It forces you to plan ahead and write content that is aligned to your

overall strategy

• You create accountability for the whole team by having your future

blog post titles documented

• It helps maintain a consistent flow of blog content on your site (As

mentioned in point 15 of this post)

• You can plan promotional tactics well in advance, refining the

processes that accompany your blog content

22. MAINTAIN HIGH QUALITY CONTENT

“I don’t have enough time to create consistently high quality blog content.”

The ongoing dilemma that all bloggers face is the dread of having to repeat

the creation process over and over again. There is no respite, you need to

dedicate lots of time and energy to blogging if you want to make it work for

your business. As soon as you hit publish on a post, you need to promote

that post and start working on your next one. But you need to change your

mindset about blogging, and think of it as a business growth tactic NOT just

a marketing tactic.

Blogging is a very effective business growth tactic, but only if done well. Your

blog content needs to be optimized to engage readers, social networks and

search engines.

So what are the elements of a quality blog post?

• Compelling headline – Draw the reader in and get them to click on the

post

• Eye-catching header image

• Connection/hook – Highlighting a pain point of the reader

• Ace – One overarching point the blog is anchored to

• Keyword optimized – You have included relevant keywords where

necessary in the post

• Jargon free – Sentences are short, sharp and easy to digest

• Text is broken up – Use sub-headings, dot points, screenshots and

whatever else you can to break up the text

• Helpful – Inform the reader before promoting yourself

• Call-to-action – It is clear what you want the reader to act on after

reading the post


“A strategy without the governance of an editorial calendar is like a yacht with no mast”

RESEARCH & VISUALS


23. RESEARCH EACH BLOG POST

Researching each blog post is essential if you want to run a successful

business blog. Effective research has a direct influence on the

quality of each post, and its perceived credibility.

Before sitting down to write a blog post I like to research for at least an

hour. After determining your keywords it is time to start researching.

Here are some examples of the type of content you should be looking

for when researching those keywords;

• Popular content created by others

• Images and infographics

• Podcasts or webinars

• Social chatter

• Video content on YouTube or Vimeo

• SlideShare and Prezi presentations

• Tools and templates that will help your readers

• Competitor blogs on the same topic

• Apps or widgets that will help your reader

There is no need to research all of these elements every time you write

a post. However, by diversifying the way you research posts over time

people will start to see you as well researched and credible.

24. DON’T FORGET VISUALS

Visuals increase engagement with your blog content. They break up the text

and create a more complete experience for the reader by tapping into

different emotional cues in their brains.

Some examples of visuals you can use within your blog content;

• Feature images appearing with the snippet of the blog

• Header images on the blog page at the beginning of the text

• Screenshots throughout the text, informing the reader in more depth what

the text is referring to

• Infographics

• Embedded videos

• Visual call-to-action buttons

• Embedded SlideShare presentations

• Block quotes with different font size and styling than the blog text

• Moving images such as GIFs

• Embedded Tweets

“90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual, and visuals are processed 60,000X faster in the brain

than text.”- HubSpot

SEO & CTAs

25. OPTIMIZE FOR SEARCH ENGINES

Getting found more regularly by customers using search engines is a

common reason for blogging. But Google are constantly updating and

improving their search algorithm. For the average marketer and

business owner who has no aspirations to be an SEO expert, this can

be quite daunting.

To mitigate this risk I like to read the blogs of search experts and keep

up to date with SEO news on Twitter. If you are looking for a couple of

worthwhile people to follow I would suggest Neil Patel, Rand Fishkin

and Matt Cutts.

In the meantime here are a few principles you may like to stick to when

writing your blog copy;

• Use storytelling to engage your audience

• Include both internal web links as well as outbound links to

authoritative sites

• Include descriptive alt tags for the images you use within the blog

post

• Write content over 1500 words for best results

• Include your keywords in the heading, sub-headings, image alt tags,

meta description and copy of your blog

With all of these suggestions, moderation is the key to success. Don’t

include too many links and don’t pack your copy full of keywords.

26. USE UNIQUE CTA’S

Your blog should be the hub of your website. If run well, a business blog will

attract a large percentage of your web traffic. Whether that traffic is coming

directly from search engines, social media, email or other third party

applications.

But what good is attracting people to a blog article on your website if they

‘bounce’ straight off and don’t explore further what you have to offer?

This is why optimizing each and every blog post for a unique call-to-action is

integral to your business growth. Essentially a call-to-action or ‘CTA’ is a

very specific thing you want your readers to do as a result of reading your

blog.

Here are some examples of CTA’s you could be using in your blog content;

• Capture an email subscriber

• Encourage a resource download

• Get the reader to share on social media

• Offer a free trial for a product or service

• Include an affiliate link

• Ask readers to comment on the blog

• Link to another post on your site

• Link to the site of an influencer in your industry

• Request feedback on something you are doing

• Get readers to participate in a survey

Tip: I would recommend using only one CTA for every blog post. Write your

copy with that CTA in mind and don’t give your readers too many options.

This increases the chance they will take action.


MILK YOUR CONTENT

27. MAKE SHARING EASY FOR YOUR READERS

Writing quality blog content is by no way the hardest part about running

a successful blog. Getting that content discovered by the right people is

far more challenging. But when you do manage to attract visitors to

your website you want to make sure there is every chance that they will

share your content on social media. This way, you are accessing their

networks as well.

You may like to follow these principles to attract more social shares for

your blog content;

• Nail the headline – Many people won’t even go beyond reading your

headline before they decide if they will share the blog post. So nail it!

• Use sub-headings and dot points – If they do decide to read

beyond the headline, make it easy for them to scan the content and

decide if it is going to add value to their day. Sub-headings and dot

points achieve this.

• Give readers lots of opportunity to share the blog – Add floating

or scrolling sharing buttons to your blog, embed Click-To-Tweet links

and include your Twitter feed in the right sidebar.

• Add sharing links into your email newsletter

I use the free SumoMe sharing app, it is really customizable and looks

great.

28. SQUEEZE VALUE OUT OF YOUR CONTENT

Maintaining a steady stream of blog content is hard, and extremely time

consuming. So let’s talk about a few ways you can milk every blog post for

what it’s worth!

Squeeze every bit of value out of the blog content you create by re-

purposing it in different forms. Here are some examples of how to re-

purpose your blog content;

• Social Media – Use quotes, statements and questions from the body of

your blog across social media platforms; not just the headline!

• Video – Turn your how-to post or expert interview into a video for

exposure across different platforms.

• E-Book – Write a string of blog posts on the same topic and turn them

into an e-book

• Infographics – Turn a list post into an infographic using a tool like

Piktochart

• SlideShare – Use PowerPoint to create a SlideShare presentation from

your blog content

• Email Newsletter – Send an email to your network with a short sharp

message about how your most recent blog post will benefit them and a

link back to the post

• Template or Checklist – Turn a checklist post into a downloadable PDF

for your readers


“Squeeze every bit of value out of the blog content you create by re-purposing it in different forms.”

PROMOTION & PATIENCE

29. PROMOTE STRATEGICALLY

Getting your blog content discovered is one of the biggest challenges

we face. Therefore understanding how to effectively promote that

content is essential to running a business blog. Unfortunately there is

no perfect formula.

But here are some tactics I have found work when it comes to getting

more blog readers;

• Schedule at least 10 snippets of your post to your chosen social

networks in the week following its publication.

• Email your subscriber list mentioning the blog post and why it can

make their life easier

• Add blog content to blog aggregators, an example is All Top

• Share your post within LinkedIn Groups and Google+

Communities

• Post a summary of your blog to forums such as Quora

• Suggest your content to popular pages on Scoop.it

• Contact influencers you have identified via email or social media

asking them to comment or share the post

• Share your content to SubReddits

• Target sources that have linked to your competitors blogs

Note: Every one of these tactics requires you to build a trusting

relationship with those involved, BEFORE attempting to promote your

content.

30. BE PATIENT

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither were any great blogs. To run a

successful business blog you have to be disciplined, creative, resilient,

generous and most of all patient. Patience is your best friend.

Be patient and slowly build the credibility of your blog using the tactics

outlined in this e-book. This will grow your tribe, your fans, and those

customers that really matter to your business. These customers are fighting

the same cause you are and want to tell everyone about it.

CONCLUSION

You have what it takes to run a successful business blog. You know how I

know? Because you have just read through a 7000 word e-book on the

topic. The discipline it takes to do that, and absorb even a fraction of the

information is the discipline you need.

So stop looking for the magic formula, stop trying to find a shortcut to

success. Instead, commit to learning from your mistakes. Commit to a

disciplined and deliberate approach to growing your business blog. The

100+ tips for making a successful business blog outlined in this book will

help guide you, but they are no guarantee of success.

Success starts and finishes with you.


Will Blunt is a blogger, researcher and entrepreneur. He is the

founder and Director of Marketing here at Blogger Sidekick.

Today’s marketing platforms have blessed us with a unique

opportunity to connect personally with consumers. Too many of

us are under-utilizing this opportunity, or doing it all wrong. The

true power of these platforms comes from having an authentic

conversation and connecting with consumers that share your

purpose and values. It is Will’s passion to facilitate these

conversations and help people attract, grow and nurture an

online audience.

Will is the creator of the Blog Strategy Canvas, an easy to use

template for developing a blog marketing strategy, and has been

featured on HubSpot, MarketingProfs, Social Media Today

and Business2Community as a blogger. He is the Chief

Contributor at Bluewire Media, voted Smart Company’s Top

Business Blog in Australia 2015.

Before starting his own business Will led marketing for the launch

of Dr. Peter Fuda’s international best selling book Leadership

Transformed, and has grown multiple online communities for

Peter, a globally recognised management practitioner, thinker

and researcher.

To support his entrepreneurial dreams Will has undergone

rigorous academic study; a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce

(Marketing) and a Master in Business Administration (MBA).

WILL BLUNT

“Will is a highly motivated, intelligent and passionate

individual, but what stands out most is his service orientation –

nothing is too big or too small. His work in our marketing and social

media space has been of a consistently high standard and

delivered excellent results. Will is a great contributor to our business

success.”Peter Fuda,

Entrepreneur and best-selling author of Leadership Transformed

"I have had the pleasure of working with Will, and I was impressed by how creative,

sharp and motivated he is as a marketer. I am confident that

Will's experience will bring true value to any marketing team that seeks engagement and growth.”

Ohad Frankfurt, CEO of Swayy
