I’ve mentioned before how blogging is one of the best ways to keep a business website up to date, fresh and current.
I’ve also covered how you can set one up for next to nothing using Open Source software. But what about keeping it populated with good stuff?
You could take on a freelance writer, paying them to create posts for you once a day, once a week or whatever. Or you could bite the bullet and do it yourself.
Here are seven top tips for getting your business blogging act together… and saving valuable cash while you’re at it:
- decide how often to blog, and stick with it. Put it in your diary so it’s set in stone rather than making do with good intentions
- keep a running list of bright blog post ideas so you never get stuck. Carry it around with you in case you encounter inspiration while you’re out and about
- ask friends, family and colleagues for their ideas about potential subject matter
- when you feel in the mood, write a long post. When it’s the last thing you fancy doing, keep it short. Variety is great for readers and there’s no need to make a meal of it every time. You can simply write a few lines about a product or service you think is excellent, provide a link to an online tool you really rate or simply pose a thorny question to your readers instead of writing a full-on thought leadership piece every time
- set up a suite of Google Alerts and you’ll slash the time you spend looking for subject matter right down. It only takes a few seconds to set up an alert, after which you’ll get an email full of breaking news and relevant stories about your pet subject to comment on, collate into a thoughtful post or otherwise inspire you
- ask people you trust to write the occasional guest post in your blog. You don’t need to pay them. Agree to a back-link to their site in the post instead, which they’ll appreciate because links help win better visibility in the search engine results pages
- write the way you speak. Format your posts with a beginning, middle and end. And split them up with subheads so they’re easy for people to scan and read. You’ll soon get into the swing of things and the more you do it, the faster, more efficient and confident you’ll get
How much £££ can you save?
Say your freelance writer charges £20 per post. One post a week comes to £80 – £100 a month. That’s as much as £1200 a year for a weekly post. Wow.
(Thanks to Jakub Krechowicz at sxc.hu for the fab free image)