Outsource blog writing
What kind of blog do you write?
Last week, I wrote “how to write a company blog” in which I promised that you don’t have to write a corporate news blog or a personal blog if it doesn’t suit you or your business. But just how do you work out what your company blog should be about?
To find out what sort of blog best suits your business and personality, we’ve put together this handy questionnaire:
If you’re still in doubt about the true benefits of blogging for your business website, take a look at this latest bit of research conducted by Inbound Marketing experts, HubSpot.
They looked at the data of 1,531 HubSpot customers (mostly SMEs) and found that 795 of the business blogged, 736 didn’t.
The results were pretty astounding. Put simply, the companies that had a blog had significantly better marketing results.
See for yourself:
Company blogs don't need to be dull
I’m often asked if there’s a “best way” to write a company blog. The simple truth is that there *IS* no best way.
How to write a business blog not only varies from industry to industry, but also from person to person.
The internet is like a horse — it can smell fear!
If you’re not the sort of person who likes sharing personal information, then you shouldn’t even THINK about writing a personal-style blog on your company site. The very worst thing you could do is to try to force it.
But if you can write personal details that are interesting and funny, in a way that promotes what it is you’re doing, why not share those little details?! SMEs especially can benefit from a personal blogging style.
If you prefer to keep it strictly business, you can fill your company blog with information customers want to know about. This works well if you have the sort of company that is intrinsically sexy and appealing — or if your customers are interested in some of the b2b info and insight you can pass on.
When I’m not at home staring at the internet, I love nothing more than climbing onto stage to speak about the many benefits of blogging.
Blogging engages your customers, allowing you to gather useful insights and market research. It also improves SEO, benefits customer relations and allows you a base from which to engage with other social media.If you’re running an eCommerce site, you need a blog.
So when Shaa Wasmund asked me to pop into her Sharing the Secrets of Social Media conference at the Sheraton Park Lane on Friday, I was only too happy to oblige!
Katie Lee talks blogging with Shaa Wasmund
It was a great day, with plenty of inspiring case studies from people who’ve experienced the benefits of social media first hand.
You can track some of the conversations over on Twitter via the SM4B hashtag.
Still unsure about the future of blogging for your business? A recent survey by eMarketer.com shows a huge shift towards the social media practice in the US, with 43% of businesses expected to be blogging by 2012 — almost half the market.
While personal blogging has seen a decline thanks to micro-blogging sites like Twitter, business blogging has seen a surge in popularity. Businesses are embracing blogging as it can suit the needs of their customers who refuse to tweet and shun Facebook, whilst improving their customer service and Google page ranking.
It certainly helps that marketers and PRs identify blogging as the most effective way of spreading news of their products and services, in particular in creating and launching virals.
Considering how quickly the UK tends to follow the lead of our friends over the pond, we’re likely to see similar statistics over here.
So the question isn’t really whether you should blog, rather can you afford not to? If your competition is optimising their target market with a blog filled with high quality SEO content, can you really justify not doing the same? This is particularly relevant to SMEs, who are the leading the pack when it comes to blogging.
Don’t forget you can find out more about business blogging and see some great case studies on the Miramus “Why Your Business Needs a Blog” presentation [4:28, needs audio]
Related: Blogging and social media marketing. Original content is key to success
Find the rest of the report on eMarketer.com
Miramus is brought to you by Katie Lee, one of the most experienced and successful digital content creators in the UK.
