Blogging 101 – Your Top Questions About Blogging Answered

More and more businesses are adding blogs to their websites. It makes sense. Blogs are a great way to drive traffic to your website and can help provide your customers or clients more detailed information about the industry you operate in. Blogging is a modern, current way to share news and views, and you can get a lot of value through starting one.

There’s a lot to learn when it comes to blogging, and you can get answers to common blogging questions below.

What is the point of a blog?

There isn’t a clear, single purpose for a blog. People write blogs for personal reasons, to showcase their interests, to promote something or to show off their expertise in an area. For businesses, blogs will usually contain information about products or services and posts relevant to the area the business sits. Blogs are a way of providing updates and information and are a fantastic place to add some SEO (Search Engine Optimization) that can attract more visitors to your website.

Reading other blogs can also help you to learn new things about all sorts of topics. Seek out blogs related to the things that you’re interested in to get a bit more insight into the world of blogging and what it could hold for your business.

Isn’t a blog just a news article?

There are differences between a blog and a news article. An article will contain more in-depth information about a particular subject and typically comes from a second or third person perspective. Articles are generally there to be read to get the full story and aren’t really good for scanning. A blog, meanwhile, is a shorter form piece of content that tends to be more informal in tone. A blog can be written in the first person for personal perspectives, while businesses tend to opt for the second person approach. Blogs deliver high-level information, presented in an easier-to-read format that makes them ideal for lighter reading.

Is a blog right for my business?

To determine whether or not a blog is right for your business, you will need to consider the purpose and value of it. There are many reasons why your business should have a blog, but if you don’t think you have anything to offer that will make good content – it might not be right for you. Blogs will make a business appear more human, giving it a voice and a personality, so this is something you should certainly consider when weighing up whether or not to start one.

To have a blog, you’ll need the necessary resource to run it. It may not need to be someone’s full-time job, but having someone who can give a consistent style and tone to your blog will help make it more familiar to readers. If it’s not you, make sure you appoint someone you can trust to deliver relevant and informative content about the topics you wish to blog about.

Where should I host my blog?

There are several ways you can host a blog. Some people choose to host their blog for free on websites that offer free blogging platforms, although these don’t offer the full functionality that other services can offer. If you have a website and want to host it there, you might want to consider incorporating WordPress hosting to help you get the best functionality and benefit from extra security. You can link to your blog within your website, meaning people won’t have to navigate elsewhere to view your content.

How often should I publish a blog post?

This is a question that is difficult to answer and is another element of blogging that is not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ situation. There are several things to consider such as how much time you’ll need to write the blog, how you’ll promote it and whether or not the post is time-sensitive. Forbes has some detailed advice on factors that can affect how often you should post a blog to help you work out what’s appropriate for your business. To keep things fresh and to ensure that website visitors have regular content to read, you should aim to post 1-2 times a week. If, however, your blog starts to take off and the appetite is there for readers – you might want to consider posting more regularly.

Think of it in money terms if you need to. If you’re getting a lot of website hits and sales through your blog, then investing more money and time into it makes a lot of sense. Analyze your website traffic through Google Analytics to get the best insights into how people are using your website and see where your marketing investment needs to come from.  This will also help you work out the best times to publish your posts to generate the most interest.

How can I write a good blog article?

A good blog article needs to be well-structured, easy to read and features information that benefits the reader. Your blog should have a topic, with a short and snippy introduction that leads into carefully thought out headings that will make the blog easier to digest. Focus on short sentences and flow to encourage your reader to finish the whole post. You’ll find many great posts online that will provide advice on how to write a better blog, that can give you some tips from experienced bloggers plan and create their content.

Breaking your content up with photos or videos is another way to help people feel engaged with your content. If you can take your own high-quality photos, then great – make sure you include them in your posts. If not, you should seek good content from elsewhere and make sure that you give credit back to the source. Pexels and Pixabay are two useful websites for gathering royalty-free or creative commons images for your blog, provided you credit the photos in the form of a link back to the source.

At the end of the post, you should include a call to action that will drive people back to whatever it is that you’re trying to promote.

How can I drive traffic to my blog?

The most common and effective way to drive traffic to your blog is to promote it via social media. Through using social media to promote your blog you can benefit from the various platforms that your audience uses. You might want to connect with other businesses or news outlets via Twitter, but use Instagram or Facebook to connect with consumers and customers. Researching your audiences and which platforms they use will help you make the most of your marketing efforts and ensure that you direct them to the right places.

SEO was touched upon earlier, and using it correctly could help even more people find your blog. SEO involves using keywords within the content and metadata of your blog to help it appear in search engines and encourage browsers to click through to your webpage. It’s worth reading this post on SEO strategy to help you learn more about it. SEO is a simple but effective tool, but it’s important that you use it correctly.

Blogging is an excellent medium to share ideas and to learn, helping you to boost your business and connect with your clients and customers in different ways. When done correctly, blogging is a useful tool that will add value to your website and your business. What’s holding you back from getting started? Create a blog for your business today.