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5 ways to make your business blog stand out from the crowd

Posted by Shivali Anand

November 3, 2021    |     4-minute read (652 words)

Setting up a blog for your company may serve a variety of functions, particularly promotion and providing outreach to current consumers. You may also seek to position your organization as an information resource through your company blog.

When it comes to blogging, it is typically a challenge for businesses to know where to start. Here are five proven ways for attracting readers — and keeping them on board — that you should consider applying to your blog.

Make sure that your company's values are visible



Your business’s values should be apparent in every post, infographic, chart or video placed on your blog because it is a pillar of your organization's forward-facing content program. For example, if your organization specializes in ecologically friendly trash solutions, think twice about showing a company thought leader clutching a plastic water bottle in a video. Similarly, if you work in customer service, don't give examples of unpleasant clients you have encountered at your business.

Meanwhile, most businesses strive to adhere to standards that portray them as ethical and fair. Never publish anything that disparages your competitors, customers, vendors or other individuals. Your postings should be upbeat and inspiring, and they should provide readers with the information they're looking for.

Write for your intended audience



Another essential aspect of an effective business blog is to write for your target audience. Of course, this implies that you must first determine who your target audience is. Make sure to regularly monitor your site’s statistics, your target audience, your existing clients and those you're seeking to attract so you can provide content that meets these demographics.

For example, if you sell bicycle tires, sharing a blog on the most underrated biking routes in America could be a great topic, but an article about how to obtain stationery discounts would be out of place. In other words, figure out what your audience wants and provide it to them.

Include expert opinions



Your blog is intended to convey industry expertise, so provide insights that reflect your knowledge. This might comprise data from surveys you’ve conducted, white papers you’ve written, specific solutions you’ve provided for clients and interviews with thought leaders within your organization.

Also, consider going beyond your team to obtain information from others in the sector. Assume you're a clothing retailer that also offers guidance to others in the industry, and your next blog will discuss how to fire an employee who isn't meeting expectations. You could interview and quote an HR expert for the article to share relevant information with your audience from someone outside your area of expertise.

Don't limit the blog to a single format



If you enjoy writing, you're likely to produce in-depth pieces for your blog, but you might not want to stop there. Some people are visual learners who prefer graphs, infographics, movies and charts rather than reading.

The performance of the various content categories can be tracked, and you might be surprised at the finding. Maybe you assumed that video would be the most effective medium for your audience, but analytics show that your articles perform far better. Try out several formats while keeping an eye on how they perform.

Stay relevant



Make sure you keep producing relevant, timely information to keep your community engaged. Rerunning something that performed well last year but that is now out of date will make you seem out of touch with current events.

For example, a post on holding huge weddings at restaurants may have proved very popular last June, prompting you to think about sharing it again this June. But owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, many restaurants can only hold a few people at a time, and sharing that blog again would make your site appear outdated.

Keep in mind that duplicating previously published material may lower some SEO results, because Google and other search engines will struggle to identify which one is the original.

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