As blog writing and content marketing gurus, we are quick to dish out expert advice when folks ask about launching blogging-for-business campaigns. Not to toot our own horn, but having launched corporate blogs for a diverse and large group of clients, we feel qualified to talk about such matters. Nevertheless, it’s always a wise idea to get tips from other blogging and content professionals. With that in mind, here are four of our favorite blogging tips from around the web.
Length Matters: Abidemi Sanusi wrote a terrific column yesterday for The Guardian about business blogging, and the best piece of advice featured in the article was about length. Sanusi recommends keeping posts short and we agree. “As a guide, a blog post should be about 400 words. If your post is longer than this, think about serializing it. People tend to scan web content, so make every word count,” he writes.
Remember Your Audience: Knowing who you’re blogging for is key before you get started. Or, as Elizabeth Saunders told Mashable awhile back, “Your blog content should appeal first and foremost to your customers and potential customers. Think about what they would want to read and form your content around meeting their needs in a unique way. To increase readership, you can include links to these articles in your company email newsletter.”
Get the Picture: Images, photos and videos make for blogging gold, and several posts a week should be rich in these things. “I highly suggest all posts have some kind of graphic,” writes Jacqueline Wolven. Wolven says “go crazy” when it comes to blog images, just play by the rules. “A note about photos and images — PLEASE use your own when possible or give credit when you are using someones and a link to their site.”
Spit it Up and then Clean it Up: Nothing slows down the flow of creativity and great blogging than the endless (and mostly ridiculous) pursuit of perfection. Getting the words and ideas down first is paramount. You can always fix the boo-boos, bad spelling and weird sentences later. “When you try to edit as you are writing the post, it can stifle creativity and take longer to produce. Get everything written and then go back to make the necessary modifications after you are finished,” writes Matthew Brennan for B2C.com.
Those are some of our favorite blog creation tips. Readers, now it’s your turn to tell us some of yours!
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