Honesty time: We’ve had the misfortune of reading some pretty boring business blogs as of late. The crusty content, yawn-inducing narrative, misdirected topics and lack of bells and whistles in these blogs is only good for serving as a reminder of what not to do. In fact, we were so inspired by the uninspired content that we came up with a list of 5 ways to avoid business blog hell.
1. Don’t Be Afraid to Sparkle: I don’t care if your business blog is about pinto beans or human resources; there’s gotta be some personality, some reason to read it. The blog should be filled with a narrative that not only coveys your company’s mission statement but speaks in a way that is readable and entertaining. There is no rule saying that you can’t inform while being yourself. Note: For caveats, see #2″¦
2. Stay Out of Controversy: Your business blog is not the place to vent about religion, politics, Jersey Shore catfight winners or other heavy issues. The content should be like a first date. Not bombastic but thought-provoking enough to entice them to want to see you again.
3. Open Up the Keyword Buffet: You’ve taken time to map out your keywords, so you might as well place them all over your blog. Stick them in the title or in the body of the blog or both. Keywords help your blog get found, so don’t be shy with them.
4. Add Lots of Cool Stuff: Product demonstrations, how-to videos, links to similar blogs and music playlists are all good add-ons to your blog because they can freshen up content and tones that might otherwise teeter on being redundant.
5. Update All the Time: A friend in the real estate biz was telling us how many of her colleagues have blogs for which they forked over big design bucks, only never to be updated. What a waste. To keep readers, you have to deliver fresh content regularly. Before starting your blog, honestly ask yourself if you have the energy to update and market your blog regularly. If so, buckle up for a fun and challenging ride. If not, consider hiring a content agency to help you out.
6. (Don’t Say We Never Give You Anything!) Take Some Risks: Want to fill you blog with interviews? Think some customer polls would be fun? Have comic strip you’d like to share? Do it! All of it. Blogs have no rules so as long as your crazy content ideas fit with your branding, go for it. Often in blogs, it’s the wacky content that people respond to and your gives you a springboard for inspired content.
Leave a Reply