You keep hearing that your company needs to be blogging.

You’ve even read articles (here) about why you should have a blog. And these articles make sense and spell out the benefits that a blog can provide in terms of helping you market yourself on the web. But how do you get started? If you’re ready to pull the trigger, what are the things you need to consider so that your blog is not set up for failure?

Let’s break this process down into three key considerations: developing your blog content strategy, blog setup and ongoing content development. Ready to dig in?

Your Blog Content Strategy

Before you dive head first into the blogosphere, it’s vital to think through the overall marketing strategy of your organization and translate that into a blog content strategy. Ask yourself these questions:

• Who is your ideal buyer?
• What are their needs/pain points as they relate to your offering?
• What types of content would they find most valuable?
• In which formats should your content be created (written word, video, audio, all of the above)?
• Which words or phrases would they use when searching for your offering online?
• Do you have the capabilities to create this content in-house?

With these questions answered, spend some time brainstorming content topics and ideas that fall in line with your buyer’s informational needs. Your goal should be to consistently and frequently provide content that will attract buyers/influencers and move them to the next step in their buying process, which may be a phone call to you.

Blog Setup

The first question you need to ask yourself here is whether your blog will be seamlessly integrated within an existing website, or will this be a separate entity that you are starting from scratch. For most companies, it’s recommended that your blog be seamless with your website. This scenario typically requires programming assistance, but if you are building your entire website on a blogging platform (ex: Wordpress), programming assistance might not be required.

Important note: Search engines love blogs. The backend structure of blog websites is very search-engine friendly and the content you post is like food for search engine spiders. If you keep feeding them good food, they’ll reward you with higher search engine rankings. But there’s a caveat to this. Housing a blog on your website domain (ex: www.YourSite.com/blog) ensures that your website is getting the credit for feeding the spiders, thus higher rankings. If your company blog is hosted on a blog platform (ex: yourcompany.wordpress.com) separately from your company website, the search engines won’t put two and two together and you won’t get much credit for the food (content) you’re dishing out.

Another piece of blog setup is your blog’s design and layout. Design/brand consistency is always important and you don’t want new blog visitors feeling like they just jumped out of the trunk of a car and have no idea where they are. Try to incorporate your brand image into your blog design as much as you can and if you have the budget, hire a designer to create a custom theme that integrates your brand seamlessly. If you’re starting from scratch, there are also some amazing, inexpensive, pre-designed themes out there that can provide a high-end look for chump change.

Best Practices / Things to Avoid

As blogs and the practice of blogging have matured, several best practices have developed relating to the setup, usability and function of blogs. Here are a few to remember:

• Make sure to provide interested readers with both RSS AND e-mail subscription options.
• Create topic-based categories for your blog content so visitors can quickly locate the blog posts that match their informational needs.
• Offer content sharing mechanisms that allow visitors to share your content via e-mail, social networking sites and social bookmarking tools.
• Include links to your own social media profiles to build your network of followers.
• Include links to your most popular blog posts so that visitors can see your best stuff.

Ongoing Content Development

Can’t think of anything to blog about? Step out of your box and listen to your marketplace. Engaging in and monitoring the social media realm is great for content inspiration. Subscribe to industry blogs. Follow industry experts on Twitter. Identify online forums and groups that might be the virtual stomping grounds of your buyers. Take note of the questions they ask or the comments they make related to your offering.

If you’re still struggling, try this exercise. Keep a notepad next to your phone. After every prospect or client phone call, jot down the topics you covered during your conversation. At the end of the day, you’ll likely have noted a few common questions/topics that would make great blog topics.

As more and more content ideas develop, write them down! Start an editorial calendar that helps you organize your blogging schedule. Then develop some internal processes and dedicate some time for content development each week.

If you can’t get it done yourself, hire a professional copywriter to help you with content ideas and copywriting. A sit-down session with them once a month may be all you need to knock out several blog posts. Then space the posts out according to your desired frequency.

A Final Word of Advice

This is not an “if-you-build-it-they-will-come” scenario. Don’t expect too much, too soon. Between regular blogging, valuable content, promotion of your content via social media and the search engines, you should see a gradual, steady increase in traffic and opportunities each month. Conversely, as your blogging drops off, you’ll probably see a steady decrease. Keeping an eye on your traffic statistics can be a great motivator!

Here comes the sales pitch…If you need assistance with creating a blog (or a website, or both!) for your company, we’d love to help. Sometimes it feels like that’s all we do these days. Give us a call or submit our inquiry form and we’ll talk through things. No obligations.