Tips for Developing a Popular Business Blog (Part Two)
Last week we looked at building relationships and growing our business by creating a blog. We discussed finding and incorporating our branding into free or low-cost themes, ways to capture an audience, and how to build trust by being honest and professional to attract a good following.
Now that we have the platform to our liking we will want to avoid some of the pitfalls when we first establish a blog site, as it relates to the multitude of widgets and add-ins available to bloggers. For example, don’t put up a Feedburner widget advertising that you have 6 subscribers. Stats like this should only be shared when they get into the hundreds or even thousands, depending on the audience you want to reach. Look and see if other blogs like yours share those stats. Many professional bloggers shun showing such stats, but often new bloggers are so excited about available widgets, they’ll stick anything on their blogs without thinking of how it looks to their readership.
Comments are the one stat you can’t (and shouldn’t) fake. Never ever create comments and post them yourself. People can tell. It’s impossible to make fake comments sound genuine, so don’t try. It’s dishonest, and will break the trust you’re trying to build up with your blog readers. It is okay to ask friends to comment on your blogs, but make sure they have a genuine interest, otherwise it will show. Don’t let yourself fall into the trap of being so desperate for comments that you resort to lying to your audience.
The absolute best way to get comments on your blog is to leave comments on relevant blogs. When you comment on a blog, you’ll be allowed to leave a link back to your own website. Typically the blog owner will come visit your site to see who you are, and likely their readers will come visit you, too. This method takes a little extra time, but it works. Just remember that once those comments are out there, you can’t take them back, so be professional!
Once you have your audience built up, you will be able to devote less time to commenting on other blogs, but don’t forget that blogging is a community event, not a one-man show.
Here are a few things to consider:
- Talk up your successes, achievements, what you’ve learned.
- Don’t talk down in your posts – this will cause readers not to come back.
- Invite readers to comment by asking questions in your posts and thank them for their comments.
- Be consistent with your posts. Even if you’re not getting comments the posts will add up and get indexed by Google driving people to your site.
- Don’t give up! It can take up to a year to build a good blog following. Keep making regular posts, they will come.
Blogging is a rewarding way to not only drive business to your website, but connect with readers and customers. Keep at it, and success will come. Be patient, and participate in a community of bloggers who all write about the same topic, and soon you will find your visitor stats building.
Take a moment to share a blog question or success in the comment box below. It will help to expand your online presence and connect people back to you.
Jeannine Clontz, IVAA CVA, MVA, EthicsChecked™, owner of Accurate Business Services is a Virtual Assistant (VA). ABS provides ‘as needed’ marketing and social media support, training and consulting to busy entrepreneurs. Clontz is a writer, author, VA Coach, and speaker on business topics including business ethics. For her FREE 10-Step Guide to Finding the Right VA, or herFREE Report, Social Media Marketing Benefits, visit: http://www.accbizsvcs.com. Find out more at www.VAbizcoach.com or her book website http://www.entrepreneurialfreedom.com
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Dear Jeannine,
Your comments are extremely useful. Do you have any thoughts about the best platform for one’s blogs? I.e. does one’s choice of platform influence one’s ability to market the blog? How would a newspaper blog compare with other options? Any thoughts? This really intrigues me.
Kind regards,
Conrad
Hi, Conrad – I highly recommend WordPress.org as your platform- they have all the bells and whistles, lots of free themes to personalize your blog site, and the most up-to-date plug-ins. I have clients who use blogger.com (the google product), and typepad – nothing wrong with them, just not as powerful if you’re looking to include video, audio, and all the things possible within a blog platform – you will also find that people like GoDaddy, and other online technologies now accept and promote WordPress.org so the setup and hosting is much easier than with some of the other platforms – and of course, to get the best SEO, you do want to have a hosted blog – something like….www.mywebsite.com/blog – great way to continue your brand and increase rankings.
I don’t exactly know what you mean by a ‘newspaper’ blog – can you tell me more?