Blog for business: 9 tips on how to write an effective blog post
Adding a blog to your business website is a brilliant way to connect with your consumers and also adds strength to your brand.
Many businesses haven’t latched on to the idea that a blog is a beneficial tool to use. Most believe a blog can be time-consuming; that thinking up ideas for posts and honing the quality isn’t worth the effort. We, at Verve Search, believe that’s utter rubbish.
A business blog for your website is not a waste of your time or website space. In fact, it’s one of the most cost-effective ways to promote your business which will inevitably lead to more sales, establish yourself as a leading authority in the industry, and give you a chance to broaden your market reach. Plus, it’s bloody easy to blog. Everyone’s doing it these days. I bet even your own mother is a blogger. Believe me, that’s no insult.
Here are some top tips on how to blog for business professionals.
1. Write for your consumers – they are your readers, after all
Writing a blog for your business is completely different to a personal blog. In other words, it is not about you (sadly). Your business blog is about your business and your customers.
Always remember that the people who are going to read your blog are consumers and potential consumers, so write for them. Your blog posts should aim to answer any possible questions they may have and deliver new insights into your industry.
2. Plan business for blog content in advance
Phrase one: “There simply isn’t the time!”
Phrase two: “I have no idea what to write about!”
How many of you have used these two phrases as an excuse for not having a blog? Be honest. Well, brighten up lads and ladies for there is a solution: plan your blog posts. Lucky for you, we’ve attached an example of our content calendar below.
Every content calendar changes depending on your business needs and plans. Make sure to include a plan of title, who’s writing the piece, a proposed publish date and the categories you want this piece to sit in. These are all super important before you even start the drafting process.
This will solve any excuses for lack of time and ideas when the weekly calendar rolls around to blog-post-day (which should be around once a week by the way, more on that later). The benefits of mood boarding and brainstorming can take your blog that one step further. With a bit of planning at the start of each month, you can have enough ideas to keep the blog running for weeks.
3. Never underestimate the power of a good keyword
Overlooking the power of an SEO keyword is a big no-no. It impacts how a blog post is found in the search engine. The first thing a potential reader looks at is the title so you need a title that draws readers in and indicates what the post is about, whilst also including your keyword to be picked up by search engines.
Not sure what a ‘keyword’ is? Well, an SEO keyword is added to content online to make it optimized for a search engine. This means trailing the keyword throughout the content so that engines can pick up on what that content is about and rank it higher.
For example, notice how actionable the title of this blog post is indicating that you, the reader, will learn how to write a successful business blog. If I opted for a questioning title I could have gone for ‘Should You Add A Blog To Your Business Website?’ (The answer is ‘yes’ by the way).
4. Create constructive content on your blog for business
Providing your readers with valuable content is key to a successful business blog. It’s a way of establishing your business website as a leading authority in your industry. Writing about what you know is the easiest way to write.
For example, let’s say your business sells concrete countertops (yes, of course there are businesses for that!) which can admittedly be a dry subject but it’s your concrete business and you’re an expert on the subject. Write posts on the subject of choosing the right diamond pads for your concrete countertop, how fluctuating weather conditions can affect concrete, and what concrete countertops look like around the world. You can even veer away a bit and write something about how concrete is used in art projects. It’s all relevant and interesting content… as relevant and interesting as concrete can be.
Also, if you give readers posts that are informative and answer any questions they may have had on the subject they will reward you by becoming loyal consumers. Make your consumers see that you are the concrete solution to their concrete problem.
5. Blog little but often
Blog posts are not essays, so keep them short and sweet. People online are more likely to scan website content so it’s important to make every single word count.
If it takes you 1000 words or more to get a message across to your readers (just like this post) that’s absolutely fine. In terms of how often, the best practice is to blog at a consistency you believe you can maintain – once a week is good. Set a day to upload the post and stick to it. Search engines like new content and the more frequently you update your blog and website the higher your rankings.
6. Get the whole team involved
The blog shouldn’t be seen as one person’s sole responsibility. It’ll quickly become too overwhelming for that person and you’ll soon hear the two whining phrases outlined in point No.2. Give everyone a chance to write and share the responsibility of the blog. And when I say everyone I mean everyone from the CEO to the tea boy.
The best way to make this work is to draw up a blog rota every month. The different styles of writing and the voice that will emerge from your business will add more personality and ‘human’ depth. Plus, the more people you get to become bloggers, the bigger your pool of content ideas. Bonus.
7. Be inspired by your consumers
Remember that the consumers are your readers. Sometimes consumers have specific questions. Don’t just ask them in an FAQ section. Instead, answer the question by writing a post.
For example, your business sells concrete countertops (yes, seriously there are businesses out there that do that!) and consumers you’ve dealt with in the past wanted to know the ways to make their concrete countertops look more interesting. You can write a post outlining the options available to them from imbedding coloured glass to making a mosaic pattern, creating a marble effect or using glow-in-the-dark aggregate. Question answered.
Research what consumers are looking for by using the search engine. Look at search suggestions and related searches. Find keywords for your research. You can use a tool such as Google AdWords Keyword Tool to find keyword phrases that could turn into blog post titles which will drive more traffic to the blog.
8. Be visual
A simple technique to turn potential readers into actual readers is to provide images. Photos, graphs, infographics and videos have the power to communicate in a different, more instant, way than words. Images draw an audience in and provide an additional point of interest to your posts.
N.B. Do also make sure any images you use for your blog are either yours or Creative Commons images.
9. Analyse your blog for business performance
Use a web stats tool such as Google Analytics to measure your website’s performance. It’s free and is quick to install. You can use it to monitor how your blog’s performance is doing and get an idea of the ways people are finding your blog and what posts are the most popular. From all that information you can judge what’s been a success and how you can improve your future blog posts.
A big thanks to everyone who attended this year’s outREACH conference! We had a great day, and were humbled by the quality of speakers from across the industry.
outREACH conferences are designed to give first hand insight into the professional elements that make up outreach, and we’re pleased to report that we learnt a lot from the great talks throughout the day. We are lucky to work in an industry where everyone is open to sharing their ideas, processes and experiences.
“By being personal, you’re not showing weakness, you show strength.”
Jack Murray from All good tales kicked off the day by showing us the difference between churning out content and telling truly engaging stories. In a talk which managed to connect on an emotional level with an entire auditorium, Jack set a new standard for how marketers should engage with their audiences.
For evidence of his storytelling power, you don’t need to look any further than Twitter:
“Only psychopaths put all their information in a 12mb attachment”
As an editor from the BBC,Richard Fishermade every outreach and PR professional in the audience sit up a little straighter by giving his dos and don’ts for approaching journalists. Richard shed some light on what makes a story, and also how often men bite dogs (I think you had to be there).
Richard also pointed out the importance of timing when approaching journalists, explaining that a particular story or topic will grow, and finally peak before ending up in the ‘bathtub of death’. The areas of outreach opportunity are therefore ideally before the peak, or potentially after the topic re-emerges later down the line.
“Be kind. The great and silly ideas have come about with the help of a team of people. If things get tough, keep going and encourage one another to not lose heart.”
Lexi Mills from Shift6 taught everyone how playful ideas can tip the scale between an okay PR campaign and an unforgettable one. From an entire bathroom made of sweets to a solid gold mobile, Lexi showed us why she isn’t afraid to pursue big ideas.
Finally, a big takeaway for those in client-facing positions is Lexi’s suggestion; “Don’t ask for yes. Ask for consideration”.
Q: “Do you include a press release when you contact journalists?”
Alex: “I try and keep everything that would be in a press release in the email body when sending outreach emails.”
Next we welcomed a panel of experienced outreach professionals to the stage, who showed us how different agencies master the art of getting links. With a shower of questions from the audience, Shannon McGuirk from Aira.net, Bobbi Brant from Kaizen and Verve’s very own Alex Cassidy gave first hand advice on email approaches, tools, angles and emojis.
A good question from the audience was to ask how outreach professionals should handle exclusives. Should you offer them to journalists? And if so, when? The consensus was to be careful with this, but that offering it to publications particularly important to the client can be worthwhile.
As Alex noted however, these offers have to have an expiry date, so if you don’t hear back soon enough then you can always retract!
“Look for multiple angles. Target your prospecting. Leverage relationships. Contextualise your emails. Maintain flexibility.”
Stephen Panico from BuzzStream followed the panel, digging a bit deeper into the data behind open rates, explaining the reoccurring traits of successful campaigns. With an average BuzzStream customer reply rate of 12%, we learnt what top performers were doing differently to achieve 40%. Targeted approaches and ‘chunking’ as never before, Stephen underlined the importance of building out ideas to increase email reply rates.
“If your asset stops generating links as soon as outreach and promo stops, did you really even build a linkable asset?”
Stacey MacNaught set the tone for creating valuable campaigns which will continue to be linkable long after active outreach has finished. Stacey’s research underlined how many industry professionals are too quick to forget about campaigns once designated outreach time is complete; and that revisiting these campaigns is key to long-term success. If a piece is well researched, why not optimise your content and become a source of information. In her own words, “people who don’t link to their sources are bastards”.
“Go into deep details on link metrics and also bring a human element into reporting. SEO needs to be a hybrid as we’re trying please people and robots.”
Engaging in an industry-wide debate on how best to measure the value of a link, James Finlayson introduced Verve’s Linkscore tool. James illustrated how we should be reporting on the quality rather than the quantity of links, explaining why domain authority alone was not enough on it’s own to measure success. By applying a range metrics which are most valuable to the client, James showed us how we can more precisely target publications and build the right links. It’s fair to say that following its launch there was quite a lot of buzz and chatter around the tool which we hope will shape the way the SEO industry measure success.
“Help people be more of who they are”
Our CEO Lisa Myers showed us the importance of your team when it comes to getting the outcomes you want; “take care of people and people will take care of results”.
Running through the ups and downs of getting a campaign launched, Lisa explained how grit, collaboration and believing can get teams past many obstacles.
Resonating with many on our team (and beyond!), Lisa emphasised how you should champion individual’s talents rather than looking for specific digital experience. The take home: a well connected team who feel they belong will nurture ongoing success.
“People aren’t against you – they’re for themselves.”
As our keynote speaker, James Ãlvarez changed the pace of the conference with insights into the world of hostage negotiation. James illustrated common themes that make up a hostage situation, in turn showing us how we deal with conflict in our daily lives.
Boiling down to a human level, James told us that in order to handle others, in hostage situations or otherwise, we would need to understand what the other person truly wants. It is only then that we might be about to influence their behaviour. It was a fascinating talk to end off the day with, with many of us feeling reassured in our *somewhat* improved chances should we ever find ourselves in a similar position!
That’s it folks! Thank you for another great conference, and we look forward to seeing you next year. Full videos of our talks will be available soon, and the pictures from the event and after-party are here.
outREACH Conference is back for 2018
At the beginning of 2017, we decided to embark on a new challenge – run a conference!
Lisa, a seasoned conference speaker, had felt for a long time that there was an appetite in the industry for a conference 100% dedicated to outreach, and that we should run it. We booked the venue the very next day.
On June 9th 2017, over 250 attendees travelled from both within the UK and further afield (Poland, the Netherlands, Finland, Denmark, Germany, USA, Pakistan and more) to join us for the first outREACH Conference.
We were overwhelmed by the awesome tweets and positive feedback we received:
Such a fantastic conference meeting so many talented individuals. Thank you to everyone involved @OutREACHconf#outREACH
And so, we’re back with a bang in 2018, with this one day, single-track conference, 100% dedicated to outreach. With sessions on mindset, creativity, outreach strategy, plus actionable tips, advice and everything you need to succeed.
Don’t miss the opportunity to learn from the very best in the industry
Save the date: Friday June 8th at the Congress Centre, 28 Russell St, WC1B 3LS.
Stacey has been involved in the creation of content online since 2006. In 2009, she joined Tecmark, where she leads SEO and largely link building centric content marketing campaigns for businesses in travel, retail, professional services and finance. Stacey is also an inc.com columnist and has spoken at a number of marketing conferences globally.
Jack is a media innovator with over 20 years’ experience at the most senior level in the Irish communications industry. He has worked in marketing, journalism and media relations. He is a former political spokesperson and government advisor, as well as an award-winning corporate PR practitioner. In 2016, Jack created All Good Tales, after realising that communications was entering a golden age of storytelling, and that those with the best stories succeed.
Lisa Myers is the CEO & Founder of Verve. Lisa has been working in SEO since 2005 and is a prolific speaker at Digital Marketing conferences worldwide.
She’s a geek, a passionate entrepreneur and inspirational speaker. Often refers to herself as a modern day shield-maiden, and always finds a way of quoting Yoda.
& the full speaker line up will be announced soon…
Be one of the first to secure your tickets & get £80 off the standard price when you buy before March 31st 2018. Early bird tickets are just £170.00 (+VAT) – get yours here
With thanks for our Headline Sponsor for 2018
We look forward to seeing you there!
Thank you for attending outREACH!
Wales, Poland, The Netherlands, Finland, Denmark, Germany, The USA, and Pakistan… these are just a few countries our conference attendees travelled from to spend a day at outREACH.
Our aim was to put on a conference which was totally unique, full of useful advice and straight to the point. No bull sh*t. We wanted to go through the steps and processes everyone goes through from coming up with a GOOD idea, having the balls to execute the idea and not letting rules stop you, and then having the RIGHT mindset to outreach it.
The panel take the stage
We introduced an expert panel who shared examples of their perfectly crafted (and less than perfectly crafted) emails to give examples of what worked for them, and what hasn’t.
Our speakers also included Paul May, from BuzzStream, who analysed over 30,000 emails and told us what was working and wasn’t. Mike King, took the floor to advise on how to utilise machine learning to help speed up your processes.
We have been overwhelmed by the lovely tweets you have been sending us, here are just a few of our favourites..
Congratulations to @VerveSearch for an incredible @OutREACHconf . Inspiring and educational talks. Highly recommend for next year. ????????????????????
We also have videos of all the sessions, these are free to access for attendees, and £75 (plus VAT) for non attendees. These videos will be available early next week.
We had a fantastic time and are truly blessed to be working in such a awesome industry where we are willing to share and develop together. Thank YOU!
One dreary morning in January we decided that it would be a good idea to host a conference in the summer, you know, just to challenge ourselves a little. The next day the venue was booked.
A week later we’d got the branding sorted and had put up a page on the website. Now there are just a few days to go until outREACH, our first ever conference!
We are so humbled by the positive response we’ve had from brands, other agencies and freelancers, and we would like to thank everyone who has bought a ticket to support us. We cannot wait to meet you all on Friday!
As seasoned speakers, Lisa and Hannah knew exactly what was missing from the conference scene – a single track event 100% dedicated to outreaching content. Our event follows the whole process, with sessions on coming up with creative campaigns, how to get your ideas signed off, mindset, how to (and how not to) approach journalists, processes, tools, tips, and so much more. There is no other event like it in the SEO conference calendar.
We’ve hand-picked our speakers and the entire event has been planned around their specialist knowledge. You can see a full list of speakers on our agenda page here.
Jim will show you how to tame your tigers
Closing the conference is our keynote speaker, Mr Jim Lawless, with his tales on how he used the right mindset to ‘tame his tigers’ and become a jockey…oh, and also get in the record books.
outREACH takes place this Friday, 9th June, at the Congress Centre, 28 Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3EN.
If you would like to purchase a ticket (we have less than 15 remaining), click here and enter the promo code LASTCHANCE and you will be able to secure your ticket with a 30% discount off the ticket price.
We would really love to see you there!
What Makes News?
“How do I get a journalist to cover my topic?”
This is a question that PRs constantly ask.
Experience teaches a lot about what news media’s preferences are, but learning what the definition of news is can be rather helpful as well:
The definition of news is simple. News can be defined as information about current events.
Not all information about current events is news though.
A piece of current information becomes news when it is new, unusual, interesting, significant and about people. This can be an event, action or occurrence.
Let’s look at a few examples to understand better what actually constitutes news:
‘A bus driver drove kids to school this morning’ is not news. This piece of current information is about people, but it’s nothing new, nor is it unusual, interesting or significant.
If the bus driver hadn’t turned up to work in the morning and the kids were left at the bus stop waiting for their lift to school, it would be news , this event is at least unusual, maybe even interesting on a local level.
The aforementioned example also proves the importance of newness. The fact that the bus driver did not turn up to work and the kids were left to make their own way to school is news on the day it happened, and possibly in print 24-hours later.
News has to be something new. Unusualness or significance doesn’t help if the piece of information is already known to the general public.
To make headlines outside of a local newsbeat, the bus driver story would need greater significance.
The significance could be increased, for example, by very poor weather conditions , if the kids had to wait in an ice storm, the event would have been more widely significant and, therefore, a lot more newsworthy.
The involvement of people is key in this example as well. If the driver didn’t turn up to work but there were no kids at the bus stop waiting, the bus driver’s absence would not make news.
Sometimes a story does not require people to be the subject , like a hurricane for example , but the hurricane only becomes news if it touches people, or something connected to people, such as a house or bridge. In an uninhabited area, a hurricane is not news, but as soon as it threatens a town or a city populated with people, it becomes newsworthy.
So how do we apply this in our work?
Last autumn we created Polar Night Counter for Expedia Finland. It is a tool that counts down the days to the polar night , a period of time when the sun doesn’t rise above the horizon , and tells the length of the day in different parts of Finland.
The annual light phenomenon inside the polar circles has hardly anything to do with people , and one can’t call it very unusual either since it happens every year. How did we then manage to get any coverage for it?
The polar night isn’t about people but it definitely has an impact on people.
Just imagine being in Utsjoki, the northernmost town of Finland where in winter the sun doesn’t rise in 52 days. The dark period unarguably affects people , some say it makes them tired or even depressed, whereas others cherish the beauty of the mysterious blue light it creates.
MTV.fi is the online news site of Finnish MTV, one of country’s biggest commercial TV channels.
We turned the piece into news by listing the duration of polar night in northern cities and towns in Finland. We thought this would allow the newspapers’ readers to see clearly what the polar night means to them , in other words we made it clear how this phenomenon has an impact on people.
By picking the most interesting and newsworthy pieces of information and presenting it in an easily readable format we made it easy for media to cover the topic. The timing was also key: we contacted media early before the start of the polar night , because the start of the polar night is only news when it happens, not a day or two after. Polar Night Counter wasn’t only covered by local publications, but national too on the eve of the start of polar night in Utsjoki.
Ilta-Sanomat is one of the biggest online newspapers in Finland
So much about news! Hope this example helped you to understand the concept of news better.
We’re excited to announce that our very own CEO, Lisa Myers, has been recognised within the ‘CEO and Leader’s’ category in the prestigious BIMA 100list.
The BIMA 100 recognises the best in UK digital and celebrates individuals who are shaping the future of Britain’s digital industry.
Here are some things we LOVE about Lisa:
She has great passion and believes that we are able to do anything if we put our minds to it (a VR campaign on a Norwegian Train? , Sure!)
She’s inspiring , she set up her own SEO Agency eight years ago and has grown the agency to become one of Europe’s leading SEO agencies. Winning Best SEO Agency two years running at the European Search Awards.
She never gives up. She’s like Yoda really.
She cares very much about people and culture; she strives to develop people in the very best way she can. She also has an uncanny ability to spot talent.
She does an awesome RUNNING MAN on occasion.
But seriously, she deserves this nomination and we are very proud to call her ‘the boss‘.
Congratulations to Lisa and the other people recognised in the BIMA 100, enjoy your night in London on the 9th May!
Stephen Panico
“People aren’t against you – they’re for themselves.”
edia innovator with over 20 years’ experience at the most senior level in the Irish communications industry. He has worked in marketing, journalism and media relations. He is a former political spokesperson and government advisor, as well as an award-winning corporate PR practitioner. In 2016, Jack created All Good Tales, after realising that communications was entering a golden age of storytelling, and that those with the best stories succeed.
The BIMA 100 recognises the best in UK digital and celebrates individuals who are shaping the future of Britain’s digital industry.
She has great passion and believes that we are able to do anything if we put our minds to it (a