Today I’m writing a blog about how to blog… oh the irony! Recently I’ve had the pleasure of coaching several of my clients and teaching them how to make small easy changes that dramatically improve the impact that their blogs have on their business. Take a few minutes and give this a read, start implementing these recommendations into your blog and enjoy the positive momentum that will result.

• Blog regularly. If you’re not going to blog regularly you’ll never gain or keep any of the positive momentum that you’re generating.
• Be genuine, don’t have hidden agendas; providing value should be your agenda – people do business with who they know / like / trust. Your blogs are an opportunity to earn this.

• Point form punchy content is worth a thousand paragraphs. Don’t write paragraphs & paragraphs of text for your website. More than 90% of your traffic will never read it.  In fact paragraphs of text are known to distract your customers from purchasing your products & services.
• Brainstorm your title, think about how people will search for your content and title your blog accordingly (e.g. “The Fundamentals to Creating a Successful Blog”).
• Include an image with each blog. Any time your blog is shared on social media, this image will be displayed alongside, resulting in additional clicks due to its increased footprint in the social media newsfeeds
• Name your image file name and don’t forget to match it to your title and add ALT text (e.g. “the-fundamentals-to-creating-a-successful-blog.jpg”)
• Use the more tag. If you’re blogging with a platform such as WordPress that supports the “more” tag, make use of it. This will shorten each blog on your blog listing page and then display “Continue reading →”. The reason you should use this is because it makes your blog easier to navigate, allowing visitors to quickly scan the various topics of your recent blogs.
• Open links in new windows. If you have links in your blog, always open them in a new window so that you don’t send your visitor to another website
• Include a signature on each blog article. As your articles are shared and/or re-blogged this will be helpful in ensuring you get the benefit as a result.
• Don’t write on topics outside your realm of expertise and/or interests. It will detract from the value of your blog and it may harm your credibility.
• Try not to outsource your blogs. Nobody knows your business better than you do, if they are a professional blogger chances are they’re re-using sections of their content and search engines will flag your blog articles as duplicate posts. Be very careful if you consider this option.
• Pay attention to traffic. Accept that 2-3 out of 100 blogs will take off; the rest will not; then take note and focus on where the interest is.
• Include some personal blogs amongst your professional blogs. Remember, people do business with those they know, like and trust. Personal blogs are some of the most powerful ways for your visitors to get to know you, to emotionally connect with you and to want to do business with you.
• Find guest blog spots in reputable blogs (chambers of commerce, etc.). By posting blogs in new forums, in front of new audiences, you will gain additional readers thereby exposing you to new opportunities.