Company Blogging Do’s & Don’ts

A company blog is a big part of setting up an SEO campaign for a company. A company blog is a crucial building block for companies who want to build traffic for their website and expose their brand online. In my opinion, a company deciding to have a blog is like rolling over and offering their vulnerable underbelly to their consumers. It’s a chance for companies to loosen their neckties and show their personal side in a professional atmosphere. That can either work for you or against you depending on how you use your blog. It is important to keep in mind these tips when writing a company blog, to ensure it doesn’t backfire against your company image.

1. Posting regularly is a must. You can’t create hype around your company by starting a blog, gaining readers and visitors and then let it fizzle out. Make sure you’re providing something substantial to your readers on a regular basis, to give them a reason to visit. Don’t copy other posts you find on the Internet. Discussing similar topics is understandable but make sure you personalize it and make it your own. If you have to discuss something you found on someone else’s blog, make sure you give them their due credit.

2. Never use the blog to snub another brand or company. True, a blog is a place for one to jot down their true feelings, thoughts and opinions. However, you have to keep in mind that EVERYONE will be reading your Company Blog. Your competitors, previous customers, prospective customers, business partners and investors all can read it, so it’s important to maintain a certain sense of responsibility regarding the material you put on your blog.

3. Have entertaining material. A blog can be a platform to showcase interesting videos, field advice, pictures, updates, theories in your line of work, breaking industry news, and much more. People should take away the idea that you are up to date in your field of work and are under a constant state of research and development when it comes to working. Impress people by showing that you’re on top of your game!

4. Don’t ramble on when writing a post. People get bored by long drawn out write-ups easily. So try and keep your posts on the shorter side. Limit your posts to around 500 to 700 words per entry. It helps to have colorful imagery incorporated throughout your post. For example, if you are explaining in your post how to use a program it would be recommended to include snapshots to make it easier for readers to understand what you’re writing about. It also gives a clean and attractive look to your posts when you are able to break your paragraphs with interesting images related to your write up.

5. Use grammatically correct English. Just because this is a personal aspect of your company, doesn’t mean you can forego all the usual literal parameters. Sure, you can give your blog post a casual touch by delving in a heart-to-heart write up for your consumers and clients. But make sure you have grammatically correct sentences and proper diction.

6. Don’t take undue advantage of stuffing as many keywords as possible in your blog posts. Sure you can do that if you want. But users will see through this façade and stop visiting your company blog when they realize you’re not keeping their interests in mind.

7. Be careful when promising something on your blog postings. There are a lot of companies that choose to utilize their blogs to reveal product release dates. If you don’t end up fulfilling those promises it will look pretty irresponsible on your company’s part.

8. Make sure the look of your blog correlates with your company website. Having a one theme for your company blog and another for your company website looks very amateur and disorderly. Logos and company colors, should be similar throughout both the websites so visitors can identify with your brand easily. You should host your blog on your domain.

9. Ensure your blog has the option for visitors to leave comments and feedback. This is crucial to your blog, as it gives you the opportunity to directly communicate with your consumers. Consumers will feel they can relate to your brand if their voices are being heard and can address their concerns.

10. Install Google Analytics to track down how many visitors you had each day. This will give you an idea of how company blogging is working for you. You will be able to review the effect of the enhancements or changes you make on your blog to see what does and doesn’t work for your Company Blog.