A short guide on how to make the most of your website blog

Ok, so you have your new website, it has a great blog integrated, but what are you supposed to do with it?

Generally, a blog is an easy and quick way for you to post news, updates and general information or guidance about you and if applicable, your company.

If setup, any new post you make will also go straight to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn depending on which social media platforms you use, so it is also a good way to get your news or information sent to a number of different places without having to create the same content manually in each place.

Your website visitors can subscribe to your blog (or individual posts/categories) so every time you make a new post they will get an e-mail telling them about it, so they can come back to your website and read the article in full - a superb way to get repeat visitors, keep existing clients aware of your services, and potentially attract new clients who may find your blog posts interesting.

What should I write about?

This will mainly depend on the focus of your website or blog - for a blog related to your business, any news, offers or information about your services is always good.  Consider posting any customer testimonials too, you can tag posts or manage your categories to focus your new posts in the right section of your blog for easy navigation by visitors.

How often should I make new blog posts?

This is entirely up to you, but as search engines love websites with new and relevant content (relevant to your website), as often as you can schedule it into your time is the best advice.  If you really want to make the most of your blog, create slots in your schedule to create new articles or even just share them again to get them noticed.

If you have the inclination, making PDFs or PowerPoint presentations from your blog posts and sharing these is also another way to get your content out there and to get your website noticed.

Having a regular schedule of blog posts means your readers know what to expect. Instead of posting to Facebook directly, why not just post to your blog and get your website and Facebook page updated at the same time!

How should I write my blog?

Make your posts concise and avoid making them too lengthy - consider the type of reader you are aiming to attract and write for them, as opposed to for yourself.  Use language and terminology that they should understand - you could even consider writing a blog post explaining the terminology linked to your business, as that would likely prove very attractive to search engines when anyone is searching for such explanations themselves!

Where relevant, use appropriate pictures, info graphics and YouTube videos in your posts to give readers some visual interest.  Where it makes sense to do so, include the key words and phrases you are looking to target on your main website when people type these into search engines.

Final words

Having a successful blog is not something that is likely to happen overnight, but keep at it and see which posts attract the most attention and hits, and use those to steer future posts.

If you ever have the option, you could even consider having a guest blogger from your industry or area of interest, as they will likely share their post on their own blog and social media, helping you get noticed even more!