How to Create and Launch a Blog for Your Company.

Our website is currently being redesigned. Setting up a company blog is a priority right now. It takes a lot to launch and maintain a blog that is successful.

This article will show you how to make your company blog a success.

Why? Why? Because blogs generate 434% more search engine indexed pages than websites without them and 6x the revenue.

Blogs are the key to a great content marketing strategy. Research has shown that content marketing is more efficient than any other tactic.

We have a step-by–step guide to help you create a blog for your company. Let's get started.

Quick Takeaways

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  Blog owners will experience an increase in traffic, leads and sales if they start a blog.
  
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  Create a smart blog strategy to compete against high-authority websites in your niche.
  
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  Consistency is the key to better blog performance.
  
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  A blog should always drive customers to the next step, such as scheduling a consultation or starting a free trial.
  

We've looked at hundreds upon hundreds of great content marketing examples, including large company blogs and startup websites. In addition, we have also discussed how to create a company blog. We're going deeper with more details, tips, tools and actual plug-ins you can use.

Why do you need a company blog?

Blogs can help businesses attract more leads and build brand trust.

Customers prefer it. Studies have shown that 70% of customers would rather read about a company's articles than its advertisements.

If you consider the value that a company blog can bring to a company, it is one of the most costly mistakes a business could make in this digital age.

Blogs are 97% more popular with companies that blog. B2B marketers who blog receive 67 percent more leads compared to those who don’t. It's something I have seen with clients and with our company blog.

My blog content must be unique and relevant to my business. Although it takes effort and planning to create a successful business blog, it is not difficult as many business owners believe. It's possible for your blog to rank high in search engine results pages (SERPs), and compete with other highly-authority websites, if you have a well-executed strategy.

Configure and set up the Content Management System (CMS).

Setting up the site is the first thing to do. Companies make the common mistake of jumping straight into publishing content and not taking time to understand technical details. Although they may not be exciting, these details are essential in optimizing your blog to search engines, driving traffic and growing your audience.

Your business blog can be up and running in just a few days. No technical knowledge required.

You will need a platform to build a website or blog. WordPress is my favorite platform.

• It is free to download, but it has a lot of functionality.
• Plug-ins, themes and plug-ins make it easy to customize your blog.
• WordPress allows you to grant anyone access to your blog if you need someone to manage it for you. It's so easy to use, and everyone involved in content marketing and website maintenance knows how it works.

Add the blog to Main Navigation

The main navigation menu of your website is what visitors (and search engines!) use to navigate it. Use it to discover your content and decide if it is capable of helping them achieve the goals they have set for it. Even the best content can become lost without intuitive navigation. If this happens, it will have a negative impact on your organic search traffic.

Takeaway: Make sure your blog is visible in your main navigation menu.

What if your landing page is optimized to convert users? Is it possible for users to be directed in the wrong direction by adding your blog?

Although it's a legitimate question, the reality is that web visitors spend an average of 15 seconds on landing pages. According to research, 95% of website visitors will not return after their first visit. This is the perfect way to convert. It is a path that most people don't take.

Although your blog might not direct visitors to the best conversion path, it will give them reasons to visit your site more often and increase their time there. When done well, blog content builds trust and provides more opportunities to convert.

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Recent Articles added to your Homepage

Do you want to add more links on your homepage for your blog? Yes! Here's why:

Your homepage can be a place for blog posts. They will establish your brand authority before visitors click through to them. How? Your blogs have great headlines that let people know you are an expert, regardless of whether they actually read the entire article. They demonstrate that your brand covers timely and relevant content that is important to your customers.

If someone clicks away from your landing pages to read one, that's even better. Even better. Your blog has great content and other strategies to convert leads.

Make a Blog Page

We now know why you should link your blog page to your landing page. Let's discuss what this should look like.

You have many options for how you approach your blog layout. You should keep it consistent in design and theme with your website's rest, but you have the option to be creative about where you want to place and highlight content to highlight what is most important to your brand.

The best layout for your industry will depend on what you want your blog's purpose to do. B2B consulting companies would want case studies prominently displayed on their blog pages, while design firms will be more interested in featuring feature images that highlight past work.

These are some examples and best practices for blog layouts to inspire you.

Make the Article Page Template

To make your blog more interesting and to encourage higher conversions, customize your blog theme.

You can make your blog more interesting and encourage conversions by using a standard article-page wireframe. A featured image should be included in the wireframe design. This will encourage readers to follow the next logical steps when they visit your blog. Next, you might consider:

• Subscribe to your newsletter
• Start a free trial
• Share your content via social media
• Download an ebook or whitepaper
• Visit another page of your website such as the products or services page
• Schedule a consultation
• Read another blog article

Here is an example of the article wireframe that Marketing Insider Group uses:

Hey! Want the complete presentation on how your blog page should look? Contact me here for more details.

Create Keyword-Rich Categories

Strategic content organization is dependent on the categories and themes of your blog. These categories are important for helping you stay on the right track. They also provide guidance to search engine algorithms that help them determine how valuable your content is to their target audience. They help visitors navigate your website and organize your content.

These are your topic areas sections. They're similar to the "Local News," Business, and Sports sections of a traditional newspaper. Your blog categories will tell your readers where to find the articles they are looking for. You should aim to have 4-6 categories for your blog to organize your content. Each article should be assigned to a single category.

Your categories shouldn't be obscured or unrelated. Your categories should clearly identify the topics that your blog covers. Use keywords from the relevant categories to improve SEO (search engine optimization).

We'll discuss what makes great blog categories in a later article, but let's not forget that they should be created when you set up your blog. You can think of categories as sections in a newspaper: news, sports and business.

Use a clear URL structure

Although this is a simple step, it will ensure that your blog ranks higher on Google. This is how you create permanent URLs for each blog post. Each post will be identified by the permalinks, which contain custom data that is not just the date and a generic tag.

This is a better alternative:

https://example.com/index.php?p=2278

Search engines and search engine spiders will be able to see the URLs of your blog posts.

https://example.com/content-marketing/best-content-ideas-for-tech-startups/

Go to Settings>Permalink Settings to set the correct URL structure for your WordPress dashboard. Your blog URL structure should include the keyword or category name as well as the title.

Publish Frequently

You won't get the results that you want if you only publish articles when you have extra time or there is something happening in your industry. A company blog that is successful will be updated regularly.

How often should you post?

We have found that posting a minimum of three times per week is the most effective way to get traffic. This is where you will see steady growth in traffic and the benefits of compounding your organic traffic.

HubSpot also reported similar results with some variations based on blogging goals. Three to four blogs per week is sufficient for organic traffic. You may blog anywhere from one to four times per week if your goal is to increase brand awareness. This depends on how big your blog is.

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Your posts should be spread throughout the week. If you publish three times per week, one article should be posted on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. To ride the high traffic wave at the start of the week, you can also post twice on Monday and one on Tuesday.

It is a good practice for bloggers to publish when your audience are most active. It will depend on the industry you are in, your audience's lifestyle habits and the time zone your audience is most active.

Google Analytics can help you determine the best time to blog for your company. Post at 9 or 10 AM if most traffic is in the morning. Schedule your blogs to go live at 3:00 pm if there is a lot of traffic late in the afternoon.

Write for customers and search engines

You must please two audiences when you want to win in business blogging: your customers and search engines. Find keywords that are relevant for your audience. Next, look at the top-ranking search terms and improve your blog posts.

To write for customers

• To find out what your market is searching for, use tools such as Answer the public, Topic Research and Google trends.
• You can research the questions that your target buyers ask and the conversations they are having. Quora and other social media platforms, as well as comments sections and industry forums, are excellent resources.
• To better understand the intent of your customers, analyze intent data from web analytics and marketing automation software.
• For easier scanning, structure your content using bullet lists, keyword-rich subtitles and white space.

To write for search engines

• Make sure to use SEO best practices on your pages and include long-tail keywords and niche keywords in your content.
• Your keyword should be placed in the meta description.
• Do not use keyword stuffing and instead, make sure you have variations throughout your content.
• Google will notify you if your blog has new content by updating it regularly.

Both:

Make high-quality and useful content. High-quality content will draw links to other sites. It is important to create content that is so valuable and relevant that other thought leaders within your industry link back to it in their blogs. This will increase your SEO's effectiveness. Your readers will also be more engaged. Your readers will be more engaged if you have great content. They'll sign up to your email list and download your whitepaper.

Make a Content Calendar

A content calendar will help you plan your blog content to make it interesting for your readers and profitable for your business. Because you know ahead of time what, how, and why you will post, a calendar can help you create blog posts that your audience wants to read.

Blog content should be informative and educational, as well as helpful or inspiring. Every blog topic must pass the customer value litmus check before it can be published.

• Is the content solving a problem your target customers have?
• Is it able to answer the question they have?
• Is it able to make their lives easier, more satisfying, or better?

Each person must also have a business goal.

• Web traffic
• Engagement with the audience
• Brand Awareness
• Customer loyalty
• Nurturing and lead generation

It should also be compatible with the stage of the buyer's journey

• Target buyers are in the awareness stage. Top-of-funnel postings are for them. They are aware they have a problem but don't know how to solve it. Customers will be attracted to awareness stage content by getting tips and guidance. Blog posts tend to focus on awareness content.

Example: 10 Reasons Why Great content Matters

• These posts are aimed at buyers in the middle-of-the funnel. Here you can interact with thought leaders and in-depth guides. This is where you can explore the solutions they have and encourage them to download an ebook or to demo your product.

Example: Should you outsource great content or create it in-house? The Pros and Cons of Outsourcing Content Creation

• Buyers in the decision stage need bottom-of-the-funnel content. They are aware that they have a problem. They know the solution. The content should motivate them to convert. Blog posts can include case studies, statistics, or content that highlights the advantages of your solution.

Example: How Content Agencies Can Turn Your Business Around In Six Months

A calendar will help you keep track of everything and organize your blogging strategy. This will help you to create content faster. You can even plan months ahead of time and brainstorm topic ideas. This strategy has many benefits:

• It's easy to create blog articles whenever you have the time. You can also schedule posts from WordPress. You won't have to rush to get content out when you are busy.
• It helps improve the context of your blogs. You can use a calendar to plan a series of blog posts or organize your content so that each post builds on the previous one.
• It is easier to mix up your blog topics and create a diverse blog. You can plan your strategy in your content calendar to ensure that you post certain blog topics in each category, or include an infographic, video or interview in your articles.

DivvyHQ is a great tool for managing your content. This is the tool that we use to manage the content of all our clients. This post is also about the DNA of a successful business blog.

Social Media: Share regularly

To increase traffic to your blog posts, integrate social media into your business blogging strategy. Social media can be a powerful channel to increase your reach and engage more people through your blog.

Find out the social media networks that your audience prefers

Your customers are most likely on LinkedIn for B2B companies. Instagram is a great platform for lifestyle brands. Twitter is useful in fast-paced fields such as finance, marketing, and healthcare. Facebook is still the most popular platform and an integral part any business's marketing strategy. Sixty-eight% of adults use Facebook.

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Share your blog posts

Share your blog posts on social media every time you publish it. This will increase traffic to your blog posts, and make your brand's online presence more visible. This is a time-consuming task for business owners. You don't need to. To schedule your posts, use marketing automation tools like Hootsuite or CoSchedule. These tools offer analytics and alerts to help you understand the results of your campaigns.

Encourage others to share

You can make it easy for your readers to share your content. Automate this process for your readers and team to ensure that each blog post is shared on employee and company profiles.

Social sharing buttons can make your content more easily shared by your audience. I use the "Ultimate Social Icons and Share” plugin to accomplish this. To renew engagement and share, I use the "Revive Old Post Pro” plugin. It automatically retweets 3 posts each day.

My team uses IFTTT (short for If This Then That), to share MIG posts on LinkedIn.

These plugins and tools are not the only ones that can be used to encourage and automate social sharing. However, they have proven useful for us. Make sure to do your research on WordPress and other sites to discover the best plugins for you.

This 20-point checklist includes an infographic to help you create the perfect blog post.

Other content you might like?

Your business's social media channels should not be flooded with brand content. You can share videos and articles from other publishers. This sends a message to potential customers about how your business' social media pages are a source of valuable information and not just promoting it.

How often should you post on social media?

You should aim to post at least once a day. You can share a blog post, video, or curated content from thought leaders in your field. Or you can start a conversation about a current topic. It's possible for your business to grow and maintain a strong social presence with marketing automation tools.

Use email to nurture your audience

A blog post written well will encourage readers to sign up for your newsletter. Your business will be able to nurture new leads and bring back readers to your blog as you increase your email contacts.

This is where things can really heat up in your business. As you develop your content strategy, you will have more channels and interaction options for customers to engage: more blog posts, more social media content and more email campaigns.

• Your company blog is the foundation to attracting customers.
• Social media engages.
• Email is a great way to keep your customers engaged and grow your sales pipeline.

Warm leads are people who have signed up for your email newsletter via your blog. These contacts are ideal for you to send promotional content, information about product updates, early bird specials, webinar and event tickets, and other relevant information. Email is also a great way to share blog posts.

Here are six tips to help you with email nurturing

1. Tell them about your brand. Send out a weekly newsletter that highlights your best blog posts and other relevant content. Your newsletter can be sent out on Friday afternoon. After your Monday and Tuesday peak, you may be able create a second wave of traffic.
2. Use timely blog posts to reflect the current problems your customers face. Send them content to help them weather the storm, such as during the COVID crisis.
3. Be real. This is a subset your general audience. These are people who already follow your brand and have confirmed they like your business culture. To strengthen the relationship, speak to them in a casual, natural tone.
4. Segment your emails. You may group recipients based on their engagement level. Customers who open emails regularly or have downloaded white papers or ebooks would get different email content from those who do not engage or are inactive.
5. Test emails. Use A/B Testing for subject lines, email content and tone. One element at a given time. You can optimize your email campaigns by learning more about which elements resonate the most.
6. Email marketing automation saves time. Mailchimp and Sendinblue are great options for email marketing software. These software can be used to schedule emails or to track user activity.

Measuring Performance

A successful blog for your business is not something you can just do. To ensure the best ROI in marketing, measure performance.

Your blog's key performance indicators will help you identify its strengths and areas for improvement.

It is possible that the things that worked in the past are not as effective today. External factors can have an impact on your blog's performance. Google algorithm updates, changes to audience sentiment, new fierce competitors on the landscape – all of these factors can be affected by you. You can have an incredible company blog, execute a great strategy year after year, and still be surprised by some things along the way.

Blog metrics can be used to spot trends quickly. Instead of continuing to rely on what worked, adapt, test and optimize your content.

These are the four metrics that you can use for measuring blog performance

1. Web Traffic will show how many people visit your blog. This metric will show you where your audience is located. It also shows where traffic comes from.
2. Conversions can give you insight into the brand's value. Track subscription signups and registrations for B2B blogs. To track direct sales from your website, enable ecommerce tracking in Google Analytics. This will allow you to see how much revenue each page generates.
3. Metrics such as your bounce rate and session duration, along with the average pages per session, track engagement. These metrics will help you identify which posts can be improved to increase engagement. These metrics will also reveal which topics are most popular among your audience. This can help you choose topics to write about.
4. SERP ranking is important to determine how effective your SEO efforts are. Google Search Console can help you identify search terms that your blog ranks highly for. It's also important to monitor how your ranking changes over time. If your ranking drops, you should consider an SEO audit. You may also find that Google has updated their algorithm, which could have a negative effect on your blog. You can research the reasons for this and find out what you can do about improving your SEO performance.

These are the Essential Components of A Great Blog

OK — you've got your blog set up. Now, it's time for you to start thinking about how to make your blog even more awesome. These are seven things you can incorporate into your blog in order to make it more engaging, organized, and efficient for both yourself and your audience.

Categories

Let's begin by looking at blog categories. Why are blog categories so important? They provide a guideline for anyone who uses your website, including search engines, consumers, and you, the publisher, for navigation of your content. These categories are important to all of these groups.

• Consumers – Categories give your content a structure that allows your audience to quickly find what they are looking for.
• Search engines – Well-organized categories in your blog content allow search engine algorithms to efficiently navigate your content, understand each page and rank it accordingly.
• You: Your strategy is given direction by blog categories. These categories help you be more deliberate in your content creation and perform content gap analysis. They also prevent you from falling into the trap of creating too much content in certain categories or diverting to other categories that are not in line with your strategy.

Dates and Authors

Although it may seem insignificant to include dates and blog authors, they are important for your audience for many reasons. First, dates can help you draw in subscribers by displaying your publishing frequency.

Dates are another indicator that your content is relevant and timely. The world is constantly changing and so are the statistics and facts we use to support it.

Your blog posts should include dates to show your readers that you can trust the information is true at the time it was written. Other brands and content creators may also value dates in order to link to your content within their articles.

What about authors? Trust with your readers is built by including the author of your blog, and ideally a photo.

It shows the author's expertise and credentials in the subject they are covering. Even if they don't have a lot of experience, it is a good idea. Your content will be more authentic if you add a name to it. This tells your audience that it was written with care.

Find out how to find volunteers for your website.

Engaging Images

Every company blog should contain visual content. According to statistics, 90% of bloggers use images in their posts. Blog articles with images receive 94% more views than those that don't have images. Images are also processed faster and more thoroughly than text content.

Visuals can be used to break up your text and make your content easier to understand. This guide will help you find engaging images to add to your posts.

Don't stop at images, video is also the most popular and fastest-growing form of visual content. It is predicted that video will account for 82% of all internet traffic by next year. Infographics are the most shared content type (shared 3x more than other types).

Be creative with your visual content. Find the best visual content to support your topic, make your own visuals and select engaging images and videos to make your content more captivating.

Top Posts

Your top-performing posts perform so well because they resonate with your audience. Your blog page should highlight your most popular posts to increase reader engagement.

The WordPress "Popular Posts plugin makes it easy to highlight your most popular posts. Here's how:

Chances to capture Subscriptions

Many different ways to capture subscriptions are part of great blogs. This is possible by having a sign-up page for your email newsletter prominently displayed on both your main blog page as well as every article page.

Strong lead magnets such as PDF guides, checklists, and ebooks are a great way to get contact information. Every post should contain a CTA that encourages readers to take action, such as subscribing for your newsletter, scheduling an appointment or downloading content. All of these actions will provide you with their email addresses.

Deeper Engagement: Offers

What other activities can you take to connect with your audience more deeply? Free consultations are offered by some brands. Many companies offer webinars and video series. Some companies hold in-person events. Here, you can also include your lead magnets and high-value digital content.

No matter what your strategies are for engaging your audience, they should all be listed on your blog so your readers know the next steps.

These offers can be shared via banner ads or pop-ups. You can also mention them strategically in your content and include them in your CTAs. You have the opportunity to keep your blog audience interested and help them move on to the next stage of their customer journey, no matter what you do.

You can outsource it to make it happen

You probably don't have the time or energy to manage your blog strategy and write blog posts if you are a business owner. Hiring staff in-house may not be possible due to budget constraints. How can you create a business blog that generates traffic, leads and sales?

Outsource. Outsourcing can help you do what you cannot do in-house. Partnering with professional content strategists and creators can help you build a more powerful blog without the need to go through all of the costly and time-consuming trial and error that comes with business blogging. 70% of brands outsource content creation to specialist content agencies.

You'll also save money. Outsourcing allows you to pay only for the services that you require and scale up or down as needed. You are more flexible and ready to pivot.

You can get more visitors to your website by publishing quality content consistently. Contact us to learn more about our Content Builder Service. I will also send you a PDF copy of my books for a quick consultation. Get started today and generate more leads and traffic for your business.