9 Ways to "Power Up" Your Business Blog

Step back and take a look at your blog's performance in these nine areas. Improvement in just one of these can boost search engine rankings, drive more customers to your site, and encourage visitors to become subscribers.

Written Feb 26, 2009, read 2173 times since then.

Could one of these nine tips make a difference in your blog's effectiveness? I've been blogging for years, and I'm still trying to get all of these implemented! Each time I add one, I think "Why didn't I do this before?"

Location. Is your blog address "myblog.wordpress.com" instead of at "mygreatwebsite/blog"? By putting your blog onsite (which involves implementing a redirect) you make it easy for blog readers to use the nav bar on your site to access the rest of your company's content — and buy your products or services.
Identity. Do you make it clear who's blogging? Is it the CEO? A team of employees? Especially if your business blog mixes business and personal stories, put the identity of the blogger/bloggers up in the blog's header or in the top of the sidebar. Something like "an inside view of the widget industry from <company name> CEO Joe Jones." Or "Staff here at <company name> share tips, tricks, and industry news." People should be able to see the identity statement (not just the name "Joe Jones") from any page on the blog.
Tags. Put tags and categories to work for you. They help with search engine rankings. Plus, having a list of categories or a "tag cloud" in the sidebar makes it easier for new visitors to get a idea of the topics your blog covers.
Keywords. Whether you hire an SEO expert to do a keyword analysis (recommended) or you pretty much "know" the keywords and keyword phrases for your business, keep a list of them to refer to as you write blog posts. Make sure the keywords turn up as tags.
Bullets. Are your blog posts eye-catching? For both SEO purposes and general readability, it helps to have numbers in your headlines and bullets in the text. (That's why I've titled this article "9 Ways to 'Power Up' Your Business Blog.")
Images. A picture is worth...well, you know. Luckily, IndexStock sells professional-quality photos very cheaply — just $1 for "extra small" (i.e., web-size) images. Putting an image with every third post will liven up your pages visually. (Credit for this tip goes to Guy Kawasaki.)
Length. Don't be afraid of short posts! If they contain a burst of interesting news, with a link, they are useful and appealing. They're easier to write, making it likely you'll post more often. Frequent posting will help raise your search engine rankings.
Linking. Linking helps search engine rankings, particularly when it leads to other blogs that link back to you. Don't know where to start? Write about your business partners, customers, and other local businesses, and link to them.
Newsworthiness. Are you quick to riff on news items that relate to your business? For instance, if you are in the hospitality field, talk about how hotels prepared for the Inaugural events. If you are in PR, evaluate the way that PR firms are representing the auto industry. The news has already primed an audience to be interested in your insider commentary — be sure to take advantage of it while the story is still hot.

Learn more about the author, Karen Anderson.

Posted by Sara Ullman, Seattle, Washington | Feb 27, 2009

Great article, Karen! Are there DIY ways to do keyword analysis that you know of (aside from just thinking up appropriate keywords)? I was also wondering if a tagcloud is something you would create yourself or are there tools available for that as well. Thanks a lot!
Posted by Merilee Lovejoy Ph.D., Seattle, Washington | Feb 28, 2009

Thank you for this article, Karen! I just peeked at your article tags, and learned something from an expert blogger!..."Blog, blogging, blogger..." I am a new blogger myself. In the past I have mainly used the blog I have on a social networking site, not to blog, but to post images and quotes! I am now considering different ways, such as blogging, to share helpful information with a target audience. I plan on printing your article, and putting it into a "helpful articles" folder I'm creating! Thanks again! Merilee :>
Posted by Sandra Watson, Seattle, Washington | Feb 28, 2009

Great article. So true about images, and newsworthy items. This really draws the reader back time + time again. And short posts! This really does help with keep the blog alive.
Posted by Robert Lani, Seattle, Washington | Feb 28, 2009

Karen - Great tips - I will have to check out the photo place you recommend. I am new to blogging. How often should you post? As a real estate agent I find it difficult to write a blog. There are so many real estate agents blogging about the same thing. From a realtor what would you want to read on his or her blog? I write information about my neighborhood, marketing updates and my newest is talking about pet related items.
Posted by Charlene Kingston, Higley, Arizona | Mar 02, 2009

Great article, Karen. I'm always looking for ways that I can improve my blogging and hone my skills. Your article contains a few tips I haven't seen before. Thanks for sharing this with the community.

Finding the shortest distance between your message and your audience
Posted by Karen Anderson, Seattle, Washington | Mar 03, 2009

Sara, one underlying strategy to DIY keyword analysis is to do whatever it takes to figure out what keywords are driving traffic to your competitors, blogs rather than yours. Then get THOSE keywords into your blog. If you use WordPress, there's a widget to make a tag cloud appear on your sidebar; for other blogging apps, you'd need to do some research -- there's likely third-party code available.
Posted by Karen Anderson, Seattle, Washington | Mar 03, 2009

Robert, for most solo (rather than team) blogs, blogging frequency is ideal at three or four posts per week, but if you are hitting two or three, you're doing well. Your topics are great!
Posted by Terra Paley, Los Angeles, California | Jul 05, 2009

Just reread this, very good!