In last month's article, we looked at how to manage your resources and make your blog cyber-friendly. This month, in our last part of this series, we'll discuss measuring your blog's results and general best practices for all business bloggers.
Measuring your blog's results
Business blogging without tracking metrics is a waste of time. Here are some of the more important metrics to monitor in a time-crunched, resource-challenged universe:
VISITS
One of the most basic and most important metrics. Which posts/articles had the most visitors? Look at your most popular pieces of content – what do they have in common?
LEADS
The fuel of your business growth. Remember, visits do not equal leads. Compare conversion rates from your blogs vs. your other marketing channels (e.g. LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.)
INBOUND LINKS
These are links from other websites to yours and are considered by search engines when determining how pages rank in search engine results. Educational blogs are a great source for attracting inbound links and traffic. Pay attention to which articles get links, if any, and from where.
A measure of your consistency and quality. You should be constantly spreading the word about your blog.SUBSCRIBERS
SOCIAL MEDIA SHARES
A key driver of short-term traffic. Compare what types of posts get the most short-term traffic from social media to visits/leads. Are there any trends? Inconsistencies? How can you make the most of your opportunities?
Business blogging best practices
Great business blogs need to balance creating value for potential or current customers while following a growth-based strategy. Business blogs function differently than media channels and are measured by different metrics. Keep the following approaches in mind:
THINK LIKE A PUBLISHER
- Create relevant content – Relevant meaning both to your target audience's interests and to what you want to be found for
- Determine best methods for distribution – Where do your customers hang out? How do they get their information?
- Increase readership – Use the viral nature of the web to spread the reach of your blog
- Define and manage advertising resources – Your allocation should match your level of commitment to results
FOCUS ON NON-BRANDED CONTENT
- DON'T write solely about you, your company or your products/services
Wrong: Every blog post is about how great you are and what you have to offer
Correct: Solve problems, offer helpful information, tell stories - DO write about industry best practices, answer common questions and offer tools/knowledge that readers can use and share with others
BRING IT TO THE PEOPLE
- DON'T get caught up in the information you think is interesting – e.g., a hot trend or a special cause that may not have broad appeal to your readers
- DO ask your readers what they want to know about – what types of content (text, audio, video, etc.) and what topics would be of interest for future posts
CONNECT YOUR BLOG AND WEBSITE
Business blogs can be a major source of website traffic via search engines or social media. Your blog may be a potential customer's first impression. Be sure it's just a click away from your company's website, either as a subdomain (i.e., blog.mycompanyrocks.com) or as a page (www.mycompanyrocks.com/myawesomeblog)
Final Thoughts
Business blogging is an integral part of online marketing. It will directly impact your online exposure because it’s tied to organic search traffic and provides referrals for generating leads.
Make sure you have the right resources in place for content creation and management. Create an editorial calendar and be sure to feed it regularly with material you already have in the form of whitepapers, brochures, industry reports, etc. And be sure to involve as many people as possible in the creation process.
Optimize your blog posts with strong titles and words, clean formatting, engaging topics and easy calls-to-action. Promote your blog by making it relevant and easy for readers to share its content.
Track your analytics so you learn which articles work and which don’t. Use your pre-established metrics and dashboards to gain a better understanding of your audience's persona and their needs. This will guide you towards continuously improving your online marketing strategy.
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