Blogging is something that more and more businesses are beginning to use as a useful tool. In a social world where content is king, it provides you and your business the chance to share tips and advice that go beyond Twitter’s character limits.

Creating good quality content also provides you with the chance to share this across different platforms including social channels, mailshots and newsletters.

At pro-manchester we launched our blog in 2018. We have seen a month-on-month growth of the blog since it began, which has been done both with our content and with content written by members. Here are a few tips from lessons we’ve learned over the last 18 months…

1. Do your research

Google keyword research is really helpful to know what your audience is reading right now. Keyword research is quick and easy and can be done on this link. This research will allow you to start creating content that is relevant and engaging to your audience, and in turn, with Google rankings, will hopefully increase your readership.

2. Blog about what you specialise in

Blogging is a chance for you to have a platform to show what you or your business specialises in. It’s a chance for you to put yourselves forward as the experts. If you do the correct keyword research, sharing this expertise will also help you to put yourself in front of potential clients.

3. Don’t use blogging as a sales tool

Too many people see blogging as a chance to sell their latest product or service. It’s not. Blogging is a chance to share your expertise. A call to action at the end of a blog doesn’t hurt – it’s actually really useful and keeps readers on your site, but if you start a blog with “why you should buy our product” chances are you’re going to get a high bounce rate.

4. Be consistent

If you’re going to start blogging, you need to blog consistently. It doesn’t have to be the same day every week or the same length of time apart, but blogging three times in a week and then not again until two months later won’t work. Businesses that regularly blog tend to have a better return on traffic than those who don’t.

5. Choose the length of your blog posts carefully

Different blog lengths are suitable for different audiences. If you’re looking for people to engage with you on a forum or comment box within the blog, then keeping it shorter (i.e. under 250 words) is better. If you’re looking for social media shares, then these are more likely to be done on mobile. Research has suggested that 600-1000 words is best read on mobile devices, so these are more likely to be read and shared.

6. Invite guest bloggers

One thing we’ve done at pro-manchester is ask our members and partners to blog about things they specialise in. This is still relevant to our audience, as its fellow members who are sharing content. Another way this can work is if you ask your clients to blog for your site. Blogging can be time-consuming, so this can alleviate the pressures of wanting to be consistent with the regularity of your blogging, but still providing your audience with useful and interesting content.

7. Keep a list of blog ideas

Whenever a client, potential new customer or just someone you met while networking asks you something about what your company does that you haven’t thought of before, write it down. Often thinking of things to blog about is more difficult than actually writing about it. This way, it’s relevant information. Another angle to use is you or your company’s take on current affairs, especially if there’s a big news story affecting your sector at one time.

8. Scrap jargon

Certain sectors and businesses offerings are absolutely full of jargon. This isn’t going to work in a blog. It’s an old cliché when it comes to pitching, but it works for blogs too – write as though you’re explaining it to a friend in the pub. This doesn’t mean that your tone can’t still be professional, it just means that a load of acronyms and jargon aren’t going to translate well in your blogs or on Google.

9. Use subheadings

This is especially effective for a longer blog post. Using eye-catching subheadings in either bold font or larger text to provoke curiosity in your readers will help to improve your bounce rate and keep your audience reading. These sub0headings promise a benefit to reading the next section of your blog.