There are decided advantages and disadvantages to running a corporate blog. On the one hand, it is an effective tool for driving traffic to your website, it contributes tremendously to maximizing SEO, and it positions you as an authority and as a leader in your industry.
Now, I’m not suggesting that you pile the entire responsibility of maintaining your blog onto one person. You could hire a copywriting company to do it for you (and it should come as no surprise that I would recommend doing so), but what we’ve found is that most companies opt for a mix of the two: They maintain their blogs in-house until everybody gets too busy, and then they call us (or some other custom writing service) to pick up the slack.
Before you find yourself in that position, I have some advice for you that will help you streamline the process of starting and maintaining your blog long-term. Here are six ways that you can help start on the right foot and get the most mileage out of the time and money you invest in your corporate blog.
By the way, even if you’ve had a blog for years, if it’s in a state of neglect and you know it, it’s time to wipe the slate clean and start from scratch. Here’s what I suggest…
1. Make Your Blog Part of Your Business Plan
Outline what the blog is going to be about, how often it’s going to be updated, and who is going to be responsible for it. Too many companies pass around the responsibility to multiple employees, and the reception to being handed the responsibility varies from person to person.
2. Hand over the Reigns to a Specific Person or Group
If you designate one person in your company as the overseer of your blog, there are no surprises. There are also fewer issues with consistency. If need be, select a specific group of people who will share the responsibility and designate one as the supervisor or manager over the project. I recommend choosing someone you already know to have a decent amount of skill with words who would be able to spot obvious issues in the copy.
3. Outsource to a Single Source
The best way to avoid the “we don’t have the time to deal with the blog right now” syndrome is to always have someone working on it. Your in-house person or team should be expected to do the bulk of the work, but I also recommend having a copywriter or copywriting company plugged in and contributing all the time as well. Work with a single individual or company so that the person or people who write for you are constantly developing a deeper understanding of your brand and are capable of delivering consistent content that matches the voice of your business every time.
4. Keep Track of Your Metrics
When your blog is brand new, it is important to watch the numbers like a hawk. Try to vary the subject matter without deviating from the core message in your copy. Figure out which posts are getting the most response. Depending on your business, you may want to encourage discussion and comments on the blog, but you might also just want to have a look at which posts show the most response to your calls to action.
Look also at the demographic information and determine if the audience that is responding matches your company’s ideal avatar, and make adjustments to bring that person on board. If you aren’t, it’s time to make a few adjustments to the subject matter and delivery.
5. Don’t Slack off, Even if It Seems Like No One Is Reading
It can take time to develop an audience for your blog. Don’t decide that your customers aren’t interested in one if they don’t adopt immediately. Sometimes it takes having a decent amount of content with the right headlines and visuals to really start getting people’s attention. Consistency is the key to a successful blog. It has to be updated all the time, and the content has to be engaging and as pleasing to look at as it is to read.
6. Take SEO Seriously
I’ll end with this point: There is no better long-term solution to running a successful blog than making sure your SEO ducks are all in a row all the time. Do bear in mind, however, that it is a long-term solution and that you aren’t going to shoot to the top of the rankings in Google just because you get a lot of traffic with a low bounce rate. There are many, many factors that determine how well your site ranks, and it will take time.