Trust 416BC The Small Business Website Experts.

                Blogs are everywhere and everyone has one. It doesn’t matter if you are a multi-billion dollar company or a house wife. These days you can have a very successful blog about anything and businesses are blindly jumping into the world of blogging, some before they are ready. It’s true. Business blogs are a great lead generation tool for companies and it’s no surprise businesses are expanding their marketing budget in this category to take advantage. The question is how to create a new business blog that will be successful.

                First, let’s discuss what a business blog is. There are many definitions out there, but we’ll keep it simple. A blog is a useful tool that allows you to easily create and publish new content. This can be information about a new product, changes to services, or advice on how to use your products in a new way. The beauty of a blog is that this isn’t a one-way street. Your clients and customers will have the opportunity to comment. This creates an interaction that you need to make into more of a conversation. Make it personal and use first names.  You are building a community around your business.

When designing your business blog, the most common layout is the two column layout. This features a larger post column on the left and the sidebar on the right. This is a very clean and functional layout, probably why it is the most popular. There are others to choose between as well. The only ones to really be careful with are the three column layouts. These can have the tendency to look overcrowded and can confuse readers. You need to be especially aware of the organization of the information to keep it uncluttered and easy to navigate.

               Now you’ll want to add content to your business blog to keep readers coming back. Create remarkable content. The better your posts the more people will want to share the information and it will spread across the internet. So write about what they are interested in. You know who your clients are. If they are parents you’ll probably be more kid-friendly. The other side to adding content is how often to do so. In a survey, The State of Inbound Marketing 2010, by HubSpot.com there is a direct correlation between blog post frequency and customer acquisition. Quite simply, the more you post the more results you will get. But since you are a startup business and will need to spend time on the business itself the most effective blog post frequency is daily to a few times a week. The typical business blog posts on a weekly basis, 38%. Do more than your competition and reap the rewards.

                A few final words, blogging will take more time and energy than you think. Be prepared. You don't want to start a business blog only to stop creating content a few months later. It'd be better to not have a blog at all. It’s best to have a few people blogging at the same time to lessen the chances of burnout, or have one dedicated person to spend the majority of their time blogging. And don’t just have anyone do the blogging. Make sure they are passionate about the idea of a business blog, about your company, and about connecting your business to your customers.