Some Things to Consider When Blogging Professionally

OK, I know I've been blogging a lot lately but, true to my nature, I go with my inspiration. This is an optional homework assignment from my first lesson at IMU, but it raises some relevant points that I'd like to address about professional blogging.

A lot of people worry about SEO with their blogs and the use of keywords/phrases to bring about some search engine results, increase page rank, etc. In my opinion, this is a bit counter-productive because it takes the focus away from your audience and the content-relevance that involves them in the "conversation" you've initiated with them...content really is king! The point of a company blog is to engage your target audience with information that they would find useful, working any keywords in naturally. The traffic and even conversions follow from there.

Adding in images or videos is a good way to appeal to readers who are more visually stimulated. It emphasizes the written text and boosts your blog, as long as you don't engage in image overkill (it IS possible!). In a similar tone, adding things like polls, relevant interactive widgets and responding to comments (even addressing negative ones) will work in your favor by offering a communication exchange and highlighting your brand in a positive way.

Lastly, keeping an organized and easily navigable blog will keep potential subscribers from running the other way. Obviously, you want readers to stay, read, engage and refer. It seems a no-brainer to make your blog easy to use, but many overlook this or try too hard by cluttering images, ads and content. It helps to have an objective third-party review your site for you and to use their feedback in a constructive manner. After all, if it improves your blog and retains readers, it was well worth the effort, right?

Before I sign off...I'm aware that I haven't been so good about using some of my own advice on this blog. Being a personal blog, I've neglected some aspects that would improve it. I certainly wouldn't have overlooked these things if it were a client's blog. So, I've decided that I will start working in some changes of my own that you will, hopefully, benefit from. Among these are to consolidate my content; I want to maintain some range of interests (business, green and 'mom' stuff), but I want to do away with pointless posts and fillers. I also want to go through and actually make use of the tags for each post (starting now) and, eventually, add in an HTML header with links to my other sites (as I build them). I may even try to add some more interactive features and will certainly try to check in more often than I've been known to do.

With any luck, this will improve the blog and make it more useful to you and more enjoyable for all of us!