So, you set up a blog for your business and wrote a few articles…
…that went well for a little while but now things have teetered out. It’s slowing down. You may have noticed there isn’t much traction. You’re somewhat frustrated.
It’s probably not the content.
In this article, we’ll explore six ways to improve your small business blog so it can capture your readers, stand out from the competition, and attract leads for your business.
#1: Update Your Theme
Many default blog themes are generic and average at best; they’re decent for those getting started but simple themes aren’t appropriate if one plans to build an online brand.
You can drastically improve your blog by installing a new theme (or at least reconfigure the one you’ve got with modern features).
There are free and paid versions of themes. Each theme has different design elements and functionality. In fact, there are thousands that could fit perfectly with your blog to make it ‘pop’.
Whether you plan to use a free or premium theme, a new, sleek look for your blog will capture a visitor’s attention. You only have a few seconds to convince a visitor to continue reading; the design is generally the first element that hooks a visitor in.
Here’s another cool thing: A new theme can add a wealth of functionality to your blog that isn’t standard in the default offering.
Many frameworks and themes have been created that add additional elements such as robust subscription features, advertising management, author biographies, full-width pages, media stylization, and more. The more attractive and functional theme you can apply to your blog will have substantial effects on helping you gain traction online.
#2: Optimize for Search Engines
The second way to improve your blog is to optimize it for search engines.
Search Engine Optimization is the application of techniques and methods to maximize your search engine ranking. Common search engine optimization techniques include proper keyword selection, blog structuring, interlinking, link building, and more.
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There are dozens of great plugins that improve your search engine optimization. If you’re using WordPress as your business’ blog platform, we’d recommend the All-In-One-SEO plugin or Yoast SEO; these come highly recommended by nearly every professional blogger.
So, what’s the point of this? Well…
An improved SEO strategy, for your blog, will help your blog post pages rank well in search engines.
Higher ranks, in turn, increase your website traffic. Website traffic, as a result, will increase your chances of visitors becoming subscribers. In all, increasing SEO leads to a high-traffic blog, increase subscribers, and improved opportunities to reach your blogging goals.
#3: Include Subscription Options and Social Links
Keeping a variety of subscription options will give your blog its full potential to capture your visitors.
Offer a variety of subscription options on your blog such as email, RSS, Twitter, Facebook, and whatever your audience uses. A variety of subscription options will help your blog cover the spectrum of different subscription options that individuals may prefer. You don’t want to lose out on building your subscriber count by not offering the options people want to use.
To add to the value of your subscription and improve its sign-up rate, you can offer an incentive for signing up. Incentives include free ebooks, video series, audio recordings, white papers, reports, membership, and more. The incentives you create will capture the visitor and improve your standing in a crowded niche.
#4: Speed It Up
People are picky and impatient.
Factor in the instant delivery platform for information called the web and people’s attention drop to mere seconds. The first few seconds need to be the moment that you capture the visitor otherwise they will click the back button and head on their way.
To combat the increasing demand for media and website size, speed up your blog by utilizing caching plugins or consider subscribing to a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to offload the chunky elements to faster providers.
The seconds that people use to make up their mind is best applied to a full site rather than a blank page.
Additionally, speed is a factor for search engine rankings.
The speed of your blog can easily be managed with the correct tools and services. Investing your time and resources in using the aforementioned tools will improve your search engine optimization and chances of engagement with your visitors.
#5: Lock Down Malicious Activity
The worst event to happen to your blog is to have it hacked or attacked based on malicious intent. The moment your blog goes down is the moment that people begin to leave. If your blog infects visitors you could face a more serious set of consequences from a very irate audience.
For reasons that are obvious, it’s important that you secure your blog.
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You can improve the security of your blog by utilizing security plugins, backing up your database frequently, and changing your password every few months.
Securing your blog improves the user experience as it prevents your blog from harming the visitors. Likewise, your blog will stay active online and avoid missing out on opportunities to connect with your visitors, build subscriber count or sell your products.
#6: Create a Getting Started Page
A blog is wonderful for sharing fresh content to your readers but it becomes troublesome for many when they first land on your blog because there aren’t many options that explain how they can get started. One way to avoid alienation for newcomers is to create a “getting started” page.
A getting started page collects the best content and information from your blog.
On your getting started page, you can introduce yourself and the topics you cover on your blog; this is a perfect time to share the most popular content and hook your visitors.
The ‘getting started’ page becomes a hub to help visitors understand what you have to offer. The page becomes a beacon point that gets people to stick around and mold into a regular reader; it’s one way of improving your blog that you don’t want to omit.
Scaling by Business Blogging
Your business blog is one of the best places to experiment with new ideas.
The blog lets you introduce new product concepts to the market. The blog lets to take in feedback to direct your business. Your blog expands your reach and impact online.
All of this lends itself to your efforts in scaling up.
You have a lot of great knowledge and information stored away in that head of yours. Those you work with can contribute to this knowledge share, too! Why not use that to build a stronger presence online and further use that to take your business to its next level?
Use the tips in this roundup to make business blogging work.
Then, make business blogging work for you.
