While more and more business websites have blogs these days – yay! – not all of those companies seem to really understand how to properly put theirs to work – boo. I’ve noticed that the default for a lot of people tends to be handing off blogging duties on the office millennial – the one spending all his/her time on the phone.

Here’s the thing. Just because some one knows how to Snapchat doesn’t mean he or she can be trusted with your blog. Why? Well, there’s a trick to blogging for your business.

so what’s the trick?

You need to know a) what you want to communicate, and b) the best way to do it. Does that sound simple? If you know what you’re doing, it really is. The best way to start is by establishing the point of your business blog. Why do you have one?

If you’re like most people, it’s because you want a bigger online presence. You want more people to find your website so that they’ll visit your coffee joint, buy your soap, or hire you the next time they need to lease a warehouse. And good on ya, because a business blog is a really effective way of making your entire website much more visible on the ol’ interwebs. Why? For a few reasons:

  • Every post published on your blog (assuming it’s sharing space on your website) increases the size of your site, giving you more credibility – and authority – with Google.
  • All of that fresh content draws search engine bots, so they can index your valuable new info.

Remember, content is everything. Look at each post as another opportunity to get your ace content in front of the people most likely to respond – and don’t waste their time.

mistakes to avoid

Back to that millennial running your blog. Take a careful look at what’s being published on your business blog, and look for the following:

  • No discernible voice – or a voice that’s entirely at odds with your business
  • Way too much promotional hoopla, which is boring at best and off-putting at worst
  • Sporadic publishing
  • Posts that are too short or meandering to bring the reader value
  • Posts that are filled with grammar and spelling mistakes

These are all signs of a blog that’s doing your business no favors. Fortunately, you have options. You can look online for tips to improve the quality of your business blogging, or you can hire someone to do it for you. Either way, it’s a smart business move to put that blog to work.