We all know the incredible power of the internet. We understand it as an invaluable tool for research, shopping, and building networks and connections. We recognize the viral influence of social media and its impact on cultural and buying habits. We can see it as a wonderful catalyst for ideas and education. And yet, even with this unquestioned knowledge of the internet’s potential, still a huge number of small businesses, even today, have little to no presence online. If you’re stunned, you should be.
You’re not only missing out on potential customers. It’s unquestioned how much the internet has expanded and diversified over the past decade. With the rise of social media, blogging platforms, and a host of tools for quickly building websites, the internet has been re-packaged for large-scale consumer interaction. Geographical boundaries no longer matter in terms of trends, ideas or even news and the amount of fresh content that is created each day is astonishing. In short, we’ve become a culture that literally “Google” everything – we even check out reviews for the local Barber before we think about walking through the doors. So, if you’re not online, you’re not only missing out on a huge market, but you may also be in danger of losing your current customers.
This is why it’s so essential for businesses blog often and regularly be publishing quality content on the web. More than ever, businesses need to position themselves as experts in a specific area and draw loyal online readers by providing this specialized content. But for many small businesses that don’t have a blog or website, taking the first steps can feel daunting: How do I get a blog started? What should I write about? How often should I post?
The Best Guide To Business Blogging
With these questions and concerns in mind, Neil Patel has put together an incredibly helpful guide for small business blogging. It walks businesses through the steps of defining a blogging niche, brainstorming content ideas, understanding the blogging culture and making money from your blog.
Create a persona
A persona gives the warm feeling and passion to reads such that everything becomes alive. It would seem like there is someone is always around providing a friendly conversation. More often than not, sales are created when people trust what they are hearing and understanding from another person. It builds much more credibility with having a persona to go through the products or services.
Choose a domain name
Generating names for blogs is also subject to the availability of the domain name. While creativity comes into play, one has to also consciously be aware of the originality and availability of the names.It’s not enough to just come up with a good name. You need a name that also has an availabledomain name. You should try to get the “.com” domain if at all possible. This is what most people will attempt to type in when they hear your name.
The challenge of finding an available domain adds another layer of difficulty to the process, but the good news is that there are some very helpful tools (such as Instant Domain Search) that utilize the available domain name data to help you generate business name ideas.
Pick a hosting provider
Naturally you are going to need to engage a web hosting company to provide a server to store your web content. There are lots of multi-solution web hosting companies that provide storage space and even domain name registration, etc. The size and type of web hosting package you choose will be largely determined by the type of online business you are starting. Be sure to do your due diligence before choosing the vendor you will use. Find one that can provide you good customer support so that whenever a problem will be encountered, for example when you need to setup SSL security on your website.
Install a theme
A theme is basically the way how you want your site to look like. There are thousands of styles to choose from. What is really important is to create a simple and clean design for a starts. It must be easy for customers to navigate through your website and remain inquisitive enough to surf through your sites. Thereafter, you can build on more technicalities to your site to enhance users’ satisfaction.
Optimize your SEO
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the single most important marketing activity that has given small businesses and startups a level playing field against the big boys in their niche. The increasing reach of the internet and the fact that more and more people using the World Wide Web to look for all kinds of information means that online marketing is crucial for the branding efforts for every small business. SEO makes sure that a small business’s website comes up tops on search engine rankings, which increases its website traffic and improves its sales.
Write out a list of articles
Content is paramount in today’s social marketing. It builds trust when people know that the content is genuine and imparts knowledge.
Think of what questions a reader or customer would have in mind when they go through your website and how you can get them excited about your products. Run them through and think of ten reasons how you can convince them that what you have is the best product.
You may also think of problems you would encounter from different perspective: a working parent, a campus student, an entrepreneur who might lack time and present them in your articles. This will allow them to be consciously aware what problems they might face and how you can come into the picture to provide the solutions.
For a start, find a peaceful place and brainstorm articles you can potentially write. Create a mindmap and through run your thoughts. Each of the items that you wrote down is a potential blog topic — maybe even several blog topics!
Create your first post
More often than not, it is the heading that captures the eye of the reader. Construct an attractive headline paired with good visual content is often the winning formula to keep people engaged and encourage sharing. Content should be easy to understand.
Create an editorial calendar
An editorial calendar will allow you to keep track of when you will write for the next post. This will create a routine to keep readers coming back. In addition, when you are engaged by blog sponsors, editorial calendar is very useful to provide expectations on the articles that will be posted.
Conclusion
The aforementioned eil Patel’s “The Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Money-Making Blog in 1 Hour”is one of those resources that you’ll find yourself returning back to again and again. So if you find yourself either frantic for content or simply unsure on how to move forward, grab a cup of coffee, a notepad and refer to thisgreat guide to make some money blogging. Start strategizing a new way of engaging customers online.
