There are many wonders and endless possibilities of blogging that can positively impact your business’ branding and SEO efforts. When used wisely, blogging has the power to help a business harness the infinite opportunities of the blogosphere. Recently, the prominence of blogging were highlighted when our PM, Ms. Gillard, hosted a function at Kirribilli House with about 25 “mummy” bloggers and writers, including Kidspot.com.au, whom she deemed as “some of Australia’s most influential women”.
There is no denying that these empowering women have become strong influencers and thought leaders amongst the female community, with a combined total of about 2.5 million viewers every month. That’s about 10% of the Australian population!
The point here is that blogging will give you the opportunity to develop your business into a trusted brand with an authoritative voice. You can shape positive brand reinforcement and become the ‘go-to-guy’ amongst your industry’s community.
The aforementioned Kidspot.com.au has been a major player in the parenting industry and has been a very prominent ‘influencer’ that has been instrumental in simplifying parenthood for countless Australians. The site is viewed as an authoritative voice because they constantly provide engaging and meaningful content for their audience.
But what are the secrets to their success and what are the steps that they have taken to stand out from the clutter in the blogosphere? Here are a few tips that can help your business get started on raising your blog profile which will also help with your website’s Search Engine Rankings.
Establishing a connection with your audience
This is extremely important in pushing the success of your blog. Write about relevant and engaging topics, and remember to ‘speak in their language’. Use plain and simple language without adding in too many ‘industry terms’ that you see in scholarly books. Instead, scour relevant social media pages, blogs and forums to find out the tone-of-voice that your readers can relate to.
High quality content
Take time to do some in-depth research and to find the right materials that will enable you to put together a strong blog post. Don’t forget that creating content also means coming up with fresh and original videos, images, info graphs, and anything that will keep your readers intrigued.
Participate in communities with like-minded professionals and where your audience gathers
Visit industry blogs, forums, social media communities, and discussion groups where you can actively converse with peers or people with interest in your industry. Establish your business as a savvy and knowledgeable brand by posting useful content, resources, solutions and ideas, with a reference to your blog.
Sharing is caring
Once you’ve written an engaging and informative post, make sure you add in social sharing buttons in your blog so that your audience can easily share it with their friends and family. Also, don’t forget to share the post on your own social media accounts so that you can direct more traffic to your blog.
In closing, blogging has great potential to influence your target audience. Most importantly, blogging lets your personality shine through and it gives your audience the chance to know the wonderful person behind the business.
Always remember to share valuable information with others to strengthen your position as a thought leader in your online community. Who knows, you could be the next blogger to join the Prime Minister for a lovely evening at Kirribilli House! So, start building lasting relationships with your audience and reap the rewards of blogging for your business.
