How would you define a blog “working” for your business?
Most businesses would reply with the same general answer: “a blog would be working for my business if it’s bringing in new customers and sales.”
So if a blog is “working” when it’s converting sales, the most logical question then would be: “how do I get a blog working for my business”, or put another way: “how do I increase sales from a business blog?”
It’s here, with this question of “HOW?” that determines who will succeed and who will fail.
Here’s a few tips that answer the question: “How do I make money from a business blog?”
1) Establish your goals, objectives, and purpose for having a blog. Before you even start a business blog, you have to know why you’re doing it. Your objectives will most certainly drive your actions, and your actions will ultimately determine the success of your efforts.
Establishing your objective: Are you building a blog to increase phone calls from leads? Do you have a product that you want to sell directly on your blog? Are you trying to funnel leads through a “lead capture” system? Do you simply want to have a lot of visitors to your blog for advertising purposes?
There are literally thousands of different objectives a business could have for building and managing a blog, but in order for your blog to be successful, you have to first establish your objectives.
2) Do your keyword research. After you’ve established your objectives, you need to conduct keyword research. Keyword research is critical because this is how you will connect to “just the right customer at just the right time!
“When it comes to search engines such as Google, keywords define intent. If I have a tooth ache, then I’m going to search for a dentist in Atlanta because I’m intent on not being in pain because of my tooth.
If I’m wanting a new car, then I’m going to be researching the different car types, makes, and models because I’m intent on making an educated purchase.
If I need a lawyer, then I’m going to be searching for the highest qualified attorney who can meet my specific needs.
You get the point here I’m sure! It’s all about intent when it comes to search. And having your blog, along with your blog postings, highly optimized for your keyword phrases will facilitate your blog being present in the search results when someone is searching for what you offer.
Again, keywords are your best friend because they facilitate you (your business) connecting to new clients, prospects, and sales.
3) Be focused on the long term. Ultimately, to have a successful blog for your business, you need to have a long term perspective. You cannot just build a blog, write a couple of postings, and expect to be profiting from your efforts by next week – it just isn’t going to happen.
Before you can even begin connecting to new customers in Google, your blog has to be crawled, indexed, and available in the search results. For a brand new blog, this can take anywhere from 2 – 6 weeks depending on your posting frequency.
Be even after Google crawls and indexes your site, you still need to be producing content over the long term because Google attributes more authority to sites that are active over longer periods of time.
So make a plan that incorporates writing in your business blog at least 3 – 5 times per week.
Overtime, you will not only be found in Google search results, you’ll ultimately be the #1 blog in your niche, getting the most phone calls, and generating the most profits – all thanks to your business blog!