Writing a Great Blog: Producing well-targeted, highly useful content

It seems like everyone and their mother has a blog. My mother doesn’t have one, but if she did, it would be called “Gretta’s Corner” and the content would consist of ghost-written posts from my dog.

Which brings me to the point of this post: Just because you have a blog, doesn’t mean it’s worth reading by a lot of other people. But when you blog for your company or a client, it's quite a different story.

Blogging for a business demands that you post continually with well-targeted, highly useful content. And your content needs to develop and build readership, keep them coming back for more and cause them to re-post your content to their own followers.

Along with the analytical tools you should utilize to get your blog seen (“Is Anybody Out Here”), keep the following things in mind when writing your blog content:

• Focus on a subject, not a topic. Avoid topic-driven blogs such as “Social Media: What’s It All About?” Instead, focus on a specific subject – e.g. “Writing a Great Blog: Producing targeted, useful content.” This is an opportunity to hone in on a subject and build your or client’s reputation as an expert in a field.
• Keep it short. Your blog isn’t meant for Twitter, but it also isn’t The Great American Novel. Chances are, readers visit your blog page for useful, informative content. Just don’t over-do it. Start by writing everything you want to say about the subject. Then, walk away from it for a while, to clear your head. When you return, remove all the unnecessary content.
• Keep it simple. You want your content to be accessible to as many readers possible. Don’t confuse or alienate them with technical terms or detailed jargon. The blog is a great medium for sharing in plain English the highly technical and/or jargon-filled content that may exist elsewhere on your or your client’s website.
• Develop a cohesive voice. Even when you’re blogging on behalf of your company or a client, your content still needs a personal voice. Look to your boss or the client for guidance on what that voice should be: e.g. formal or informal; serious or playful; etc. If they don't have something in mind, take clues from the subject of your blog and use your best judgment.
• Have someone qualified edit the content. Make sure you put more than one set of eyes on your blog post. Ask a colleague with good editing skills and abilities to review the content. Then, incorporate their editing changes before posting the content to your company website or submitting it to a client.

Keep these rules in mind when you write your next blog post and you’ll find it much easier to produce well-targeted, highly useful content that will thrill your boss or client and attract, retain and increase your readership.