The rise of social media has had a monumental effect on the world of business marketing. If you’re among the millions of business owners who have made a foray into the blogosphere in an attempt to improve your search engine rankings and connect with new customers, it’s vital that you invest some effort into mastering blogging best practices. The vast majority of business blogs fail to harness the medium’s full power, leading to lost business marketing opportunities.

When used for business marketing, there are a few golden rules blogs must follow. The three that are commonly cited as the most important are:

• Adding value for the end user.
• Posting regularly.
• Engaging the reader with a call to action.

Adding value for the end user simply means that your blog posts should be written with an informational rather than a promotional slant. You need to give visitors a reason to read your blog, and the best way to do this is to offer helpful information related to your company’s products or services, not shameless self-promotion. For example, if you are a roofing contractor, blog posts that discuss the relative merits of various roofing materials adds much more value than a vague promotional post about why you are the most trusted contractor in your area. Providing the reader with useful information helps you appear more authoritative, and positions your business as the solution to a problem the reader is having.

To enhance the SEO value of your blog, you need to constantly be adding fresh and up-to-date information, as well as creating new links to suitable external websites. The best way to do this is to keep your audience engaged with regular posts; experts recommend that you add a new post at least once or twice a week.

Finally, be sure to end each post with a strong, clear call to action. A good call to action essentially serves the same function as promotional language, yet it frees up the content of your blog so you don’t have to make fluffy advertorial claims that add no value for the end user. A call to action is an imperative statement that entices the reader to take an additional step to engage with you; examples include phrases like “contact our customer service team to learn more” or “click here to email one of our friendly professionals.”

The business marketing landscape is undergoing unprecedented change in the age of digital and social media, and the experts at OfficeArrow and Social Strategy1 are here to help you succeed in this challenging but exciting time. Using the professional tools available through OfficeArrow will put you at the forefront of this exciting time in the business world.