Blogging for business can be difficult and many entrepreneurs aren’t sure what to blog about and if they should blog. I’m here to tell you blogging is an amazing asset to a business. It amazes me when people all over the world contact me or comment on my blog about a specific article. In many ways, it becomes a free marketing tool and you’re providing value with quality articles.
First of all, marketing a business is hard work. Having a blog on your business website actually eases the pressure of marketing and services or products become instantly relatable. Seriously, if you’re having trouble finding out what to blog for your business, you’ve got to take a look at your products or services that you offer. That’s where all the blog content lies. All the content is in your lap and ready to get organized into bite size pieces for customers to devour.
When I started blogging, I had no clue what to write about but after time it got easier and you’ll find a pace that suits you. You don’t have to go off the “leading blogger’s” schedule of articles, you just need consistency. I know you probably hear that a lot especially in the branding area but it absolutely works. You can’t push articles out that you aren’t confident about and you want to establish authority in your niche.
Let’s talk about some key ways to make blogging for business successful!
Blogging for Business with Evergreen Content
Evergreen content is content that never expires and always stays relevant. Let’s review what types of articles are not evergreen, some times it’s easier to go through things backwards.
If you’re writing about Facebook algorithms, that’s definitely not evergreen because you may realize Facebook changes continuously, therefore you’d have to update that content quite a bit. It may not be worth the time to constantly update an article to stay relevant with the times. Evergreen content will help you save time in the long run because you don’t have to worry if the content gets outdated and needs changing. Another piece that’s not evergreen content is holiday or theme related, for example, a business has Christmas decorations and you wouldn’t want to share that article throughout the year because it’s seasonal. You’d want to wait when Christmas was around to share it and if there are no dates or deadlines within the article. Those are a couple of examples of non-evergreen content, so what are some examples of evergreen content?
Michael Hyatt creates SO many wonderful articles that are about leadership, blogging, and online influence (all of these areas are around us all the time in our lives). It really is amazing how many articles he has that are evergreen. He calls blogging a leadership tool and I absolutely agree.
Take a look at some of his evergreen blog post headlines:
HOW TO SYNC UP YOUR TEAM FOR SUCCESS
7 STEPS TO GAIN MORE CONFIDENCE NOW
10 REASONS EVERY LEADER NEEDS A BLOG [PODCAST]
ARE YOUR FRIENDS AND COWORKERS KILLING YOUR ENERGY?
All of these headlines give you an idea of how the articles can provide value regarding work, confidence, leadership, and personal development. All of those categories are evergreen because they never get out of style. The categories are what many people primarily have trouble with. Of course, that’s the main idea when writing a blog post, creating content that will help your audience with helpful and actionable tips.
Another example is HubSpot, they create wonderful marketing articles and most of which are evergreen because marketing isn’t going anywhere. It’s part of business and you have to have marketing skills. HubSpot has many great evergreen articles, take a look at the headlines below:
How to Have a Super Productive Weekend: 12 Helpful Tips
The ABCs of Compelling Visual Ads [Infographic]
Again with these headlines, you can see there are all about content that can help people for years to come. This is evergreen content. It allows readers to come back multiple times and you become a valuable resource. Michael Hyatt and HubSpot are two of my favorites resources.
[tweet_box inject=”Content that can help people for years to come is evergreen content. @tigerlilyva11″]Content that can help people for years to come is evergreen content.[/tweet_box]
Blogging for Business with Quotes, Testimonials, and Case Studies
People love to see great articles with statistics, testimonials, quotes, and case studies. You’re looking at a scientific and emotional perspective with this type of article. This also establishes you as an authority with your business. Being able to collect data and provide the results will help others see what type of business you have and most importantly if they’d want to do business with you.
A client recently asked how they can use quotes or testimonials on her blog, this is probably the easiest way to market your business on your blog. Rather than have a testimonials page, write an impactful post about your services. Highlight what you’re doing to bring value to your clients and add the quote or testimonials of your clients within the article.
For example, you have a complimentary service and a client sent you an email letting you know how brilliant you were on the complimentary call. This call had a huge impact on their business even though they didn’t pay a cent, they found actionable tips to improve their business because of you. Here are a few ideas with the example given, work that up into a blog post:
- Why Complimentary Services Can Highlight A Business’ Strengths?
- The Free 30-Minute Strategy Call That Can Change Your Business
- Strengthen Your Services With Complimentary Services
The testimonials or quotes that you’d like to post within the article would then be segued or streamlined into the article like a good storytelling. When you bust out testimonials, you really want to make it seamless and not just list the quotes. Really take the time to write a personal story into it and it will become easy to segue into the quotes, testimonials, and case studies.
Another important factor in blogging for business is to display your case studies in a visual manner. Infographics and charts are an awesome way to show off the case studies along with an explanation of the research and results.
Blogging for Business by Contributing to Other Sites
Contributing to other sites or guest posting is a wonderful way to get eyes to your business. When you guest post, be sure the company is in line with your niche and/or target market. When you contribute in your niche, people in your industry will find you in many areas on the web basically bringing more eyes to your site and social media profiles. This also establishes authority. Kissmetrics has an excellent post, which is appropriately called The Ultimate Guide to Guest Blogging.
The wonderful part of guest blogging is that you get to share your thoughts, experiences, and value to another set of people that might never see you in the first place. When you guest post you get to include your author bio where you can describe who you help, link your website, and social media platforms so readers will then get to see your site and follow you if they like your guest post. It’s actually quite fun to meet new readers this way.
Adding a special page just for the readers of the guest post is a great way to invite them to subscribe to your list. You can offer a special freebie with the opt-in and create a specific note to the readers to thank them. Take a look at Ramit Sethi’s subscribe page for a few ideas to get started on your own thank you page.
Blogging for Business with Visual Content
As I mentioned previously, the information you provide in your guest post can be shown in an infographic or chart so readers can scan the image and remember the info quickly.
Did you know?
Articles containing relevant images have 94% more total views than articles without images.
This is why I’m a huge advocate of blog title images! Not only blog title images but other images within the blog post that are relevant to the subject are extremely important. You can learn more about blog title images for your brand here. Depending on which social media platform you’re on, the size will matter. For example, my blog post title image is vertical which is great for Pinterest as I have a lot of traffic coming from that platform. If your target market is on Facebook most often, then using a horizontal image would be best.
[tweet_box inject=”90% of the information sent to our brain is visual… so get images on your blog, silly! @tigerlilyva11″]90% of the information sent to our brain is visual[/tweet_box]
You can use images to give a call to action, just like you see so many sales pages with people pointing at the form to fill in your email information or they may use their eyes to point in the direction they would like for you to go. It’s the same principle, showing you what to do next and it works. Take a look at the examples below:
Now you have a few examples of how to use images to get readers clicking on your free gift or freebie opt in (and yes you should have a free gift for your readers!). Other ways to use visual content is the simple use of arrows or buttons that state Get it Now! or Pin it!. Case in point where I talk about using a branded Pin It button for your blog, you can check out the tutorial here. In many blogs, you’ll see the social share buttons with the call to action “Sharing is Caring” with an arrow or they’ll have a CTA in the conclusion of their article to share if the content was of value. You can create your own graphic to encourage the share.
Let’s bring these key elements together
Blogging for business can be difficult but as long as you bring these elements together it will make blogging a lot easier and fun. So what are the key elements for blogging again?
- Evergreen Content
- Quotes, Testimonials, Case Studies
- Contributing to Other Sites
- Visual Content
It’s your turn now! What element of a blog seems to help you and make it easier to spread the word about your business? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Here comes the CTA…
Leave a comment below and share if this article was of value to you. 😉 Oh yea! Please feel free to embed the infographic or share on Pinterest.
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Take care,
Tigerlily 
Hi Lilian
You are so right and thumbs up for listing these elements which will make any business blog to suceed.
Evergreen content will always stand the test of time. Just imagine that a business can provide value to their audience which will always be revelant no matter the years. Such a business will definetely rock.
Quotes and visuals are power tools that business can use to spread their story.
Thanks for sharing. Take Care
Hi Ikechi,
I’m so glad you agree with these blogging elements! Evergreen content is definitely a powerful element.
Thanks for stopping by!
Take care,
Lillian
Hi Lilian,
Loved the infographic 4 elements to
Make Blogging for Business a Success
Evergreen content – Loved all the examples
Quotes and visuals are very powerful
Contribute to Others Sites
Sales pages and call to action
Will be sharing the infographic on my site!
Visited you from the PAC rotator
Hi Kathryn,
It means so much to me that you like the infographic! The evergreen content is definitely a powerful element to establish a long term blog.
Thank you for sharing!
Take care,
Lillian
I believe you hit the nail on the head when you say content needs to be evergreen. It is important for anyone who visits, today, tomorrow or in a few years time, to be able to get information that is relevant and correct.
Enjoy the journey!
Hi Mandy!
So glad you agree about evergreen content. It’s so valuable to a blog.
Take care,
Lillian
Hi Lillian
ANY content is good content at least by having some posts you are sneaking ahead of competitors who have little presence online, Just a blog with a few comments can make all the difference. Of course a bit of seo can be helpful too but as long as you blog your on the way.. Then the fun really starts!
William
Hi William,
You’re right! You have to get started on the blog. Many businesses waste so much time trying to decide if they should go ahead with a blog. It’s such a crucial part of a business, especially an online business.
Thanks for stopping by!
Lillian
Hi Lillian,
Evergreen blog posts are the best by far. I still have some coming to my 2011 blog posts lol. But sometimes I have to throw some changes that take effect like FB or others into the mix.
Indeed, making things visual is the best way to go. I do try, but need to put more into the blog post itself. You taught me how to use Canva and I do….but not enough lol.
Your infographic is amazing. I just love it.
-Donna
Hey Donna,
Yes, evergreen content is powerful stuff! It’s good that you update it, they say it’s always to good to keep updating older posts even if it’s a small change. I’m so happy you love using Canva!
Glad you like the infographic too!
Take care,
Lillian
You’ve made terrific points here, and great visuals! I’ve found that sharing graphics created for my blog posts has been very helpful.
Hi Deb,
I’m glad you liked this post! Yes, continue doing your graphics, they most certainly make a difference.
Take care,
Lillian
WOW.. love visiting you. I remember when you started Lillian, and look what you’ve accomplished. Love the infographic. “Evergreen” is a really good practice to get into. I convey this with videos too because your content is in cyber space forever and you’ll never know who’ll see it. Wonderful information and presentation.
Hi Lesly,
Aww… thank you! I really appreciate your comment. I know I do look back at older posts and see that I’ve come a long way. Thank you for all your encouragement these past couple of years.
Take care and thanks for stopping by,
Lillian
Hi Lillian,
What a beautiful an comprehensive article.
I agree the evergreen content is the best way to leverage your time; that’s reason #1 why I love blogging so much.
Although social media is excellent to spread up your content worldwide and connect with people all over the world, you still need to have a place where to keep it all and control it all, and your blog is the only tool where you can do that.
Thank you for sharing!
Hi Emi,
Thanks for your comment! I really appreciate you stopping by.
I am so glad you believe in the power of evergreen content. It truly is wonderful. You’re exactly right about social media. You just never know how it will change.
Take care,
Lillian
Every single blog should contain evergreen content.
Not only does it provide a lot of value, but it also allows you to share it again and again (a worthy investment).
And yes, visual content is very important for blogs. Since you can get better readership with images. It just doesn’t make sense not it include visual content into your content marketing strategies!
Great post Lillian,
Benjamin 🙂
I’m so glad you agree, Benjamin, with evergreen content and visual content.
Thanks for stopping by!
Lillian
Hi Lillian,
You came up with a wonderful post along with the infographic as well as other important points like the evergreen content. Evergreen contents in a blog will make a blog better than other blogs with contents that may outdate in about an year or months time. Actually, through this post, I got some more ideas to create evergreen contents for my blog. Also, thinking of repurposing some old posts to make it look fresh.
Once again thanks for sharing this wonderful post.
Have a great time blogging.
Best regards
Reji Stephenson
Hi Reji,
I’m so glad this post has helped spark some ideas for your blog.
Take care,
Lillian
I favor evergreen content these days. When I started blogging there were so many startups especially in social media I’d try them and report. I added a new “similar post” feature to my blog and to my dismay I found that there were so many outdated posts showing – post about online resources that no longer exist. I spent hours going through posts changing their category so they didn’t show up.
Wow Sue! That’s a great example of why to update posts. I’m so glad you like evergreen posts, definitely a timesaver!
Take care,
Lillian
Hi Lillian,
Great post.
I am currently putting together a case study for my readers.
After enjoying following the progress and case study’s of my fellow marketers it has inspired me to take the leap.
Also being a contributor has helped me get traffic, it’s early days but i have put a couple posts out for other peoples blogs. Hopefully thins like this should go towards getting noticed.
Thanks for sharing
Hi Nathan,
Case studies are great! Readers do love analyzing stats and checking out how the studies work out. Guest posts will definitely help your blog along too. Sometimes it takes a bit of time then you’ll start seeing more traffic.
Thanks for stopping by,
Lillian
I can’t agree more. Evergreen posts are seriously important for blog and business development. And they are also one of the reasons I pay for MeetEdgar, because it keeps my blog posts and other social media streaming. I’m trying replace MeetEdgar though, with maybe CoSchedule, so I can cut down on costs. But the point is, you need to keep your content out there for new and evens existing readers.
Hi Bakari,
LOVE MeetEdgar! I think it’s amazing compared to other apps. I’m not a big fan of CoSchedule but it may work out better for you. Cinchshare is pretty neat but MeetEdgar is definitely on the top 3 for me. I love Buffer too. Have you heard of Hiplay? It’s supposed to integrate with Buffer to keep evergreen posts shared constantly. I’m checking it out and I’ll be sure to let you know about how it works.
Take care,
Lillian
Hello Lillian,
When I started blogging, I used to write about the latest news and phone launches to grab the instant traffic. It did work out well but as I have got some experience and I noticed that the content of such kind gets traffic for a shorter duration. After a few months, they become useless. That is why I started to love evergreen content.
I love to repurpose my old blog posts to add more content, more information, and various things to make the old articles better.
Thanks for such a nice post, Lillian.
Have a nice week ahead.
Hi Atish,
Evergreen content is awesome! I’m so glad to hear you repurpose your blog posts. More people need to leverage their posts.
Take care,
Lillian
Is it mandatory to have seo knowledge for blogging
Hello, Nice post. Really helpful for me. Thanks for sharing
Hello,
Great article, advice, and tips for the all around blogger. I started blogging with one idea in mind. That was to dispense my thoughts in one primary place. I have grown to love blogging and with that my passion for writing has returned. I find the single greatest help and hindrance is either an abundance of or lack of motivation. Behind that, providing quality over quantity will keep me coning back to a blog time and time again.
That sounds good Jack. I wish you the best on your blogging journey.
Lillian