#Collaborative post
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While it’s not an expectation that every business has a blog, it can be a great help. 90% of users will Google a company before making a decision about whether to hire them. If you have no blog, you miss out on business. Yet even if you have a blog, you might be presenting it in the wrong way for your sector. Fortunately, there are a few adjustments you can make to help your business blog appear more professional. You can then give the competition a run for their money.
Images and Videos
Whether you notice it or not, the web is heavily visual-based. Images keep your audience engaged as they read through your content. Post-related photos, such as those in the sidebar, also increase click-through rates and decrease bounce rates. Additionally, users are more likely to share posts if they are visually appealing and relevant to the content.
As such, images should support the content of the post. For example, a video game review should contain images of what you write about at appropriate locations. In addition, videos can be used to support content. Take installing a router, for example. You could hire an animation studio to create a short yet striking instructional video on the correct procedure.
Structured Layout
Consistency is a critical factor in making your website look professional. Since the text is the main component of a blog, you should try to structure the layout the same way for each post type. Blogging is different from journalistic writing. For example, there are specific rules of thumb to follow when writing for a blog:
- Quality copy: 300 to 2,500 per post will rank.
- Keep paragraphs short: 4 sentences should be enough.
- Keep sentences short: no more than 20 words.
- Don’t use jargon unless necessary: many users may not be technical.
- Write in the second person: place the user in the article with the word “you”.
- Use bullets: strategically placed bullet points increase engagement.
- Don’t forget headings: Use headings and subheadings to break up the text.
Keeping a consistent structure also helps with SEO. The layout also extends to images and videos. For example, you could insert an image every eight paragraphs in a long post. You should also begin each post with a relevant image between the title heading and the first paragraph.
Include an Author Card
A primary feature of any modern blog is the author card. If you aren’t aware, the author card is the small box at the end of a blog post. This small box typically contains some biographical information on the person who wrote the post. This is important for several reasons, but it is also a polite and creative way to credit the author for their work.
Additionally, the author card allows people to identify with bloggers. The author box does this by giving credibility to your posts and making them more inviting. An anonymous blogger doesn’t have the same impact as one a user can see and read about. And adding a human face and name to a post encourages engagement. Yet importantly, there is a hidden author rank SEO criteria that an author card adds to your site’s ranking.
Use an Appropriate Theme
A topic that is often overlooked is the blog theme. The theme is the visual aesthetics and looks for your site. If you use a builder like WordPress, you can choose them from the interface. The theme is typically set in your blog’s CSS code, which covers typeface, colours, link display and more. Users expect specific theme’s depending on the blog content or service.
For example, medical blogs such as cosmetic surgery or dental are typically light with a minimal interface. They also use clear type fonts and combine white with blues or greens since people normally associate these colours with medical services. Yet your theme can also negatively impact your SEO based on its code. The Misuse of heading tags that violate Google’s policies is a prime example.
Don’t Neglect SEO
Speaking of SEO, this is one topic you really need to pay attention to. SEO is an initialism for Search Engine Optimization. Your blog uses this type of language to tell a search engine like Google what your content is about. There are some primary factors involved in SEO:
- Focus keyword: one phrase that describes your post.
- Keywords: other supporting relevant terms to the post content.
- Title: the main thing. Should include the focus keyword.
- Headings: descriptive headings to break up content.
- Meta description: description for search engine results page. Should include the focus keyword.
- Image Alt tags: complete description of an image:
- URL: proper page naming must include the focus keyword. Use hyphens instead of underscores.
There is a lot more to SEO, but you can significantly increase your ranking by including these basic SEO types in your posts. Always perform keyword research, identify a focus keyphrase and have it in all relevant areas such as the title, description, first paragraph and URL. A good URL example of “10 Ways to Boost SEO” is mysite.com/ways-boost-seo.
Make a Logo
A logo is essential for various reasons, but some of the most beneficial include instant recognition, corporate identity and branding. Yet coming up with a suitable logo is very difficult. Especially if you aren’t artistic. Most digital marketing agencies offer logo design as a part of tier service. But if you cannot afford an agency, you can use free logo creation tools. Your digital branding can have a big impact on your brand profile and is really important, here are 5 top tips to make sure your digital branding is perfect!
One of the best is Canva. You can use Canva for free logo design. Although the free version is somewhat limited, there is a generous amount of features available. For example, on a basic level, you can provide Canva with a name and business type. The system will generate appropriate designs based on these. You can also use the built-in tools to further customize your logo image.
Use an Appropriate Domain Name
Your blog’s domain name is a vital piece of establishing an identity since it is by which you will be known. For this reason alone, you should spend some time really thinking about what you want your blog to be called. If it’s a personal blog, your name can be used. For example, “Jen’s Diary” is a fitting unique blog name, Yet a business name should incorporate that aspect too. Perhaps “Cakes by Jen”.
However, you should also think about the domain itself. When starting out, you might be signed up to a free sub-domain, like cakes by jen.squarespace.com. This isn’t great for SEO, and it looks unprofessional. Purchase a domain as soon as you can. Your SEO will be positively impacted by this. Still, you also get access to other hosting features such as SSL, speed boost and backups.
Develop a Posting Schedule
Users love consistency. When you post regularly, your users know when to expect your content and return for it. Yet blogging is challenging and can be time-consuming, so try not to spread yourself too thin. On the other hand, you might have work commitments and family responsibilities, so blogging around these is essential. For Example, it might only be possible to write on Saturday.
If you are limited in time, you could write a week’s worth of blog posts on Saturday and schedule posts for publication. Every platform has tools for doing this, and they are straightforward to use. You can set the date and time for each post. Therefore, even though you wrote content on Saturday, it looks like you stick to a consistent schedule for your readers.