Six simple ways to give your corporate blog a professional makeover 90 minutes or less!
By Anjana Bhaskar
Without a great content strategy in place, writing a professional or corporate blog post on any topic can be a daunting task. A good B2B techno-business blog requires hours of research, and tons of effort to be put into writing, structuring, sectioning and editing. This is apart from the technical aspects like SEO/keywording, layout, call-outs, image selection, and backlinks.
The sheer amount of work that goes into professional blogging can be mind boggling. Studies reveal that the majority of writers spend up to two hours writing a 500-word blog post – a task they agree takes less and less time with practice.
A professional makeover is just 90 minutes away!
If your corporate blog post looks like it’s missed the mark, here are six easy ways you can transform it from amateur to professional.
1. Give it a compelling heading:
Nothing impacts your CTR like a great heading. The first and fundamental thing you need to do is to write down three headings for your blog. Thankfully, we’ve got it almost down to a science now. Be it your basic listables to tried-and-tested combinations of click-worthy headlines, select the type that best fits your topic.
Clearly, these things have a way of escalating. Yet no one saw the coronavirus situation spiralling out of control, despite clear historical indicators. It goes to show that with all the sophisticated analytical models at our disposal, some things are bound to slip through the cracks.
Now, select the one that looks most click-worthy. In future, do this first, as it’s one of the most definitive elements of a well-written blog.
Time spent: 20 minutes
2. Ensure high-quality content:
The jury is still out on the relevance of SEO in present day blogging. Experts all agree on one thing: With Google crawlers getting more intelligent, (mal) practices such as keyword stuffing are out. And if your website is low on domain authority, using a lot of high-impact keywords may not help either. We recommend you stick to stock-standard SEO practices, while keeping the content high-quality and relevant to your target audience.
Today, blog relevancy is everything. People will read your blog if they find your content uniquely relevant and useful to them. Let your blog address a known problem or business challenge. Tell an interesting story, drawing from your own experiences, industry research, expert advice, and credible sources.
Time spent: 20 minutes
3. Take stock of your research:
When you’re writing a techno-business blog, you’re likely writing as an expert to a potential group of experts. If your blog is not well-thought-out or researched thoroughly, make no mistake, you will be quickly discredited. This will not only destroy your market credibility, but also your brand’s.
Do a fact-check. Get your figures right and if possible, from leading authorities and analysts, and substantiate them with links to original sources/citations. Request a peer-level or expert review to resolve grey areas or potential conflicts.
Time spent: 20 minutes
4. Sectioning and breaks:
There’s no point in using great headlines and fantastic SEO only to draw your audience to a heavy, cluttered and disorienting blog. Sectioning makes all the difference in giving your blog a sleek makeover. It makes it easier for your readers to understand the flow of your story and navigate easily.
Use ample white space. Create sub-sections to segue from one topic to another. Break down run-on sentences into relevant points using numbered or bullet lists. Close with a compelling CTA. Voila! Your blog looks professional already.
Time spent: 15 minutes
5. Write smart; edit smarter
One of the most critical steps in writing a great blog is editing. You may argue that “subbing” as a practice is fast fading, but really, it’s not. For example, global English – simple, crisp sentences supported by proper grammar, spelling and punctuation – goes a long way in establishing your credibility in the market. Incorrect English on the other hand diminishes your authority, and brands your blog or website as lazy and under-researched.
Unless you’re writing for a highly targeted audience, keep your blog language as simple as possible. Edit, punctuate, use that dictionary!
Time spent: 15 minutes
Bonus tip:
Hire a digital marketing expert:
All of this time and effort put into content development and optimizing user experience is of no use if you ultimately invest zero time in marketing your blog. The right amount of content marketing is instrumental in improving the visibility of your blog. In a competitive space like B2B or corporate blogging, you need expert support to enhance the marketability of your content.
Markiverse has helped several IT companies and CxOs fine-tune their blog posts and market them to attain high levels of visibility.
Check our content development services to find out how you can make your blog highly visible through our tried-and-tested marketing methods.