Do you want to boost your website’s conversion rate?

As you might already be aware, blogs are an essential part of any small business’s marketing effort — particularly those in the creative industries. From building brand awareness to helping your website become more visible on search engine results pages (SERPs), great blogs can supercharge your success.

A cartoon of a woman writing blogs — But here’s the catch — not any old words will do. To gain traction, your blog needs to be well-written and compelling. So, how do you engage with your readers and transform them from passersby to converted customers?

What makes a good business blog?

Before you explore our blog-writing tips, take a moment to think about the last blog you read. What led you there? Did you find the information you were looking for? Was the article clear, concise, and easy to read?

These questions set the stage for understanding what makes a business blog compelling and how you can lead more readers to buy your product or service.

6 top tips for writing business blogs

Whether your readers are looking for facts, gift ideas, or advice, anybody heading to a search engine has an idea or query in mind.

They might be looking to:
- Learn about a subject (informational intent)
- Research before they purchase a product (commercial intent)
- Complete a purchase (transactional intent)
  
  Recognising their search intent can help you tailor the content to provide the reader with what they need.

Knowing your target customers is essential throughout all of your marketing materials — including blogs. As well as understanding the search intent behind the blog topic, it’s important to use language that appeals to your audience and reflects your brand identity.

Consider phrasing and formality that will engage your customers. This could be fun and casual, sophisticated and elaborate, or anything in between. Whatever you go for, make sure your tone of voice is consistent throughout your articles.

Blogs and search engine optimisation (SEO) go hand in hand. SEO — sprucing up your content to help it rank higher on search engine results pages — may well be the reason you’re starting a business blog in the first place. But how do you ensure your articles are optimised? Here are a few vital components:
- Keywords: Linked to intent, include keywords and phrases your readers are searching for in the body of your blogs. You can use SEO tools like Ahrefs to find the terms your customers are using.
- Relevant links: Internal and external links can also help boost your blog’s ranking. As well as leading your reader to other pages on your website, think about including external links. Why? Search engines view links from credible sources as a sign of authority and relevance.
- Meta-data: Meta titles and descriptions are small snippets of information that let search engines understand what your page is about. Always try to include relevant keywords and a compelling description that entices readers to click through to your website.
Reading a blog is very different from reading a novel. Visitors to your website want to find information quickly, so it’s important to make your blog clear and easy to skim. Use short paragraphs and clear headings, and consider breaking sections up with bullet points and images.

After creating a draft, it’s helpful to check your blog’s readability with a writing tool like Grammarly or Hemingway.

The way you round off your business blog article is just as important as the introduction and body content. Ideally, you want to finish with a clear call to action. A call to action (or CTA) offers the reader an instruction, showing them the next step to take while simultaneously moving them down the sales funnel.
While this might not be a writing tip as such, it’s still a vital part of your blog strategy. Posting your articles regularly shows that your business is active and engaged. It also attracts return visitors and increases your brand awareness.

Stay up to date with blog posting with support from a VA

Of course, staying on top of regular posting can feel tricky, especially when you’re a busy freelancer or small business owner. For support with content creation and management, consider hiring a virtual assistant (VA), like Erin, to upload your articles and keep your blog ticking over.