It’s time to start a business blog!

Does having a blog help my website? What should I write in my blog? I don’t have time to write a blog!

I have heard these questions and comments often whilst networking and meeting other local businesses. Small business owners have often heard that “blogging is great for your website”, but we are often distracted by other things. Small businesses barely have time to re-write their to do lists, let alone think about writing a blog! On top of this, not knowing why a blog is beneficial, or even what to write about, can make the whole process even more daunting.

Although you may notice the Crisp Digital blog goes back to 2017 (yes, I checked!), most of these articles are what we call SEO articles rather than company news or updates.

Why is that?

Because as a small business ourselves, we too find it difficult and a bit daunting to make time to work on our own business, when we would much rather be helping our customers!

So why are we starting our blog now?

Because we have so much to share! Although, possibly just like you, I did not think I had much to say when originally sitting down to write. Now, as I put pen to paper (metaphorically of course) the amount of knowledge, news and updates I have to share seems enormous! Good thing I have a content plan and calendar – that’s something for another article.

What will we be talking about on this blog?

Well, what a great place to start to offer some guidance on what goes into a business blog. For any business blog there are 3 main content types: SEO Articles, Company News & Updates, Thought Leadership pieces.

SEO-targeted Articles

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a long-term Search Marketing strategy to help your website climb up to the first page of Google. It is just one part (although a big part) of a Digital Marketing strategy. SEO-targeted Articles include carefully researched and selected keywords for which the business wishes to be found on Google by, and often can be spotted by lists or “how-to” titles such as 3 Tips to Improve Your Email Marketing Performance or A Beginner’s Guide to Digital Marketing.

Writing an article as part of an SEO campaign is fine art, plus they take a lot of time to research and create. Take a look at some tips here from HubSpot.

Our blog will of course contain some SEO-targeted articles, but as well as being brilliant for our SEO these articles do contain some really great tips and guides, check out some of ours under Insights.

Company News and Updates

Let’s be honest we are all a little bit nosey! (Ok, maybe just me…) Either as a customer, stakeholder or champion of a business we love to know what is going on behind the scenes.

Blog articles surrounding company updates are a great way for the business to communicate every and any update they like. From new product launch to changes in staff, process updates to new events and promotions; company updates are a great way to engage employees as well as potential customers.

We will be posting some Crisp Updates of our own, we have already started Our Family bios!

Tip: Add a call to action to your company updates so the reader knows where to go next! “Use discount code …”, “Get to know our new member of staff”, “Find out more about our new service”.
Just be subtle! It’s a suggestion not a demand 🙂

Thought Leadership

Thought leaders are said to innovate and educate, and through this build their visibility and credibility. It is thought leadership which can take your everyday brand into a market trendsetter and pioneer.

Offering your own opinion, knowledge and understanding, plus showing passion for a topic in your market or industry is one thing. Researching a topic and providing insightful analysis to create your own ideas shows your expertise, commitment and innovation – this is thought leadership.

When working with marketing to ensure your articles can be seen, thought leadership can help build trust with your audience. If your customers can see you are an expert in your field and that you clearly explain how your solutions will solve their pain points, they will inherently start to trust you and your brand.

As visibility and popularity on true thought leadership articles grows, so does the number of possible opportunities for you and your business.

Keep an eye out for the Crisp Thought Leadership articles written by members of the Crisp Family.
As we all specialise in different areas you will find articles on a variety of areas: Website Development, UI/UX Design, Brand Strategy, Social Media, Search Marketing and so much more!