Content, content, content. You hear all the time that good content is the backbone of your business’s online marketing strategy and that the company blog is an important part of the content-creation process. If you are new to blogging, especially in the B2B realm, figuring out where to start can be overwhelming. What does a good blog post look like? While all post formats and specific goals will differ between industries, companies, and people, there are a few key components that will make your content stand out.

An attention-grabbing (and SEO-friendly) headline

A strong blog post title is often the first thing your readers see and the first to draw them in to a post. It can and should be funny or thought provoking for the interest of readers, but make sure it also appeals to the search engines by including relevant keywords in a way that makes sense. Accordingly, make your lead paragraph as interesting and relevant to your purpose as possible. A good example of this is a Primm post from a few months ago: Snoop’s Rebranding.

An eye-catching image

Never underestimate the power of a striking photo for drawing readers into a blog post. Like your headline, it is best that whatever image you choose at least distantly relates to the goal and content of your post. Readers will lose trust in your work if they feel misled.

A concise and easy-to-understand text-body

The rule of thumb for blog post length is anywhere between 300 and 1000 words, so, as long as you write about something people really care about, you have a bit of leeway with their attention spans and the search engines’ web crawlers.

Keep your paragraphs broken up idea by idea. People like to be able to scan a blog post to get the general idea and big blocks of words will often deter them from reading.

Some kind of call to action at the end

Especially in the corporate blogging world, it’s important that a blog post sets forth “next steps” for its reader. Avoid hard sells (another way to lose reader trust), but do include encouragement for further engagement with your company. “If you need help with [blank], we’re here for you,” or “Follow us on Twitter!” Anything to help ensure that they establish more connections and associations with your brand.

Do you have questions about corporate blogging or need some advice about how to get started? Call or contact the experts at Primm (see what we did there?).

You may have heard…

“Social Media Marketing is just a fad.”

“I don’t think my customers are using social media.”

“Why would anyone use Facebook to look for MY type of business?”

“I have a four page ad in the Yellow Pages.”

“What’s the point?”

Let’s get one thing out in the open: Social media is here to stay. Now get on board.

A recent Nielson study reveals social networks and blogs are the most popular online category when ranked by average time spent on the Internet.

There’s a very good chance your clientele is online. The fastest growing age group of users is adults over 55, and 35 to 55 year olds make up the largest portion of users (istrategylabs.com). It’s not just for the youngsters anymore.

According to a study by the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth’s Center for Marketing Research, more than seven in ten of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies now use Facebook, and 85 percent of them said their efforts are proving successful.

With social media sites like Facebook, it’s not about being there when people are looking…it’s about being there all the time. The average Facebook user is connected to 80 community pages, groups and events (Facebook Statistics).

A user who becomes a fan of a law firm that helped a friend in the past will often see updates from the firm, and admittedly may not really care. But when that person needs a lawyer, she’ll likely feel an emotional connection to the law firm that’s always trying to keep her up to date.

And as for the Yellow Pages, I think this picture says it all…