This document provides an introduction to blogging for business purposes. It defines what a blog is, explains why businesses should blog, and discusses how much time blogging takes. It also lists popular blogging platforms and provides tips on what topics to blog about, best practices for blogging, what makes a great blog post, using keywords and images effectively, adding metadata, proofreading, and publishing posts. The goal is to help businesses understand how to start and maintain an effective blog.

1. BLOGGING
FOR
BUSINESS
SPONSORED BY CORNERSTONE BANK,
EUREKA SPRINGS DOWNTOWN NETWORK | MAIN
STREET EUREKA SPRINGS & THE GENEROUS SUPPORT
OF THE EUREKA SPRINGS BUSINESS COMMUNITY

2. WHAT IS A BLOG?
• Web + Log = Blog
• A site on the web that is continuously updated to give
information or start conversations
• Something Google loves

3. WHY BLOG?
Reasons To Blog Advantages of a
• Product Info Blog
• Service Info • Cheaper than a
Newsletter
• Become an
Expert • Easier to
Update
• Stay
Connected to • Easy to
Customers Syndicate

4. HOW MUCH TIME
DOES IT TAKE?
• Short posts can take minutes: Photos, updates, statuses
• Longer posts can take up to 45 minutes

5. BLOGGING
PLATFORMS
• Wordpress.com – Self Hosted Site
• Wordpress.org – Wordpress free site
• Blogger
• Tumblr
• Typepad

6. HELP! WHAT DO I
BLOG ABOUT?
• Lists – people LOVE lists
• New Products
• Customer Stories
• You
• Tutorials – How to do something, use something
• Tips & Tricks
• Reviews
• Link Round-Ups
• Current Events/About Our Area

7. HELP! WHAT DO I
BLOG ABOUT?
• Recommendations
• New Staff
• Controversial Issues
• New Ideas You Have
• About Running Your Business
• About Your Life – You are LIVING the DREAM

8. BLOGGING BEST
PRACTICES
• Research - Follow Blogs in Your Industry
• Look at What Your Competitors are Blogging About
• Develop a List of Potential Blog Topics
• Use Google External Keywords Tool to Find Your Most
Searched Keywords
• Write What You Know

9. WHAT MAKES A
GREAT BLOG POST?
• A Kick Ass Headline – Grab Attention First Thing
• An Opening Sentence that Bursts Off the Screen
• Break Your Post Into 3 Sections
• Introduction – Introduce the topic
• Details – Who, What, Why, Where, When
• Finalize – Send them off with a wow
• Link to internal posts and external posts
• Use photographs
• Use video

10. A NOTE ABOUT
KEYWORDS
• Don’t write strings of keywords – Google will bust you
• Write in real sentences just like you were taught in school
using keywords
• Bold your keyword in your sections and text, but don’t
over do that

11. A NOTE ABOUT
IMAGES
• Use them
• Take your own – show your world
• If you use others, credit them
• Use multiple images in a post
• Need to edit on the fly? PicMonkey.com

12. TAGS & METADATA – THE
DETAILS OF A POST
• Title: Include the Title of Post
• Meta Description: 160 Character Description of Your Post
• Keywords: No More Than 10
• Tags: Words Used by Search Engines to Identify Posts

13. GRAMMAR POLICE
• Spellcheck
• Proof
• Fix Mistakes

14. HIT PUBLISH!
• Publish Your Post!
• Push to Facebook Page, Personal Facebook Profile,
Twitter, LinkedIn
• Respond to Comments
• Establish a Regular Schedule of Blogging – The Key is
Consistency to Become an Expert
• Let’s Look At Some Lovely Examples!