10 tips for optimizing your corporate blog for lead generation

Your company blog is the trendiest new way to personify your business to your clientele and community, and it is also a great way to promote your products or services to generate new business leads. Think of your corporate blog as your “lead generation blog“. The possibilities of using this platform to expand your business are endless. Here are ten tips to optimize your corporate blog for lead generation.

10 tips for optimizing your corporate blog for lead generation

1. Provide good, relevant content. In a professional yet affable style, your blog entries should be related to your business and the community that you cater to. Your current customers will be likely to read your blog because the information is interesting to them, and your current readers might be more likely to do business with you because they can see how “in-the-know” your company is.
2. Post regularly. Infrequent blog entries are more likely to drive away readership. Your audience wants current, relatable information, and one of the hardest parts about maintaining a blog is maintaining your blog output. One way to ensure your blog is updated regularly is to involve your employees. Allow your employees to write and contribute. This will give your audience fresh, varied perspective on their topics of interest, but it also gives your key contributor a support system to keep the information flowing.
3. Work on your blog design. You can do your design yourself, assign it to a web-savvy employee or hire a designer. Whichever way you choose, you want to make sure that your blog is attractive. More importantly, you don’t want your blog to be too hectic. A corporate blog should be streamlined and simple so that the information is easy to access, subscribe to and share. You also want to incorporate your company logo, and including an “About” section is always helpful. Readers will eventually be directed to your blog from outside sources, so ensure that it is easy to find links to your company’s official website and background information.



4. Collaborate. Do you work with customers or another business on a referral system? Well, you can apply that in the blogging world as well. Highlight a client’s blog that always has useful, relevant information or write about a product or service that is complementary to your business. You will more than likely get reciprocal treatment from that person or company, which will increase the traffic to your blog. Working with another blogger to give each other linkbacks is basically the new “word-of-mouth” system, and it’s a great way to create great content and generate business leads.
5. Zero in on your audience. If you are following the last four guidelines, then your blog is probably already geared to your target audience. Analyze your blog to make certain your posting habits are only helping you to promote your business. If you think your blog needs improvement in any areas, work with your employees to brainstorm on ways to direct your content at the specific readership you want to build.
6. Increase your subscribers list. Just like a mailing list, your subscribers list works to get out your new content to your readers. The first step to gaining subscribers is to make it very easy to subscribe to your blog. Place the “Subscribe” button (or have your designer do it) on a very accessible place on your page. As soon as a new reader likes something they read on your blog, they will be more likely to become a regular reader (and future customer) if they can click a “Subscribe” button right away. Also, don’t make the process of subscribing overly complicated. If there are too many steps, your new reader will be less likely to become a regular reader.
7. Add multimedia and allow readers to interact. Your blog doesn’t have to be all words all the time. Occasionally, it is okay to post a video with a short, written commentary, or a picture (or a few!). This is a way to create great content without having to spend too much time writing, and it is a way to post new content if you don’t necessarily have the freshest information or viewpoints available. Additionally, allowing your readers to interact (comment) is a great way for your company to seem more approachable. Just make sure to always monitor your comments for unnecessary negative feedback and spam.
8. Promote your blog content. Use social networking as a marketing platform to broadcast new blog entries. Advertize your blog so that it’s easy to find when a potential client is searching the web for your specific industry. Work with a marketing-confident employee or consultant to generate a good keyword list to achieve maximum exposure from web search engines.
9. Make your content easy to share. You should be able to easily add share buttons at the end of your entries, so take advantage of this easy way for your readers to share your content with their friends. It’s another one-click way to generate “word-of-mouth”. This is a great way to use your blog as a lead generation blog; your customers can easily share what they love about your company with their friends and your future customers.
10. Maintain professionalism. Always remember that your corporate blog is a representation of your business. You want to present your products and services to your audience just as if you were on the sales floor. Although your blog doesn’t have to be formal, it should still mirror the mission statement of your company. Have your writing proofed, don’t post in anger and always keep your prospective clientele in mind when creating new material.

Following these guidelines will give you a great start to using your corporate blog to generate new business leads. By posting regular and relevant information targeted to an audience comprised of your current and potential clientele, you’ll increase your opportunities to create new business. Keeping your blog professional yet interesting will keep you on the leading edge of your industry on the web and in your business.