A Content Specialist’s Best Blog Writing Tips For Small Businesses

Do you need help writing blog posts for your small business? You’ve come to the right place! 

As a content specialist, I’ve helped write blog posts for small businesses in almost every industry, helping to grow traffic, improve search engine rankings, and drive conversions. 

And today, I’m going to show you how you can get those same results by blogging for your small business. So, without further ado, let’s get into my best blog writing tips!

5 Stats That Prove You Should Be Writing Blogs For Your Business

Content is one of the biggest marketing focuses for most marketers, and it’s being found that blog content still holds more authority than the typical social media post. Long-form content has more room to really explain a topic. 

A picture may be able to say a thousand words, but will they be the right words? When it comes to pictures, no one can say. Pictures are subjective. But words? They’re decisive. They hold more power to persuade. 

And that’s why most marketers, including myself, say that, above all channels, writing blog posts is the best way to reach your audience. Here are some other reasons you should be blogging for your business.

1. Writing blogs can create 434% more indexed pages, dramatically boosting your ranking opportunities (Demand Sage). 

2. Blog posts can help generate up to 55% more traffic for your business. (Demand Sage)

3. Blogging promotes twice as much email traffic, for the ultimate lead generation opportunities. 

4. Having a blog can increase your conversion rate from an average of 2-5% to up to 10% (Databox).

5. Blogs create trust between business and their target audience, which helps boost brand authority and loyalty. 

   
   

How Do You Start A Business Blog?

If you don’t have one already, you’ll need to start a blog for your business. Luckily, it couldn’t be easier. Just follow these steps, and you’ll be well on your way to writing blog posts. 

Create A Blog On Your Website

If you already have a website, you have the perfect place for your business blog. Simply search for your platform's blog plug-in and have it installed to start your small business blog. Customize it to your liking, and you’re all set! 

Plan Your Blog 

Do some research and brainstorming to plan out blog post topics. What is your blog about? What do you offer your clients or customers? Pick a trending topic within your industry. You can also write about things related to your niche. Anything you can naturally relate to your business is fair game.  

Example: If you own a boutique, you could write a blog about clothes, trends, and some clothing hacks. If you are a financial advisor, you can talk about personal finances, give some tips, etc.

Remember to stick within your niche. If you write about everything, you're not really targeting anyone, and your blog won't get consistent traffic or build a relationship with the audience, meaning recurring visits.

Expert Tips For Blog Writing (The Pre-Writing Stage)

With a plan in place for your blog, you’re ready to start the creative process for your posts. However, there are a few things you need to do before writing each blog post. 

Don’t skip these steps because these “extra” tasks are what will really make your blog post successful.

1) Do Keyword Research

Keyword research is crucial to making sure your blog post is optimized. Using a keyword tool, like Semrush, Moz, or Ahrefs, run a search of your topic. Focus on long-tail keywords (2-3 words) for the best chances at ranking. My "sweet spot" for keywords is a medium or long-tail keyword that:  

• Is highly relevant to your blog post and your business

• Has a high search volume rate (preferably 1k and up)

• Has a low competition or keyword difficulty rate 

• Has a relevant search intent to your content goals

2) Research Your Competitors Content

Take a look at the SERPs for your chosen topic/keyword. Who are the top three websites listed?

Check out each page to see its content, specifically:

• Content Formatting: The type of blog post.

• Content Structure: How headings and subheadings are organized.

• Word Count: The length and depth of the content.

• Topic Angle: How the topic is covered.

• Keywords and Usage: Where and how many times in the content

• Missed Opportunities: things competitors left out, only covered briefly, keywords they’re not targeting, etc.

• Additional Content: Visual content is being used in the blog post. 

3) Consider Your Target Audience

The most important thing when writing any kind of content for a business is to understand who you're trying to target, particularly what they want, and how you can deliver that in the blog post.  Here are some questions to ask yourself about each blog post: 

• Who are you writing for? 

  • Your target audience for this post.

• What are you trying to convey to them? 

  • Not just the content topic, but also the main messaging behind it. 

• Why are you writing about this to them? 

  • The purpose behind the topic and blog post. (Ex. lead generation)

• Where is this audience currently going for content? 

  • Your competitors and how they're delivering to your target audience

• How are they searching for this topic 

  • The keywords and search queries your target audience is using to find things related to the topic. 

4) Define Your Angle

Another thing you want to set straight is how you can present your topic differently from your competitors. This is your angle, which is a deeper definition of your content's purpose and main messaging, allowing you to bring a new look or more value to a topic than everyone else. 

Researching the main search intent for the topics and keywords can give you a good idea of your angle, but it’s also helpful to consider in your competitor research (which we’ll get to in a moment).

No one wants what everyone else is saying, so you’ll need to find a unique way to present your topic. You can find search intent on Keyword Research tools like the Semrush Keyword Generator and the Moz Keyword Explorer. 

5) Choose Your Blog Post Format

Depending on your audience's needs and the topic, there are a few different ways to format your business's blog posts. Here are some popular blog post types for businesses.

• Listicles:

These are blog posts in list form. Longer lists usually just have the items, but some include more information. It all depends on the subject matter.  

→Example: 5 Ways To Gain Traffic To Your Website 

• Step-by-Step Guides and How-To Posts:

These are guides or how-to blog posts that break a topic down into tangible steps for a reader to follow. 

→Example: A Step-by-Step Guide To Optimize Your Website For SEO.

• Product Reviews and Countdowns:

Product reviews and countdowns are extremely popular ways to promote products and services. They provide deeper information and, perhaps, some customer feedback.  

→Example: My Top 3 Website Platforms To Launch Your Website On 

• Informational Guide:

An informational guide is an in-depth blog post explaining everything related to a specific topic. These are usually longer-form posts that are useful as pillar pages. 

→Example: A Complete Guide To SEO For Small Business

• Promotional Posts:

Promotional posts are articles you write about your own products, services, or the business in general. They're self-promoting posts that educate your readers about where the content comes from and what you offer. 

→Example: Best Graphic Design Tools For Bloggers.

• FAQs:

FAQ posts can be the questions people often ask about your business, product, or service. You can also write a blog post about the most popular question about a topic in your niche. 

→Example: What Does An SEO Audit Include?

6) Outline Your Blog Post

Create a document as a brief for your blog. It could be a spreadsheet, Google Doc, or Word Document—whatever you like. This helps you lay out the foundations of your article, which helps you stay on track while researching and writing. 

In your blog brief, include information on:

• Top 3 SERP Competitors

• Keywords you're focusing on

• Internal links you want to add 

• External links (sources)

• A rough blog outline

• SEO Title (Also Called Title Tag) & H1 Tag (Also Called Headline)

• Headings, Subheads

• Call To Action Heading

  
  

11 Essential Blog Writing Tips For Writing A Successful Blog Post For Your Small Business

Now, we get to the meat and potatoes. It's time to write. Here are the steps to writing a stellar blog post for your business. 

1) Create A Powerful Title 

Your blog post’s title is what really lures people in, so it’s almost more important than the blog itself. Here are some tips to help you write a headline that pops out to your readers:

• Ensure your headline is relevant to the article, but make it compelling!

• Include your target keyword.r

• Use power words to make it pop

• Don't make it too long. 65 characters is usually the sweet spot

2) Research And Make Notes

Always research a blog post topic, even if you know something well. You will need other resources and facts to link to or use in your blog. Also, look at your competitors' pages to find any content gaps. What are they NOT covering about the topic that you CAN?

3) Write Out Your Blog Post

Now, it's time to write your blog post. Using your notes, create authentic and original content—don't just reword what someone else says. Give it your flavor by changing the angle or using a tone of voice that aligns with your brand. Plus, don't forget to back up your claims with facts and data. 

Pro Blog Writing Tip: 

If you have a brand persona, keep your writing in line with that tone of voice. If you don't already have a brand personality and voice, you should definitely get that started before writing your blog post. If you need help, check out this in-depth look at brand personalities on the Hubspot blog. It even comes with a free downloadable branding guide! 

4) Do Your Conclusion And Introduction LAST

→ Intro:

Your blog's introduction paragraph is the most critical part of your blog, which is why I usually write my intros last. The title gets readers to your page, but if your intro bores them, they'll leave almost as soon as they come. 

To write an intro paragraph that pulls people in, ask some relevant questions or make an attention-grabbing statement. Then, lead your readers in by giving them a little snippet of what the blog is about and what they'll get out of reading it. 

→ Conclusion:

In your conclusion, summarize what you've done, but leave your readers with something of value and a call to action. Your call to action may be to contact you, visit your product or service page, or even follow you on social media. 

Never leave your readers asking more questions. You always want to make sure you've delivered what you promised way back in the introduction paragraph and that you've connected your business to the topic with a good call to action. 

5) Optimize Your Blog Post For SEO 

No matter how well you write a blog post, you can't guarantee anyone will see it. Well, not unless you optimize it to rank high on search engines.  Let's talk about SEO for blog posts and how to make sure your posts are always optimized to rank high. 

→Keywords

Again, make sure you've used super-relevant keywords with high search traffic and low competition. If you want to know how many times to use your keywords, try checking out the competition. You don't need a tool; all you need to do is visit the top 3 SERP listings and use Ctrl+F to find how many times the keywords have been used and even see some variations you may have missed in your original keyword research.

→Internal Links

Adding internal links to your blog post is extremely important to your website's architecture and user experience. Add links to other pages on your site wherever they fit. Just like with keywords, you want to make sure they are natural, meaning the anchor text makes sense, and the link you're sending your readers to is relevant to the blog post, or at least the part you're linking to.

→External Links

Don’t forget to link back to any sources and materials you’ve used. It’s really important to back up any claims you’ve made or things you’ve quoted, especially if it’s a statistic or some sort of data. This helps to build credibility and trust with your readers. 

→Structured Headings & Subheadings (With The Right Tags)

You can have the best possible information, but if you don't package it properly, no one will take the time to read it. This is why it's so important to look at your competitors. See how the top three competitors structure their posts with headings and subheads, and try replicating that. Even after writing, give it a final check, making sure all of the heading tags ( h2s, h3s) are correct. 

6. Edit And Proofread Your Blog Post

Editing is tedious but absolutely necessary. Constant spelling mistakes and other errors will diminish your readers' trust in you. Editing also gives you a chance to cut out all of the fluff in your blog post, so you're giving your readers the most valuable information, not boring them. 

Proofread your post with laser focus, going over one word at a time. Slowing yourself down like this helps you catch tiny mistakes like missing commas or double spaces. You can also use proofreading AI software like Grammarly to help you with proper grammar and punctuation. Just don't rely on it too much.

Proofreading Tip: 

Proofread TWICE. On the final round, read your blog post out loud to find any nuances or things that just don't sound right. This will help keep your blog post a little more conversational, which is best for business blogging. It should be like you or your brand's persona is actually talking to your reader face-to-face. 

7. Remember The 80/20 Rule 

When you’re writing blog posts for your business, it shouldn’t just be one big sales pitch. 80% of your content should be directly related to the topic, leaving the 20% at the end and wherever else it’s relevant to slip your business into the mix. 

8. Add Infographics

Infographics help readers digest information more easily, particularly complex or comprehensive information. They’re also great for boosting SEO opportunities and capturing ranking opportunities for the SERP image feature and are extremely effective link-building material. 

9. Add Images

Blog posts with images are 94% more likely to get traffic than blog posts with no visual content (Optin Monster). Plus, images make social sharing easier and can help with on-page SEO. 

10. Add Video Content

Video content is becoming a really hot topic. In fact, it’s quickly dominating the content marketing world, with video content being added to 9 out of 10 strategies. Blogs with video content are also getting more love, being able to attract 50 times more traffic than regular text (Optin Monster).

11. Promote Your Business Blog Posts

Even though you're finished writing a blog post for your business, you're not done quite yet. Even with good SEO, you still need to promote your blog posts. Here are a few ways to spread the word!

• Word Of Mouth

• Social Media 

• Email Marketing & Newsletters

• Link Building Campaign

• Promote On Your Home Page

• Link To Blog Posts On Other Pages

Don’t Have The Time To Write Blog Posts For Your Business? Hire Professional Blog Writing Services! 

It can be really difficult and time-consuming to produce high-quality blog posts that don’t just rank high but also get read and bring results to your business. But the good news for you is that you don’t have to.

By hiring a professional blog writer, you can free up that time and brainpower for more important things. Take a look at my content writing services to see how I can write blog posts that will actually help your business, and let’s talk!