You may be asking yourself, of all the things I have to fit into my busy schedule, why would I add a blog to that list?

Yes, blogs can be time consuming and require some effort on your part to get off the ground, but if they’re done right, they can be worth every minute! Take it from Nicole McNamee, who launched her blog The Promo Diaries back in 2015: “The blog has led to real results,” she told our editorial staff.

But why are blogs so effective? Firstly, they’re an easy way to drive traffic to your website. While you’re earning trust with your new clients through valuable content in your blog posts, you can also link out to your site pages. Additionally, a blog is a great way to humanize your brand and connect with your prospects on a more personal level. It’s your opportunity to connect directly with and educate your customer base in your own voice.

Once you’ve decided to launch a blog, it might be difficult to know where to start. We’ve got you covered! Here are a few first steps to get you started:

1. Figure out where to host your blog. You can make it part of your company website (we offer this as part of our ESP Websites packages) or host it on an external domain such as WordPress.
2. Come up with a creative, unique domain and blog name. Be sure it speaks to what the blog will cover. So, if you plan to post a lot about product trends, choose a title that reflects that. If you’re going to focus more on a niche market like events, put that in your blog name!
3. Make a flexible editorial calendar. Sit down and map out how often you want to post and basic topics you’ll want to cover during certain times of the year. You can use our marketing calendar for ideas on topics and holidays to cover. Set alerts that remind you to write your posts and publish them, but remember to stay flexible. Your topics will and should change based on current events. Posting regularly is one of the most important best practices for a successful blog. Don’t forget to include images in your posts to give them some visual appeal. Hint: You can get free stock images from Unsplash!
4. Promote, promote, promote! Talk about your blog to your customers, post on your social media pages about it, announce the launch via an email blast to your prospects and include a link to it in your email signature. Do everything you can to drive more traffic to your posts!

What are your favorite industry blogs? Let us know on our social pages!