Optimize Your Manufacturing Business Blogs Before It's Too Late

How to blog?  Am I doing it right?

There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to blogging; from choosing a topic that will resonate with your ideal customer to optimizing your blog post so it will get found online. It can be a little overwhelming at first, but the process gets easier as you blog more often. 

There's no doubt about the importance of business blogs for a company's success. The value of remarkable, relevant content is unmeasurable. Marketers who use business blogs generate 67% more leads than those that do not. 

There's no time like the present to start optimizing your blog posts.

A blog that isn't optimized can be seen as the blue print to putting together a part.

A manufacturing blue print displays the dimensions, the material type, company information and other requirements for the part; it just needs to be put together. Similarly, your written blog post consists of the content, images and the author's name; it just needs to be optimized. 

After you write your effective blog that speaks directly to your ideal customer, it is time to optimize it for your reader first and the search engine second.

Following are top-notch best practices to shape up your business blogs and maximize it for success with your reader and the search engine.

How To Optimize Your Business Blogs For Manufacturing Marketing

1. Include Social Media Sharing Buttons

Adding social media sharing icons on every single post you pump out will increase your brand's exposure and reach online. For instance, once a prospect shares your blog through LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook, your content is being viewed by people beyond your connections. 

Don't be one of the rare few that doesn't utilize social media!

2. Have Eye-Catching Images

Blogs with some sort of graphic naturally perform better than blogs without one. Having appealing images help catch the reader's attention and draws them into the meat of your exceptional content. It also helps break up the text in your blog, making it easier for your prospect to read and digest your material. 

3. Captivate Your Readers With Compelling Titles

If you don’t capture your reader's attention with the headline, it doesn’t matter how fabulous your blog is, the reader will not continue reading. Half of your time should be spent writing the blog and half of your time should be spent creating a captivating headline. 

Your blog title should be:

• Actionable

• Long tail keyword conscious

• Clear and concise with no more than 70 characters

• Specific

• Intriguing, captivating and compelling (Not necessarily in that order)

4. Format Your Blog With Great Design

Formatting is very important for the reader. Make it easy for the eye to scan and clear to read. Online reading is different than reading a physical book, so include the following to make your blog enticing:

• Use bold text to highlight important words or phrases

• Include subheadings, numbers, bulleted lists and links

• White space is your friend...embrace it! 

• Use high quality, stunning images

5. Proper Calls-to-action Placement

Include a call-to-action – keep the end goal in mind…lead generation. Add calls-to-action in the side bar and at the bottom of every post you write. Ensure that it is relevant to the blog topic and present offers that accommodate different stages of the buying process.

6. Be clear, concise and entertaining 

Be the expert on your topic and don't second guess yourself. Make sure you are clear and concise with your point and provide actionable steps for your visitors to take. You want your prospect to walk away with valuable information after reading your blog.

In addition, this doesn't mean you have to be boring either. While providing remarkable content, make it entertaining to read. Start your blog post with a metaphor or a story. It all depends what will resonate best with your buyer persona (ideal customer). 

7. Don't forget SEO

Remember SEO – publish first for your ideal customer and second for search engines.

Items to think about:

• Keyword in the title

• Keyword in the meta description

• Keyword in the Header 1 and 2 

• Include alt text on all images and alt tags

• Include 1-2 keywords in your blog post. Anything more than that will make it harder for you to rank.

• For more insight on SEO best practices, read our blog here: Get Found Online With These 5 Web Design Best Practices

8. Analyze

Analyze, Analyze, Analyze – keep a close eye on your blog results. Adapt, make changes, tweak and repeat based on the analytic.

Have you heard the phrase, "If you build it, they will come?"  If you build a great blog following these business blogging best practices, visitors WILL read your blog and come to your website.

Outsmart your competitors and get a jump on successful business blogging with our free ebook, "How To Blog For Manufacturing Marketing."

Download our free ebook to boost your business blogs!