SEO creative copywriting for soulful adventurers and imaginative business owners craving charismatic copy.
Reach out today!
Get In Touch →
TikTok, Youtube, Instagram, Pinterest, Threads…in the ever-evolving digital landscape, where trends come and go with lightning speed, blogging stands out as a timeless and powerful marketing strategy for small businesses.
By sharing your insights, stories, and know-how on your blog, you invite readers to get up close and personal with your small business.
And while we’ve said goodbye to the days of pouring every single thought out online Tumblr-style, blogging is still the most consistent way to genuinely connect with your audience in a lasting manner. Plus, it’s the easiest way to introduce your business to new audiences without wasting hours finding the perfect trending audio.
But I know, I know. You have about 43,281 questions on how to start blogging for your small business, right? Don’t worry, I’m answering them all right here.
What is a small business blog?
Does your small business need a blog?
How does blogging help your small business?
What website platform should your blog be on?
How long should your blog posts be?
How often should you blog for your small business?
What are the different types of blog posts?
How to come up with blog topics
How to do keyword research
How to write a blog post
How to promote your blog
Ways to repurpose your blog content
How to analyze your blog metrics
Get blogging support
Let’s get started so you can launch your blog ASAP and see your small business grow leaps and bounds.
A blog is a sweet little corner of your website where you give your readers valuable tips, entertaining stories, or mind-blowing information. For small businesses like yours, a blog is a total game-changer! It’s your secret weapon to show off your business smarts and become a thought leader in your industry. Plus, you get to engage with your audience on a whole new level while enjoying more eyeballs on your website.
The truth is only some businesses are ready for a blog. So before you start churning out content, you need to make sure the rest of your website is working for your biz.
Do a quick audit of your website:
If you said yes to all these questions, then it’s time to launch a blog and bring more visitors to your website. But if you’re still on the fence, then check out these 6 popular blogging myths to get a new perspective on blogging!
I’m sure you’ve heard it time and time again – blogging is great for small businesses. Hell, I’ve already said it in this post! But let’s get into the details of how exactly a blog helps your biz grow.
One of the biggest myths about blogging is that WordPress is the only/best/top platform for blogs. And I’ll be honest, I blog on Showit using a WordPress integration!
But the truth is, the website platform you blog on does not impact your SEO or reach. That means you could use Showit, WordPress, Squarespace, or Wix for your biz and still reach the top page of Google results.
What actually matters is your keywords, the quality of your content, your site speed, your website security, your mobile optimization, and the usability of your website.
Don’t just take it from me.
SEO agency The SM Collective breaks down the differences between blogging on Showit and blogging on Squarespace right here.
When it comes to blogging, there is no ‘one-size-fits-all‘ approach. The length of your blog post depends on the topic you’re covering, the purpose of your blog, and the amount of context, details, and examples you’ll provide. And of course, all of this should be centred around who you’re writing for.
Do your readers want to jump straight to the meat of the blog? Or do they want background, context, and additional information? What do your readers need to know to feel content with your content?
Take a look at this suggested blog length guideline to help you decide how long your blog should be.
No matter the length of your blog, the critical part is offering information that your readers care about and want to read. You could write three hundred 2,000-word posts, but if you aren’t appealing to your readers you won’t see the traffic you want.
For some, blogging sounds like an easy way to promote your services, share your knowledge, and connect with your curious clients. You might think, ‘All I have to do is share my unfiltered train of thoughts from the comfort of my couch, with a glass of wine in hand? Sign me up.’
But then the researching, writing, reviewing, formatting, publishing, and promoting kick in.
Suddenly, your twice-a-week blogging schedule drops down to once a week, then once a month, and then you pretend you’ve never even heard of this thing called blogging before.
Maintaining a blog takes time, resources, and effort. When you’re creating your blogging calendar and setting your blog goals, be realistic about the amount of energy you can happily devote to writing.
If you can commit to writing an impactful blog every week (or three times a week), then good for you. But if once a month is more your pace, that’s something to celebrate too!
Most blog posts can be slotted into one of six different formats.
While listicle blog posts are usually the easiest to crank out and gain traction quickly because our brains loooooove numbered lists…you can’t rely entirely on listicles for your blog strategy. Adding a variety of blog formats allows you to tell engaging stories, showcase your knowledge, and attract a variety of readers with different needs and interests to your website.
So you’re all ready to start blogging. You’ve set aside a few hours and pulled up a Google Doc and then…you stare. And stare. And stare some more. Maybe you head over to ChatGPT and ask for some blog ideas. Or maybe you end up scrolling through your competitors’ blogs, feeling like everything has been said before so what’s the point?
I get it. There’s a ton of content out there so how do you come up with blog topics for your small business that are fresh, engaging, and scroll-stopping?
The first step is creating your content pillars.
Content pillars are the general subject areas that fit right in the sweet spot of showing your expertise, exciting you, and exciting your audience. Once you have your content pillars in mind, you can dial in on specific topics to blog about that capture your audience’s attention.
In my blogging resource, 58 Blog Prompts For Selling, you’ll get blog topic prompts, fill-in-the-blank titles, and questions to answer to help you write blog posts easily. Whether you’re promoting a freebie, selling your services, or marketing a course.
But if you’re feeling stuck right now and don’t want to wait to join the course, then get your juices flowing by peeking at these blog topic suggestions for fitness studios, photographers, brand and web designers, and adventure retreats.
I’m gonna be honest with you. I’m a pretty big research nerd.
And by big, I mean dedicated 7 years of my life to university and studying the history of whale research and marine entertainment. So you can get why doing keyword research for my clients is one of my favourite parts of this copywriting gig.
Don’t sweat.
You don’t need that type of dedication when doing keyword research for your blog. Instead, all you need is some reflection, some brainstorming, and a dash of Google creeping to find keywords that bring your website waves of readers.
But having a keyword research video tutorial in your inbox doesn’t hurt either.
The main takeaway when finding keywords for your business is this: what are your ideal clients searching for on Google? Once you have a list of those questions, needs, and hopes in mind, use them to identify the keywords for your blog posts.
So we’ve covered all the why’s and what’s when it comes to blogging for your small business. And we’ve even touched on some of the how’s. But now it’s time to dive into the big one – how do you write a blog post?
To make this process even easier, I have blog templates that lay it out for you *and* include sample copy you can customize for your own brand. Go ahead, check out 4 Core Blog Post Templates right here!
So what do you do after you’ve tapped publish on that new blog post? Don’t worry, I’m not gonna tell you that you need to start on your next one. After all, you just wrote a whole freakin’ blog that deserves attention!
Instead, I want you to use all the juicy content you created to promote your new blog on different platforms.
Pull key pieces of info from your blog and create content for your Instagram, Pinterest, or monthly newsletter to get more eyes on your new blog post ASAP. For example:
Love it or hate it, creating content and marketing materials is a critical part of running a small business. But what do you do when you hit a roadblock and just can’t think of any new topics? Or you decide to take that month-long sabbatical and brainstorming blogs is not on your vacation schedule?
Head on back to your past blogs.
Blog posts are perfect for cutting up and repurposing into other marketing materials over and over and over again. So if you’re burnt out on content and want some easy ideas, try repurposing old blog posts by:
Finally, there’s no point in churning out new blog content week after week, month after month, if it’s not working for your small business. I know, I know…’analyzing blog metrics’ sounds way too techy, but I promise, it’s not that bad.
You’ll want to start by setting up your Google Analytics and Search Console so Google can track your website traffic. Then, every 6 months or so take a peek at your Google Analytics to see: who is visiting your website, how they’re getting there, and where they’re spending their time on your website. Check out Duo Collective’s blog post on how to find out your blog metric details in just a few minutes!
With this information in mind, you can:
All of this together encourages your blog posts and your entire website to work even better for your small business.
So there you have it, your complete guide to starting a blog for your small business!
But reading about blogging is one thing. Actually generating blog topic ideas, writing your posts, editing your posts (ugh), reviewing your analytics, and promoting your blogs is a whole other ballgame.
And it sucks to do it alone.
So don’t.
If you’re ready to outsource your blogging completely, then send me an inquiry. I take on a few blogging retainers every year!
Discover keywords for your website copy that has Google and your dream clients falling head over keyboard. Get eyes on your page and fingers clicking your ‘book me button’ with this free video training and workbook.
send it to me ⟶
Ask Isobel
Get answers to your copywriting questions straight to your inbox every other Tuesday.
Writing feel-good web copy that sells for
do-good brands in the creative and adventure industries.
Brand & Website By Samara Bortz Creative | Photos by Kristen Buchholtz & Mollie Laura
Privacy Policy & Terms of Service
Get In My Inbox →
drop a Line →
[…] This is the year you’re going to blow the blogging world away. […]
[…] Your blog is a free educational, inspirational, and entertaining resource for internet searchers. […]
[…] easiest way to stay motivated about writing blog posts is by picking topics that you could happily chat about over brunch or at a family reunion. Those […]
[…] great right, but how exactly do you do all that in a blog? And what do you say in a blog to keep your readers […]