Should I write a blog for my business?
Image credit: Furniture And Choice
I have got your attention. You have clicked the read more button – is it because you might be thinking, why should I write a blog?
I am a brand and marketing graphic designer, and I have a mission to help businesses market themselves and look good visually to potential customers.
If you are a freelancer, a small business, or a big business, you want to drive people to your website and find out more about your insights. A blog can be a way to help with that. It does not matter what your industry is, so don’t let that stop you.
By the end of this blog, I may have enticed you to start a blog, or if you had one gathering pixel dust, you might get going to write one.
Before we start, if you have had a look around my website, you can see that I’m a graphic designer and not a copywriter, so these are the observations that I have picked up from working for my clients, as well as things I have implemented myself.
I started this blog a few years ago when I redesigned my website. It is a Squarespace website that offers all that I need to showcase my work, who I am and how to work with me.
Blogs for food, photography, finance, gaming, design, you name it it is out there. According to a reference on the ahrefs website, there are over 600 million online active blogs.
If your website is live and you have not yet created a blog. Continue reading this page of this and see if you want to try creating content for it.
Books for inspiration. Image credit: Unsplash
Getting ideas
Before you start, think of a plan and link it to your business.
I like to use a mind map. When I first started mind mapping, I thought, why and how will this work? But try it – it works. Start with writing a word or phrase in the centre of a circle on a piece of paper (or digital notes), then have any words that come to mind in different circles, and it becomes a page filled with ideas.
Then, take one of those ideas in a circle to get you going around blog topics. Blogs can be broken into categories based on your industry. For example, if you are a photographer, you could write about an:
1. Educational topic– i.e. Tips on how to take an image
2. Marketing topic – i.e. why brand photography is important for your business
3. Inspirational article – i.e. incorporate a case study – a real-life client. Make it aspirational.
Example of a mind map. You can work on it as a team - more ideas with two brains. Image credit: Envato
Structure
There are many ways to lay out the blog. For example:
Long-form content
List/Listicle guides
Short form content
A guide – How-to guides.
You can write a long piece of content (500 words or more). Make sure you use subheadings otherwise wise it will be boring). Or you could write less in a short-form content blog and include images to describe your topic. You can have a blog written out as a list. These are called listicles. A great read on what a listicle is is here on the HubSpot blog. How-to guides are great for giving your opinion about your business.
With any of these, they are a great way to show your potential client thought leadership and insights into you and your business.
Going detective on keywords
Keys – what are the keys about? Blogs should try to have keywords so Google knows if you are a good blog to send out in searches. Keywords are words related to your content. So, for example, I could type in Google: ‘Should I write a blog for my business’ or ‘Freelance Graphic Designer London’. If somewhere in my blog, those keywords (in bold) appear. Google knows to send traffic my way. You can find more information and help on keywords in this blog here.
This does take time and is not done magically overnight. This can take a few months. There are SEO experts out there to learn from. I have listed a few here in an article I had written.
Find keywords from websites such as Ask the Public, Google search and ahrefs. Image credit: Depositphotos
Starting off
You really don’t need to write your blog all in one go. I have been working on getting great marketing tips from Hannah Listed – author of The Best 90 Days Ever.* This book and her community encourage you to do 10 minutes of marketing a day using time, so in writing this blog post – and others. I write for 10 minutes – that’s roughly 100 words. By the end of the week, you have a 700-word blog that you can publish on your website. What a win!
Image credit: Unsplash
Not all words
Images can be used to break up chunky text. If you don’t have images from your company. Don’t worry as there are image stock photo libraries that can help and lots of them are free. For some of my blogs, I use depositphotos.com, Unsplash, Pixiden, and Press Loft for free images, and for any paid ones, I use Shutterstock. Please note: be aware of the licences they may hold. Most are for editorial use only and credit the creator where possible.
Be sure to include some images to break up your text. Try not to use large image file sizes You can optimise the file size to reduce its size and loading speed. I like to use the free online tool tinypng.com. Another point on images is to include the alt text in the meta descriptions of your site. We do this for those who may be visually impaired – writing out a description of what the image is will help – plus, Google will see that you are doing this and rank you a tiny bit higher up the ranking chain.
Also, infographics are a great way to present data or a fun way.
Even videos or GIFs can be used on your website. This makes it fun, but again please be aware of the file size.
You can write a blog from anywhere! Image credit: Depositphotos
What to write about when you seriously can’t think of anything.
An easy way is to write about something in your business you know about. Maybe you don’t feel comfortable writing straight away. Try talking out loud and recording it on the note app on your phone. Now, if you're in a coffee shop or a co-workspace, it might be difficult, so write the idea on the note app or send an email to yourself. Park the idea until you are ready.
You could also start with a story – everyone loves a story. Think about the subject you want to talk about and weave a news story into it. Try to avoid politics or religion. Pick a story that is part of your industry. For example, I could talk about the recent Jaguar rebranding. The title of this blog could be a line such as: ‘I’m not sure if I love or loathe the new Jaguar rebrand’ The story could talk about getting your first car or taking a ride in a luxury car. Start weaving your way into the redesign.
If you want answers to a question or want more help with a blog, why don’t you try these things:
Put a call out on LinkedIn or Instagram Stories
Collaborate with someone who compliments your industry
Or book some time with me. I call it ‘The Creative Spark’. It is a power hour with me. I have been in the design industry for over 20 years and running my business for 12 years. I have marketing insights and can offer advice for you and your business. You can book and read more here.
Repurpose your blog
One of the best things about your blog is that it can be used again and again in a different format – repurposed. From a 500-word blog, you can create social media posts. You can use it for marketing email content. Use it as a marketing tool.
Later on down the line, you may get sponsorship or be asked to include affiliate links by companies.
Affiliate links sometimes make people feel uncomfortable but it is a way of making money without too much effort. I do this by placing an asterisk* next to the text and a footnote on the page. As a form of etiquette, do let your readers know that you are getting money from it. It’s a bit off if you don’t tell them.
Concluding challenge for you
Blogs are a way of sharing your knowledge. Once you have written your blog, tell people about it. I will repurpose my blog in a newsletter, social media posts or LinkedIn article feature.
You have done the hard work – it should work for you now.
One of the best things about my business and blog writing is that it has driven people to find me in online searches. Let me know how you get on!
If you are stuck on getting going for blog ideas or need some design marketing advice.
Book some time with me by hitting the button below.
My dream office! Image credit: Furniture And Choice
Hi! Thanks for reading!
I’m Angela Lyons, the founder and graphic designer at Lyons Creative.
I specialise in both print and digital design, I aim to help businesses enhance their visual appeal by creating compelling and distinct marketing designs. I also help freelancers and share my experiences of freelance life in my newsletter.
If you are interested in learning more about my services and how I can assist your business, please feel free to contact me via direct message, and we can discuss your design needs further.
* This will contain an affiliate link. I will get some money from it. I only promote the things I use, and they work well for me.
