How to get your business blog noticed

You have started a blog for your business's website to share your expertise, be part of a larger online community and to help market your business. Now what? Your blog is up and running and maybe you have written a few posts. How do you get people to visit your blog?

That is the question that runs deep in the minds of just about all bloggers, especially new ones. And while growing your blog's popularity is not an exact science, there are generally accepted practices that will help get your blog noticed. A few weeks ago I came across an excellent blog post by Darren Rowse from Problogger. His blog post, How to Find Readers for a Business Blog talks about this very topic.

With a business-oriented blog you have a very specific target audience in mind. You not only want to market your business, but your blog must offer value to the reader, that is, provide content that helps the reader in some way. Darren's post talks about content as the foundation for your blog. Without a solid foundation, your blog won't attract many readers. Here's what Darren says:

"Your blog posts need to meet a need of readers in some way. Readers of business blogs needs will vary but could include a need for news about your industry, a need to learn how to use your products, a need to get updates on developments/news about your company that relates to them, a need to see how others are using your products."

Even with great content, your blog will unlikely get noticed right away. In fact, it could take years for content alone to generate traffic through search engines - and even that won't amount to many visitors. That is why you need to get the word out about your blog by leveraging your network of associates, employees, industry leaders, business contacts and so forth. Let them know about the blog on your website. If your content is valuable and well-written, word-of-mouth and links to your blog will start bringing in a lot of traffic.

This post only touches on the very basics of getting your business blog noticed and read. The most important rule I have learned in my years of blogging is to be patient. Stay in it for the long run and write the best content you can. If you do this, your business will reap the benefits.