4 great tips for becoming a better blog writer

Helpful insight for reaching your audience and getting ROI

There are numerous benefits of a business blog.  It’s a marketing tool that shouldn’t be ignored. Having a blog means your website has a 434 percent higher chance of being found by search engines. But just being found isn’t enough. It’s important to write in a way that engages your target audience. The days of personal diaries are long gone. Use these tips to help you become a better blog writer.

Write regularly

One good reason to write often: research shows 82 percent of marketers who blog consistently see positive ROI. Create an editorial calendar to keep on schedule. If you get stumped about topics, there are great tools to help you out.

Another reason to get into the habit of writing regularly: you will improve with practice. Consider continually cranking out content to be practice. Additionally, the more you post, the more you’ll get feedback on what you provide. You’ll learn what works and what doesn’t, making it easier to write exactly what your audience enjoys and finds beneficial.

Check grammar

A study by Dictionary.com showed 59 percent of Americans say improper grammar is their biggest annoyance. Language is important in business communications whether on official documents, blog posts or social media.  Here are 5 common grammar errors:

•  Its vs. It’s: “Its” is a possessive. For example: “The restaurant lost its license.” Meanwhile, “It’s” is a contraction of “it is” and uses and apostrophe to separate “it” and “is.”  Also note that Its’ is never correct.

• Me vs. I: The following sentence sounds wrong because it’s incorrect: “When you are finished with the budget, please send it to I.” You would instead say, “When you are finished with the budget, please send it to me.” Remember this as a trick when including others. The correct sentence would be, “When you are finished with the budget, please send it to Jim, Leslie and me.”

• Split infinitives: An infinitive is the word “to” paired with a verb. When you separate them, you split the infinite. While such a practice isn’t necessarily prohibited, it makes the sentence awkward. For example, here the verb is “finish.” Incorrect: She tried to quickly finish the project proposal before she had to leave.  Correct: She tried to finish the project proposal quickly before she had to leave.

• Incomplete comparisons: Business stakeholders love to express how their product or service is better than the competition. When asserting something, it’s important to be clear about the comparison. For example, “Our pizza is the best!” Best in the city? In the tri-state area? Did it actually receive an award?

• Referring to a company or a brand as “they”: A business is not plural; it is a singular entity. Further, brands do not identify as “he” or “she.” Thus, a company or brand should be called “it.” For example, “Dunkin’ Donuts” made the decision to drop ‘Donuts’ from its name.”

Spelling counts

While we’re all human and errors occur  — and even famous leaders had difficulty spelling correctly — poor spelling and grammar can affect your credibility. Do your best to write well so readers don’t overlook the message and instead only see the mistakes. Have your colleagues double check your work and use tools make the effort easier.

Here are 10 commonly misspelled words that show up in business blogs:

1. a lot: This should always be two words,  not one word: “alot.”
2. all right: It is often incorrectly written as one word: “alright.”
3. argument: The verb “argue” ends with an “e,” but it must be dropped when creating this word that is sometimes misspelled as “arguement.”
4. calendar: Many people drop the second “a” and misspell it as “calender.”
5. choose / chose: Choose is a verb meaning to pick one thing over another. Chose is the past tense of the verb.
6. definitely: Do not forget to add the “e” before the “ly.” It is often misspelled as “definitly.”
7. grateful: It sounds like “greatful,” but that spelling is incorrect.
8. license: There is an “s” in this word and often misspelled as “licence.”
9. loose / lose: You can lose a client or your phone. Your belt can be too loose.
10. until: There’s only one “l” in this word, not two. “Untill” is incorrect.

Remember to link

Enhance your blog text with links. Doing so provides two major benefits:

• Providing a better value for the reader
• Providing a better value for your website traffic

Outbound links to external sources help inform the reader and make for a better understanding of the concepts you present. Including these improves your reputation and more positively impacts your SEO.

Internal links in your blog to other sections of your website not only enhances the overall value of your site, but keeps the reader engaged and more likely to take the next steps toward conversion.

Additional assistance is available

At T.E. Digital, we know how important blogging is to an overall content marketing strategy.  That said, sometimes it’s difficult for stakeholders to dedicate time to a blog in the way it’s now become necessary. Our team has experience with everything from topic ideas and editorial calendars to content creation and measuring analytics. If you need help with your blogging efforts, just give us a call so we can assist and move you closer to success.