Don’t Overlook These Opportunities to Promote Your Business Blog

Business blogs are one of the central elements used in today’s content or inbound marketing approach. They provide the perfect vehicle for boosting search rankings, addressing the questions and needs of prospective customers, and establishing your company as a leader in your industry.

But a blog can only be effective if it is reaching the right readers, which requires not simply writing a blog as a part of your marketing strategy, but marketing and promoting the blog itself. Social media, direct emails to established contact lists, and reaching out to other bloggers are among the obvious methods of getting the word out.

But you need to take every opportunity possible to attract readers to your business blog.

So be sure you aren’t forgetting to …

Promote your business blog with website banners

We talk a lot about using calls to action here on the Inbound Accelerator. We talk about using CTAs to promote relevant offers and link to landing pages; we talk about the characteristics of great CTAs; and we talk about where to put CTAs. We’ve even told you which CTA mistakes to avoid.

Did you know that you should also be using CTAs, including website banners, to promote your business blog?

While many new visitors to your website will actually hit your blog first, thanks to its ability to help boost your search ranking opportunities by addressing the questions and needs your potential customers are searching, some will come from other referring sources.

If a visitor first reaches your website by directly typing in the URL, by coming from a social media link, or by clicking on a direct email, they may not be aware that you have a useful, well-written business blog that can answer their questions and help them solve their problems. (That is what you do in your blog, right? If you are using it for purely product promotion instead, read this.)

Using a banner call-to-action promoting your business blog on pages such as your home page or “About Us” page can direct more readers to the blog.

Take the same care in creating this CTA as you would any other (see the links in the earlier paragraph for tips). Showcase the benefits of reading the blog or use social proof, such as emphasizing how many people already subscribe to or read your blog.

Promote your business blog at events and presentations

While our focus today tends to be on all things digital marketing—social media, email, SEO—remember that you can still use in-person and face-to-face opportunities to let prospects know about your business blog.

If you are at an event giving a presentation, or even just networking with others, you can refer your audience and others you meet to your blog for further information. Share the URL, which should be something easy to remember, on-screen, in handouts, on your business card and in other material. You can also use a QR code to provide a quick link for people to subscribe to your blog.

Promote your business blog in email signatures

Every email you send, whether a personal message to follow up with a prospect, or a lead nurturing email that is part of an inbound marketing workflow, is an opportunity to include a subtle CTA in the signature line linking to your blog.

You don’t have to limit the blog links to your signature, though. If you have specific posts that address the topics being discussed in the email, link to them to provide your contact with even more relevant information.

Promoting your business blog is one of the key steps in using it successfully to generate online leads through inbound marketing. Find more of the basics you need to know for creating a business blog that yields results in our free Introduction to Business Blogging ebook; you can download it here.