Many of our clients have asked about blogging recently and how online writing is different from traditional copywriting. While blogging can improve your SEO ranking and infuse your site with fresh content on a regular basis, it’s not without guidelines. Many of these guidelines are similar to print copywriting, such as:

•  Don’t plagiarize. Make your ideas your own and if you’re not the expert on the content, consider linking to someone who is.

• Check your facts. You want to be the source for reliable information. If a reader doesn’t trust your content, they won’t return.

• Use proper grammar. While blogging often uses a more casual tone, it still needs to be written well.

• Make it interesting and relevant to your target audience. Just because it’s a message interesting to your company internally doesn’t mean it will benefit your customers and prospects.

While online and print copywriting share the above rules, there are many aspects that make them different:

• Write the way your readers read. When someone is reading print material, they often have more time to do so. Online, your readers are looking for relevant information and keywords. Make it easy on them by breaking your copy into bulleted lists or short paragraphs they can skim. Use keyword-rich content for Google to index and your readers to more easily identify.

• Use descriptive and catchy titles. Consider this your “online envelope.” If the reader doesn’t like what he/she sees at this step, they are less likely to read more.

• Keep it short. Blogs are typically 200 to 500 words.

• Use calls to action or links to more information. This is your opportunity to further engage a reader who is already interested in what you have to say. Seize the moment to drive traffic to another informational area of your website or to online sales.

OnMark Solutions has helped a number of our clients establish company blogs that are easy to implement and maintain. Call us today if you would like our assistance in launching your own company blog or to discuss how to improve your existing one.

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