Business Blogs- Getting It Right

The business blog is unlike almost any other kind of blog. This is a specialist audience, and it wants information. Opinions, this audience can take or leave, but information quality is critical. If you’ve ever seen induction software, with its painstaking attention to basic detail, that’s the sort of quality you need.

Business blog basics

Structure is important. A business blog should be laid out clearly, preferably in a format where the information is easy to find and with headers. The basic structure is:

Headline: Topic named, with basic info

Body text

First paragraph: Set up the topic, explaining the subject issues.

Second paragraph: This should be in narrative form, creating a logical sequence of events. It’s best to have clear continuity, so readers aren’t left wondering what happened in the intermediate steps. This doesn’t have to be lengthy, but it does have to be clear.

Third and subsequent paragraphs: This is the discussion zone, with additional information, again set out with clear continuity.

Graphics: If you’ve got a good source, use graphics as illustrators and space savers for text. Do not use over complex materials which may not work well as thumbnails. Captions should be simple and topical.

Links: Hyperlinks are valuable, but don’t think of them as de facto supporters of your blog information. Not everyone goes through every link, and too many links can be counterproductive.

Writing a business blog

Bloggers are often considered simultaneously arrogant, opinionated, and ignorant. That’s not where you need to be, if you want a readership. The business blog has some rules for writers:

Do not assume anything about your readership. One of the greatest possible mistakes in a business blog is to “write down” to the reader. The readership for business blogs includes the world’s top business people. Giving them “the cat sat on the mat” as information isn’t likely to go down too well. People can get away with that in political and entertainment blogs, but not in business.

Get your facts straight. Double check your information to make sure you’re not providing information which can easily be proven wrong. Be careful that your own text isn’t ambiguous or easy to misinterpret. (This happens with a sort of hideous normality, even for experienced business writers.  A few words can throw your whole article off track.) Business readers won’t just blithely accept information which is inaccurate, or logic which is off the mark.

Don’t bore the readers. Select material which is interesting, contains depth and scope for thought, and is literally worth reading. Avoid turgid or too-detailed content like a train wreck.

Make sure your information is current and forward looking. An article which relates to the future is more likely to be interesting than a post-mortem on one of the market disasters. Don’t go nuts with predictions, but qualify what you have to say with information from reputable sources.

A business blog is a bit like a learning management system. It includes a structured approach to creation of information. When you get your structure right, you’ll have a beautiful business blog, and plenty of readers who are reading because they want what you have to offer.