Seven essentials for starting a business blog

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How to Start a Business Blog:
Seven Essentials for Success
By Kristi Hines
Published May 19, 2015
Are you interested in starting a blog for your
business?
Want to know how to set it up to get the best
results?
There are lots of design and functionality
options to consider when setting up your
business blog. However, only a few make a
vital difference in your blog’s success.
In this article you’ll discover the seven critical elements you need for your
business blog.
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Discover seven essentials for starting a business blog.
#1: Choose the Best Blog Layout
Here are the three most commonly used blog layouts:
Three-column layout with two sidebars and the main content column
Two-column layout with one sidebar and the main content column
One-column layout with only the main content column
There are advantages and disadvantages to each of these layout options.
If you’re a publisher with a large amount of content that you want to promote alongside
your articles, the three-column layout gives you plenty of space for promotion.
TechCrunch uses the three-column layout with two sidebars.

An example of a three-column blog layout. Image: Placeit.
While this layout can distract readers from the main article, it might also keep them on
your website longer, as they’ll have plenty of related content to click through to.
The main content and sidebar option doesn’t distract too much and provides areas to
promote your products or services, additional content, social profiles and email list
opt-in forms. If you want readers to give 100% of their attention to your content, the
one-column layout is the best choice.
The Zapier Blog uses the one-column layout with just the content.

An example of a one-column blog layout. Image: Placeit.
Of course, this doesn’t leave you with room for promotion of additional information,
except throughout or at the end of posts.
The most popular option out of all three layouts tends to be the two-column, main
content plus sidebar layout. The key to making this layout work for your business is to
ensure that the sidebar focuses on your business goals, with the most important
elements at the top.
The Hootsuite Blog uses the two-column layout with a sidebar to the right.

An example of a tw o-column blog layout. Image: Placeit.
For example, if you want readers to opt into your email list, your email list opt-in box
should be at the top of your sidebar. Follow it with links to your social profiles, top
content and other information.
Most importantly, unless you’re an affiliate marketer or a publisher that generates
income from advertisers, don’t give visitors any external links to leave your website,
unless they point back to your main website.
#2: Make It Mobile
No matter what layout you choose for your blog, make sure that it’s mobile-friendly.
Google recommends responsive design, which is a fluid layout that reshapes itself
based on the size of the screen.

An example of a responsive blog design by StudioPress.
You should be able to find a responsive design or theme for whatever blogging
platform you use, such as the StudioPress theme shown above. You can also use
plugins, like WPtouch Mobile Plugin for WordPress, that give any blog a
mobile-friendly design.
#3: Add Multiple Opt-in Forms
If you want to convert blog readers into email subscribers to promote your company’s
products and services, you need to have multiple opt-in forms on your blog.
There are several different ways to implement opt-in forms on your blog, and many
tools to do it. Most email marketing software solutions offer a few different opt-in forms
to choose from that you can add to your website using the provided code.

to choose from that you can add to your website using the provided code.
GetResponse, for example, has a Form Builder that lets you create forms to match
your site design and place anywhere on your website.
Use the GetResponse Form Builder to create an opt-in form.
SumoMe allows you to add a variety of opt-in forms to any website (not just
WordPress). You can add a smart bar at the top of your website, a scroll box
that appears at the bottom right of the website or a light box pop-up that
appears over the website.

An example of a scroll box opt-in form by SumoMe.
OptinMonster allows you to add a variety of opt-in forms on any website (again, not
just WordPress). You can add opt-in forms anywhere on your site, including the
sidebar, footer, after a post, in floating bars, in slide-ins and in pop-ups.
An example of a footer opt-in form by OptinMonster.
While you don’t want to go overboard, with one opt-in form sitting next to or overlaying

another, you do want to make sure that there is an opt-in form available so readers
can subscribe at any time.
#4: Configure SEO Fields
If you use WordPress, you can install free plugins like WordPress SEO to create
key fields for all of your blog pages to optimize them for search engines. Once
installed, start by adding the SEO title and meta description for your blog’s homepage,
optimized for specific keywords.
How to configure the SEO settings for your blog homepage in WordPress SEO.
As you create pages and posts on your blog, remember to fill in the SEO title
and meta description. You can even add these fields to your category and tag
pages. Go to the appropriate menu items under the Posts section and click on the
categories or tags you want to optimize for search.

How to find your categories and tags in WordPress.
Then use the fields to optimize them for specific keywords.

How to optimize your tags and categories for search in WordPress SEO.
This tactic helps your blog get additional visibility in search for more keywords.
#5: Use Social Sharing Buttons
Social sharing buttons are a must for your blog post content. They make it easier for
your readers to share your content on the social networks that matter to you.
If you’re comfortable editing your blog design, you can choose to add the official
sharing buttons from Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and your other
favorite networks. These buttons pull the title, URL, description and an image
(depending on the network) from the page they’re installed on and allow visitors to
share them.
If you’d rather use a plugin, there are a vast number of tools to turn to. Shareaholic,
for example, works with most major website platforms including Bigcommerce, Blogger,
Drupal, Joomla, Magento, Shopify, Squarespace, Tumblr, Typepad, Weebly, Wix and
WordPress. It allows you to create share buttons for over 80 social networks in
different configurations.

Setting up social sharing buttons using Shareaholic.
There are also extensions like Filament that work on any website and allow you to
create “flare” social sharing buttons that tally up your total shares across the
social networks you’ve selected.

Social sharing buttons by Filament.
The advantage of using a social sharing platform (like Shareaholic, Filament or
others) rather than installing the buttons manually is the analytics. Look for platforms
that will help you learn more about how your content is shared and who shares it.
Filament social sharing analytics.
Also, be sure to experiment with the social networks you include in your social sharing
buttons. You want to use the social networks that get the most shares and
drive the most traffic to your content.
#6: Install Content Analytics

Besides social sharing analytics, there are several additional analytics tools you will
want to set up on your blog to see how well your content performs.
First, start with Google Analytics. The Behavior reports show you details about the
traffic your content receives.
The Top Pages report in Google Analytics.
Next, make use of Google Webmaster Tools. The new Search Analytics report
shows you how your content performs in search based on the number of times seen,
the number of clicks and the average position in search.
The Search Analytics report in Google Webmaster Tools.

You can also add SumoMe’s Content Analytics, which will show you how many
readers make it through each piece of content.
The Content Analytics report show s you how far readers get in a blog post.
Each of these tools can help you optimize your content marketing strategy to ensure
that you’re getting the best results from your blog posts.
#7: Create Unique User Accounts
If you have multiple people blogging for your company, whether they’re employees,
guests or freelance writers, create a new user account for each person. Platforms like
WordPress allow each author to have a custom author bio with their posts and
an author page that archives all of their articles.

An author page created by WordPress.
In addition, when people search for the author in Google, they might stumble upon
your blog.

How author pages appear in search results.
If you have dozens of popular authors, this will allow you to get additional visibility in
search and increased traffic to your blog.
Conclusion
There are many ways to set up a blog for your business. These tips will help you
create a blog that gets specific results.
What do you think? What are the essentials that you have set up on your

blog? Please share your thoughts in the comments!
TechCrunch, Hootsuite Blog and Zapier Blog images created with Placeit.
Related Posts
Tags: blog design, blogging, blogging basics, blogging essentials, business blogging, kristi hines
ABOUT THE AUTHOR, Kristi Hines
Kristi Hines is a contributing editor f or Social Media Examiner,
f reelance w riter, and HubSpot Inbound Certif ied Marketer. She
specializes in analytics, blogging, and social media topics. Othe r
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11 Comments Social Media Examiner
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• Reply •
Pel Abbott • 18 hours ago
Kristi, what do you think about commenting? Should you allow it, and is an automatic login like the one featured here
the best way to go? Should you moderate comments before they post, or automatically post?
△ ▽
• Reply •
Cypher - Mass Planner • 13 hours ago> Pel Abbott
You should always moderate comments if you are using the default comment system.
△ ▽
• Reply •
Kristi Hines • 12 hours ago> Cypher - Mass Planner
Agreed. I moderate everything, no matter what platform. Spammers will spam everywhere. :)
△ ▽
• Reply •
Kristi Hines • 13 hours ago> Pel Abbott
I'd moderate everything. Systems like this discourage spammers a bit, but not completely. Disqus makes it
easy to ban a person and remove all of their previous comments, which is simpler than WordPress.
△ ▽
Sherman Smith • 15 hours ago
Hey Kristi,
This was a great list of things to have in order to build a successful blog. Once you get going, the one thing that a lot
of people tend to overlook is having some type of analytic tool to measure performance of your blog. You want to
know why you're not getting the results you want and how you can improve. This is vital to do or else you'll end up
getting the repeated results you don't want.
Recommend
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• Reply •
Thanks for sharing and I hope you have a fantastic week ahead!
△ ▽
• Reply •
Kristi Hines • 13 hours ago> Sherman Smith
Thanks Sherman! I agree - you have to have analytics in place from day one. It's a great way to measure your
growth from one year to the next. Hope you have a great week too! :)
△ ▽
• Reply •
Febriyan Lukito • 15 hours ago
Hello. I am Febriyan Lukito. Thank you for the informatif article.
I want to ask about Author Page. Is it the same as the About Me?
△ ▽
• Reply •
Kristi Hines • 12 hours ago> Febriyan Lukito
Hi Febriyan! The About Me or About Us page on a blog is usually about the blog itself, the blog owner, or the
business behind the blog content. The Author Pages are pages for each author who contributes content to
your blog. For example, this (http://www.socialmediaexaminer... is my author page and this
(http://www.socialmediaexaminer... is the About Us page for Social Media Examiner. Both are important. :)
△ ▽
• Reply •
Dr. Gwendolin Rugen • 13 hours ago
Can't learn enough about blogging! Still a beginner but happy blogger, I like all of your information and find it helpful
(pretty soon I might start blogging and vlogging in english). Thank you so much for sharing!
△ ▽
• Reply •
Kristi Hines • 12 hours ago> Dr. Gwendolin Rugen
You're welcome! :)
△ ▽
• Reply •
Elizabeth Delaney • 7 hours ago
Great informaton here. I have learned a bit more today. Thankyou Kristi
△ ▽
Subscribe✉ Add Disqus to your sited Privacy
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