Ready to Start Blogging for Business? Here’s What You Need First

You’ve been told you need to start blogging for business for ages.

You’ve heard it’s the best long-term marketing strategy out there.

And you know that if you invest your time into blogging now, you’ll reap the rewards for years to come.

But you still haven’t done it yet.

Because blogging feels like SUCH a huge task compared to hopping on Instagram stories or sending an email to your email list. So you just… don’t.

I’m so glad you’re here though, because I’m about to un-complicate what you actually need to start taking advantage of the benefits of blogging for your business in this post.

Things You Need to Have Before You Start a Blog for Your Business

As far as I’m concerned, the earlier in your business you start blogging, the better. But ideally, you should have these things in place if you want to treat it like a serious marketing strategy:

A website

Notice I said “a website,” NOT “a perfect website.”

You truly do not need to get caught up in having the perfect website design or copy when you’re just getting started, because blogging takes a while to start driving traffic anyways.

You just need somewhere to start publishing. A basic website with core pages (Home, About, Services, Contact) is more than enough to get started.

Platforms like Substack and Medium might seem like great free alternatives to start blogging if you don’t have a website yet, but I never recommend them for starting a business blog because you don’t own them.

You want to build authority and grow your SEO on your OWN website, not a third-party platform you don’t really control.

Content pillars

Think of content pillars as the main topics or themes your blog content centers around. These are the topics you primarily talk about, and ideally should relate to what your business does/what you offer.

These content pillars will become the blog categories on your website that all your blog posts will be housed under.

For example, my pillars/categories are:

• Blogging
• Content Repurposing
• Marketing
• Entrepreneurship

If you’re just starting out or getting overwhelmed trying to define your content pillars, just know that they’re allowed to evolve over time as your business grows and shifts.

Understanding of SEO

No, you do not need to be an SEO expert.

You just need a basic understanding of what it is and why it matters for your blog. And if you don’t already know, I’ll explain it for you right now so you don’t have to let this be what’s holding you back from starting your blog:

• SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and it’s how your business and website show up in search results.
• There’s no exact formula or step-by-step process to “do” SEO on your blog – a bunch of factors contribute to it, including your website’s age and authority, how easy your pages are for search engines to understand, and the keywords you’re targeting.
• SEO keywords are phrases people type into Google to get an answer to a question or solution to a problem they’re having. Ideally, you want to write blog posts that cover queries people are searching for.
• Blog posts need clear structure for search engines to understand the content (think headings and sections that break up the post).

Those are the basics. You can use a free tool like Ubersuggest to find keywords to target when you’re starting out or invest in a paid tool like KeySearch. You’ll learn more as you go, though, so don’t let SEO overwhelm you!

Blog post ideas

If I had a dollar for every time I heard a business owner say “I don’t know what to blog about,” I’d be a gazillionaire by now.

Trying to brainstorm blog post ideas from scratch can feel way too open-ended and overwhelming. You want to write blog topics that are strategic and actually support your business goals, not just pump out blog content for the sake of it.

When you’re coming up with blog post ideas, make sure each one serves a PURPOSE in your overall content ecosystem. To get you started, these are the five blog post types I believe every entrepreneur needs and how they help you grow your business.

Patience

Blogging takes time to work for your business.

I’m sorry to say, but you’re not going to publish three new blog posts then suddenly wake up to an influx of website visitors the next day.

It takes Google TIME to trust your website and understand what you’re an expert in. If you’re just getting started with a brand new business or website, you have to build a foundation before you start seeing results. Expect 6-12 months before your efforts really start to compound.

But if you have the patience to stick with it and trust that it’s going to pay off – blogging WILL pay off for you. <3

What You DON’T Need to Have Before You Start Blogging

Because I KNOW some of you reading this are going to want to have the perfect blog launch (despite everything I just told you above), let’s wrap up with a list of what you absolutely DO NOT NEED to have before you launch your business blog:

• Professional branding
• Professional website
• Content calendar
• Complete offer suite
• Lead magnet
• Email list (definitely a nice-to-have, but not a requirement)
• Clients (yep, seriously)

Blogging for Business Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated

If you’ve been waiting for the “right” time, or your website to be perfect, or for a content strategy to magically download into your brain before you start blogging…

You’re making blogging wayyy harder than it needs to be.

Starting a blog for your business doesn’t have to be this big, stressful thing with an official “launch.”

All you need is a few key things in place and the courage to actually START.

If you’re strapped on time/energy and just want your blogging DONE, consider outsourcing to a sustainable content strategist.

(That’s me, btw 😉)

Learn more about my blog writing and strategy services for business owners.