I am sitting in a session at Content Marketing World by Jason Falls listening to him tear it up on content marketing and specifically on marketing through business blogging.

Many businesses blog but not many really know why or understand how to make it truly valuable.  If you are thinking about blogging or are blogging (but not sure why) then ask yourself this simple question:  WHY should you be blogging. Each time you come up with a reason, ask the same question “WHY” again.  Continue to ask yourself that question until you get to something measurable. Answers such as “because everyone else is doing it” are not acceptable and are also not measurable. You need a reason to blog and that reason needs to be strategic.

[editors note: Jason reviewed our collaborative blogging software, Innoblogs, about a year ago and did a nice write up on his blog at Social Media Explorer]

If your blog is not driving important metrics, it’s just a Hobby. Important metrics are: Sales Revenue, Profitability, Cost Reduction. Find a way to measure your blog against these meaningful metrics. It won’t be easy, but it’s worth it. If you are struggling with this, engage a Digital Marketing Consulting firm to help you. The dollars spent will be well worth the investment.

One of the reasons blogs are so freaking awesome is because Google loves content and blogs are big balls of content. Remember that your blog will drive significant SEO to your site. Facebook won’t. Twitter won’t, other social sites won’t because they don’t sit on your root domain (the inbound links are great, but the content lives on the social sites). Conversions happen on the sites that YOU own.. Your website and your blog. There is value in all these social networks but you need to remember what your goals are and what is driving those goals.

Need a jumping off point for measuring the effectiveness of your business blog? Here are some really valuable things to look at:

1. What are people saying about you?
2. How many are responding to your CTA’s (calls to action)?
3. What is your conversion rate?
4. What are your page metrics?

Although it is important to put the right keywords into your blog and have an optimal promotion and distribution strategy, be sure to produce content that makes people say “Holy Smokes!” Don’t settle for mediocre content. Drive engagement, make the sharing easy, shine a spotlight on your readers and provide incentives for your readers to pass your content along.

Request a demo of Innoblogs!

Related posts:

1. Business Blogging Success Summit 2011 by Social Media Examiner and Blog World
2. Content Marketing Institute recommends 8 content production tools including Innoblogs
3. Getting the Most out of your Business Blogging: Re-purpose your Content
4. Business Blogging for Trust in 2 Simple Steps
5. Remembering Your Purpose is Essential for Your Business Blog

blogging for leads blogging metrics Jason Falls Content Marketing World Measurable blogging