A well-managed blog can be pivotal for driving traffic to your website and raising brand awareness. It can also boost search engine optimization (SEO) performance, so you get you found by your audience, and fuel your email strategy and social media activity.
In this article, you’ll learn what a blog is and why every business should have one. You’ll find out how to get started with business blogging, make the most of blog posts through content distribution and measure your blog’s success.
What is a blog?
A blog is an area of a business website where companies publish written content. It’s similar to an online journal, displaying blog posts in reverse chronological order.
Here’s what the blog on Pipedrive’s website looks like:
Originally called “weblogs” – a combination of “web” and “log” – blogs have been a mainstay of digital life since the 1990s.
For individuals, personal blogs like food blogs or travel blogs provide a way to grow and nurture an online community. On their own blog, a blogger is likely to write about anything that they find interesting or worthy of sharing with their readership.
For companies, a blog is a fundamental aspect of modern marketing. Today, businesses use blogs to share information on various topics, including themes the company’s ideal customer profile (ICP) might be interested in, product updates and company news.
On simple company websites, a blog may be a single web page. On more complex sites, it can consist of a homepage and themed content sections. Some companies treat their blogs as part of a broader content hub that includes other types of content, such as white papers, podcasts, videos and webinar recordings.
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The difference between blogs, websites and blog posts
There are a couple of common misconceptions about blogs. One is that a blog is the same as a website. The other is that a blog is the same as a blog post.
A website is a collection of connected web pages hosted under a single domain name, such as Pipedrive.com or Amazon.com, designed to share information or provide services. While some personal blogs are standalone websites, a business blog is almost always part of a company website.
A blog is a section of a website dedicated to publishing and organizing articles, often focused on broad themes or updates. A blog is where companies publish blog posts.
A blog post is an individual article published on a blog.
Here’s a breakdown of the differences:
Blog vs. website | Blog vs. blog post |
A website provides a broad range of information, like sales pages and company contact info. It usually houses the blog, although it can exist without it and still serve its purpose. A blog hosts educational content, like articles. It aims to inform, engage and nurture the reader about a topic related to the company’s offering. | A blog is like a library for your blog posts. It’s often sorted by categories and tags to organize the information. A blog post is a single piece of content published within a blog, focusing on a specific topic. For a business, it serves two purposes: to educate readers and drive traffic to the website. |
Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s examine why a blog is crucial to a business’s content marketing efforts.
What is the purpose of a blog?
In a business context, the purpose of a blog is to drive traffic from online searches and raise awareness of a brand, product or service among prospective customers.
Historically, some blogs have done this so successfully that they’ve kickstarted entire companies. Media outlets The Huffington Post and Food52 started life as blogs.
In his 2012 book Optimize: How to Attract and Engage More Customers by Integrating SEO, Social Media, and Content Marketing, marketing expert Lee Odden summarized the power of content by expanding on a popular saying among marketers. “Content is not just king,” Odden wrote. “It’s the kingdom.”
A well-managed blog serves as the content engine of a company’s website, fulfilling a wide range of crucial marketing objectives:
It drives traffic to the company’s website
It produces content to fuel email and social media marketing strategies
It creates new opportunities to reach a company’s target audience
It improves a website’s search engine optimization (SEO) performance
It allows companies to establish and maintain a strong online presence
It can help companies build their email lists and generate leads at the top of the lead funnel
A blog can demonstrate the value your brand, product or service has to offer your ideal customer.
Pipedrive’s sales blog, for example, covers a wide range of relevant topics for sales reps and leaders:
Depending on your readership, that might involve creating blog content to help your audience better understand relevant topics or navigate a problem your product or service solves.
It’s a place to establish your company’s knowledge and build credibility with your audience.
A blog can also boost sales indirectly. Rather than encouraging readers to buy from you immediately, a blog is about helping them know, like and trust your brand so they think of you first when they’re ready to buy.
How to get started with a business blog
Before you start blogging, you must complete a few technical steps.
These differ depending on whether your business has a blog on its website, just a website or – for very new businesses – no website at all.
Here’s how to get started with a business blog in each scenario.
Scenario 1: Your business website has a dedicated blog area
If your business already has a website with a dedicated blog, you likely have most of the technical requirements in place to create and manage blog content.
However, it’s worth taking the time to consider whether your business blog currently offers a good user experience. Is the content easy to find? Is the blog easy to navigate with clear headers, labels and tags?
In the example below, the Pipedrive blog allows readers to explore content by topic.
The blog homepage also highlights featured and recommended content to give users a place to start.
Address any areas where your business blog falls short, especially if you plan to use the blog prominently in your content marketing strategy.
Scenario 2: Your business website doesn’t have a blog
If your website doesn’t have a dedicated blog area, you’ll need to create one before publishing or managing any content.
You could move your website to a blogging platform – ideally, one with a built-in content management system (CMS) to handle the content creation and publishing process. Popular blogging tools include WordPress, Wix and Squarespace.
Here’s an example of a blog on a Squarespace website:
Scenario 3: Your business doesn’t currently have a website
With no blog or website, you have the choice to either:
Create a business website with a dedicated blog area. This method is best practice if a business website is part of your long-term marketing strategy.
Create a business blog that’s a website in its own right. You might want to do this if you have no intention of building a website but plan to run a business blog as part of your content marketing strategy.
Here’s an example of a blog that functions as an independent website:
This website's entire purpose is to share design and renovation articles rather than sell goods or services directly.
Whichever type of blog you build, you’ll need to consider some technical factors when you undertake the project, including:
A domain name for the blog
What features you require in a web hosting service
Which web hosting provider to use
Which website builder to use
Note: Creating (or migrating) a website can be a complex technical project involving coding, design and SEO skills. You may need to collaborate with colleagues in other departments or hire external user experience (UX) specialists or website designers as needed.
How to create blog content
There are two equally important stages to creating blog content: planning and writing. Here are eight tips for approaching each phase.
1. Planning: establish content pillars
One of the best ways to plan effective blog content is by defining clear content pillars.
Content pillars are the foundational themes or topics that shape your blog’s strategy. Think of them as the overarching categories under which all your individual blog posts will fall. Pillars ensure your content stays consistent, focused and aligned with your audience’s needs and your blog’s goals.
When selecting content pillars, aim for topics that:
Resonate with your audience. Address their challenges, questions and interests.
Have long-term potential. Choose themes broad enough to allow for several posts over time.
Include timely relevance. Balance evergreen content with trending topics to stay current.
For example, a blog for a productivity management tool might establish the following content pillars:
Time management. Tips and techniques for optimizing daily schedules.
Finding focus. Strategies for minimizing distractions and staying productive.
The productivity mindset. Explorations of the habits, psychology and motivation behind getting things done.
By setting these pillars early on, you’ll create a roadmap for generating meaningful, cohesive content that drives engagement and delivers value over time.
2. Planning: decide on a theme for each post
With content pillars in place, you can start thinking about the theme for your first blog post. Consider which topics within your content pillars matter most to your audience.
It can be helpful to conduct some user research before getting started. Send out a survey to your customers or invite them to complete a short interview.
Themes for blog content tend to fall within two broad categories: trending topics and evergreen content. Trending topics can help you ride short-term waves of interest and achieve quick wins for driving traffic to your blog.
However, it’s essential to understand that a blog is a long-term marketing strategy. Results are the cumulative effect of your efforts over time, so creating blog content on “evergreen” themes and trending content is important.
Note: Evergreen topics are those likely to remain relevant and interesting to readers over time.
For the productivity tool blog in our example, “How to meet a deadline” would be an example of an evergreen topic.
3. Planning: conduct keyword research
You’ll likely already have a good idea of the issues your ideal customers care about. However, it’s a good practice to conduct keyword research to understand what topics users are searching for online and what language they use to perform those searches.
Start by making an initial list of potential topics and then search for them online, noting Google’s “People also ask” suggestions for further inspiration.
In our example of the blog post on meeting deadlines, this exercise could generate several additional ideas for keywords, including “tight deadlines” and “multiple deadlines”.
Once you have your keyword candidates, analyze them with Google’s free Keyword Planner tool to see which words have the highest monthly search volume (also known as “msv”). You can also use SEO tools like Ahrefs and Semrush to conduct keyword research.
Note: It’s a good idea to consider keywords your competitors target. Look at what your competition is ranking for and see if you can create content that fills in the gaps.
4. Planning: decide on a content type
Once you have your topic or theme, consider which type of blog content to create. Here are some of the most popular content types for business blogs.
Listicles | These blog posts present information in a structured list. For example, a gaming company might write a listicle titled “The 7 best snacks for chasing a Victory Royale”. |
Product-led articles | In product-led posts, companies write about their products or services without explicitly selling them, often addressing customer pain points. For example, the productivity company might write an article on “Best apps for meeting deadlines”. |
How-to articles | How-to articles allow businesses to talk about their product or service in the context of how the reader can accomplish something. In the productivity example, this could be “How to meet a deadline”. |
Thought leadership articles | These posts build authority and credibility. They’re often longer than other types of content and include expert insights. For example, the productivity company might publish “Why most US office workers struggle to meet deadlines” and include original research. |
Depending on the theme of your blog post, the right content type to use may be fairly obvious. A thought leadership article, for example, would be a more appropriate content type for a post about financial regulation than a listicle.
If you’re unsure of which content type to use, look at the blog posts that rank highly for your target keyword and take inspiration from that content.
5. Planning: set goals for each blog post
Every blog post should have a clear purpose tied to specific marketing objectives and key results (OKRs). For example, it might aim to drive signups to a newsletter or send traffic to a landing page.
Whatever the goal, provide a clear call to action (CTA) within the content to make it easy for the reader to take the desired next step. Include simple but persuasive wording and relevant design elements, like a signup form or a button directing users to a landing page.
Here’s an example from the Pipedrive blog, where the goal of the content is to drive downloads of an e-book:
6. Writing: outline the post
With your planning complete, it’s time to begin the writing stage. However, resist the temptation to start drafting straight away.
For your content to perform well – particularly in search engine results – it’s a best practice to begin by creating an outline, drawing on the research you conducted in the planning phase.
Use your keyword research to identify top-ranking headings to include in your content, and refer to your competitor analysis to determine which gaps you could fill.
For example, say the productivity company wants to write a blog on “how to meet a deadline”. Research shows that people are searching for ways to overcome procrastination. It also reveals that competitors who address the topic don’t include information on identifying the causes of procrastination.
The company creates an outline full of tips but also adds a section near the top to address the underserved topic:
How to meet a deadline: a guide to conquering procrastination
I. Introduction: State the importance of meeting deadlines and share what readers will gain from the article: strategies for consistently meeting deadlines.
II. Identifying the root of your procrastination. Discuss common procrastination triggers, including:
– Fear of failure
– Perfectionism
– Lack of motivation
– Overwhelm
– Poor time management skills
III. Strategies for overcoming procrastination
– Break down large tasks
– Use time management techniques
– Create a conducive work environment
– Reward yourself (but strategically)
IV. Tips for staying on track
– Set realistic deadlines
– Communicate with others
– Utilize planning tools
– Practice self-compassion
V. Conclusion
Identify any relevant research, statistics or quotes from thought leaders you could include in your content outline to deliver additional insight or understanding.
7. Writing: draft the post
You should now be in a great position to write a high-quality, valuable blog post. As you write your content, bear the following principles in mind:
Blog content should be scannable
Very few users read blog content from top to bottom. Research from user experience experts Nielsen Norman Group has revealed that “People [...]primarily scan, rather than read” when they consume written content online.
Avoid large chunks of text to make your content scannable. Include clear headings and formatting elements like bulleted lists.
Blog content should be accessible
It might sound obvious, but it’s vital for your content to be easy to read. Avoid overly formal or technical language unless necessary, and write in clear, simple sentence structures.
If you’re unsure whether your content is readable, ask a friend or colleague to review it. You could also use a digital writing tool like Hemingway Editor, which analyzes your content to generate a readability score.
8. Writing: optimize the post
Once you’ve drafted your blog post, the final step before editing and publishing it is to optimize it for SEO. This means adding the keywords you identified in the keyword research phase to your content’s title, headers and body.
Alternatively, you could use a content optimization tool like Clearscope or Frase to generate a list of keyword opportunities.
Another best practice step for optimization is to add relevant links to other pages on your business blog or website to your content. Be sure that the pages you link relate closely to the topic of your content and will make sense to the reader.
In our productivity blog example, the blog post on meeting deadlines might link to another blog post on managing stakeholder expectations.
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How to distribute your blog content
Once you’ve published a blog post, ensure readers see it. Many new bloggers and blog owners neglect this step, focusing instead on content creation.
However, especially with new websites, which search engines are less inclined to rank in their results, it’s essential to proactively put content in front of readers through content distribution channels like email and social media platforms.
Here’s an example of how Pipdedrive distributes blog content via email:
If you use Pipedrive as your customer relationship management (CRM) solution, you can quickly and easily set up and run content-led email campaigns using Campaigns.
Use the drag-and-drop email builder to create beautiful emails in minutes. Include buttons directing readers to blog content and filter contacts to deliver messages tailored to your audience’s stage in the customer journey.
Top tips to manage and maintain a blog
Running a successful business blog means maintaining and managing it on an ongoing basis.
Here are top tips for business owners on managing and maintaining a blog (while also running a business).
Set a schedule to publish new content regularly
It’s important to publish new content on a regular basis to maintain the momentum of your content marketing efforts. It’s also good practice from an SEO perspective.
Whether you’re able to publish once a week or once a month, consistency is key. Establish a schedule for publishing new blog posts and stick to it.
To stay on track, try creating a basic content plan with your favorite project management tool or calendar app. Use it to note the themes for upcoming posts, schedule writing time and record intended publication dates.
Here’s an example of a basic content plan in Google Calendar:
Refresh outdated content
As your blog grows, the external and internal business landscape will change, and some of your content will become outdated. Inaccurate content can damage readers’ trust, so keep an eye out for out-of-date information and set time aside to update it.
Most content management systems include functionality for displaying a “last updated on” date at the top of each blog post. Set a new date each time you update a blog post. This date signals to readers that you review your content regularly, and they can expect it to be accurate and trustworthy.
Audit your blog inventory at least once a year
Review your blog content inventory to identify thematic gaps you might need to fill, along with any topics that are no longer relevant to your readers. This review will ensure your content remains useful and continues to serve your content marketing objectives.
It needn’t be a complicated exercise. A simple approach could involve recording the titles of your blog posts in a spreadsheet and grouping them by theme.
How to measure blog success
Measuring success is vital for any marketing initiative, and a business blog is no exception. Understanding how your blog is performing enables you to determine which aspects are working well and identify areas to refine and optimize.
When measuring performance, look at the blog as a whole and analyze specific blog posts’ performance.
Measuring overall blog performance
Some objectives are easier to measure than others, so it’s a good idea to break them down into specific marketing metrics.
Metrics might include the number of:
Blog visitors. You can get this data from Google Analytics or a website traffic analysis platform like SEMRush, SimilarWeb or Ahrefs.
Social shares. You can get this data from Google Analytics or from your business’s social media management platform.
Email newsletter signups from blog content. You can get this data from your email marketing software or CRM with email marketing functionality.
Leads generated through gated content downloads. You can get this data from Google Analytics or from your CRM’s lead generation tool.
If one of your objectives is improving SEO, your metrics might also include getting certain blog content to rank in a particular position on search engine results pages (SERPs).
The sample data from Ahrefs below shows a website ranking in position one for several target keywords.
You might choose to review these metrics monthly or quarterly. However, note that it can take Google anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to rank new blog content, so you may want to set a broader timeframe for measuring this metric.
Measuring the performance of recent blog posts
In addition to the success of the whole blog, evaluate the performance of specific blog posts.
Determine if a particular blog post drove significant traffic to the website or generated an especially high number of social shares.
Look for any patterns in the types or themes of your most successful blog posts. For example:
Do listicles drive more traffic to the blog than “how-to” articles?
Do posts on a particular topic generate more email newsletter sign-ups than any other?
This insight can inform your blog content strategy, shedding light on what types of content to create more of in the future and on which themes.
Final thoughts
A well-managed business blog should be a critical component of your content marketing strategy if you want to raise brand awareness and drive traffic to your website.
Start by identifying some objectives and metrics for measuring the success of your blog. Then, when you have the technical requirements, follow our top tips for planning and writing great blog content.
If you’re looking for a CRM to support your content distribution strategy, try Pipedrive. Sign up for a free 14-day trial today and start sending content-led email marketing campaigns that deliver unbeatable results.
