As an on-line business you’ll be aware that blogging and social media marketing are hot topics. But are you still wondering what the point is? Blogging takes up valuable time and you might still be thinking that it’s not really worth the effort. Here we bring you a few wise words about the importance of blogging.

Blogging is good for:

• Establishing your e-commerce or on-line business as an expert or knowledge in your field
• Offering a platform for engaging with potential customers and users
• Increasing website traffic
• Improving SEO.

But, of course, blogging takes time. And you do need to be a consistent blogger to see results. To make the process as easy and time-effective as possible there are several lessons to learn:

Organisation: You should have a list of ideas for each blog/post. When ideas come to you, write them down for future reference. And make sure you organise your post schedule, too. If you plan to blog daily then ensure you are strict wit yourself. Or if you will blog twice a week make a note of this on particular days.

Picture research: Take and then file a range of good images that can be easily accessed. A lot of time can be wasted on picture uploads if you do not already have a folder earmarked for potential blogs. And beware of taking pictures from on-line sources as you may be breaking copyright laws. Check out Flickr where many people allow images to be used for free as long as you reference the original creator.

Tell people about your blog: There is no point having a blog if no one knows about it. So get into the social media network scene and start “sharing” your blog. Twitter and Facebook are good places to start.

Analytics: Keep track of the blogs that gain traffic via Google analytics. It’s a free tool and offers an amazing range of stats about your blog site

Blogging is on the increase - and rightly so. Regularly updated website content, plus a number of well-placed keywords, will likely work wonders for your SEO rating.

But to make the most of your blogs, you need to know the best way to write them.

Here are a few top tips:

Have an opinion: People read bogs because they are interested in your subject matter and because they want to know your opinion. So tell them what you think - but without going too crazy and over-the-top (you don’t want to come across as mad!).

Less is more: Around 250 words will give people enough to read but without boring them. A short post that is easy to digest will be the one they remember.

Make headlines snappy: This is the place to get your point across in one simple sentence. Aim to grab your reader’s attention.

Add bullets: Lists are easy to read and simple to digest. Everyone loves a list, so add these to your blogs.

Easy to read: Short sentences and paragraphs are easier on the eye. Add in simple headers throughout your blog to keep the reader’s attention.

SEO friendly: Add in a few keywords but don’t over do it. The most effective way to use keywords is to ensure they appear “naturally” in text. But do think about what keywords people would use to search for your post and include them in the body text and headers.

Read it over: Before you post the blog, read it over again. Check for grammar errors and cut out the words that are not really needed.

Link up: Support your blog with links to other web pages that are relevant to your post.

Happy blogging!