Guest or Ghost Writing Articles and Blog Posts

One of our popular services at The BPc is blog writing. This began with a number of Google blogger accounts for various clients, many of which have been migrated to or superseded by integrated blog posts on WordPress-based websites, some of which we've developed ourselves (see Recently Built and Delivered Client Websites).

In addition to keeping our clients' blogs up to date, we also write articles and posts for publication elsewhere; sometimes as a guest writer and sometimes as a ghost writer. Recently, we wrote a business tips feature with a client, which was published by The British Library.

The purpose of Blogs and Articles

There are two reasons to write blogs and articles: Potential customers & Google.

As long as they are interesting, blog posts on your own website can attract and maintain visitors. If they like what you write, they may recommend you or use your product or service. More traffic is interesting to Google and may help your ranking in their Search Results.

Also of interest to Google is 'quality' content. Google defines quality in many mysterious ways which include:

• number of visitors and length of visit
• length of post or article (300+ words is their suggested minimum)
• images with alt-tags and, preferably, height/width details
• off-site links - but not too many - to related content

Google will analyse your content for keyword stuffing and duplication so DO NOT copy/paste paragraphs of information from elsewhere on the internet - Google algorithms will determine that your post has nothing to offer and it may even impact the value of your whole website.

How to keep coming up with fresh content for your posts

First of all, determine the frequency of posting: one new post every month is better than posting a few all at once then leaving a long gap. Both Blogger and WordPress allow you to schedule your posts. As an aside, you can also schedule your Facebook Business Page posts.

Often, business owners are so used to just getting on with the job that they can't see how any of it can be used to create a 300-word newsworthy item. It may be 'old hat' to you but the rest of the world hasn't heard it yet therefore it's news. An outsider is often the best person to tell you what may be newsworthy.

For example, if your business is erecting flagpoles, what might your blog post schedule look like?

1. Company History
2. How to erect different style flag poles
3. Major order for 1200 flagpoles nationwide
4. Erected some more flagpoles

... then you run out of news until Christmas. Dull as dishwater! Try this:

1. Inspired to set up our flagpole services business
2. If anyone can erect a flagpole, why is our business so successful?
3. 1200 new flagpoles nationwide - find out where and why!
4. Corporate flagpoles in Stevenage and Bath
5. Do you recognise these London landmarks where our flagpoles are sited?

Item 4 may seem a bit pointless but not to companies searching those keywords!! Not only is mentioning place names linked to your service good for searches but mentioning your clients means that they are likely to assist your publicity plans, e.g. with retweets on Twitter. Item 5 is a twist on the same theme, using location keywords and uploading some photos to make it interesting.

If it's a bit of a chore and you'd like The BPc to help, let us know! Find us on Twitter.com/BPcUK