A blog can be your company's hub for communicating with its' target audience.  It is where ideas and opinions are exchanged.  Think of it as your opportunity for gaining feedback directly from your customers on your products and services.  A blog can be your vehicle to gain valuable insight into your customers' wants, needs and desires.

When used strategically, blogs can exponentially amplify the effectiveness of your offline advertising.  Your blog is an integral part of your online presence and allows you to demonstrate thought leadership in your industry.  Your blog is a platform that allows you to add value to your online community and be perceived as a trusted resource.

Successful blogging is just as much an art as it is a science.  At Proteus Design Studio, we have put together a guide to building a successful blog.  In the guide you'll find tips for creating useful content, strategies to maximize content distribution, and valuable resources for making social connections.  Please share this information with anyone you know that may find it beneficial.       

1. Create a good, unique design
2. Easy to navigate site
3. Posts that are Consistent and regular
4. Content that is helpful and useful
5. Create blog posts on niche topics that aren’t oversaturated
6. Original content using your, unique voice
7. Easy to share content- social media sharing tools/widgets
8. Comment on other blogs to become known
9. Make it easy for readers to subscribe
10. Organization with categories and sub-categories
11. Content variety including multimedia
12. Functionality- the ability to interact
13. Announce your latest blog posts on Twitter
14. Write powerful headlines for your articles
15. Don’t sensor yourself- Be You!
16. Monetize your blog- Banner Ads, Text Ads, etc.
17. Reference and link to other blogs
18. Engage with commenter’s
19. Who, what , where, why, when format
20. Use storytelling
21. Conciseness and brevity
22. Inspirational thoughts and ideas
23. Accuracy, sourcing, and references
24. Provide examples and demonstrations
25. Blog Post Topic diversity
26. Imagery and Illustration
27. Humor and occasional fun
28. Quotes and Acknowledgement
29. Controversial discussion
30. Sticky CTA’s (Call-to-Action) Entice visitors to return
31. Participate on LinkedIn “Answers”
32. Distribute posts using social bookmark sites (Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit, Etc.)
33. Proofread, Proofread, Proofread
34. Scannable Posts
35. Create relevant “Top 10” Lists
36. Create “How To” articles
37. Write a “series” post
38. Don’t duplicate other people’s content
39. Provide a picture of yourself and an “About Me”
40. Optimize the blog for the Search Engines (SEO practices)
41. Use Squidoo and Hubspot to write articles that point back to your blog
42. Use Youtube to host and embed video to your blog
43. Use Google Analytics to Analyze and Improve Traffic Demographics
44. Write content that will still be relevant tomorrow
45. Offer a download (free E-book or Guide) to build a e-mail distribution list
46. Develop a personal brand
47. Add your Blog Link in your E-mail Signature
48. Tweet useful news articles on Twitter besides your blog posts
49. Don’t over promote yourself or your products
50. Submit your blog to blog directories

If you have questions on blogs, blogging, or social media in general, please contact our website design company.