There are hundreds of blogs out there, all clamouring for your readers’ attention. So how can you make yours stand out from the crowd? Here’s a quick guide to making maximum impact with minimum fuss.

First of all, be concise. This is not just dictated by your word-limit, but also by the demands of selling. Your readers will all have time demands of their own and will probably be only scanning your article and so you need to get your point across quickly and clearly to make an impression.

There are several ways to achieve this effect. The most obvious is to keep your sentences short.  Brief sentences keep arguments digestible and easy to follow. They also force you to be direct in your writing, cutting out all elements of ‘purple prose’ and unnecessary adjectives. Too many adjectives can cloud an argument, distance a client and blunt your message. Be ruthless. If it has no grammatical purpose and doesn’t add information to your sentence – cut it out.

Blogs are designed to persuade and provoke; therefore if you truly want to engage with your reader then express your point of view. In allowing for all contingencies you create flabby writing which doesn’t put your message across clearly. As a result, your company is projected as weak and indecisive. So pick an angle and make your case. Not only will your writing be much clearer than if you equivocate, you’ll also be more likely to provoke discussion amongst your reader.

Applying simple rules such as these can have a big impact on your blog and the way your message is perceived, memorised and acted upon.

Remember Write My Site offers a full blog management service if your business wants to add blogging into the marketing mix. Tariffs start from just £150 per month.

A blog is one of the fastest and easiest ways to grow your web presence and provides a superb platform for your business to engage potential customers, without resorting to the hard sell. A recent study of 1,500 SMEs found that blogging increased website traffic by an average of 55%. Furthermore, the average company that blogs has 97% more inbound links and a massive 434% more indexed pages than the average company which does not blog.

Having a blog on your website brings huge benefits. However, with only 250-ish words to get your point across (the best blog posts are brief), how can you make your blog stand out and best reflect you?

Before starting you should have identified your main target demographic, as this will largely dictate the tone of voice you adopt within your blog articles. Consultancy businesses may wish to take an advice-led approach to display their expertise, for example. Whatever your decision, make sure your chosen voice is an authentic representative of you; there is no point writing in a ‘teenage’ voice if your business is a luxury catering service.

Once you have your style, you want to look at your substance. Blogs should contain certain keywords that will get your site ranked by the search engines, but without becoming a blatant sales platform. They are an amazing way to show off a wider knowledge to your customers, informing, helping and sparking debate. For example, if you sell wedding dresses, you may wish to highlight new catwalk shows, provide handy hints on finding the ideal accessories or ask if white really is the best colour for the big day.

Finally, remember that blogs are interactive, so don’t be afraid to express an opinion and start a debate. However, do try to present a balanced argument; it lends your blog credence and inspires thoughtful and considered responses.

Remember Write My Site offers a full blog management service if your business wants to add blogging into the marketing mix.

Content has to be at the centre of a successful link building strategy. That’s the verdict from Bing, the new search engine from Microsoft which aims to rival Google. The search engine’s webmaster blog clearly states:

“We’ve said it before, and you’ll hear it said again: content is king. Providing high-quality content on your pages is the single most important thing you can do to attract inbound links.

“If your content is unique and useful to people, your site will naturally attract visitors and, as a result, automatically get good links to your site. By focusing on great content, over time, your site will naturally acquire those coveted inbound links.”

Here are Bing’s top tips for stellar web content:

•  Develop your site as a business brand and be consistent about that branding in your content

•  Identify relevant industry experts, product reviewers, bloggers, and media people and let them know about your site and its content

•  Write and publish concise, informative press releases online as developments warrant

•  Publish expert articles to online article directories

•  Participate in relevant blogs and forums and refer back to your site’s content when applicable (Note that some blogs and forums add the rel=”nofollow” attribute to links created in user-generated content (UGC). While creating links to your content in these locations won’t automatically create backlinks for search engines, readers who click through and like what they find may create outbound links to your site, and those are good.)

•  Use social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to connect to industry influencers to establish contacts, some of whom may connect back to you (be sure you have your profiles set up with links back to your website first)

•  Create an online newsletter on your site with e-mail subscription notifications

•  Launch a blog or interactive user forum on your site

•  Join and participate in relevant industry associations and especially in their online forums

•  Ultimately, strive to become a trusted expert voice for your industry and let people know that your website contains your published wit and wisdom