This will really depend on your business and your overall objectives. What is your business about? What do you want to accomplish with your blog? What is your brand’s personality? Remember, no two businesses are alike, so a content strategy that works for one organization may not work for another. Without knowing what your company does, I don’t think I’ll be able to give you a comprehensive answer to your question.

That said, I do want to be helpful and give you some actionable guidelines you can use to build up your blog. Here are some that I have found exceptionally useful.

1. Identify your blog’s primary business goals

Your company’s objectives will have a massive impact on the creative and strategic direction that your blog will take. Are you trying to build your brand by offering consistent content? Do you want to inform your existing audience or do you want to reach a new readership base? Is your blog content meant to support sales by reinforcing positive brand attributes?

Whatever your objectives are, be sure to clearly map them out so you know what you’re working towards.

2. Define your target audience

Your blog’s goals should be fully aligned with your target audience, the people you want to read your blog posts. Identify them using very specific demographics, psychographics, and behaviors. Create detailed characters that illustrate exactly how they behave online so you can tailor your blog to them.

3. Create a distinct blog voice

Your blog essentially serves as your company’s voice, so how it reads will reflect directly on your business. To ensure consistency, especially if you have different writers or content managers working on your blog, be sure to develop your blog’s voice. Make your tone, post length, and use of multimedia consistent. Other elements, such as typography, color scheme, and formatting must also be aligned with your overall branding and brand presentation.

4. Follow an editorial calendar

You want to ensure that your blog is seamlessly aligned with other elements of the business such as your sales initiatives, PR strategy, and corporate communications. Creating an editorial calendar that details content objectives and strategies for each post is critical to your blog’s consistency and success. This also helps make sure all aspects of your social media strategy are working together.

5. Track your metrics

Remember the goals you originally set for your blog? Make sure you’re tracking your results. Among the more important ones to consider are the volume of visitors, how much time they spend on your blog, and how often they click on ads that promote your blogs.

I hope my answer helps. While different businesses have different needs and objectives,  these guidelines will help get your blog off the ground in a more strategic and focused way. If you have any questions, feel free to message us on Twitter or LinkedIn. You can also leave a comment below.