I recently wrote a number of articles for a client about ways to keep your website interesting and getting people to come back to your website. I got some great feedback about these articles so I thought I would start a series of “how to” posts and hopefully give you some good ideas for your own websites. Part 1 of this series is about adding new content to your website, and why blogging is the easiest way for you to do this…

If you don’t update your site on a regular basis, people aren’t going to keep coming back. Obviously, you don’t need to revamp your entire website every few months. But you should definitely consider adding content that will generate interest and can be updated regularly. The best way to do this is to have a blog. Although writing may not be your favourite thing to do, there are still options available to you. Some freelance writers specialize in blogging for other companies, or perhaps one of your employees has a flair for words and would like a new challenge.

The most important thing is to find a good voice in which to write. Ideally, you will have a balance between professionalism and personality. You don’t want to ramble on about things that aren’t relevant to your company, but if all you do is reiterate press releases, people aren’t going to stay interested for very long. This is especially important if someone else is doing the writing; you need to make sure that you are comfortable with the way the business is being portrayed and make sure that either you make it clear that someone else is writing on your behalf or that the writing is done in a voice very similar to your own. You don’t want someone to read your blog and then meet you and feel a disconnect between your blog writing and your personal communication.

Make sure you respond to comments, but don’t spend too much time responding to everyone. You need to show that you are paying attention and that you care what people are saying, but you can easily get sucked into a discussion (or worse, an argument) if you spend too much time replying to everyone. You will definitely get better feedback from your readers if you seem to be interested in what they have to say. And be sure to moderate your comments; many blogs have spam filters that  you can use, and there are also options to hold comments for your approval before they are posted on your site. This might be a good idea, especially at first, so you can set the tone of your blog.

Come back on Wednesday for Part 2 of this series, in which I will talk about scheduling and keeping yourself on track.