Chad Wiebesick shares tips, insights and best practices from Pure Michigan's blogging strategy that you can immediately use to start your own business blog.

1. Top Tips for Starting a Business Blog:
Insights from Pure Michigan
Presented to:
Frankenmuth
Prepared by:
Chad Wiebesick
Director of social media & interactive marketing
Twitter: @Wiebesick
March 10, 2015
@Wiebesick

2. Michigan Ranks #1 or #2 on More
Social Networks Than Any Other
U.S. State

3. Pure Michigan’s Social
Engagement Ranks #1

4. Align Your Social Strategy
To Your Business Objectives
Pure Michigan is majestic, mythic and magical – a place with
abundant natural beauty and authentic destinations.
@Wiebesick

5. Benefits of Business Blogging
• Blogging increases (relevant) traffic to your website.
– FACT: Businesses that blog get 55% more website visitors.

6. Our blog is among the Top 10 most visited sections of
michigan.org (as measured by page views).

7. And among the Top 10 most visited sections, people spend
more time on the blog than any other section of
michigan.org, average 2 minutes 28 seconds versus about 1
minute for the site average.

8. Benefits of Business Blogging
• Blogging increases (relevant) traffic to your website.
– FACT: Businesses that blog get 55% more website visitors.
• Blogging gives you content to share on your social media
channels

9. Share Your Blog Stories Everywhere
In addition to posting on Facebook and Twitter, also consider
pinning posts to Pinterest.
Also, publish your blog stories in your newsletters.

10. Tweet Your Story Multiple Times
• Reach new followers as everyone isn’t online all the time
• Make sure to reframe the content each time
• Tweet the story different times of the day and different
days of the week

11. Your Blog Can Get Picked Up By
The News Media
Our blog “18 Things You
Didn’t Know About Bronner’s
– The World’s Largest
Christmas Store” was picked
up by news media.

12. Benefits of Business Blogging
• Blogging increases (relevant) traffic to your website.
– FACT: Businesses that blog get 55% more website visitors.
• Blogging gives you content to share on your social media
channels
• Blogging showcases your expertise and builds trust.
– FACT: 46% of people read blogs more than once a day…and
that was back in 2010.

13. Our Blog is Key To Our Social
Strategy
•The blog is a significant source on introducing new audiences
to Pure Michigan, as 81% were new versus 64% for site
average.
•While 90% of the links from the blog point to internal pages
on michigan.org, the blog ranks as the third-biggest driver of
outbound traffic from michigan.org to our industry partners,
which is a KPI for our Travel Michigan efforts.

14. Example: Most Popular Blog Story
in 2014
This blog story received four
times more traffic than the
homepage of michigan.org.
Michigan.org had its biggest
one-day spike in traffic in three
months.
@Wiebesick

15. Start with WordPress
• Use WordPress.org self-hosted blog.
• 48% of the Top 100 blogs are managed with WordPress.
• Even big websites use WordPress, like BBC America,
MSNBC TV and Variety.@Wiebesick #ICTT2013

16. Should You Separate Your Blog
from Your Website?
• Easier URL to remember
• Better integration into main website
• Improves SEO
Example of separate blog:
Example of integrating blog with your website:
• Useful if the tone of your blog isn’t appropriate for your
corporate website
• Useful if you want to promote your blog as its own brand

17. Separate Blog: Choose a Domain
Name
Use BustAName.com to brainstorm domain names for your blog.
@Wiebesick

18. Integrated Blog: Install WordPress
on Your Website
• Can be done easily in several different ways depending on your
hosting provider like GoDaddy, BlueHost, etc.
• It’s really, really simple and WordPress calls it a “famous 5
minute install”.
@Wiebesick

19. Choose a Free (or Paid)
WordPress Theme
• Visit ThemeForest.net to view 1,000’s of low-cost blog designs
already professionally built and ready for you!
@Wiebesick

20. How To Write a Great Blog
#1. Write about a diverse set of topics, not just yourself or
your products and services!
#2. Talking only about yourself will ensure your blog is not
read, not shared, and certainly not revisited.
#. Get the most mileage out of your business blog means
blogging about your industry, trends, and best practices.
@Wiebesick

21. Write Stories, Not Press Releases
A press release is formal, standardized, and written for news
media.
A blog story is informal, conversational, puts a human face to
a business, and contains videos, photos, polls, and more!

22. Avoid Vague or Meaningless Blog
Titles
What would you rather read?
1.This-> Absopure and Pure Michigan Announce Partnership
2.Or this-> Five Ways to Stay Active and Hydrated This Winter
(Plus a Giveaway from Absopure!)
3.This-> Michigan to Host Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the
Year Championship Sept. 18-21
4.Or this-> Nine Things You Might Not Know About Bass
Fishing In Michigan
5.This-> Governor Snyder Declares July “Michigan Camping
& RV Month”
6.Or this-> 15 Things to Pack on Your Pure Michigan Camping
Trip: An Infographic
@Wiebesick

23. Blog Title Idea Generator
• Use HubSpot’s Blog topic generator:
http://www.hubspot.com/blog-topic-generator
• Or, follow similar headline formats like BuzzFeed or
Upworthy.

24. Remember to Use Keywords
Select a blog post title and write
content that includes a targeted
keyword or phrase. This drastically
improves SEO.
Use Google Analytics to see what
people are searching for on your
website, and then write stories
around those topics.
@Wiebesick

25. What to Write About: Be Interesting
People are drawn to good stories. If you bore people, they will
leave.
@Wiebesick #ICTT2013
#1 all-time most popular
story among 1,100 stories
written over four years.
Generated more than
40% of all traffic to
michigan.org in one day.
Created the largest one-
day spike in traffic all
quarter.

26. What to Write About: Solve Problems
Writes stories that solve your customers’ problems and
provide actionable advice.
This blog solved the problem of “Where do I park?”@Wiebesick #ICTT2013

27. What to Write About: Use More
Than Just Text
Bavarian Inn’s blog
used a photo album to
promote Snowfest.
TIP: Consider
repurposing photos from
your Facebook or
Instagram community,
for example “Five
Frame-Worthy
Instragram Photos from
Our Fans in February”

28. Include a Proper Close and
Call to Action
• Invite visitors to take an appropriate next action.
• Zehnder’s Zblog invites readers to sign up for classes.

29. Engage With Pure Michigan
• Use the #PureMIchigan hashtag on Twitter for more
visibility.
• Post your story to the Wall of the Pure Michigan Facebook
page.

30. Turn On Blog Comments
If you don’t want reader feedback, send your story to a magazine.
Comments help you know more about what matters to your readers.
Remember, social media is social, so allow readers to leave
comments on your stories. And remember to reply to people.

31. Allocate Time to Write Quality Content
Allocate enough time to write solid content. Go for quality over
quantity.
Tips:
1.Keep your posts short.
2.Do an interview.
3.Utilize a variety of content including photos, videos,
infographics, podcasts and more.

32. Save Time: Create an
Editorial Calendar
82% of marketers who blog daily acquired a customer using
their blog, as opposed to 57% of marketers who blog monthly
-- which, by itself, is still an impressive result.
@Wiebesick #ICTT2013

33. Invite Guest Bloggers to Write Stories
Get other bloggers
to contribute their
work to your blog.
While this content
isn’t yours, it’s one
way to get content
on your blog on a
regular basis.

34. Don’t Expect Overnight Success
It takes time, patience and work. Know this going in.

35. Thank You
Chad Wiebesick
wiebesickc@michigan.org
Twitter: @wiebesick
Facebook.com/cwiebesick
Linkedin.com/in/wiebesick
@Wiebesick #ICTT2013