"Blogging is dead” - we have all heard this… probably on a blog somewhere. And yet, the numbers don’t really add up to that, do they? In fact, the numbers keep underlining on how crucial it is for you to have a business blog, and keep it going.

1. Organisations that blog have 97% more inbound links. *

2. 67% of B2B marketers who blog get more leads. *

3. Companies that blog regularly are 13x more likely to see a positive ROI. *

But hold on. Before you tell your IT guy to set up a blog and start blasting away at the keyboard, ask yourself “Am I following the 3 BIG rules of blogging?”. Cause we do every time, and we’ve been doing this successfully for a while.

1. Humans, not corporate robots

Recently revealed data points in leading journals have uncovered several illuminating takeaways, chief among which is that your audience never wants to read a sentence like this one. Say it like you would to a friend. Let the audience know there’s a person behind the keyboard. Cut the corporate you-know-what, and you’ll be far more trusted.

2. Stay topical

Don’t crowd your blog with posts that make your audience go - “been there, done that”! Instead, take a look at #whatstrending and talk about that. Also, nothing works better than humour. Make it fun, make it topical and find your own spin on the latest headlines.

3. Make it look good

It doesn’t matter how great your content is, if it doesn’t look good, nobody’s going to want to read it. You have waaaay less than a second to make an impression, so make sure it looks good. And by looks good, we mean:

1. Headers

2. Sub-heads

3. Bullets

4. Graphics

...basically anything that makes the blog easy to skim.

Give your audience something unique every time you post - might be the way you say things or the things you talk about - and very soon, you will find them seeking you out.

* Source: Hubspot, 2015