If you think about it, every really well-executed professional service consists of both science and art.  Consider a dentist, beautician, or even your carpenter.  They each need to know the science of their craft – how tools work, how chemical compounds react with wood, hair, or tooth enamel. But, in addition to their technical skills, we demand they produce aesthetically pleasing results!

Blogging for business, of course, has a creative element to it.  Even though the blog is more informal and conversational than, say, brochures or print advertisements, the writing still needs to be informative and interesting to engage readers’ attention.

There’s a science to blogging, too.  You want targeted traffic flowing your way, and key words are your "traffic magnets".  Before beginning to blog, you should use analytical tools to select the best key words, then use those in your domain name for the blog, in the titles for blog posts, and in links within each post. Links are important for search engine rankings – you use key words to link to former blog posts you’ve written, to other blogs and websites, and to attract links back your way as well.  All these things are part of the "science" of business blogging.

Keep in mind, though, blogs are a form of conversation, so the text needs to flow naturally, just as if the reader were right there with you.  That means the key words must be a natural part of the sentence, not inserted artificially.  If you overdo the key words or use them inappropriately, your blog will sound "spammy" and contrived, according to the blog maven website BlogManiac.

There’s no precise formula, though, to the science/art blend in your blogs.  Don’t get so fixated on the key word idea that you forget to be yourself and allow readers to "meet" the person behind the blog. If, in a 300-400 word blog post, you’ve used your key words three or four times, that’s probably more than enough.

As BlogManiac puts it, "there’s no better food for search engines spiders than fresh content", so the main thing is to keep posting regularly and frequently. If you don’t get the key word thing exactly right today, take two or three key words and call your professional ghost blogger in the morning! 
 

I’m searching online for information about something I need, and I’ve just clicked onto your business blog.  You’ve got thirty seconds to convince me I’ve come to the right place…Use plain language, please.  Ready, set, go!

Karen Zwick, president of 1st Class Solutions, says the principal goal of plain language is to meet the needs of a document’s reader, not those of the writer. Never was that statement truer than when it comes to business blogs. Three of Zwick’s plain-writing guidelines read like Page One of a "How To Blog for Business" manual:

Keep a single, specific purpose in mind. As I pointed out in Enuf Is Enuf In Blogs, blog audiences tend to be scanners, not readers.  The blog needs to offer just enough information to entice searchers to visit your website to find out more.

A second blogging application for this single-purpose rule is this:  Narrow down your target audience.  Figure out what those people need and want that you have, or that you do. (You may do lots of other things that appeal to other groups of consumers. Set up a different blog for those, and a different "landing page" on your website for them.)

Use personal pronouns. Blogs are more casual and conversational than other marketing pieces.  Your readers, as I explained in Don’t Tap Dance Around In Your Blog, want to "meet" the person behind the blog. Allow your passion to shine through, sending a clear message: "I and my team will be taking care of you!"

Bloggers, I say: "Above all, create no confusion!" When it comes to web-based communication, words, along with pictures, are a business’ only tools.  As a professional ghost blogger, I work with words, turn phrases, and look for the "wow" factor.  Above all, though, my job is to communicate, as plainly and directly as possible, how your business helps its clients and customers.

If business jargon is bad, it’s even worse in blogs. Searchers came to your blog to "find out" stuff, not to "ascertain", to get "help", not to "facilitate". You want them to "use", not "utilize" your services and products. You offer the "best", not the "optimum" of each. You help clients "plan", not "facilitate", and you do that "by", not "by means of" being great at what you do.

It’s important to add that…Not!  (If it’s that important, just go ahead and add it!)

Please, get rid of gobbledygook in your blog!