How to write for your business blog

Blogs, also known as RSS or news feeds, are some of the best ways to create buzz about your professional knowledge or products that you sell. Many blogs are chatty, personal, and opinionated. Some blogs are downright self-absorbed. What is the right kind of tone and writing for a business blog?

  • Decide on the unique voice for your company and then use it. Keep your style fresh and avoid cliches. Consider these examples:

    Bland

    I would like to inform you of an exciting new technology.

    Engaging

    I am up early, typing with excitement, as I think about this new technology in web content management.

    OR

    Sit back in your chair and take a deep breath. A brand new technology stands on the horizon of web content management. It waits to change our world.

    OK, that last example is dramatic. But you can see what I mean.

  • Do not be shy. Write with images to give your point legs. Use action verbs to give your information a forward momentum.

    • These devices keep your writing fresh and readers engrossed in your information. Some examples of action verbs include: click, add, excite, transcend, pull, move, and the list goes on. Boring sentences often use the following verbs or a form of these verbs: be, is, has, have, does, will, have been. A sentence that starts with <there> generally seems less interesting than a sentence that begins with a strong noun or verb.

    Makes me slump in my chair

    There is an exciting new technology in web content management.

    Makes me lean forward to read

    A new technology in web content management outpaces every other solution that I know of. Tell your friends.

  • As with all online communication, make friends with white space: keep your paragraphs short. Break them up with titles, if needed. Make the text skimmable.
  • Keep the tone positive or objective. While many personal blogs spout opinions in long paragraphs, your blog to promote your business should have a different tone. If you describe a negative trend or event in your industry, keep the tone factual. In stating your opinion or assessment, tred carefully; however, be direct and brief. Leave out emotional wording and personal names. Support each point of your assessment with facts. If you cannot support your assessments with well-described facts, leave your opinion on your desk and out of your blog.
  • Make sure that your words and style are appropriate for the context of your relationship with your blog visitors. Keep your tone professional and chatty. Try to match the words and tone of the rest of your web site; but keep the perspective a little more personal. You are talking to a solitary individual who is reading your web site in the privacy of their home or office. As you type, imagine how you might converse with that person over a cup of coffee.
  • Use grammar and syntax carefully: you do not have to write in complete sentences. However, be careful that your meaning is crystal clear. Spelling, punctuation, and grammatical construction within a phrase should be perfect. And do not leave out your periods. Check out the following example from a popular book about grammar: Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation,
    by Lynne Truss:

    • He eats, shoots, and leaves.

    He eats shoots and leaves.

    Which meaning is it? One sentence describes a violent man. The other describes a cute panda.

  • If you have an audience that uses English as a second language, avoid compound and complex sentences. These sentences include the following words: and, because, since, which, and that.
  • For these same audiences, do not omit the implied "that." For example, consider the following sentences.

    This

    I am excited the new technology uses open source code.

    Is not as clear to folks who use English as a second language as this:

    I am excited that the new technology uses open source code.

  • Do not litter your posts with jargon. Do not use acronyms and abbreviations, unless you explicitly explain them in the body of the blog entry. If you use an acronym or abbreviation, no matter how commonly used, someone somewhere will not understand.
  • Use quotes sparingly and when you have no other alternative. Brackets <> often work.
  • Do not use italics. Italics are just plain tough to read in online text.
  • Link to material that you quote. And, of course, do not plagiarize another person’s work.
  • Do not display email addresses, full names, or other personal information, for any reason, unless you get permission from the owner. Think carefully before you post private emails. Remove all identifying information from them.