So, you’ve recently secured a full time job or contract to start a blog for a tech company and you don’t know where to start.
Getting a personal blog off the ground is one thing, but starting one for a business is something else entirely. The good news is that they’re not worlds apart.
Starting Out
What will you need to do first?
Research and learn
The first step is to learn everything there is to know about the company you’ll be writing for; their products and services and of course, their customers.
Google is always everyone’s first and best bet for research materials. Try to learn about other details as well, such as their employees and the organisational culture.
While you might not write about the ‘little things’, paying attention to these details can help to shape your voice as you create content.
Also, research the competition and see what they’re doing with their blogs. You’ll want to make sure your company produces unique content that’s better than the rest.
Plan
Every success is shaped by careful planning – and that includes blogs.
So, what should you consider as you plan for the future of the blog?
Think ‘thought leadership content’
You’ll want to be able to tell a unique story for the brand and position them as thought leaders in their field.
Whatever the direction you take your blog in, this should be at the forefront. It’s about telling the right story.
Don’t be afraid to curate content
Curating content can be a great way to lead the company into meaningful industry conversations, without having to take on too much ‘risk’.
Publishing curated high-quality content from across the web is a way of saying “Hey, these are the kinds of topics we like to discuss.”
Whether it’s tech news specific to your niche or something else, you’ll need to figure out how the brand can add value to the larger conversation as well.
You could be better off celebrating the customers
Depending on the type of product or service that your company delivers, you may find that celebrating the customers and how they use the products would make a great focus for the blog.
Again, understanding the company and its customers is crucial for making a decision like this.
Consider educational content
Educational content is particularly beneficial for tech companies. Imagine you’re working on Umbrellar’s blog and you have to create content for the Umbrellar Cloud service.
You can build trust with readers, whether they are IT professionals or entrepreneurs. You’ll hardly run out of ideas, because the tech space is constantly swarming with innovation.
Why do you think communities like Hackernews and Reddit are so big? They thrive on educational content.
Figure out your channels
Your blog alone should not constitute the entirety of your content marketing strategy.
In fact, you won’t have completed your job if you simply write content for the company’s blog. You’ll also need to determine how you’re going to distribute the content you’ve created.
For instance, are you going to focus on Instagram or Twitter? Maybe both? Stick to two channels, follow all social media trends and stay on top.
How do you find the right voice for your tech blog?
Now that you know what type of content you’ll be churning out and how you’ll be sharing it, the next question is “What is the right voice to use?”.
A tech blog is like any other blog in many ways, so finding the right voice won’t be too different from that of any other blog. So, what do you need to do?
It’s all about the readers
You need to get inside the readers’ minds if you intend to write in a voice they can relate to.
Every single time you set out to create a new post, think about the person at the other end, what they would be interested in reading and how they would like to consume your message.
Authenticity always wins
Your style – like your signature – has to be recognisable. In order to achieve this, you need to come up with a voice that is not ‘copied’ or borrowed from elsewhere.
As much as you may have to get technical from time to time, you need to avoid simply going through the motions.
Also, be sure to keep it consistent.
Communication is a two-way process
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with soliciting feedback from your audience.
Even before your well runs dry, ask your readers what they’re interested in reading about and be sure to cover those topics.
Engage with comments and talk about them in a new post even – if they don’t explicitly ask you to.
Reference other bloggers
If you’ve worked in the tech blog field before, you will more than likely know other bloggers like you, as well as all the ‘top names’.
Linking to their blog posts can be a good way to get your content out there and to connect the new blog with others in the same niche.
While top bloggers are indeed great, try not to focus on them alone.
NEVER be offensive
Sometimes, it might be tempting to be offensive, but don’t be.
At first, a comment may seem funny or harmless, but you really need to think about who might be offended if you put it out in the public domain.
If you’re not sure, then don’t use it. One negative comment can damage your reputation and the company’s image FOREVER.
Okay, maybe they’ll recover eventually, but it’s not worth the risk.
Frequency matters
If you run your own blog, you must know by now that the timeframe between blog posts matters a great deal. The more frequent your posts, the better.
Even more importantly, you need to keep it consistent.
Conclusion
Like any new project, you should be excited about this journey and let that momentum carry you through as you create great content.
Good luck! 🙂
