Too often, company blogs can feel like a one-man show, with the same voice providing the same information to employees and potential clients over and over again.
One way to break things up is to occasionally feature an expert on your blog. By choosing a person who has experienced in your field — and isn’t part of your company — you can boost your blog in several key ways:
- Increased credibility. It’s one thing to tell your customers how great your product is, but it’s another to show customers you have associations in the field. Even if the expert doesn’t endorse your product outright, simply having that person weigh in on your blog can boost a visitor’s respect for your company. While celebrities and other big names in the field can provide a huge traffic surge, don’t rule out smaller names who have tons of expertise in certain areas.
- A new voice adds life. No matter how many times your staff has weighed in on a topic, it’s still those same voices. New voices break things up, providing a variety to your blog that will keep visitors reading. You’ll likely add a photo of your interview subject, which will catch the eye as someone scrolls through pages of blog posts that otherwise feature stock photos and pictures of your staff.
- New visitors. If you’re lucky (and if you ask), your interview subject will probably promote his or her presence on your blog on various social media channels. This will introduce your blog to new eyes which may already have an interest in your industry. This could help add followers and even bring in new customers.
- Good for SEO. Adding a new voice to your blog can give a boost to your SEO efforts. Not only will your discussion boost you up in search engine rankings, but when someone searches for the person you are interviewing, they will also be directed to your blog in search results. This can bring a long-term, positive boost to your web presence. Interviews also tend to bring in comments from readers, which search algorithms love.
- Easy networking. The possibility of attracting your subject’s followers to your blog is only one of the ways interviews can provide networking possibilities. You’re also building a relationship with the subject of your interview that can lead to months of Twitter conversations and LinkedIn recommendations — and hopefully new customers down the line. For a small business owner, these relationships can lead to much bigger things down the road.
Interviews are one of many ways you can change up your blog format to keep things interesting. Try having one of your staff members pose the questions and present the interview in a Q&A format to give your blog a new look for the day.