If you run a business, you probably already recognise the importance of having a website that works. You may have invested in expert ecommerce web design, but the story should not end there. In addition to ensuring that your website is well managed and optimised for use on all devices, you need to think about getting your business message out in other ways.

Creating a blog is an excellent means of doing this. Whatever, your eventual business aim is, you want people to engage with you. The best way to do this is to show them who you and what you do best. You can do this on your website, but you need to keep your content succinct. People lose interest in websites that are crammed full of text. Creating a blog helps you to build on your message; to put the icing on the cake, to use a common phrase. If you do create a blog for your business, here are some tips for getting your message across.

1. Tell a story

People enjoy stories; it helps them to understand people and what they do. You may want to feature a customer experience story on your blog, or you may decide to create a series of “A Day in the Life Of” posts, so that readers can get to know the people who work in your business.

2. Keep your finger on the pulse

Keep up to date with the latest news in your industry, and write about it. You want people to see that you have experience and expertise. Showing them that you are up to date with what is going on is a good way of achieving this. Do not just re-hash stories, remember to use your own angle and show that you have an understanding as to why the news is important.

3. Use images to create the full picture

Some people relate well to reading text, others prefer to see images as well. If you want to appeal to a wide audience, it's a good idea to include images with at least some of your blog posts. For instance, your business may have won an award and you could talk about the presentation and display images of the event.

4. Encourage interaction

If you want to engage with the people who are reading your blog, you need to encourage them to interact with you. Provide a facility for people to leave comments and ask questions. This helps people to feel more involved with you as a business.

All of these points are good ways of conveying your business message using a blog. Do not forget that a blog should be ongoing. You do not have to bombard people with new posts, but should not just abandon it for days, or weeks, on end either. Try to post three times a week or more, and remember to keep the posts interesting and relevant. Do not be tempted to post something quickly and haphazardly; if you do this you risk losing reader interest and it can be difficult to regain.