Stay on topic in your business blog

You have your business blog and are writing - STAY ON TOPIC!

If you are trying to attract new customers or position yourself as a thought leader in your industry, business blogging is about staying focused. Remember, web users are a selfish lot. They want content that is relevant to them. So, keep your business blogging on topic to stay focused.
I read a lot of small business blogs (and big business blogs) and one of the things I've been noticing recently is a massive influx of businesses getting online, starting to blog, and then failing to stay on topic. I think it boils down to people simply not understanding why they're blogging and what these blogs are actually supposed to do.
You'll see business blogs with personal posts covering everything from family finances to the game last Sunday. The thing is, if you're blogging on your business's website, it's critical that what you're telling the world (because you are telling it to the world) is in line with what your company does and the image you're trying to project.
The Conversation Should be With Your Market, Not Your Grandma
Why are you blogging? To engage your customers and attract new ones to your business. By that logic, you should be talking about your business, not your favorite Turducken recipe.
Of course, strip a blog of all its character and personality and you're left with a site drier than a saltine cracker.
The Golden Ratio
If you want to go off-topic, keep those personal posts to about 15-25% or no more than one in five posts. Oh, and make sure you try to keep those off topic, personal posts on topic.
In other words, you can talk about personal topics, but can you bring it back around to your business? Could an afternoon spent opening a first bank account for your daughter be parleyed into a personal, yet apt post for an accounting firm? Could the basketball game last night be turned into a sports analogy for your consulting strategy? Or could that Turducken become a metaphor for sales ladders? You get where I'm going with this.
Style vs Substance
There's one last catch, just because that other 75-85% of your posts need to be about your business, that doesn't mean they should be void of personality. It's OK to put a personal story in context if you can stay on topic and still have a sense of humor, yes, even if you're talking about carpet cleaning.
Write in the first person, keep it friendly, stay casual and you'll end up with posts that are professional, on-topic and still engaging.

Paul is the President of Professional Blog Service. PBS works with clients making strategic investments into business blogging, social media and search engine optimization.