A great benefit of being a Chamber or Initiative member is that you can share your latest events and / or stories with other members of the community. It is simple to upload your event or blog to the member’s section on our website, but you might be unsure about whether your content is appropriate for our audience, or how to create an engaging content piece.
Read on to learn how to upload blogs and events to our website, what type of content we like to see, and hear our tips on how your blog on our website can stand out in the best way.
How do I upload an event or blog to the Business West website?
First things first, you’ll need to login to your membership online account at www.businesswest.co.uk to access your dashboard and content management tools. Simply click onto the Login link featured at the top right hand side. You can also download the Members’ Website Guide that is available on your dashboard.
You’ll see options to upload different content types, such as blogs and events. Select the one that is relevant to your piece of content to get started.
Once you begin your content piece, you’ll have the option to format your text using paragraphs and various headings, and also be able to upload a landscape image to accompany your blog.
We do recommend that you have uploaded a good quality headshot of yourself and your company details in your dashboard profile so that it ensures your blog will stand out in the feed.
What happens after I upload my event or blog?
Once you’re happy for your content piece to be published, you can submit it to the Business West team to review. It may take between 3 – 7 working days for your blog to appear in the members’ blog or member events section on our website, depending on how many submissions we receive. We strongly advise that you stagger your content, so no more than one blog submission per week.
What type of events or blogs should I upload to the website?
Our events and blog pages should be a space for Chamber and Initiative members to find interesting and valuable information, as well as showcase the breadth of activities and stories from our Chamber community.
There is no limit to the number of events or blogs you can upload, though we do recommend you stagger your content so not too many posted per time, and you can be as general or sector-specific as you like, as long as the content offers real value and insight to fellow members and the local business community readers. We recommend a minimum of 500 to 1000 words for a blog (though it can be as long as you need it to be.) It’s a space to share your expertise and tell other members what you’re about, whilst providing them with events they won’t want to miss and interesting blogs to inform and expand their knowledge.
We do have a set of guidelines that goes into more detail about what type of blog content we are looking for, things that we won’t accept, and how our editing process works, which you can access here.
How do I make my blog stand out?
When uploading a blog to our website, there are many ways you can make it appealing to the reader.
Blogs that are written well and cover relevant and topical news or advice are often included in our monthly enews letter. This goes out to our whole Chamber Community, so it’s worth putting in a little bit of time and effort to make it as good as can be!
Tip #1 Use Quality Images
We like to see high-quality images that best represent your blog and business. These could be quality stock images, or images you have taken yourself.
Images should be landscape and resized so they’re 750px wide so they are fit correctly on the page.
Tip #2 Write a Great Heading
Writing a heading for a blog can be tricky, which is why it can be best to leave it until after you’ve written your content piece. Try to avoid making the heading vague and think about what will catch the reader’s attention.
Tip #3 Remember to use formatting
When you start writing your blog on our website, you’ll notice there are different formatting options for paragraph text and various headings. Making use of these will make your content more readable, and can improve its overall searchability.
For example, we’ve used Heading 2 for our main subheadings in this blog, and Heading 3 for our tips!
Tip #4 Consider the length of the piece
As a general rule, it’s best to keep your sentences and paragraphs short and to the point, making it easy for readers to scan the blog easily first before deciding to take the time to read it properly.
Tip #5 Give readers your take on the subject
This is your opportunity to share your unique perspective and professional opinions that readers won’t find anywhere else. So, make it your own and give us an insight into why you are the best company to be covering this topic or story.
Tip #6 Check the facts
It’s important to do your research before you post, and gather quotes and figures from authoritative sources such as government websites, official associations and heavily cited research papers. We won’t accept any content that is misleading or inaccurate!
Tip #7 Don’t use it solely as a sales platform
We will only publish content that is valuable to the reader, and, therefore any posts that heavily promote your business or are heavily sales-focused won’t be approved. Instead, why not weave your product or services into the content piece where it is most relevant and useful.