Is there a blog for your company? Do you want to engage new visitors and engage your current ones? If this is the case, your search is over.
We’ve put together a catalog of the top ten blogs in various industries in this article. Make your blog even better by following their lead and taking it from good to great. The best time to start a business blog is now if you haven’t already.
These well-known blogs have their own distinctive features that have drawn tens of thousands of people to read them. Fortunately, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel—just copy the most successful people in your field. Instead, observe the successful blogs in this list and then use the same methods to boost your own blog’s traffic.
#1: Sweet Leaf Tea
Specialty teas can be purchased through Sweet Leaf Tea, a blog site. At the same time as maintaining brand consistency, they’ve managed to humanize their blog. Sweet Leaf Tea uses the design of their blog to give their brand a more personal feel.
The images and fonts used to highlight the site’s features have an old-world feel, as can be seen in the image below. For example, “People-speak” rather than “marketing-speak,” and this strategy immediately attracts their intended audience.
In addition, Sweet Leaf Tea displays its employees warmly and informally. To show us a glimpse of their fun work environment, they post the nicknames and interests of their “Tea Mates,” who they refer to as “Teammates.”
Tips:
Consider letting your employees represent your brand. It’s a great way to take your readers behind the scenes and show them your team’s camaraderie by highlighting your team. It’s an excellent way to build confidence with your audience. With the help of your coworkers, it’s possible to keep things lighthearted and informal. You need to be professional, but don’t forget that your readers are also human and enjoy a good laugh.
#2: Stonyfield Farm
It’s no secret that Stonyfield Farms is known for its organic milk. Family, farming, and an organic way of life all figure prominently in their branding.
Stonyfield has developed a specific theme for its blog to stay true to its brand. There are pictures of healthy families and articles about healthy living on their home page, which you can see in the image below. All of these elements reinforce their theme of family and healthy living. For example, when they say “Let’s Be Friends,” they use a much more friendly and welcoming tone to encourage people to join your social media accounts.
Their videos are authentic and behind the scenes. For the same reason that they have a blog focused on family and farming, their videos feature real people who are actually living the lifestyle they portray. Their products are made with milk from an organic dairy farm in Vermont, where many of their videos are shot. More behind-the-scenes action than you can handle!
As Stonyfield has shown with their videos, your audience will know, like, and trust you if you stick to the subject matter. This is necessary if you want to lay a solid foundation for your blog.
Using value-added content to contextualize soft sales messages is something else they excel at. Write about the benefits of organic fruit, but include a recipe for Stonyfield yogurt in your fruit for an extra boost of nutrition. It’s fine to advertise your products on your blog, as long as you keep in mind that the most successful blogs prioritize providing value over making a profit.
Stonyfield Farm blog
For example, the Stonyfield Farm blog is a great example of how a large brand can use its blog to foster community and inform readers about its market.
Make an effort to incorporate a recurring theme into your blog posts. Your blog could benefit from the help of outside contributors. Allowing your audience a peek behind the curtain is another excellent way to go deeper with your presentation. Using behind-the-scenes stories and footage will help you create content that is consistent with your theme and draw the reader in.
#3: Pioneer Woman
One of the most successful lifestyle blogs is Pioneer Woman. Ree Drummond, the blog’s creator, has used her blog to promote her cookbook and showcase her photography, among other things. When it comes to her “secret sauce,” she is able to connect with her readers on a personal level while creating a welcoming, friendly, and warm experience with each blog post.
Ree’s bio on the home page is a great illustration of her friendly demeanour. Check out her social accounts as well. They’re easy to spot and have been custom-made to go with her website’s aesthetic. This is the epitome of clever branding!
The header of Ree’s blog is another example of her consistent branding. She changes it when it comes to the season and time of year. This small detail perfectly fits the blog’s overall theme because country life revolves so heavily around holidays and seasons. Observe, too, how she makes excellent use of photography. Photos are essential when you’re trying to convey a feeling or an experience to your readers.
Blog Design
In addition, her blog design is simple to use, which is critical given today’s short attention span. As a result of Ree’s clever use of icons, her blog can now be viewed in several different ways, from a single thumbnail to a whole page full of them. It’s entirely up to you. Her readers return to her books repeatedly because of these small touches.
When creating your blog’s design, keep your brand in mind. Photographs and brand-specific elements can help entice readers. For example, you can easily create a more personal and relatable experience for your readers by enhancing your blog’s aesthetics.
#4: Citrix
At the heart of Citrix’s blog strategy is a commitment to delivering value. Work Shifting is a work & lifestyle blog that discusses business travelers’ difficulties. It’s interesting to note that Citrix downplays its involvement in the blog, making it difficult to determine who is behind it. As a result, they’ve created a space that resonates with the needs and interests of the people who use it.
In addition, they use distinctive visual branding, such as their logo and images, to distinguish their blog from the competition. Their visual branding is also memorable, which is another sign of a successful blog. In addition to the company’s branding, take note of the content and topics listed below, which are centered around the desire and needs of the target audience. This is essential if you want to build a blog that’s more than just a personal project.
Citrix also employs a wide range of contributors, many of whom do not work for the company. As a result, your blog’s content can be diversified, and new readers can be brought in through the influence of your contributors.
Rather than focusing on your own brand, try to add value to a larger market. Collaborating with experts in your market and those who will resonate with your ideal audience is a great way to get this done. To keep the focus on the content, provide as much free value as possible and keep your sales messages as low-key as possible. This approach will help you gain the trust of your target audience and keep them coming back for more of your writing.
#5: Danny Brown
Danny Brown’s blog serves as an excellent case study as a personal brand consultant. An expert in his field, this website presents Brown as a resource for information and services.
On this blog, Danny presents his consulting services in a way that doesn’t come across as smug or self-serving. What he says has every single thing to do with how he says it. So instead of saying “Hire Me,” he says “Work with Me” on his website. As a matter of words, it conveys an entirely different meaning.
For example, you can see in the image above that Danny uses the “cliffhanger” concept by posting a short paragraph of his blog post and then adding a “read more” button. Using this tactic is a powerful way to draw in visitors and encourage them to stay longer on your site. The teaser is all you need to give visitors a taste of what they can expect to read in the full article.
- One of my favorite aspects of his blog is the share sidebar that appears next to each of his posts. Digg Digg is the name of the WordPress plugin, and the sidebar floats across the screen. The sidebar follows the guest as they scroll down the page. Allowing people to share your content with the click of a button is an ingenious strategy.
Tip: Make it as simple as possible for your readers to share your content on their sites. They’re less likely to share if they have to hunt for the sharing options. Using the Digg Digg plugin can help you achieve this goal on your blog or website.
#6: Ecoki
The grid-based design of this blog is what makes it so appealing. It’s easy to read and shows off the various topics in a clear and concise manner. They also make it easy to find what you’re looking for by placing prominent headers like the featured article, recent news, popular items, and resources at the top of the page. Occasionally all you need to do is point out specific sections of your site to get people more focused on what you have to say.
There are two types of navigation bars available in Ecoki, as well. First, food, technology, and design are all prominently displayed in the top navigation bar. At the same time, a submenu devoted to media delivery includes articles, videos, and biographical information about the writers who contribute to the site. In allowing readers to pick and choose how they want to interact with the content, these two separate navigation bars give them more agency.
Consider using a grid layout for your blog’s content if it covers a wide range of subjects. Easy to follow and allows you to exhibit multiple areas in a simple format. Adding photos to your grid layout can also help break up the monotony of the text and make the site more appealing.
#7: Nuts About Southwest
There is no better airline blog than Southwest Airlines’ Nuts About Southwest. For them, it’s all about focusing on what their loyal customers care about the most and using that information in their blog posts. The brand hopes to build a relationship with its customers using the blog.
It’s essential to keep in mind that blogs are much more than a collection of written words. Southwest excels at utilizing a variety of media. To pique the curiosity of their many readers, they make extensive use of written articles, videos, photos, and polls. It’s an excellent strategy for any business blog to use images to entice readers.
Returned readers can now create an account on Nuts About Southwest to customize their profile and connect with other Southwest readers. Travelers are likely to share their stories and experiences with other readers, especially if they’re frequent flyers. For their readers, Southwest has devised a way to make this simple.
Tip: If you have devoted readers who are likely to return to your blog regularly, incorporating special features into your blog posts is a smart move. As a matter of fact, this is the primary goal of most blogs. Create segments and content that encourage interaction with you and other readers if you want to treat your returning readers like VIPs.
#8: Disney Parks
In order to focus on increasing the number of people who visit Disney’s theme parks, a website called Disney Parks was created. There is no doubt that their site is memorable and valuable.
One of the best aspects of the site is the way they feature the bloggers. For example, a picture of the author is displayed next to each post. This makes their content a little friendlier and more open.
Even more importantly, Disney is a globally recognized company that is known for its professional branding and flawless productions. Professional videos, photos, and written content are all part of this blog’s content strategy in order to stay true to the brand and deliver on the expectations of their target audience. In contrast to Stonyfield Farms, Disney Parks does not exude a relaxed, homegrown vibe. Instead, it’s polished and professional to match their corporate identity.’
This blog also includes a comment policy to inform readers that their comments are being moderated. For example, Disney Parks must ensure that parents feel safe when their children visit the site because they are popular with families.
If you desire to keep your design simple while adhering to your audience’s expectations, you should do so. Make sure your business blog doesn’t deviate too far from your polished, professional image if you have one. If you know what your audience wants, you can go above and beyond to meet or exceed their expectations.
#9: Procter & Gamble
Procter and Gamble’s blog, Man of the House, is an excellent illustration of a blog that caters to a narrow target audience. Designed for men, the blog focuses on topics such as money and career and technology, family, and fitness. There are many “mommy blogs” ways out now, but very few sites that exclusively cater to men’s interests. That specific market is well-represented on this website.
They do many good things, but their use of photos on their homepage is a standout. Each blog post has a thumbnail photo at the top of the post to make it simple for the viewer to navigate through the content. A great way to show off your work is if you’re covering a wide range of subjects and want your readers to be able to browse through your archives.
As with the Citrix blog, this site also doesn’t bombard visitors with advertisements and push their products as the Citrix blog does. Instead, they’ve created a site that is full of exciting content and features but only as a byproduct of their marketing efforts. Their primary goal is to provide their viewer with helpful information, such as tips, tricks, and ideas.
For the best results, focus on creating a site that specifically addresses the needs of your target audience, and then use the platform to discreetly promote the products and services that you offer. Your brand and products will practically sell themselves if you put in the time and effort upfront!
Man of the House has social media sharing buttons at the top, unlike most other blogs when it comes to social media sharing. To encourage readers to share their content, the buttons should be placed at the top of the post.
Even if your products or services don’t meet the needs of your audience, you can still help them. In order to establish yourself as a “go-to source” for high-quality information, you must make your posts interesting to your target audience.
#10: Delicious Days
When it comes to beautiful blog design and overall layout, Delicious Days is head and shoulders above the competition. This site is an excellent example of delivering your content in a way that attracts the attention of your target audience.
The use of white space and a black-and-white design makes the site easy to read and navigate. ‘ It’s easy to see how the clean, minimal design makes the space feel welcoming and restful.
A feature that’s rarely seen on other blogging sites has been added by Nicky Stich and Oliver Seidel, who created and designed the blog. “Can I assist you?” appears in the upper-right corner of the page. They use this as a search engine on their website.
It is also possible to increase or decrease the font size of their blog site by clicking the “A+” and “A-” buttons. It’s a great example of putting the needs of your readers first on your blog with these features.
Enticing photos is also a big part of Nicky’s strategy because she knows what draws her readers. She’s a pro at telling a story and evoking emotion through a combination of text and imagery.
You can’t underestimate the importance of white space. It can help you attract new readers and keep your current ones coming back for more by making your blog easier to use and more visually appealing. Also, be aware of what piques the interest of your target audience. For example, in the case of enticing images, such as those in Delicious Days, use more ideas! So please keep it simple and give your audience exactly what they want…
