Tips To Write a Better Business Building Byline
Content is the foundation of a good marketing strategy. Everything in your marketing strategy comes down to content. Your articles, blog posts, brochures, white papers, social media posts and even your press releases are all forms of content that market your business. In many of those pieces of content you’ll have a byline. In its simplest terms, the byline is simply the name of the person who wrote the content.
However, it can, and should, be much more than that. Today, many bylines are positioned at the end of the content. They’re a brief paragraph, usually less than 100 words, that tells a little bit about the author and the company they’re writing for. The byline has the ability to help you build your business and strengthen your marketing tactics.
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1. Make it Relevant
The material in your byline should be relevant to the material covered in the content. For example, if the content is about ten tips to run a faster 5K then the byline information should contain something relevant to the content. In this example, it might even include the author’s 5K time.
2. Call to Action
Every piece of content that’s written should have a goal. The goal, ideally, will support the marketing goals for the organization, which are ultimately aligned with the overarching business goals. By including a call to action in the byline, you’re helping the content achieve its goal. For example, if the goal of the content is to build your opt-in list, then why not include a call to action inviting readers to click on a link and sign up for the list?
3. Branded Language
The language in your byline should reflect the language in your content. And of course the voice, style, and language in your content will ideally reflect your brand. If your organization uses generally conversational and friendly language in your content then the byline should be written with the same language.
4. Skip the Personal Information
People often like to share where they’re from, how old they are, their marital status and much more in their author’s bio. In general, that’s not a great use of the space that you have. Your goal is to connect with the reader and motivate them to take some type of action.
5. Format the URL
While it’s always a great idea to include a URL in your byline, don’t cut and paste the entire URL. Instead of http://yourcompanyhere.com/5Ktime report, embed the URL in your text. For example, “Grab the free report 10 Tips to Increase Your 5K Time,” where the “10 Tips to Increase your 5K Time,” is the link that readers will click on.
Writing a great byline will help build your brand. It can also boost your authority and credibility. And ultimately it’s one simple step that you can take to improve your conversions and your return on investment.
