Four reasons your business really should have a blog
An effective marketing strategy is comprised of several components, from paid ads to email marketing. However, one element that shouldn't be slept on is your blog. I see it all the time, whether it's down to time, budget or simply the misconception that a blog is a bit 2005 and isn't worth the effort.
Whether you're a big or little brand, B2B or B2C, I'm here to tell you: every business should have a blog. Need more convincing? Take a look at my top four reasons why below!
Turn traffic into leads
Let's start with the biggie, and probably the most obvious. A blog can draw traffic to your website, which can then turn readers into leads. Most leads come from prospective customers searching for the answer to a question or researching a subject matter rather than looking for a particular product or service. If your brand's blog is answering that query, plus providing an engaging call-to-action, then you're turning traffic into potential leads.
Working closely with SEO and brand experts, content writers research and write about popular subject matter that interests a target audience. Thereby increasing traffic to your site and improving the user experience - which should then lead to more leads.
Prove your experience and expertise
The main two reasons anyone is checking out your blog are: they're looking for information or testing your business/knowledge. If you're struggling to decide whether a blog is worth the effort, consider your blog a test-drive of your offering, where you prove that you know what you're talking about and your service or product has value.
From answering common questions, demystifying some of the complex processes within your business or industry, sharing insights into the industry, these are all great ways to establish your business as an authority or thought leader in your specialism.
My advice to brands without a blog is always to start by offering intelligent insights. You'll provide immense visitor value and build credibility and trust in your business.
Improve your SEO
Did you know that there are approximately 3.5 BILLION daily searches on Google? Which, if my maths is correct, is like 25,000 searches A SECOND. It's wild out there in the SERPs.
Google's algorithms change it up often, and they're pretty secretive about what they like. However, what isn't going anywhere is that relevance and user experience are a big deal for Google. Relevant to Google means maintaining regular updates with subject matters relevant to the keyword/search query. Therefore, regularly posting blog content is the perfect way to become best friends with Google.
Obvs, it's not as simple as posting minimum-effort blogs that are stuffed with keywords. The content must be interesting, relevant and useful. And this is where user experience hangs out; if the user isn't having a good time on your website because they can't find what they're looking for, or the website is clunky etc., they will leave your website - bounce - which will hurt your SEO.
Finally, a sexy piece of blog content that has inspired the reader, answered a query or solved a problem could result in them sharing it with friends and family. Not only does this give your brand a little word of mouth boost (one of the most reliable marketing tactics ever), but it also increases your perceived authority in your industry. This creates traffic to your site, plus any links to your site from third-party sites will create 'backlinks' which will increase your domain authority and overall SEO (if the sites aren't just random rubbish!).
You own everything!
The final reason every business should have a blog is that it's all yours. Social media platforms are excellent, however, if they go down, your profile is removed for any reason, or trends change, and a new platform becomes the flavour of the month, you could lose the traffic stream. However, your blog is 100% your property, and you can grow it to be a steady stream of hits.
There are so many more great reasons to have a blog; these are just my top four. If you've been thinking of starting a blog, my final tip is just to start now. Done is better than perfect, so start today and begin to nurture that little blog.
Do you know that you want a blog for your business, but you just don't have the time, energy, or motivation to write the posts yourself? Recently described as the blogging queen, I've probably written a 1000+ blogs over the last decade! So why not drop me a message and see how we can work together to take your blog from zero to hero?
