It doesnât matter what kind of business you have â multinational, SME or creative solopreneur, you still need to be blogging regularly to help drive new (and returning) traffic to your website. These days, itâs crucial to have a strong web and social media presence to grow your brand â and having a blog is a smart, strategic way to do it. If youâre thinking about starting a blog and wondering what it will do for your company, read on.
Hereâs how blogging can benefit your business.
1. Helps drive website traffic for free
Want more website visitors? Of course, you do! But if people donât know the name of your business or product, how will they find you online? People donât generally read blogs â they use keywords to research a product/service or solve a problem. If youâre providing unique and relevant content on your site, search engines will index it, so itâs easily found. Figure out what your customer is looking for, common problems, post useful articles and then share them on social media, so word gets around. Do this repeatedly, and your business will grow organically.
One of the advantages of blogging over paid advertising is that itâs free â youâre providing useful information for as long as your site is live. Tip: set yourself a publishing schedule and stick to it to show search engines that your website is active and needs frequently scanning for quality content.
2. Traffic becomes leads
Once you start publishing regular content on your blog, youâll naturally attract new readers and return visitors. Always add a call to action to your posts to turn them into leads. Ask them to download a free e-book or white paper in return for their email address, so you can send follow up e-shots. Direct them to your products and services page or ask them to test a new product. You can set small targets and monitor analytics to see which of your posts are getting the most traction and engagement and then create more content around those themes. Tip: make sure people can subscribe to your blog, leave comments, and add share buttons so they can share content on their social channels.
3. Blogging brands you as an expert
Blogging positions you as an expert in your field, and someone others can come to for advice on a subject. If you share useful content that solves a problem or helps people improve their lives or business in some way, they will refer you to others as an authority and send more leads your way. Itâs also an excellent platform for thought leadership â share your views on business (as well as your products) to engage your reader and grow your audience. Blogging can lead to new opportunities â more shares on social media, a speaking gig or even a column in a business publication. It also helps you to build authority and trust with customers. If your salespeople donât know the answer to a question, they can refer a client to the blog as a helpful resource to help speed up the sales process. Tip: Share your opinions and take a position on things â donât just sit on the fence â to help you stand out from the competition!
4. Scalable business blogging
One of the joys of blogging is that itâs scalable. Itâs a good investment of your time as it keeps on working for you. If you write a blog and share it on social media, youâll get a few click-throughs every time you share it. It will rank on search engines over the coming months and be a continual source of traffic and leads whenever someone searches for info on that topic. Unlike social media, a blog is on your website as long as you want it to be â a knowledge resource for visitors and your team. Tip: Create some evergreen posts about your products or services that arenât time-sensitive and update them periodically to keep them fresh. HubSpot recommends that we focus on creating âcompounding blog postsâ which solve problems, e.g. âhowâ or âwhyâ in the title) as their traffic grows steadily over time.
5. Press & PR coverage
Having everything in one place on your blog (company news, personal stories, ideas & opinions) makes it easier for journalists to quickly find what they need to write about you and your business. Blogs should be open for comments to help you generate new business ideas and test out new products before you commit to spending money on them. Clients and journalists want to read about the people behind a brand, and a blog is an ideal platform for this as the tone is conversational and intimate. Take your reader on a journey and involve them in your business story and they will become loyal clients and share your content for you.
Are you interested in creating a blog for your business? We produce daily content for clients large and small to help them build brand awareness and drive sales.
This article was originally published on Perspective Marketing & Design here.