8 Reasons Why Your Business Needs a Blog
With around 40,000 google searches every second, it is no wonder many businesses are jumping on the blog wagon.
Blogging is an easy way to help businesses of all sizes generate more leads and drum up interest in their services or products.
Aside from driving traffic to your website, it is also an opportunity to engage with existing customers and build trust.
What is a business blog?
A business blog is a separate page on a business’s website that features blogs (articles) with a focus on the business’s target market. It is a marketing tool that generates traffic via search engines and produces new website content.
What are the benefits of blogging?
The answer is simple: to increase your website visibility.
Blogging is a powerful way to get your brand out to the masses. Blogging builds brand awareness and influences potential customers to buy from you.
Blogging increases customer engagement, which means more people will potentially buy from your company in the future.
How can blogging help my business grow?
Blogging has become one of the most popular marketing strategies for businesses, and it can even help you build a loyal customer following.
Here are some ways that blogging can help your company grow.
1. Increase Traffic with Keywords
Having a blog on your website is excellent for increased visibility as it gives you another opportunity to place keywords in your copy.
By placing well-researched keywords within your blog article, you increase the chances of your content being found via the search engines.
2. Converting Readers into Leads
With increased traffic comes an increased opportunity to convert those readers into leads.
Having a solid call to action on each blog gives the reader the chance to engage with you further. A call to action could be:
Sign up for your blog/newsletter
Find out more about your services/products
Download a free eBook
Read another blog post related to the post they are reading but can provide them with different information.
3. Get Feedback
Your blog is an excellent opportunity to get feedback from your readers. By providing a comment section at the bottom of the blog, you give the reader the ability to ask a question, comment or start a conversation.
When writing your blog, you can engage the reader and encourage interaction by asking questions.
4. Share Business News with your Audience
A blog isn’t there just to share articles with your audience. It can also be an excellent tool for communicating changes within the company, case studies, providing industry news or advising product launches.
Blog articles and news are written in your company’s voice and can be a great way for potential customers to get to know your brand.
Buyers are generally curious about the people who are behind a brand they love and enjoy an insight into their world.
5. Build your Email List
Building up an email list is essential as it allows you to speak directly with potential and existing customers.
Writing blog content that is informative and engaging to your audience can have them sign up for your newsletter.
6. Fresh Content for SEO
Not only is fresh content on your website beneficial to readers, but it is also good for SEO (search engine optimisation) as it shows search engines your website is active.
Search engines identify valuable content that is relevant for the searcher and rank you accordingly.
Visibility is key
Every time you add a new blog to your website, it becomes another page on your website. This is another opportunity for your pages to appear in search engine results.
7. Fresh Content for your Audience
Providing fresh content for your audience can sometimes be daunting. However, regularly updating your blog ensures that you have new content to share.
If your business writes new blog posts regularly, it shows customers that you're still active and that the company is not going anywhere anytime soon. It also demonstrates that your company is constantly learning about new things related to your business, which may help you gain a wider audience.
8. Build an Online Community
Blogging encourages companies to build an online community by sharing their blog posts on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, etc.
This creates an opportunity for your blog to be shared on social media and reach new audiences.
Save time on social media posts by using a snippet from your blog to entice readers to keep on reading, clicking through to your blog section on your website.
How do I start a blog?
Launching a successful blog is all about planning. This will help in the long run and give your blog direction and purpose.
You want to make sure that you define who your target audience is and what topics they're interested in.
What are some common problems or struggles that my target audience goes through?
Investing the time to research keyword phrases for your blogs will help you create blog posts targeted towards what people search for online.
What to avoid when blogging for business?
To have a successful blog, you need to invest time and effort whilst avoiding some common pitfalls.
Here are some tips to help you avoid them:
Never forget who your target market is and write to them.
Don’t be too broad in your topic; try to drill down to a specific question.
Structure your blog with headings and questions, and don’t forget to include pictures. Adding in all these details will help break up a lot of text.
Don't forget about keywords - if you want to get more readers, use keywords that people are likely to search for.
Add statistics to your article to back up your claims.
Don’t be too formal; it is ok to let your personality shine. Don’t forget people relate to people.
How often should a business blog?
It is ideal for a business to publish a new blog at least once every two weeks. If this isn’t possible, then uploading a blog monthly will suffice.
Remember, the more blogs you post, the higher the chance you will be seen on a search engine.
It’s no surprise that blogging is one of the most popular ways to create content. Not only does it help you reach new audiences, but it builds a strong brand.
If you’re looking to stand out from your competition and increase your presence online, jump on the blog wagon and start writing.