Every business needs an online presence. That’s a given in today’s digital-driven economy. Usually, this takes the form of a website.
But to really capitalise and build on this online presence, you need more than just a static website. You need fresh content to keep on generating traffic and reeling in potential customers. The solution: create a blog.
A blog helps you grow your business by keeping you connected to current customers and helping you to acquire new customers.
Yet many businesses feel that they don’t have the copywriting expertise or resources to start a blog. It’s true that creating and maintaining a successful business blog takes time and effort. But it will pay off in the long run.
Here’s 10 reasons why you need a business blog.
1. A blog gives your business a voice
Every brand has a voice. It’s the tone and personality of your brand. It’s how you communicate with your customers. It’s how you express yourself and convey your messages to your customers. A blog is the perfect platform to amplify your brand’s voice and develop a consistent way of delivering messages about your brand. It gives your customers a feel for who you are and what you represent.
2. It allows you to deliver purposeful content
Your blog is for your customers. So write for them. The key is to give your customers valuable content. Give them solutions to their problems. Share your opinion on important developments in the industry. Feed them with knowledge. Offer advice. Provide a different perspective. Craft your content with your customer in mind. To do that, it’s useful to develop a persona.
3. It helps you to establish authority
By giving your readers useful, high-quality information through your blog, you establish yourself as an authority in the industry. When your prospective customers can find the answers to their questions on your blog, they will begin to identify you as an expert on the topic. By showcasing your knowledge and becoming an important online resource, prospective customers are more likely to trust you and eventually approach you to engage your service or buy your products.
4. A blog is good for SEO – Google loves fresh content
Google views websites which have regular updates more favourably than those with hardly any new content. The more updates you have on your website, the more your website will be indexed or crawled by Google. And this will improve your SEO rankings. One of the most effective ways to pump out fresh content is through a blog. So put in effort to write your blog posts – Google will reward you for it.
5. It allows you to incorporate keywords … and that’s good for SEO too
Blog posts give you the perfect opportunity to search-engine optimise your content. And that’s another way to improve your search rankings. Incorporate keywords and phrases into your blog post titles and content to help you get noticed by Google. Do it right and your website or blog post will show up in keyword searches. So before you write your blog posts, think about what your potential customers will type into Google’s search engines and craft your content around it.
6. A blog drives traffic to your website
Everytime you write a blog post, you add another indexed page to your website. So, the more you blog, the better you rank in search engines and the higher the chances that someone will click on your link and visit your blog or website. Regular traffic that’s going to your website gives Google the signal that your website as an active one so it should regularly check in to see what new content has been added.
7. And you can convert that traffic into leads
Once you’ve built up your blog and your website is getting ranked in search engines, you’re likely to see a regular stream of traffic to your blog. If you have interesting content, readers are more likely to hang around your blog or website to check out what else you have to offer. This gives you the opportunity to generate new leads. In your blog posts or other areas on your website, include a call-to-action. Depending on what you want your customers to do, you can get them to sign up for a newsletter, contact you for more information, sign up for a free trial, attend a webinar or arrange for an appointment.
8. It supports your social media marketing
Blog content helps to support your social media presence. Each time you create a blog post, you can promote it on your social medial channels through short snippets, teasers and catchy headlines. Share the link on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Pinterest. When your followers click on that link, you are also driving traffic to your website. These clicks are great from an SEO perspective. You can also place social media sharing buttons on your blog posts to encourage your readers to share your posts with their own circles.
9. It supports your email marketing
If you have a regular newsletter for your subscribers, then that blog post can be featured in your newsletter, including a link back to your website. If you’re working on growing an email list, then you can include a call-to-action at the end of your blog posts to urge readers to subscribe to your newsletter for more of such posts to be delivered to their inbox regularly. This will keep your business in the top-of-the-mind for your subscribers each time they receive your email.
10. It allows your customers to get to know you a bit better
A blog can be a great way to encourage conversation with your customers and prospects. Respond to the comments and feedback on your blog or the social media posts which link to your blog. You can learn a great deal about what your customers think about your company, products and services. At the same time, use their feedback to further improve the way you market your products and services deliver information.