5 reasons why business needs to blog! It’s a question we are asked regularly – “Does my business need a blog?” In our opinion, yes – done properly, it’s an invaluable marketing tool.
We’ll look at some specifics – such as tips for setting up your blog, content ideas, and the importance of good images and graphic design – in future posts, but firstly we’d like to share our top reasons why your business should have a blog:
- It will drive traffic to your website.
There’s no such thing as too many visitors to your website, so anything that make sure more people find you online is a good thing. But how does that happen?
They could search for you by name, of course – but that means they already know about you. We’re talking about opening up your business to a completely different audience, without it costing a fortune in advertising.
Every time you publish a blog, it’s a new indexed page and fresh content on your website – something Google and the other major search engines love. They can see your business is active, which will help you increase your organic search listings.
- It helps establish you as an expert in your field
A good blog addresses questions and issues that their customers – current and potential – might have. So, if you’re publishing content your target audience will find helpful, it serves to build your credibility in their eyes.
If people find the information they need on your blog, they’re more likely to trust you during the sales process because they already know you can help them. They will also feel more of a connection with your company because of what they’ve read – much more than if they’d simply plucked your telephone number or email address from a directory.
- It will raise your profile on social media.
Every time you publish a blog post, you’re creating content that can be shared on social media. It should go without saying that you’ll share it yourself on your own social channels – your Facebook page, LinkedIn profile, Twitter feed and so on.
If it’s well-written and relevant, others will be prompted to share it among their own networks in turn, introducing you and your business to an audience that doesn’t yet know you.
- It’s a chance to increase leads
If you’re providing interesting and relevant content, you’ve got a great opportunity to capture visitor data and generate new leads for your sales team. Add a call-to-action button to your posts offering people who sign up a freebie – it might be a fact sheet or a trial of your product, that’s your call. Once they’ve submitted their data, they’re a new potential customer – not every reader will sign up and not every sign-up will convert, but some will.
- It can bring long-term results
Thanks to the way search engines work, your blog has a long lifespan. Post an update on Twitter and it drops down your followers’ timelines pretty quickly, assuming they follow a reasonable number of people. But your blog can go on generating interest for months – even years!
There’s the initial rush of interest when a post is new, going on for maybe a couple of days as people catch up on it through their various channels. Then, views will drop away.
But it’s there, waiting to be picked up when someone types a relevant phrase into a search engine – so it’s worth making sure most of your posts will stay relevant for a considerable period of time.
When you’re considering whether to start a business blog, it’s worth remembering that it can be a lead-generator over time rather than in the immediate future.
A word of warning…
While we advocate blogging as an essential part of your marketing strategy and a great way to increase business, you should be aware that once you start, you need to carry on.
Regular posting is the key. Every month is better than not at all, and every week is better than every month. Daily is the ideal, but few of us have the time or resources to do so.
What you want is for people to see that your company is active – if your blog hasn’t been updated for six months, they might well wonder if your business still exists.
Don’t worry, though – this isn’t as daunting as it might sound. Not every post needs to be a thousand-word piece of sparkling prose – a great image with a short text or a useful infographic are other valid types of content too.
Is your business blog already up and running? We’d love to hear how it’s going so far or whether you’ve discovered any useful tips for those just starting their own.