Making your content work harder for you
Ok, so you’ve been pondering the idea for a while, but you’re not fully convinced it’s for you, or worth your time and effort? But stick with me.
A well written blog full of the good stuff, starts to bring benefits to your business over time. You don’t have to be an expert writer. You just need great topics to talk about that your audience can connect with, and there’s no better way to stay current and in touch with your client base…
1. Blogging drives traffic to your website
Yes it does.
Carefully selected keywords are great for (SEO) and boost your Google rankings organically. This means that if your blog is full of the search terms that your audience is typing into Google, it’s more likely to appear in the search results.
More web surfers typing in keywords that match your blog (and other web pages) means more people are landing on your website.
Google rewards you further for this by pushing your content up the rankings and over time more people start to visit your website.
More website traffic means an increase in engagement, and a better chance of turning your loyal following into loyal customers.
Businesses that blog get 55% more website visitors than businesses that don’t.
Hubspot.com
2. A blog increases brand awareness
Fun, engaging and valuable content goes far in content marketing, and it’s also an opportunity to showcase your personality and have a conversation.
Content that people are reading and enjoying has more chance of being saved and shared with others. This increases the know, like, trust factor, which is integral to the marketing sales funnel.
Types of blog content that works well for shareability includes product reviews, how-to-guides and helpful tips and advice.
A blog is a great way to increase your digital footprint (in a world where everyone is now shopping online), you want people to remember your brand.
3. A good blog positions you as an authority
Being the ‘go to’ in your field is a wonderful accolade, but more importantly it’s about what influence that has on those that follow you.
Giving a business insight into an industry topic, trend or conversation or even demystifying a common misconception about a product or service can be very influential.
When people consult you for advice, refer to your channels and get their information from your trusted sources, it strongly positions you as a trustworthy brand.
A blog can help build your credibility in an organic way, in your own words – literally. With credibility comes referrals and recommendations, which is of course great for business.
It also ‘literally’ increases your ‘website authority’ if you’re linking across to other great sources, sharing the knowledge and others are referencing your web sources too.
4. Blogging is all about building relationships with existing and potential customers
The secret we’ve already touched on is high value content.
Valuable content that your customers are searching for, (answers to FAQs, reservations they have or advice they’re seeking) gives you the opportunity to address your customers’/clients’ pain points and provide solutions.
Blogging also engages your audience on topics of interest, directly or indirectly related to your business, to build rapport.
Your blog page is also a brilliant opportunity to grow your email list, by adding a subscription feature and staying in touch with news and special offers.
A smart way to find out more about them and the type of content they’d like to see more of, is by adding a comments section for discussion.
5. Promote your products and services in a non-salesy way with a blog
Now this is a debatable one. But I’d say you’re missing a trick if you don’t use this to your advantage. Yes, it’s all about providing value but that doesn’t mean you can’t subtly promote your business.
A new gadget, service or system that helps solve a problem for your audience shows how you can provide valuable content while promoting your products.
The point is, that it’s a conversation, not a sales pitch. If you bear this in mind and keep your posts fresh, engaging and helpful, you’re on to a winner.
On average, companies who blog produce 67% more leads per month.
Semrush.com
6. Blogging gives you the advantage, if your competitors aren’t
Highstreet shopping, whether you like it or not, is giving way to the online alternatives. More choice, delivery to your home, and a whole different browsing experience.
Coming back to the first point about web traffic and SEO advantages, if people are searching for products, reviews or advice, they usually do this before making a purchase. This is why, if you’re a late adopter of digital marketing, you’re at a disadvantage because you’re not showing up, where others are.
It’s never too late to start, and blogging (along with social media) are usually the first steps many businesses take to start building that digital footprint.
Businesses that blog for marketing purposes see 13 times the ROI of businesses that don’t.
Hubspot.com
7. Blogs are evergreen content and have a global reach
Oh, and did I say if you have an existing website, it’s also free!
It’s not without its efforts. A decent blog if anyone is going to read it needs to be well thought out and serve a purpose. But as business owner, you know your brand the best and you have all the content gold that your clients are searching for, so use it.
Once a blog is live on the web, it stays there for anyone to find. This is another fab advantage of organic marketing over paid marketing. It accumulates!
Unlike paid marketing, it’s not bound by campaign start and end dates, and your blog can be found by anyone in the world who visits your website.
It’s more effective than paid ads for long term business leads and it can be a really fun process too, once you get started!
Key takeaways
- Great for (SEO) and boosts Google rankings organically
- Increases digital footprint and brand awareness
- Helps build credibility and website authority
- Builds relationships and business leads
- Gives you the competitive advantage
- Global reach and evergreen content
Get in touch
Do you need help structuring your business blog or collecting great ideas of what to write?
Drop me a line, I’d love to get involved.