Advantages of Having a Great Blog for Your Business
Do you have a business or personal blog? What inspired you to start one?
We are sure you have already heard how valuable blogging is for engaging and attracting a wider audience. Many all-American small businesses, even mom-n-pop shops now have websites and blogs of their own. And if you aren’t blogging, it may feel like you are getting left behind. If you are wondering what exactly can a blog really do for your business, read on!
Blogs exist for one very basic reason, i.e. to speak to others, to give voice to your brand or business. You take your voice and engage anyone who may be willing to listen (i.e. read your blog). And if they like what they see, chances are they will give share it on their social media pages for others, but more importantly they will give more credence to your products and services.
Brilliant, well-written engaging and interesting blog posts are great for small businesses. Here are a few reasons why:
1. They Drive More Traffic to Your Website
Yea, we want more website visitors! Who doesn’t? So how does a blog help us achieve this aim?
Simple, every time your blog is updated with a new blog post it’s a cue to the search engines that yours is indeed an active, regularly updated website. This does wonders for the website’s rankings in search results. And it’s no secret that the higher you rank, the better your chances are at attracting clicks i.e. more visitors to your site. Think about it! Even if you blog at a leisurely pace, putting out a blog every week, you are still giving Google and other search engines new content that will be indexed. Blogging is a great opportunity to plug in your all-important key words and key phrases in a way that appeases the search engine gods while also engaging the readers!
To top it all off, blogging ensures better visibility of your website on social media as well. As long as you have all your share buttons for Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest in place, your offerings are well on their way to being discovered by an untapped audience.
2. Blogs Turn the Traffic into Leads
Scroll down all the way to the end of this post and you will see a call-to-action! Nothing magical about it, these are well thought-out phrases and words that drive readers to take an action. These calls-to-action can lead the reader to sign up for a newsletter, place an order, make a call, or get free whitepapers, fact sheets, seminars, product trials etc. Use it, as you see fit, to turn your blog’s traffic into better qualified leads for potential sales.
Just remember that not every blog reader and visitor will turn into a lead. And that’s perfectly fine. Continue blogging regularly, adding appropriate calls-to-action to every post and give yourself a realistic target of a visitor-to-lead conversion rate. Give yourself a pat on the back when you achieve it!
3. Blogs Enhance Reputations and Give You Authority
Each new blog post is an opportunity to answer common question and address the biggest concerns your prospects and customers might have. This helps establish you as an expert and authority in your niche and industry. Imagine the impact of an engaging yet educational blog on customer satisfaction. Prospective customers who read your blog posts will enter the sales process more educated on your products and services and your place in the industry, making the salesperson’s job a lot easier!
4. A Well-Written Blog Delivers Long-Term Results
A professional writer typically spends 2 days completing, editing, and perfecting a blog post. The first day up on the blog, this post can bring in hundreds of new views and leads. The next day it has fewer views but it still proves its usefulness. Trust us when we tell you, it’s just getting started. A well-written, engaging, interesting, and informative blog post will attract people on social media, other subscribers will catch up with it on email or their RSS feeds.
It’s still not done working for you!
It should start ranking in search engines in a couple of days. This simply means that for many months and years to come, that blog post will bring traffic from the search engines to your website. So while it may feel like a blog post is only good for a week or so, that’s not the truth. Now imagine the compounding benefits of a well-maintained blog that is updated at least weekly!
5. Blogs Are Awesome Tools for Customer Interaction
Talk to your customers, prospects and even peers with your blog posts. Help them get to know you better by encouraging interaction, comments and regular feedback. Reply to their comments and make your blog a place that fosters a smart and productive two-way communication. It doesn’t even have to be all about business, discuss other initiatives that your company may have undertaken. It is your blog, claim the space and command the readers with content that will help them get to appreciate your better. Let your brand’s personality shine and share your expertise unabashedly.
Bring it all Together for a Stellar Corporate Blog!
Make sure your blog gives customers, clients, and readers exactly what they are looking for. Remember your aim with a blog post is not to overtly make a sale, but convince them subtlety, using hardcore information.
Blogging is an important part of the social media revolution. Keep your customers posted and up-to-date and establish a beautiful business relationship with them. Are you ready to make your blog stand out from the competition? Check out our full service blog management services and find out what we can do for your blog!