Are you one of those business owners who just doesn’t get blogging? Perhaps you can’t see the point in having a blog on your website or don’t see how it could be helpful. If that sums you up, this post will show you that blogging makes good business sense and can make both your business and your website more successful. Here are 10 reasons why.
- Blogs provide fresh content for Google
Google’s primary aim is to give its users the best results it can. As part of this, it wants to point users in the direction of content which is current. For this reason, freshness of content is one of Google’s ranking factors.
For small business websites that have only a handful of pages, it can be difficult to keep your content fresh especially if your products and services don’t change much over time. Starting a blog can be the ideal solution as it will put fresh content on your website on a regular basis. As a result, your site has more chance of performing better in search results. - Keyword development
Using keywords on your website is an established way to help your website get found in search results. However, with many small business websites, the limited number of pages means you can be restricted in the number of keywords you use or how many times you can use them. Go overboard on any individual page and you can be penalised for keyword stuffing.
Adding a blog, however, gives you the opportunity to use a wider range of keywords and long tail keywords, across a range of posts, giving you a much better chance of ranking for them. - Each post can rank on search engines
If you only have a few pages on your website, then there are only a few pages which can appear in search engine results. However, if you have a string of blog posts, each of these can show up in search engine results too boosting the number of ways your website can be found by searchers.
If you had a five-page website but added a blog post once every two weeks for a year, you’d have five times more chances of being found. Keep that up for a few years and you could have a hundred pages working to boost your traffic. - Your blog can turn your company into an expert
Many companies use their blog to position themselves as experts in their field. They do this by writing blog posts that advise people about the field in which they operate. For example, a cycle shop could write blog posts about the best mountain biking routes, give advice on bike maintenance and discuss the best equipment or components for different types of cycling.
Visitors who read these posts will come to think of the company as both knowledgeable and trustworthy. When it comes to making a purchase, they are more likely to buy from this company because they have already established a relationship with it and have come to value what it says.
Using a blog like this is a great way to help your business over the long term and put you one step ahead of your competitors. - Direct readers towards products on your site
Of course, when you write blog posts that help people, you should take the opportunity, where appropriate, to point out useful products or services that might be of benefit to them. A simple text link is sufficient to take your reader directly to a product on your site that they can then buy.
However, good blog posts are there to solve readers problems or answer their questions. Using them for the heavy sell will drive them away. Casually mentioning products or services is a far more effective way to get readers to take a look. Leave the heavy selling to your sales pages. - Great for generating email subscriptions
According to thedma.org, When it comes to purchases made as a result of receiving a marketing message, email has the highest conversion rate (66%), when compared to social, direct mail and more.
Not only is email marketing highly effective, it is also cheap. In fact, you can do it for free if you use the right email software. This gives it a significant advantage over PPA or other forms of advertising.
The hardest thing about email marketing is growing your email subscriber list and this is where a company blog can play a valuable role. If you have a successful blog that people like to read, then users will willingly subscribe to your newsletters and email campaigns. Just remember to put a sign-up form on your blog posts. - Can be used to get feedback
One of the best things about blog posts is that readers can leave comments about them. This gives companies a real opportunity to get valuable feedback. If you are thinking of setting up a new service, for example, write a blog post about it and ask your readers to tell you what they think. This way you get genuine user input into its development. You can ask readers to leave specific feedback at the end of any blog post. - A blog gives people a reason to come back to your site
Regular blog posting gives visitors a reason to keep coming back to your website. When they come back, you are increasing your return visitor rates which shows an improvement in audience engagement and loyalty.
According to Kissmetrics, returning visitors spend twice as long on your site, visit more pages and are more likely to buy when compared to a first-time visitor. The fresh content of a blog is a real incentive to keep them coming back. - Posts can be used for marketing
Although you should focus your blog content on helping your customers solve problems, occasionally you can drop in a post that is solely for marketing. You can do this if you are launching new products or services or if you are having a sale or other kind of promotion.
You can use these posts to offer special deals or voucher codes, etc. This way, visitors can share them on social media too, helping even more people see them. Remember to include a call to action at the bottom. - Perfect place to develop brand awareness
Finally, blogs are a great place to develop your brand awareness. Besides showcasing your expertise in your field, you can also use the post to highlight some of the other great things your company does. Perhaps you have been helping a local charity raise funds or have a new eco-friendly initiative that you want to promote? A blog post is an ideal place in which to do this.
The benefit of doing this is that it helps your readers identify with the values of your company. This makes them more loyal towards you and increases the prospects of them buying from you.
Conclusion
If you were one of those business owners who didn’t get blogging at the beginning of this post, hopefully, you will now. Creating a blog on your company website can benefit your business in many ways. It can improve your website rankings, increase traffic, develop your company’s brand and online authority, and increase sales.
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