You may have a fast-loading and aesthetically pleasing website to showcase your products and services, but it won’t reach its fullest potential without a blog. Business blogging is a key marketing tool for businesses to gain more online visibility and can be used to share short-form pieces of content about your brand and your expertise in your area.
Apart from these benefits, a blog section will do wonders for your search engine optimisation (SEO). If you run an online store, a blog post is a good way to put in industry-related keywords, which allows users to find your website online when searching Google under those keywords. Business blogging gets your brand out there to users looking for similar products and services online.
Unlike personal blogs, business blogs are not hobbies. Instead, they should be considered as a part of your marketing framework such as emails, newsletters and social media to support business growth. To further understand why your business needs a well-written blog, read on below.
Directs traffic to your business website
The goal of creating a business website is to get more visitors to your page, and while some visitors may directly type your brand into Google, you would want to reach out to more people who don’t know you. Blogging is long-term tool to help you drive traffic to your website, rather than expensive short-term solutions such as email blasts or paid ads.
Blog posts indicate to search engines that your website is active and constantly refreshing content. Your blog posts can be shared through social media or be linked on different website pages, enabling your brand to show up more often on Google. All of this will drive traffic organically to your site.
Converts visitors in prospective leads
Leads, otherwise known as potential customers, can be gained through a simple addition of a blog. To convert readers of your blog to genuine leads for your business, you must have a clear call-to-action at the end of every blog post. This can be as simple as a link to sign up to newsletters or buying products.
Keep in mind that not every blog reader will convert into a lead for your business―even the biggest brands are unable to do this. However, understanding the basics of an effective call-to-action will result in an improvement in your lead conversion rate.
Establishes your brand as an industry authority
An effective business blog addresses certain needs and issues that are identified within the industry, hence a great deal of research and though should be put into them before posting. Creating content that is helpful to customers will position you as an industry authority and Google rewards sites that do this by ranking them high on search page results.
In addition to this, high quality blog posts will often lead to more shares and likes online. Search engines like this level of engagement, which can push up your website rankings even more. Make sure to base your blog posts on research regarding the queries people are posting online about the industry. You can even address queries regarding your product by writing a ‘how to’ post.
Delivers long-term outcomes
A blog post published today can get a certain number of leads and engagement in the next few days. Blog posts will remain online unless you take it down, which can result in your website continuing to get leads and traffic, as users may find them every time they search for something relevant to your industry.
The level of blog post engagement that continues months and even years later, proves the scalability of creating a dedicated blog post for your website. Remember to be patient, as results may not come immediately, but rather you will start to see traction.
Communicates important information related to your business
Blogs are an effective way to help people better understand what your business has to offer. Communicate important information such as new product releases and events to extend your brand value. It can also help build a loyal audience on your own channels, rather having to rely on being written about on other sites.
Starting a business blog will help you get more readers, followers and customers over time and this can turn into a valuable marketing tool by getting readers to visit them. It also allows you to deliver your key messages to readers that are interested in your business offering and really sell your product the way you want.
By Lucas Bikowski, managing director and senior SEO strategist at SEO Shark.
