I’ll be honest. When my web guy told me I needed to blog, my response was somewhere along the lines of: “Are you kidding me? I write every day for a living. I do not have time or the capacity to write more. No way!”
Luckily, he is a very patient guy, and he took the time to explain to me why blogging is important for businesses that want to grow; especially small businesses like mine. I now aim for one blog a week; maybe I should do more, but again… I write for a living, so come on!
Not one to do things just because someone told me to, however, I did a little research about blogging before I began. This is what I learned:
- Blogs help brand a business. A website alone will not produce a great enough presence to make your business stand out. While a website presents practical content in a factual way and showcases your work, products, services and capabilities, it does not resonate with customers in the same way as a blog. A blog connects with customers by showing who you are, not just what you do. It brands you! It gives you a voice!
- Blogs position you and your company as industry leaders. Blogs produce an opportunity for you to talk in depth about products and services, share new projects and comment on industry trends. Case studies, how-to guides and thought leadership blogs demonstrate your expertise. Blogs showing you are well-versed in your field build trust, which in turn makes people want to work with you.
- Blogs increase visibility. Launching a website and creating a Google business page will not automatically launch your business to the top of search engine results. But blogging can start you on your way. Regular blogging increases the number of indexed pages and keyword usage on your website, which in turn can help search engines find and rank your website higher in search engine results. In short, a blog drives organic traffic to your site. (Visitors who find your website by using a search engine are considered organic.) And, by selecting keywords specific to your business for blog posts, you maximize the opportunity for your blog and your business website to show up in searches. (Here’s a simple secret to keywords: Use words others would enter into a search engine to find you!)
- A blog increases your social media presence. Writing a blog then promoting its presence on social media helps you connect with, and build, a social media audience. Consumers list interesting blog content as among their top reasons for following brands on social media.
- Blogs pack an excellent return on investment (ROI). Though it takes time to blog, there is a quantifiable return for your efforts. HubSpot reports companies that blog generate 67 percent more leads than companies that don’t. Business2Community.com also finds brands that publish 15 blog posts a month convert 1,200 new leads per month. Blogs also help build email databases and provide enlightening insight into your audience and your customer.
There are many other benefits to blogging. I’ve only listed a few. But if you Google the topic yourself, you’ll very quickly make a case for blogging at your business.
I know I did.
In a very short time, I have witnessed my own blogging payoff. I’ve seen web traffic climb and companies reach out for my services. My results are not unusual, consider this:
Rick Burnes recently surveyed data from his HubSpot customers, which are mostly small- and medium-sized businesses. He reported 795 of the businesses he sampled blogged and 736 did not. Those in his sample that blogged reported better marketing results than those that did not. He found companies that blog have:
- 55% more visitors
- 97% more inbound links
- 434% more indexed pages
So, I blog; and so should you.
If you have trouble in finding time to blog or writing is something that is just painful for you, In Good Company Communications is happy to help. We can assist you in developing a content schedule and in writing articles to help keep your blog fresh and relevant.
