Blogging has expanded from being an outlet for sharing interests and hobbies to what it is now: a phenomenal marketing tool for businesses of all shapes and sizes.
In my over 10 years as a content writer (having delivered thousands of blog posts to my clients) I’ve seen how well-managed business blogs are essential elements in all successful marketing plans. They play an essential role in supporting the growth of a business, much like direct mail, email marketing and social media.
When deciding whether to add and/or maintain a blog on your website, I recommend you consider the following benefits:
Increased Website Visitors
Unless they have heard of you before, the majority of new visitors to your website will not have entered your exact business name or your site’s URL into search. Instead they will find you organically (using terms related to your business, products or services, and possibly your location).
Every time you add a blog post, it’s yet another indexed page on your website. This means greater opportunity for you to show up in the search engine results pages which will drive more traffic to your website.
But it’s not only search engines that will help you gain more exposure through business blogging. Sharing that blog content on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, and images on Pinterest and Instagram will result in an increased chance of it being discovered (and hopefully shared) by new readers.
More Warm, Targeted Leads
Because your business blog will be related to your industry, products, or services, the people who find you organically are more likely to be interested in what you have to offer. This eliminates the need to spend a lot of time, money and other resources in locating and attracting probable customers and nurturing them through your sales funnel.
Establishing Authority
Consumers are far more likely to invest time, interest, and their hard earned dollars in a person or company that is seen as an industry expert or a knowledgeable source of information. Business blogging gives you the opportunity to establish yourself as an authority figure not only locally but on a global scale.
In the example below, Peachymama, a designer and manufacturer of clothing for breastfeeding and new mums, consistently adds 4 posts each month with information that is truly useful to its readers – and has done for years.
Creating a Community
Another massive benefit to blogging for a business is the community aspect of it. Whether it is through the comment section on the blog itself or on social media, blogging gives you the opportunity to communicate, collaborate, and share with your readership.
This not only increases the likelihood of repeat visitors and the development of brand loyalists. You will learn a lot from your audience by engaging with them such as learning more about their pain points, their challenges, and their lifestyle. This information will play a crucial role in developing current and future marketing campaigns.
Long Term Exposure
Unlike a paid ad or a promotional letter, once published your blog post is there for days, weeks, months, years (or at least until you take it down), still working for you and demonstrating your authority.
I don’t think there is another marketing activity that you can undertake that is as timeless as the blog posts you add to your website. These posts are working to improve your online footprint while you eat, sleep, travel – while allowing you to focus on your core business.
Many people ask me how many blog posts are needed each month to get good traction. This is largely budget-dependent, but I recommend at least 3-4 posts per month, with a focus on long-term commitment. Those who expect immediate results will always be disappointed, as are those who throw in the towel after, say, 3 months.
This US law firm publishes just two posts per month on their blog, but they have done since 2008. However the type of content they posted in the first few years was not quite the same as we provided (through a consultant who specialized in law firm marketing) from 2014-2017.
My most successful clients have been ordering between 2 and 8 posts per month for over 5 years and I know blog posts form part of their overall content marketing strategy. They share links to the posts on their social media channels, order rewrites for platforms like LinkedIn, and create simple but effective images for Instagram. So one post gets a lot of mileage.
Consistency is key, and offering fresh, relevant, and engaging content on a regular basis will deliver rewards beyond the day of publication.
If you would like help creating business blog posts, regardless of your business niche, I invite you to contact me directly at [email protected].
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