Sometimes a small business may question the need for a blog on their website, especially if they only have a small informational type of site with only a handful of pages. They may think that they don’t have the time to manage a blog; they may not think that they have writing skills to consistently create new and engaging content, they may just not know how or where to begin.
When
blogging is done well it can be a powerful tool to help attract new visitors and keep your current audience engaged. According to Hubspot’s State of Inbound report for 2015, blogging remains one of the most highly rated tactics by marketers such as you. Although approximately four percent of marketers deemed blogging as “overrated” in the survey; more than 4,000 people that completed the survey indicated that their investment in content marketing such as blogging has continued to help them grow their traffic, audience, and overall business.
While attracting new customers is a primary reason that your business needs a blog, there are plenty of others as well.
Blogs Establish Your Credibility
A business blog is an ideal place to begin establishing your credibility and your expertise in the field. As you add content to your blog that is consistently useful, relevant, and engaging, your audience will begin coming to you to learn more. Your insights, ideas, and information will help establish you as a thought leader, which will, in turn, grow your audience and create new opportunities.
Blogs Allow You to Connect With Your Audience
A business blog is a perfect place to show the “personality” of your company. It’s a place where you can reveal your company’s values, and give your customers a peek behind the curtain so that they can see what your website, business, and products are all about. Interact with your audience through the comments — give them a chance to respond by issuing a challenge or asking a question. You’ll gain greater insight into their priorities and needs, and they’ll be more engaged with you.
Blogs Promote Your Products and Services
It’s okay if some of your blog posts are promotional. That’s a part of what the blog medium is intended for. If you have a major sale or event coming up, you’re launching a new product, or just want to highlight some products to boost sales, use your blog as a tool. Sometimes, just showing different or creative uses of your product can boost sales, especially when you ask your customers to share their stories.
Blogs Can Extend Your Reach
An expertly written, useful piece of content can be the ultimate marketing tool. Having your audience share that content is the ultimate seal of approval that you’ve done something right with the information you are providing. The hope is for every piece of content to go viral but we know that is a rare occurrence especially with how much new content is being produced and the speed at which it is replaced with something new. However, when your posts are shared on Social Media outlets like Facebook and Twitter, pinned on Pinterest and Instagram, or even emailed from person to person, you will have increased the potential grow your audience and return visitors.
Anyone that has done any research on blogs and SEO has seen the articles about how much Google loves fresh content. Although this information is pretty much well known throughout the digital marketing world it still holds true today. Well-written content shows Google that you are actively engaged in trying to provide the internet community with helpful and useful information. Content also provides you the opportunity to use strategic keywords that may help your website be found for specific searches by those searching for information on the topics you cover.
The primary goal of content creation should always be to attract new visitors to your site, social media, or news outlet in order to provide them with helpful, useful, or instructional information. When your readers realize that you and your blog are providing this type of content they will return, share and follow. The more people that you are able to create as fans equates to more people that will trust you and your content. A high trust level with the internet community makes you more appealing to someone in the market for your product or services and to potential advertisers that have something of value to offer your audience.
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