Creating a business blog is an essential step in effectively marketing your business online.
You’ll build your audience. You’ll position yourself as an expert in your field. You’ll become the go-to person in your field because you’ve already demonstrated the depth of your knowledge and your desire to make a difference in the world.
Yes, the latest marketing trends do seem to be increasingly video-based, but blogging is just as important as it used to be.
After all, eBooks and eBook readers have completely revolutionised the way we read in the 21st century (me included- no more travelling with hundreds of books in my backpack!) But printed books will never die because they can offer something that digital books can’t.
It’s the same when you create blog posts for your audience.
You’re giving them something that they can read and digest in as much depth as they want. They can soak up your information at the speed they want and they can easily recap whenever they want to.
Given Google’s increasing emphasis on user experience (UX), it’s more important than ever to keep your audience as your core focus.
Blogs are currently one of the only ways your website can become the featured snippet for your topic, rank highly on Google and get your business more visible.
Here are a few more reasons why you should create that blog.
1. You’ll provide a better customer experience
By adding a blog to your website, you’re showing your audience and potential clients that you’re not just there to take their money.
You’re honest and trustworthy. You’re not a scam artist. You care about the problems they’re facing and you want to help them find the right solutions quickly and easily.
When they can see this, you’ll be putting yourself ahead of your competitors. Your name will be the one people think of first, whether that’s buying directly from you themselves or telling their friends all about you.
2. It’s a marketing basic
Blogging is a basic digital marketing strategy that can provide an excellent return on investment provided that you’ve created it correctly. The emphasis here is on doing it correctly.
If you tick all the boxes, meet the demands of the search engines, set up your page correctly, add the most useful and compelling information, make sure you’re talking about topics that your audience care about and keeping it all typo- and grammatical error-free, you’ll be rocking.
At the same time, you’ll be creating a solid business backbone for yourself that will be there for many years to come.
You can also do a ton of things with the web content you’re creative. You can repurpose it into an eBook, use it as a script for your YouTube, Facebook Live or Instagram TV videos, turn it into a podcast episode, base your next webinar around it…
The only limit is your imagination.
3. You’ll increase your website traffic
You were wondering when we were going to get to this bit, weren’t you? Because boosting website ranking is always top of the list for business owners and entrepreneurs.
Google uses all kinds of criteria these days to decide where your business’ website is going to appear. Although it’s not the only way you can improve your traffic, adding high-quality, useful information on a regular basis is a great way to start.
When you add content frequently (even if that’s just a couple of times per month), the search engines will see that you are active and you might have something of value to say. They’re far more likely to consider you to be a trustworthy, established business when you create that content than if you didn’t bother.
And if you can make that content engaging and useful, any casual visitor is a lot more likely to stick around and spend more time on your page.
4. You’ll position yourself as an expert in your industry
Adding a blog to your website provides you with the perfect opportunity to show your audience what you know and explain to them how your business or service can make a difference to people’s lives.
As you solve their problems and provide high-quality information, you are creating an excellent resource that will demonstrate the depth of your knowledge and expertise. People will take notice and you’re more likely to be offered further opportunities that will help your business grow.
5. You’ll build a community
Running a business these days is just as much about building a sense of community as it is selling your product or service.
It’s about making your audience feel like part of the tribe- like they belong, they matter.
It’s one of the many reasons why Red Bull pours millions of pounds/dollars/euros into making those jaw-dropping thrill-seeking videos.
Why outdoor clothing brand Patagonia and outdoor gear brand REI encourage their customers NOT to buy anything on Black Friday.
One of the best ways to do this is to create authentic blog posts that speak to your audience about the topics that they want to hear about, solve the problems that they’re actually facing whilst allowing your business’ philosophy and personality to shine.
As you’ve seen here, blogging is a powerful strategy you can use to engage your readers, improve user experience, get more eyes on your website, show the world how much you know about your topic and build the community you desire.
Have you created a blog for your business? Was it successful or a complete waste of time and effort? Let me know by emailing me at info@charlottewitts.com.