Apparently, there’s some debate out there as to the true value and relevance of a business blog in this crazy social media marketing world.
That’s a waste of breath. No amount of social media marketing can do what a really great blog does. If you’re really wondering how important a blog is to a small business, let’s review.
Improved search engine visibility
You have this awesome website, but it’s not doing anyone any favors if no one can find it. There’s a great simile that likens blogging to fishing. The more lures in the water, the better chance you have of hooking a fish, right? A good blog works in the same way. The more great content you have in the form of individual posts, the more pages from your site will be indexed, improving site visibility on search engines and ultimately, driving more traffic.
credibility boost
Your business blog is an effective way to establish yourself and your brand as an authority in your industry, simply because it’s a platform for sharing your expertise. When you develop a reputation as an expert, you begin to build trust and familiarity with your target market. Clever, right?
sending the right message
A well-maintained blog tells visitors that your business is, well, in business. That’s why a consistent blogging schedule really matters. In fact, some experts will tell you it’s better not to have a blog at all than to have one with sporadic posts. Great content on your blog – the stuff that establishes you as an expert, as noted above – also helps build brand loyalty, which drives conversion rates.
encourages quality inbound links
Inbound links from reputable websites are one of the tenets of search engine optimization, or SEO. How can you encourage inbound links? With all your great content! The goal is to encourage other people – bloggers, columnists, journalists, contributors and all the rest – to link to your site from theirs. Not only does that inbound link help your site’s SEO, it can mean awesome referral traffic. You can facilitate this with guest blogging, too.
improves your rank for long-tailed keywords
Long-tailed keywords are specific phrases, and incidentally, those using them are often further along the sales funnel. Someone searching for “red Nikes” is likely in the research phase, while someone searching “women’s red Nike Air, size 8” is after something pretty specific. When you have more content, your odds of ranking for these long-tailed keywords improves. They may be less common, but they also tend to be higher converting.
keeps things fresh
From laundry to deodorant, we all like being fresh. Guess what? So does your website. Search engines have a thing for new content, especially when it’s added consistently. They reward sites that crank out fresh new content regularly with better visibility, which takes us back to point one. Plus, fresh content gives you regular opportunities to add internal links. You can promote your own stuff, which is good for site visitors, while also creating pathways for search engine crawlers, and that improves PageRank. It’s like a big, happy circle.
set yourself apart from the pack
Blogging for your business is a great way to differentiate yourself within the industry. Show visitors why your business is their best choice, and do it unobtrusively too. It’s a small perspective shift, but in these ad-saturated times, it makes a difference. Instead of pushing advertising messages out to the world at large, be there when your target market goes looking.
Need some help? Let’s make it happen.