Can Blogging Still Help Your Company Grow?

The short answer is 'yes'! But you want to know how, right? ?

Companies can still benefit from keeping a blog on their website for a number of reasons but the most important is concerning SEO. You want your webpage to appear on the first page of a Google search and to do that you need to be sure the crawlers will find it and move it up. Some things just haven't changed since blogging became all the rage around 10 years ago.

Your blog will help your website move up in the search engine results because:?

• Blogging obliges you to add new content, keeping the site up-to-date
• You use keywords in your articles which will help your site to be found?
• Your article creates traffic to your site, especially if shared on social media
• If you turn on comments, your potential clients will communicate with you creating a community?
• It shows potential clients that you are knowledgeable on the products/services/sector you are writing about?

What you don’t want to do is create articles which sound like advertising. People don’t want to buy your product right away, they just want free information or advice. What you want to do is write about a topic related to your activity. For example, a sports equipment shop could write about which ski resorts are the best ones in the area or where the best hiking trails are. The article should be short and easy to read with a title that people will want to click on. For example “7 affordable ski resorts in Isère, France” or “How to get your children ready for the ski season”.?You might want to include links to videos or websites which provide more detailed information.

The key words need to be repeated throughout the article. You want to use key words which will help your article become more visible. For example, if I want to attract people in my area, I need to use the name of my city in the article a few times. I also need to mention the name of the item I’d like people to find me under. For example, if I want to sell skis, I need to mention the word ‘ski’ a few times within the article.?The keywords need to be set on your website. If you have a WordPress site, this is easy to do. Otherwise, check with your IT person.?

You want to end your post with a call-for-action which could be one of the following:?

• Suggest they check out your products or services?
• Invite them to an event you are organizing?
• Offer them a discount or special offer?
• Invite them to share your article?
• Invite them to join in the conversation?

Make sure your images are captivating, relevant and don't infringe on copyright laws. You can find a list of websites here with royalty-free photos to use as you please.

For more information on how to write a blog article, I recommend you visit this site.

What about AI?

There are many tools out there to help you write your blog article and why shouldn't you use them? That's what they're there for and your competitors are surely already doing so. In the video below, you will find out about a number of different tools and of course, the vlogger here needs to sell her product which is why she goes into detail about Friday AI near the end of the video. But you should shop around and find the tools that are more appropriate for your needs and perhaps start off with a free version before investing.?

Bonus for teachers!

If you are a digital business development teacher, or if you teach a language or writing class, you can get the students to write their own blog article for an existing company or invent their own. I asked my students to feel free to use AI in the brainstorming part of the activity and gave them the handout below to write as much information they can on their topic (contact me for a Word version of this document). The writing activity itself was in-class, using pen and paper and no online tools, just the filled-out handout they had prepared ahead of time. Evaluation is based on the topic itself, the title, keywords, structure, language and creativity.

Let me know if this was useful. Contact me if you'd like to discuss any possible future collaborations. I am a former business owner, currently teaching at a business school, and am conducting research on diversity and inclusion in education.