How does a blog help my business?

This post was previously published on lauraleiva.com

Have you been hesitant to incorporate a business blog into your overall marketing strategy? Don’t think your business would benefit from a blog – or – have you tried blogging in the past and didn’t see results?

Today’s blog post is going to be all about the benefits of blogging and why you should include it in your monthly content marketing strategy. When talking with clients before getting started with blogs, one of the most common concerns is that they’ve tried blogging in the past, but it just didn’t seem to do much.

Upon further conversation, I learn through the client that blog posts were posted sporadically and without a plan in place. Well, of course they’re not going to have much of an impact! When you post inconsistently, two things usually happen:

• Google has no idea what value you’re bringing to the table. Why would a search engine increase your ranking when you post one or two times a month, when your competitor is posting two, three and even four times a week? Consistency is super important when it comes to getting results with your business blogging.
• You lose your audience. I get it – the Internet is an overwhelming place and with the constant flow of information coming at us at all times, it can be hard to stand out. But imagine finding value in a website that posts one blog a week, and then disappears for a week or two before posting another? How long would you continue to check back before you decided to just go elsewhere for your information? About three days, at best. If you want to hook an audience and keep them there, you need to provide a steady flow of content!

If you’ve tried blogging and didn’t give it a fair shot, or you’re on the fence about incorporating it into your website, here are five reasons why a business blog provides essential value to your overall strategy:

BUSINESS BLOGS CREATE CONTENT FOR SOCIAL MEDIA

If you’re struggling to create content for a blog, what does your social media strategy look like? Whether you’re just starting out or your social media platforms and blog have gone dormant, one way business blogs add even more value is because you can use them as content across your social media!

One blog isn’t just a single post on Twitter or Instagram – you can use so much of the information for ongoing content throughout the month, all without the need to create different content for your social media. For example, if you have a blog on top ingredients to look for in an anti-aging serum, you can spend two weeks or more using snippets from the blog to share as captions on Instagram or Facebook. Statistics, quotes and facts are some of the easiest things to share with an audience!

BLOGS HELPS YOU TARGET YOUR MARKET

As a business owner, what better way to learn about your target market than by interacting with them directly? Learn about their concerns, interests (this helps you create even more relevant blog content!) and needs just by creating blog posts and inviting them to comment. As you get to know your target market even better, you’ll also understand what gets them engaging – which is super valuable for any business.

BUSINESS BLOGS GROW EMAIL LISTS

Are you trying to enhance your email marketing efforts? Blogs are one of the best ways to draw traffic to the website and encourage them to sign up for newsletters, links to upcoming promotions, or even learning about new services!

Another benefit of having consistent, quality blogs is your audience will be more likely to sign up for newsletters or promotional material – they’ll trust that your content is informative and interesting, so your email content will offer similar value.

BLOGS GROW YOUR BUSINESS

Sure, consistent blog posts are a great way to grow your Internet presence and reach an audience, but from a business standpoint, they also help increase sales over time and there's never an expiration date on the content. Unlike those advertisements you purchase or social media ads, there's a budget and an end-date you need to utilize the benefits. With blogging, once you have the post on your website, all you need to do is watch it compound in value over time and keep drawing readers in over the following weeks, months and even years. 

There are plenty of statistics and research that shows posting between four and 16 blogs a month will generate leads, help with advertising and set your brand apart from the competition.

In fact, research shows that when you blog 16 times a month, you can expect 3.5 times more website traffic than your competition who’s blogging between zero and four times. So, the more times you blog (quality, informative content is KEY!), the more traffic and eyes you have on your products or services. 

BUSINESS BLOGS KEEP YOU COMPETITIVE

Take a look at your competition. Are they blogging frequently? Then you should get in on the action and make sure that you are meeting content demands of customers who are interested in your industry. Is your competition lagging on the fresh blog content? Even better for you – now you’ll really be seen as the authority in your industry and stand out more when a new customer or lead arrives on your website.

So, as you can see, there are plenty of benefits for business blogging – the only question left is: when are you going to start with your content? If you need help or want to talk about blog strategy, send me an email and let’s get your business thriving with new leads and traffic!