Importance of BLOGGING for Businesses

Not many people realise the great potential that blogging can have for their business. There are certainly many benefits that businesses can develop and achieve through blogging alone.

A blog is an effective marketing tool that does not only reach out to new customers, but also helps to develop strong relationships between customers and business owners. 

A few of the many benefits of blogging include:

• Providing your business with greater opportunities to engage in search engine optimisation (SEO)
• Online marketing for your business 
• Drive traffic to your website
• Convert latent traffic into genuine leads

While readers of your blog could already be existing customers, they could also be potential customers evaluating their choices, just waiting to be engaged. When businesses blog frequently, viewers will notice that your business is active and it is not left unattended.

To help your company get started with its very own blog, we have created a list of essentials for blogging success for businesses that will help you succeed.

Research

Anyone can start a blog but not everyone knows how to write an effective blog that people will actually want to read. To develop a lasting impression on your clients and potential customers, you will certainly want readers to come back and visit your website often. So give them a reason to come back.

The main reason that readers keep visiting your website blog, or even subscribe to them, is because they find your post/articles interesting and want to find more great things from your business. This is why you have to do your research thoroughly, to prepare a read that is both informative and engaging.

Find out who your readers are. If you're focusing on potential customers, try to find out some of the commonly reoccurring information like age groups or industries so you can write topical content that is relevant to their interests. You could also focus your blog posts on products or services for the type of business you are in. For example, if you are in the business of air-conditioning, you could write about ways to keep cool this summer.

Always remember to write a blog that people want to read and subscribe to!

Informative

So now you've done all your research about who you are writing for and come up with a list of topics. The next essential for blogging success for your business is to be informative. Whatever topic you write about, try to be as informative as humanly possible.

Don't worry too much if the topic has been done elsewhere; you can always look at it from a different angle, create new resources, and give personal advice from your own experience. After a couple of posts, feeding your readers with useful information, they will get the flow of your blog and will keep coming back for more.

Do not forget to write from the heart. Even though it is for your business, when you add a little personal touch to your writing, it actually connects with the readers on a personal level. It adds some assurance that there's a real person behind the screen, not just another computer generated article.

The best blogs are those that are written with genuineness, soul and definitely passion, which all come from being personal.

Interaction

Besides writing an informative blog that is attractive to your audience, it's great to have ways to interact with your readers. Try to keep the reader’s problems in mind and find ways of solving them via your blog. Readers want to be able to relate to you and they need to know who you are, what your business does, and why they should be reading your blog.

Your website may not encompass everything about your business, so if there are frequent questions that come from your customers, this is where your blog can come in handy. When readers read your blog, they can get a clearer understanding of how useful and informative your business can be and by answering their questions, they gain the impression of interacting with you directly.

Structure

When you have fixed guidelines for your posts, it becomes easier for your readers to process and follow along. In other words, have a basic template for your post so that it does not go all over the place. Make sure the article flows nicely and does not bore the readers.

Look into the following:

• Word limit: 650+ words. Any shorter and your readers may find it uninteresting to read them
• Visual aids: include photos, images, graphs or even a short video
• Call-To-Action: Direct users to other blog posts, or areas of interest. Alternatively, link your potential customers to get in contact.

Headlines

Another essential to blogging success for your business is a catchy headline. Sometimes it feels like they are more important than they should be but a catchy headline is what draws audiences to your blog. They are the first point of reference for your readers and ultimately serve as an advertisement for your whole post.

It won't matter how much effort you put into the content if no one cares to read it! Do a little research on creating effective post titles and check out other blogs for ideas.

Promotion

You have already done the research, created great content and made a catchy headline. Now it is time to generate the traffic to your business blog. Do not forget to promote your blog post each time you have published something new. Regardless of whether it is via Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn, any positive attention to your blog is better than no attention at all.

Try adding quick social sharing buttons to your blog to make it as easy as possible for your readers to share the article. Word-of-mouth is always the most powerful form of advertising so let your avid readers do the work as promoters to their friends and family, on any of their social media platforms. Without extending your potential reach with these social media buttons, your blog will likely only be read by your current readers and that is not good enough.

Summary

Starting a blog for your business may seem daunting but it is not a difficult task. With careful planning and the right structure, it could elevate your business to a higher level.

To find out more about how blogging can assist your business, get in touch with us for a no obligation discussion.