Why You Should Start A Blog For Your Business
Many of the most successful companies in the world, from GE to Tesla to Disney to Coca Cola, have an active blog on their websites. In this post, you'll learn why you should start a blog for your business and how blog posts can benefit your company for years to come.
Blogs increase organic website traffic.
Organic traffic is the amount of traffic your website receives organically, or in other words, as a result of an unpaid search result. Using a search engine such as Google, Yahoo, or Bing, visitors can arrive on your website without being referred from another site. As more visitors arrive on your site, your chances of converting those visitors into customers also increases. Paid advertising is another effective method for increasing website traffic, but of course, this method requires a constant financial investment on your part as a business. For this reason, organic traffic is so highly valued. It's a completely free way to get people on your site to fuel sales.
There is no denying the fact that blogging increases organic traffic to your website. In fact, a HubSpot study has shown that companies that blog have better marketing results and have 55% more website visitors compared with those without blogs. What's significant is that organic traffic, above other forms of traffic such as paid, social media, and referred traffic, makes up the largest portion of all website traffic. The caveat is that blogging is only succesful if you know how to do it properly. Oftentimes, businesses put a lot of time and effort into creating blog posts, but they find that it doesn't increase their website traffic and doesn't result in any conversions. This is where blogging and SEO comes into play. Anyone can blog, but not everyone can create successful blogs that not only drive traffic but also result in sales. Even if your blogs are well-written, informative, interesting, and in-depth, if no one can find them, they're never going to help your business grow. Your content must be properly optimized in order for it to rank on the first page of Google’s search engine result pages (SERP). As the old saying goes, the best place to hide a dead body is on page two of Google search results. Imagine what you could hide on the other pages! For this reason, it's important to create fantastic content that will rank on the first page of Google.
Blogs increase company awareness.
Whether your business is new or has been around for a while, it can be difficult to get your company name out there. Some companies rely on word-of-mouth advertising and having a physical location for customers to visit, but that often isn't enough to continuously grow their businesses. In the short term, receiving support from faithful “regulars” is no doubt, important for a business. But for long-term success and growth, you need to expand your customer base by increasing company awareness. Blogging, including guest blogging, is an effective way to attract new customers and in turn, fuel growth. This is achieved by not only drawing visitors to your website, where they can learn more about your services or products and make purchases but also by building rapport. Whether you provide haircuts, wine tasting, or air duct cleaning, most customers purchase services from companies they know and trust. This normally requires a variety of touchpoints - contact points between consumers and your business - before customers feel comfortable making a purchase. Of course, there will always be customers who purchase more freely, but for services, especially costly ones, it usually takes multiple touchpoints. Consumers want to read relevant blogs, check out reviews, and browse your website to understand that you're a professional, legitimate company that knows what they're talking about.
Think of blogging as a way to become an authority figure in your niche market. For example, if you run a maple syrup company and there are three other maple syrup companies in the area, how can you set yourself apart from the other companies? How can you ensure your company is the one that people will remember? How can you convince potential customers that you can provide more than your competitors? Blogging is a way to help you fill in those gaps. If you're creating blogs explaining how the maple syrup process works and how to make your own maple syrup, you've established yourself as a company that truly understands maple syrup. If your blogs are on the first page of Google search results, potential customers will become familiar with your company as they read your content and that will make all the difference in their decision to choose you over your competitors. In this way, blogging gives you a competitive edge, as not all companies have figured out how important it is in their overall marketing strategy.
Blogs are an excellent return on investment.
When you purchase a brand new car and drive it off the lot, it's already worth less money than when it was on the lot. As each year passes, even if you rarely drive that car, its value continues to diminish. Blogs are the exact opposite. For many companies, their oldest blogs are the most valuable. One properly crafted blog on the top page of Google adds value for years to come and continuously brings traffic to your website. You could be on holiday in Cancun and that blog you posted two years ago could be making sales. It's of course important to note that just because you post a blog on your website, it doesn't mean that blog will result in a sale, let alone multiple sales. As previously mentioned, every single blog needs to be incredible and purposeful. Your content needs to align with your business, industry, or product. It's better to have fewer high-performing blogs than many subpar blogs. Every post has to satisfy your potential customer's needs and thoroughly cover the topic while being simultaneously optimized to rank on the top page of Google search results. Every single visitor that lands on your website will not be converted into a customer, but some of them will. The more top blogs you have on topics meeting your customer's needs, interests, and questions, the more sales you will have.
Blogs are also multifunctional. When developing your marketing strategy with your digital marketing specialist, you'll need to consider how to market your product or service from as many different, relevant angles as is possible. The content you create for a blog can be used for podcasts, social media platforms, videos, and even paid ads. In this way, blogging doesn't have to be expensive. Whether you choose to write your own content or hire a professional, knowing that your business blog has multiple uses for years to come makes it a strong, worthwhile investment.
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