Why Blog? 5 Good Reasons Your Business Needs a Blog
5 Good Reasons Your Business Needs a Blog
Local Social Media Writer and Editor
Does my company need a blog? The short answer is: yes. We hear this question a lot; and we completely understand where it’s coming from. As a business owner, you’re already juggling multiple responsibilities. You’re managing projects and people. You’re working full time cooking/baking/manufacturing/creating/servicing/etc. There’s the behind-the-scenes work to tackle: bookkeeping, website maintenance, phone calls and emails. And, of course, there are fires to put out – because there are always fires to put out. So, why would you want to add more work to your already demanding load?
There are so many good reasons for blogging, but the majority of them boil down to one common essential benefit: free marketing. Business blogs cost nothing if you write them yourself, yet you get the same type of rewards you get with paid marketing.
Blogs:
· Promote your brand
· Build an audience
· Connect you with your customers
· Add a human element to your business
· Provide market research
· Boost website SEO
The Benefits of Blogging
#1 Free marketing
Most websites are built with an easy way to attach blogs. It shouldn’t take long to add an extra tab to your home page. When your blog goes out into the world, your existing customers are reminded once again about your brand. For those who don’t already know about you, it’s a great way to build a new audience. Blogging gives you yet another chance to connect with your customers, especially the younger generation that is more apt to read a blog. Through blogging, you’re better able to convey emotion and bring a human element to your brand that can spark a connection with new and existing consumers.
Click-through rates and readers’ comments provide valuable market research. Looking at the back end of your website, you can check how long people stayed on certain pages to reveal what’s garnered the most interest, signaling what type of content they’re interested in and what type of services and products you should focus on selling. Perhaps most important of all, blogging has been proven to boost SEO. With all this in mind, even if you pay someone to write for you, the cost is relatively small compared to the payoff.
#2 Boosts Website SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
We’re putting this one toward the top of the list because this is one of the top concerns for many of our clients. If you’re not concerned about SEO, you should be; it’s important. Search engine optimization (SEO) is a method for making your web page appear higher in online search results so that it drives more traffic to your website or web page. When a person enters a query in the search window, the results that come back start with sponsored ads at the top, followed by organic (non-sponsored) websites that search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.) deem the most reliable and relevant.
What does this have to do with blogging? Larger, fuller websites rank higher on search results. Blogs living on your website add content, which plumps up indexed pages. Search engines prefer sites with robust index pages. A robust website shows you have plenty of content and information to offer. Adding blogs to your website also shows you’re consistently updating your website, which search engines will interpret as fresh, new, relevant material – again boosting you higher on search results.
Blogs can do wonders for your SEO. You might have the most amazing website, but what good is it if no one sees it? The average Google session lasts under one minute. That’s including typing in the initial query, loading results, clicking through links and selecting a result. It doesn’t give much time for people to go beyond the first page of results – so you want to make sure you’re doing what you can to appear on the first page.
#3 Build an Audience
You came into your business for a reason. Somewhere along the way, you realized there’s a product or service people want that you can provide. Sometimes, the hard part is letting people know you’re the answer to what they’re looking for. Blogging is a way of reaching out to existing and potential customers to engage with them. Let them get to know you and, in turn, get to know them. A blog post can announce a new feature or item; or it can allow you to give a more in-depth look at a part of your business you feel is underserved and worth promoting.
Enabling comments on your blog page opens up a discussion that provides immediate feedback, which tells you more about your customers and shows them you care about them. If you show customers you care about them, you’re more likely to have loyal customers.
#4 Strengthen Branding
For small businesses, branding is especially important. Making the public aware of what differentiates you from the competition is not easy. Your business blog is a way you can show what is unique about you and what makes you better than the rest. One of our clients sells perfumes that are recognizable for their modern packaging and fragrance names that reflect edgy fashion. What some people may not know – based on just picking up a bottle – is that these fragrances are free of chemicals, cruelty-free and packaged with recyclable materials. Through her blog, the owner establishes her brand as a conscientious business that cares about the environment. Her posts not only share environmental aspects of her own line, but also about sustainability in general including blogs about others who are making a difference on the sustainability front. She also establishes herself as an expert in her field by regularly posting blogs that comment on beauty and fashion trends.
A blog is a great way to build your name, enhance your credibility and establish your authority. All of this builds a connection with buyers, reiterating who you are and what your brand stands for. Whatever your business is, blogging can reinforce your branding.
#5 Establish Human Connection
Blogging is a great way to attach emotion to your brand. If you sell tools, for example, your marketing materials might consist of tool catalogs and a website with pictures and specs. Focusing solely on product specifications could be a bit dry, but a blog gives you the opportunity to show consumers your human side and connect with them on an emotional level. A tool company might post blogs with tips on how to select and use tools. Consumers would be appreciative that you’re willing to share your expertise at no cost. It makes your company come across as helpful. One of our favorite things to do with our clients is establish employee spotlight blogs for them. Each post features an employee and tells about their family, hobbies and what they like to do when they’re not at work. This shows your customers that you value people.
According to the 2018 Cone/Porter Novelli Purpose Study, 79% of Americans say they are more loyal to purpose-driven brands than traditional brands. People expect companies to care more about simply making money and they’re ready to reward companies that do good. If you volunteer, donate, recycle, buy American-made material or anything else that involves contributing to society, blogging about it will give consumers a reason to root for your business to succeed.
How can Local Social Media Help me with my Blog?
With so much research pointing toward the benefits of business blogs, we encourage our clients to post blogs regularly on their websites or Facebook business pages. LSM promotes these blogs through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and online newsletters with links that direct customers to read the blogs.
Many times, our clients prefer to delegate the task of writing to us. In those cases, we’re able to ghostwrite blogs for them.
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Local Social Media, is an online digital content and marketing company designed to create consistent local branding for clients. Established in 2011, it was one of the first to use the influence of social media to give clients the edge over their competition.
Visit us on our website www.localsocialmedia.net, email us at info@localsocialmedia.net, or call 203-788-8252.
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