Blogs are everywhere these days educating the world on everything and anything. It’s quite common for businesses to add a few blog posts to their websites for additional content but they often don’t realize just how powerful having a blog can be. Any and every business can benefit from them, and in this post, we are taking a closer look at just how much a blog can help a business.
Traffic Driving Via SEO
Every business desires a more substantial flow of traffic for their websites, but many people assume that paid advertising is the only way to drive that traffic. However, that is most definitely not the case. Creating a blog for a business website will present the opportunity for search engine optimization (SEO). This nifty little technique is where related keywords are appropriately repeated throughout the text to get recognized by search engines.
As effective as SEO is, it’s essential that keyword stuffing is avoided at all costs. Not only is keyword stuffing extremely irritating for readers, but it can also reflect negatively on the business through search engines. Every new blog post that’s added to a website is another page that can show up in search engine results. Posting frequently also works in your favor as search engines love to see fresh content being added and rewards regular posting with better rankings.
Creating an Online Presence
Having a blog that’s regularly updated helps to create an online presence for a business. In today’s world, people want to know about authority and expertise just as much as they want to know about the product or service. Creating a blog is a way to express knowledge in the niche as well as provide readers with high-quality content. It enables you or the business to show its personality rather than just emit a business-like front.
People relate much more to other people than they do to firms or organizations. The more people read the business’s blog, the more they will recognize the name and grow to trust and like it, even if they haven’t purchased anything yet.
Business blogs are also great for receiving feedback from prospective customers or offering your assistance with issues they may have. Initiating contact through blog posts helps to engage with the audience and again, makes the business more likable.
Posting regularly on social media platforms is the most obvious answer to establishing an online presence, but it can quickly become a struggle to create fun and engaging posts. Creating new blog content also works well as a captivating social media post. Gaining interest that leads to more followers which equals more readers and vice versa. The process of linking blog posts and social media pages can be used as part of sales funnels.
Traffic Converts to Leads
With new posts and traffic comes more opportunities to convert the traffic into leads. The best way to do this is to use a call to action button or links wherever suitable. These call to action links could include things like:
- Free webinars
- Access to podcasts
- Subscription to newsletters
- Free trials
- Downloadable eBooks
Or anything else that provides individuals with valuable content in exchange for their email addresses. Once someone submits their email address a lead has been created, which makes it the first step in a sales funnel. Throughout the text hyperlinking other blog posts wherever possible can also generate a lead.
Not every blog post will be as effective at generating leads as others, but it is still worth putting out some posts that aren’t necessarily lead generation focused as long as they provide value to the community. The more quality content available, the more trustworthy the business appears.
A Free Marketing Strategy
Adding blog posts to a business website is a free form of marketing, and it works in everyone’s favor. As a business owner, the keywords are being noticed by every search engine which is making your website a lot easier to find in the never-ending space that is the internet. Every new post can be shared on social media by current audiences which could easily lead to the friends and families of that audience following you as well.
Guest Posting
Once a business blog has a decent amount of followers’ guest posting is a great way to widen the reach. It works by featuring posts written by other companies that are still relatable to your audience. In most cases, it works both ways, you would feature other companies blog post, and they would feature yours. That way you are tapping into each other’s audiences and those that are interested will start to follow the business’s blog. This is another form of free advertising and is extremely effective for increasing followers.
It’s for The Long Term
The beauty of blogs for businesses is that they are for the long-term. As long as they remain on a live website, they will continue to be accessible. Usually, when a new blog post is uploaded, it will receive a slightly higher number of views, and then it tends to settle down. But, the best part is that a week, a month, or even a few years after posting it search engines will continue to pick up the content and scan for the keywords.
Traffic will still be generated which in turn creates leads. In fact, research suggests that the longer the post is active and the older it gets, the more likely it is to generate leads.
Any company can benefit from having a blog, and since the business will likely have its own website anyway, it’s an extremely low-cost expense. Blogs will define the character of the business and will highlight the areas that make your business stand out from the crowd. Even the smallest of companies can benefit from having a blog, and since it’s a free form of marketing, it might just cost more not to have one.
