Starting a blog on your small business website can be a very powerful addition to your marketing toolbox. Your blog can provide value to readers as well as provide value to your business. Even if your business occupies a small niche or is in a “boring” industry, there are several benefits to having a blog that make it worth the effort.
A good blog will bring more traffic to your website and give readers a chance to learn more about your business and its products/services. In turn, that great content you post can be shared on your social media pages and readers can share your blog with their friends. A good post can take on a life of it’s own as it continues to be shared. This will increase your reach as well since your business will be in front of more of the people that are interested in your product or service.
Even better, the only cost to having a blog is your time!
Blogging can establish your authority and position you as a thought leader.
Customers are very knowledgeable and will often, as part of the purchase process, use a blog as a source of information on products and services. What problems do your readers have? How can you solve them? How can you pique their interest and inspire them to take an action?
Think of how you can help them better than anyone else while providing incredible value. Keep brainstorming ways you can give readers what they need and you’ll be the one they turn to when they need help. This is one of the best ways to lead first time visitors on a path to becoming a customer.
Linking to other quality sources in your blog posts positions you alongside an expert and will boost your authority. This is a great way for small businesses to gain credibility when competing with larger companies.
According to Experian, more than 80% of consumers in the United States consider blogs a valuable way learn more about products and services that they’re considering.
Blogging helps source new prospects and get customers.
Every blog post should encourage visitors to take an action. Using a call to action “CTA” is an effective lead generation tool and it is a must have, no matter how long the purchase cycle. It encourages readers to supply their contact information in order to subscribe, download content, schedule an appointment or make a purchase. This is helpful for sales because your new lead has already expressed interest in your company.
Blogging allows you to highlight your products and services in more detail. You become a more credible business. Potential customers want to know they are dealing with a legitimate company before purchasing and blogging is a great way to build trust with them. The more familiar they become with your company, the more likely they are to become a customer.
61% of U.S. online consumers have made a purchase based on recommendations from a blog. – Factbrowser
Blogging benefits your website.
Having a blog will improve your website’s search engine optimization “SEO” as well as its position in search results. Google uses an algorithm to rank and serve up the most useful content based on a search query. Every time you publish a blog post, it’s a new page link that will be indexed by Google. When a website is continually updated that is a signal to Google’s web crawlers to visit the new page link and your website will be crawled more often.
Including an internal link to an older related post or a page on your website helps to keep visitors on your website and will give web crawlers more pages to visit. Outbound links i.e. links to your website from another website, are a major ranking factor. Each time your blog is shared a link is created back to your website. Cross-linking to another quality blog, writing a guest post and sharing your blog on other blogging platforms are additional opportunities to get those important backlinks.
Companies who blog receive 97% more links to their website. – searchenginepeople.com
When you post quality content on a consistent schedule your page rank will improve as readers spend more time on your website and Google crawls it more often. So it’s not just about keeping your business in front of potential customers but Google as well. However, all of the above will mean nothing if your readers don’t find your blog topics interesting and relevant.
Over time your business will reap the benefits from having a blog, all without the need for paid advertising. You’ll get new leads, turn more of them into customers and your bottom line will improve as a result. Yes, it will require effort and consistency on your part but the benefits are worth it! Need help with getting your blog off the ground? Contact us and we can help you set your blog up as well as consult with you on choosing blog topics and blogging best practices.