What Blogging Can Do For Your Business

Even with the rise of social media and podcasts, blogging still matters in 2020. And it matters for your business and online visibility.

If we look at how people use search engines, we’ll find that Google holds over 90% of the global market share. What this means is that nine out of ten people prefer to search for content on Google over other sites like Yahoo! or Bing. In the US, 88.23% of searches happen on Google, dominating across different platforms (desktop and mobile). The content that people search for include blogs. Check out these stats from HubSpot:

• Over ¾ of internet users say they read blogs regularly.
• Marketers who prioritize blogging efforts are 13x more likely to see positive ROI.

This also means that people who need your knowledge and expertise are searching for answers online. Additionally, “47% of buyers viewed 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep” according to this Demand Gen report.

Did you catch that? For many consumers, online content is their first point of contact with your brand and could influence whether or not they turn into clients. People have questions and you have the answers—but without a platform to share your knowledge, consumers won’t find you. Blogs can be very helpful in this regard.

Why Some Businesses Don’t Blog—But Should

There are businesses who see the potential of blogging but can’t seem to keep up with it. They start blogs but stop after just a few posts because they:

• Don’t have time to write
• Don’t have someone with the right skill set to write
• Get frustrated coming up with more and more topics
• Think they have to do it themselves

Blogging done well does take time and effort but the fruit of such labor is worth it. Consider the following benefits of blogging for your business.

#1: Establish Your Business as an Authority

Remember that users engage with content to help them decide whether or not to pursue your products or services. Your blog is an opportunity to position yourself as an expert, add value to your peers and target market, and convince them to work with you. Businesses become more trustworthy if they have content backed by research and that truly seeks to help their audience.

In addition, blog posts can collectively form your knowledge base. You can point people to your blog for detailed answers to frequently asked questions. In fact, optimizing old blog posts can be valuable for your site as well. Google values fresh content and updating old blogs that perform well can contribute to better rankings for those posts and your website as a whole.

It’s also possible for you to solve a potential client’s problem by sharing your knowledge or interacting with them through your blog. This experience with your blog could ultimately turn this user into your client.

#2: Blogging as Brand Extension

Your website showcases who you are as a business. Maintaining a blog on your site helps reinforce your brand by sharing content that reflects your values, and allows you to break down your products and services more comprehensively. Similar to social media, this is your space to show your company personality and connect with your audience on another level.

#3: Milk the Multi-Channel Approach

Have you ever shared a blog post because you found it fascinating, entertaining, or helpful? People share content that they find useful or engaging—and the same can be true for your blog. More shares can lead to more sites linking back to yours, increased exposure in different listings, which means increased authority and better Google rankings.

Blogs are great opportunities to boost keyword relevance and searches. This will improve your search engine visibility and can result in more leads. In other words, blogging can complement your SEO efforts and other digital marketing tactics.

Case Study

Prior to blogging, Office Cleaning Long Beach had improved rankings and traffic due to regular SEO efforts. This is because they took the time to map out how their marketing strategy aligns with their business goals.

Back in early April 2018, 4 SEO-focused blog posts went live. By the end of the month, OCLB not only had better rankings, they also had many new rankings. Three examples included landing in the #1 position on Google’s page 1 for three of the most searched keywords with thousands of searches a month in Los Angeles County.

Adding fresh, optimized content as part of an existing SEO strategy can accelerate search rankings and traffic if done properly.

Blogging is Hard But Worth It

Having someone write blogs for you is worthwhile, and the right team may be able manage it much more effectively and profitably than trying to do it on your own. Your website can be an incredible lead-generating machine but you’re missing out if you’re not blogging. Blogging establishes your business as an authority in your niche, serves as an extension of your brand, and complements your overall marketing strategy.

Depending on the strategy, different types of blog entries will work best for different goals. You also don’t want to fall into the trap of creating content without purpose. As mentioned above, blogging, SEO, and all the other parts of your digital marketing plan work together. This means that your blog posts have to be diligently written and optimized to perform well.

Agencies like WISE can understand your industry, help point out new opportunities for growth, craft your content strategy, and map out what content would be most helpful to your audience, patients, or clients. We can handle the legwork that comes into putting together a blog calendar, research, content production, publishing, SEO, and evaluation. This can then free you up to cultivate leads, continue to improve on products and services, and grow your business in other ways. Ready to start a blog or generate more SEO-driven content? Drop us a line!