If you’re wondering whether to run a blog for your company, consider this: blogging influences 6% of E-Commerce sales. And this number jumps to 12% for businesses that blog regularly. In essence, blogging is like a magnet for web traffic.
Size doesn’t matter. Whether you’re a big brand or a small business, concrete evidence shows that blogging is necessary to succeed.
This article will explore 12 reasons why every website should have a blog as part of your content strategy. By the end, you’ll discover the potential of blogging for business. You’ll also find a ‘Getting Started with a Business Blog’ section that lets you take your first steps to blogging successfully.
The 12 Benefits of Blogging for Business and Marketing
Whether you sell products or services, here are 12 reasons to make blogging a part of your business and marketing strategy.
1. Drives Traffic to Your Website
Your website is just that — a site on the web. Nobody will find it if you’re not offering something fresh on it. That’s exactly what blogging does. Imagine that there’s a trending topic that you found.
You then write a captivating and informative piece about it on your company blog. Then you can attract readers who may not have otherwise come upon your website.
2. Increase Search Engine Optimization
Writing blog posts enhances your website’s search engine optimization (SEO) and online presence.
It also boosts your rankings on popular search engines like Google and Bing. Plus, you get to use keywords inside your blog content. This allows search engines to serve up your content for those keywords.
Blogging also helps to keep your website up-to-date with fresh content – something that search engines prioritize over outdated material.
3. Grow Your Email List
According to a report, the average return on investment (ROI) for email marketing is 4400%, meaning that for every dollar spent on email marketing, content marketers can anticipate a return of $44. The good news is, blogging can also help you grow your email list.
In your blog posts, you can offer magnets like ebooks, guides, checklists or webinars as an incentive in exchange for their email address. You can use email marketing to nurture leads and transform them into customers, or occasionally share company news.
4. Create Content for Social Media
Blogging can be a tool for generating content for social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn. 90% of marketers reported increased exposure thanks to their social media presence. Sharing your blog posts – or any other type of content – on social media allows you to expand your reach and engage with your audience effectively.
Additionally, social media marketing can drive organic traffic to your website and attract a larger following. Social media posts and related content are also ways to establish connections with existing customers, industry influencers, and partners.
5. Attract New Customers
Blogging can also help attract new and current customers looking for solutions to their problems or needs. According to a survey conducted by Demand Gen Report, almost half of the buyers (47%) tend to go through 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with a sales representative.
By creating educational content that addresses their questions about your industry, or showcases your products and services, you can grab their attention and pique their interest, which helps build trust and credibility with your audience.
To enhance your blog’s credibility, consider including inbound links to reputable sources that support your claims. These links can provide readers with additional context and resources.
6. Build Trust with the Audience
As mentioned earlier, blogging helps put businesses in front of eyeballs in search engine results pages. It also helps you stay top-of-mind by building trust by offering valuable content with valuable information they can use in their lives or businesses.
According to reports, about 81% of consumers said that they need to be able to trust the brand they buy from. So, you must put your business out using your blog to share insights or stories, testimonials, or case studies showing how you have helped other customers like them.
7. Expand the Company’s Brand
Running a blog can also help you expand the company’s brand by increasing your visibility and recognition in the market. Creating blog content sets you apart from competitors by showcasing your unique value proposition. Put simply, intentional blogging presents you as genuinely unique.
8. Educate and Engage Readers
Blogging can also help you educate and engage readers with useful information and tips they can apply in their lives or businesses.
When blogging conversationally, you can encourage readers to leave comments, share your content, or ask questions, fostering involvement and retention. Another tip to foster engagement is to create quizzes, polls, surveys, or contests inside your blog post to make your content more fun and engaging.
9. Create a Brand Voice
Consistency is the bedrock of effective branding. When you consistently and coherently publish blog posts, you create a voice your audience can quickly identify.
Creating blog content allows for expressing your opinions, perspectives and values. Sharing your beliefs and insights gives your brand a personality and establishes a connection with your readers. From there, you become more than just a business; you become a trusted authority.
10. Helps Users Understand Your Offerings
Put yourself in the shoes of a customer visiting your website interested in a specific product or service. You have questions, uncertainties and a desire to make a great choice. This is where thoughtfully written and informative blog posts come into play.
A well-written product description, for instance, will explain to readers how your products or services work, highlighting the product’s pros and cons and demonstrating how they address readers’ needs. You can Use your blog strategically to guide potential clients through the sales funnel.
11. Improves the Longevity of Your Brand
Blogging goes beyond the moment; you can also make it a tool for maintaining your brand’s long-term relevance and durability. Creating evergreen content in the form of blog articles, guides, infographics, etc., can help you stay relevant today and in the years to come.
When you create evergreen content, you build an asset that keeps giving. It continues to attract readers over time while retaining your existing ones.
Plus, blogging helps in building relationships with other industry leaders can lead to valuable backlinks, boosting your SEO efforts.
12. Drives Conversions
The last and (arguably) the most important of business blogs is their impact on website conversions. Your blog can serve as a valuable resource for expanding your customer base.
You want to write amazing content that nudges readers to take a particular action, whether it’s to fill out a contact form or make a purchase.
An experienced content writer can help brands create compelling and persuasive blog posts that resonate with the audience. They may use storytelling techniques, relatable examples to evoke emotions and create entertaining content that connects with your readers.
How to Start a Business Blog
Now that you know the benefits of blogging for business and marketing, you might be wondering how to start a blog for your website. If you’re a business owner, here are some steps that you can follow to create a successful blog for your business:
STEP 1 – Create a Dedicated Blog Page
If you do not have one already, this is the first thing to do. Thankfully, creating a blog url is as simple as the click of a button via your content management system. The url should look like this – https://yoursite.com/blog.
I have itemized the setup process for each below.
- For WordPress, click here.
- For Wix, click here.
- For Joomla, click here.
- For Magento, click here.
- For Dupal, click here.
If you are using a custom build, you can easily add one from your Cpanel. Once this is done, you are all set to move on to the next step.
STEP 2 – Add Unique, High-Quality Content
The most important thing for any blog is to create unique, high-quality content that provides value to your audience. To do that, you need a content calendar. A content calendar to stay organized and cover all your bases – topic-wise.
To come across as an industry leader, avoid creating low-quality or thin content that does not offer any useful information or insights to your readers. If all that sounds like a lot, you can reach out to me – let’s talk about handling all your content needs.
STEP 3 – Promote Your Blogs
It is important to promote your blogs in order to get it to your target audience. I will outline some next.
Optimize your Blogs for SEO
Search engine optimized content can help business websites improve their search rankings. To optimize your blogs using SEO, you will need to do some keyword research to find out what words or phrases your potential clients are searching for on search engines.
These, and many other On-page SEO tech tasks are what you must check off your list with every blog post you create..
Write for Your Audience
One of the most important things to remember when writing for your blog is to write for your audience. You should know who your target audience is, what their needs and challenges are, and what their goals and desires are. That’s why creating a buyer persona is the first step in content marketing.
If your target audience includes B2B marketers, consider writing original content specifically addressing their needs, challenges, and industry trends.
Answer Frequently Asked Questions
Another way to create valuable content for your blog is to answer frequently asked questions (FAQs) that your audience might have about your industry, niche, topic, product, or service.
Find out what questions your audience are asking by doing some research on social media channels, forums, online communities, or customer feedback surveys. You can then use those FAQs to address any doubts or objections that they might have before buying from you.
What Is The Future Of Blogging?
Blogging is not a new phenomenon; it has been around for decades. But it is still evolving and changing with the times. Here are some trends and predictions for the future of blogging:
Blogging Will Become More Visual
Following the advent of ChatGPT and other LLMs such as Google’s Bard, the internet is getting saturated with AI content. Blogs will have to stand out by using more visual elements, such as images, videos, infographics, or animations. Plus, visual content can also help bloggers convey complex or abstract concepts in a simple and clear way.
Blogging Will Become More Interactive
Blogging platforms and tools will have to provide more features and functions that allow bloggers and readers alike to communicate, share, or co-create content. Bloggers will increasingly create quality content that fosters audience participation and involvement. We will likely see an increase in the use of opinion polls or quizzes to achieve this.
Blogging Will Become More Personalized
Blogging platforms and tools will have to use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to analyze the data and behavior of each reader and provide them with relevant content that suits their interests, goals, or challenges.
Start Blogging for Your Business Today
If you are not blogging for your business yet, you are missing out on a huge opportunity to grow your online business. If you are already blogging for your business, you can always improve your blog performance by following the best practices and tips that we have shared in this article.
Writing a piece of content is not easy; it requires time, effort, and creativity – not to talk of curating several pieces of content for a blog. But it is a lot more approachable if you let Hireseowriter handle it for you, from keyword research to final copy. So what are you waiting for? Contact me today and start blogging for your business!
