Blogging is a surprisingly low-cost form of marketing that many can be far too quick to dismiss.
Although it may seem like a big, off-putting commitment, there are numerous reasons why small businesses should consider devoting the time and effort into establishing a blog on their website. Writing a blog can do wonders for your website traffic, which can then be converted into customers.
Not only that, but writing a consistent blog on your small business website gives your brand another dimension. A blog can bring a brand to life, it can give it personality and a voice – and that is ultimately what many people love to see in today’s digital world.
So before you push the idea to the side completely, here are 4 reasons why your small business website should have a blog.
- Brings in the benefits of social media marketing.
Everyone is on social media these days – and if your small business isn’t, you need to change that immediately. Social media not only gives you the opportunity to engage with your customers and answer their queries, but sharing your own content is a sure-fire way to bring more visitors to your website. A well-written blog can spread like wildfire on social media, which builds on your following and drives brand awareness.
At the end of the day, it’s a win-win for both your business and your customers. With a consistent blog that regularly publishes helpful, valuable content, your customers are getting their questions answered as well as being entertained – and you’re growing your number of leads.
- Make connections.
As mentioned before, a well-written blog brings an entirely new dimension to a brand. It brings personality and a voice, which is something that many people love to see before they commit to being a customer. They want to get to know your brand, what you’re about, they want their questions answered – and a consistent blog can provide all of this. A blog allows you to make deeper connections with an audience much more than the core, sales pages of your website can – ultimately, a blog can win them over.
Not only can a blog help your customers get to know you, but it can help you get to know them, too. You can measure the engagement on your content to learn what types of content your audience enjoys most, and work to give them more of what they want.
- SEO advantages.
There is a plethora of SEO advantages that comes with maintaining a consistent blog on your small business website. You have the opportunity to evolve what may just be a standard article into a goldmine for keywords. Well-placed keywords will make your website search engine friendly, and you will see long-term results as your articles begin to rank in search engines and new customers land on your website organically.
Acquiring links from other websites that point to yours is one of the most effective ways to improve the SEO of your website. Core pages of your website can be incredibly difficult to earn backlinks for, but it’s much easier to link to a useful blog post that provides a wealth of value and knowledge for a wide range of readers.
- Converting blog readers into customers.
At the end of the day, the main aim in content marketing is to turn visitors into customers once they land on your website. The last thing you want is to dedicate so much time and effort into writing valuable content, for visitors to simply bounce right back off your website once they’ve finished reading. It can be a game that demands patience, strategy and a whole lot of effort – but content marketing can pay off for any kind of business when it is done right.
Written by Katy Mairs, blog editor at Unibaggage.com.