Marketing

Why Blog?

Written by - 28/01/2016

Having a blog on your website is something we would advise more often than not. We understand that finding the time to write blogs can be a challenge but there is nothing worse than looking into a business and clicking on their blog to see that the last post was from months ago – it looks unprofessional and like they are not an active company any more. There are huge benefits in keeping a regularly updated blog, here’s a few of the key ones…

Show off your expertise

A blog is a fabulous platform because it gives you the opportunity to go more in-depth into your latest successful projects and ideas. You know your business better than anyone else, so you know what questions arise most often. Your blog is a place to answer common queries and provide a continuous stream of information that will be helpful to your potential customer and will show just how knowledgeable you are in your area. If prospects find an answer to their question from you, they are much more likely to come to you for help as you have built up that trust and professionality. Plus in the long run, it’ll save you time when you can link people to your posts instead of explaining the same thing over and over!

Search engines will love it

Blogs provide good, keyword-rich content that answer your customers’ questions. With relevant cross-linking to your website content and blog post links, a blog will improve your search engine optimization.

From an SEO perspective, fresh and valuable content is a sign of a good website and may lead to higher search engine rankings. Each individual blog post is another page to be indexed on your website and another chance to drive traffic your way. Plus it’s a cue to search engines that your website is active and up to date.

Get to know the team

A blog definitely adds a personal touch to your website. Often written in a more conversational tone, readers will get to know different members of staff on a more personal level and the different areas of expertise across the business will be apparent.

If your blog allows comments then it is a brilliant way to have a conversation with your clients about your products, services and opinions whilst removing that faceless aspect from your website. We recommend moderating comments to make sure that nothing you’d rather not see on your website gets published, and to prevent automatically generated spam comments. Make sure you monitor and reply to comments to continue the conversation and offer your expertise.

Improve your knowledge base

By constantly documenting your knowledge and delving deeper into subject areas, you’re evaluating your own thoughts and may even learn something yourself! Through reading others’ blogs and writing your own, you are staying up to date with your industry and keeping on top of recent news and updates. If multiple employees from your company all contribute to the blog from their own job role, then you are also sharing your individual expertises amongst each other.

Blogs also offer you insight into your audience. You can use your analytics to show you which topics your readers liked most and which blogs drove the most click-throughs to the pages you want people to see.

Original social media content

Every new blog post is a chance to post on your social media channels. As well as regular content to keep your social media presence going strong, you’re exposing your blogs to a wider range of people – who knows where you could find new business?

It’s free!

Yes, blogging does take up time, but otherwise it is completely free and has the potential to bring in more business and cement existing partnerships. As a low-cost method of marketing, blogging is quite hard to beat; in comparison to other marketing techniques like PPC and email, you’ll soon realise that blogging is a very cost effective form of marketing and if done right, can really pay off.

Blogging requires time and commitment – if you need help getting started with a blogging schedule get in touch with us today!