Having a business blog is now standard for companies of all sizes looking to benefit from digital marketing. That’s because it's a cost-effective and powerful way to engage with your target audience, drive traffic to your website, and generate leads.
The benefits of blogging for your business are not always immediately obvious. When you’re blogging as part of a wider Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy, seeing results from your digital marketing efforts can take time. But patience does pay off. Here are 10 business benefits to consider.
What is blogging for business?
Blogging for business is the creation and publication of blog posts as part of a company's marketing strategy.
It involves the regular creation of high-quality written content that is relevant and engaging to an organization’s target audience.
This type of marketing activity can be used to achieve multiple goals, such as:
attracting visitors to a company's website
building brand awareness
generating leads and sales
Business blogging can cover a variety of topics related to the company's industry or niche. It can also take a variety of forms. Some common types of business blog posts include:
how-to guides
industry news and analysis
product reviews
customer success stories
thought leadership pieces
In addition to creating content, blogging for business also involves promoting blog posts through various online channels such as social media, email marketing, and SEO.
Blogs – and their related promotional activities – help companies reach a wider audience, driving future growth and success. To discover more on this topic, see my post on what a business blog is and why you need one.
Is blogging good for business?
Yes! There are many reasons why blogging is good for your business.
Blogging is an effective marketing channel
Creating content that addresses the needs and interests of a target audience helps you to attract the right people to your website, potentially generating leads and sales. On top of that, by sharing blog posts on social media and other platforms, you can extend your reach to a wider audience.
Blogging has SEO benefits
Search engines like Google tend to favor fresh, high-quality content that’s published on a regular basis. That means blog content which has been optimized for search engines through Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can increase your online visibility.
Blogging helps position you as an expert in your field
By regularly publishing high-quality content – relevant to a particular industry or sector – you can demonstrate your knowledge and expertise. This helps to build trust and credibility with potential and existing customers.
10 business benefits of blogging
Regular, well-written blog posts containing engaging and relevant content related to your audience, industry, and company can have multiple business benefits. Here are 10:
1 Keep costs down
Done right, blogging is a cost-efficient way to promote your business and attract new customers. Whether you’re hiring a professional blog writer or using in-house marketers to create content, blog writing is a cost-effective marketing strategy, especially compared with paid advertising. It’s also a much more authentic way to engage with your target audience.
2 Establish authority
Blogging is an excellent way to position yourself as an authority in your industry. By sharing your knowledge and expertise on a particular topic, you can build trust with your audience and establish yourself as a leader in your field. Earning this credibility and trust can lead to increased business opportunities.
3 Build trust
Valuable content that educates and informs your audience, helps establish trust and credibility, making it more likely that strangers will become customers. By creating content that addresses their pain points and challenges, you can attract potential customers and nurture them through the sales funnel.
4 Generate leads
Blogging is an effective way to generate leads for your business. Calls-to-action in blog posts encourage readers to take specific actions – such as signing up for a newsletter or downloading a free resource – which helps you generate leads, gather emails, and engage them with more targeted and relevant marketing campaigns.
5 Increase website traffic
Your company blog is a place to add value for new and existing customers. By providing visitors with valuable information and resources, blogging can help to drive traffic to your website – especially when you promote blog content on social media. Encouraging readers to sign up to your newsletter gives you another channel to promote your blog posts.
6 Improve rankings
Creating and posting relevant and high-quality content to your blog can help boost your search engine rankings, making your site more visible to potential customers. Knowledge of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) fundamentals is the key to success.
7 Raise brand awareness
Maintaining a company blog is a great way to raise brand awareness and reach new audiences. By creating relevant and engaging content optimized for search engines and shared (and re-shared) on social media, you can make more people aware of your brand.
8 Engage customers
Your blog can be used as a platform for customers to engage with your business and provide feedback through comments, social media, and email. This helps increase loyalty and advocacy, which in turn can help your business grow.
9 Benefit long-term
Long after they’ve been published, blog posts continue to drive traffic and generate leads, providing long-term benefits for your business. The great thing is you can always update the content to keep it fresh and relevant to your audience.
10 Gain the advantage
A blog can help set your business apart from competitors who do not have a blog, giving you the competitive advantage. But here’s the thing. The chances are your competitors already have a blog. If your business doesn’t have one, they already have the edge.
What are the disadvantages of blogging for business?
Despite the obvious benefits of blogging for business, there are some disadvantages to consider.
A blog needs a regular publishing schedule
To build a readership and keep people engaged, a blog needs to be published regularly. This can be challenging for businesses with limited resources.
It takes time
In terms of creating content, uploading it, and managing the blog itself, maintaining a blog takes time. Particularly for startups and small businesses, this can take time away from more pressing business activities.
You need writing skills
To create engaging content, a blogger needs to be a good writer with a strong understanding of grammar, syntax, and spelling. Not all business owners or employees have these writing skills - but they do have expertise.
It may not generate immediate ROI
Whilst a blog is a valuable marketing channel, it may not result in immediate leads or conversions. It can take time to build up a readership and establish trust with potential customers.
It needs to be high-quality
To deliver results which match the user intent, the algorithms of search engines like Google privilege high-quality, natural-sounding content. A good grounding in SEO best practices is essential.
Bringing in a professional blog writer is a cost-effective way to run your blog as an effective marketing channel. Find out what your options are in my post on where to hire a blog writer.
Give your business's blog the professional touch
A professional blog writer will work with you to devise a content calendar which aligns with your wider marketing strategy and business priorities.
To ensure they get expert insights into the topic, a professional blog writer will also set up calls with relevant people, either inside your company or external clients. With strong writing skills, your blog writer will turn interviews into high-quality blog posts, with SEO fundamentals.
Of course, you’ll get the final approval, so you can request a couple of rounds of edits and changes – if needed – from your writer. Once you’re happy with the content, it’s ready for you to publish.
You likely already use analytics to track and measure the performance of your website. So when blog posts hare indexed and crawled by search engines, you can gain valuable insights. Choosing and tracking relevant metrics will help you further optimize your content and your marketing strategy for maximum impact.
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