Blogging has been around for decades now—ever since the invention of the Internet people took their writing online. What started as digital diaries and how-to articles is now a huge industry that allows some people to work from home and live off the income their blogs bring in.
But what does it have to do with you? You are not in the writing business, right? You see, a blog is a powerful tool that your business could use—and most of your competitors probably use it too—to grow your business. It doesn’t happen overnight and having a blog doesn’t equal profit, but blogging indirectly affects many aspects of your marketing and branding, which in turn brings you sales. But before we dive any deeper, let’s establish what a blog is.
A Blog is…
Guess what? You are reading a blog right now. A blog is a section on your website that consists of individual posts that are written by you, someone on your staff, your Maryland internet marketing company or the combination of the three. Blog posts can be short or long—there is no minimum or maximum word count that you need to adhere to. They often feature images, videos and links to other blogs and other pages on your site, which are like source references in your college paper.
Having an empty blog with no posts is no use—someone needs to update it with new content regularly. And by regularly we mean the more often, the better. Multiple studies have shown that the blogging frequency is in direct correlation with the results you can get from your blog. However, once you select your pace, you need to be able to keep it up, because an abandoned blog doesn’t paint your business in the best light either.
Why Blog?
So, we’ve talked about all these benefits you can get from blogging—what are they exactly?
Targeted Website Traffic
When you write blog posts, you should share information that (1) people are looking for and (2) is related to your business. Millions of people perform online searches every day, and some of them could be coming to your blog for answers. A blog will help you increase your website’s overall traffic and potentially convert it into paying customers.
Business Exposure
When people find your blog they also find your business. Even if they don’t buy from you right away, at least now they know that you exist, and if the information you provided was good, they might consider you as an option.
Improved Rankings
By now, you probably know that showing up on the first page of Google is important. Blogging offers many ways to influence your website’s rankings in search engines. First of all, search engines love when your website is frequently updated, because it typically means the information you provide is current and more relevant to users. A blog will inject your website with a stream of fresh content that search engines will be able to pick up. Second of all, if you write a brilliant article and promote it well, it may get republished by other blogs, earning you valuable backlinks.
Personal Expertise
Wouldn’t you want to position yourself and your company as an expert in your industry? A blog can help you do this by serving as an outlet for sharing your knowledge. Also, keep this in mind: a good blog + first-page rankings = potential for media exposure. When newspapers and TV stations need a subject matter expert to make a comment, they often search on Google and pick from the top results. And if your blog shows that you know your stuff, you may get contacted!
Long-Term Strategy
A blog post gets the most attention and action when it’s first published and about a week after. However, there are some posts that will keep bringing visitors to your website for years. This is so-called “evergreen content”— information that is very detailed, but also very universal in terms of its usefulness. Evergreen content appeals to a large audience and doesn’t expire, i.e. it will still be valid two-three years down the road. To give you an example, an article on the “10 ways to winterize your home” is evergreen. Unless some new advances in insulation technology happen, sealing off unused rooms and wrapping up pipes will remain valid advice.
Are you convinced that blogging is good for your business? At Advantage Internet Marketing, we set most of our SEO clients up with a blog and they start seeing results fairly soon. Writing copious amounts of content for your blog is not easy, especially if writing isn’t your strongest suit.
Contact us today to get started with your own blogging strategy, or if you are local to Carroll County, stop by our Westminster web design office to discuss how we can help your business grow!