1. It Boosts Your Brand
Companies that blog share a better connection with their customers. Who would you rather do business with?
- Company A – with 50-100 employees, spread across three states and no discernable “personality” or
- Company B – with an owner named Ross who is passionate about inventing and drives an old Bronco with a questionable history, a President named Mickey who paints, shows fabulous Maine Coon cats and knows everything there is to know about the production cycle and Matt, the Web Guy, who fixes up motorcycles and juggles 11 websites.
Blogging humanizes people and companies – gives them a “personality.” No one wants to be seen as the forgettable, dull, out-of-touch business or worse… the “large-faceless corporation.”
Here’s your chance to build a brand image that reflects who you are, what you do and why your customers should care. It’s also a great opportunity to provide customer support, in a personal and meaningful way.
Another brand-boosting benefit of blogging is the chance to establish your expertise in your field. You might not realize it, but no matter what field you’re in, you probably know a lot about it! Sharing the steps that allowed you to successfully complete a project, data and information relevant to your industry or even lessons learned from a failed venture can be extremely valuable to your readers.
A good business blog is not just a repository for old marketing materials or another place to throw down your sales pitches; it’s an opportunity to reach out to your customers on a personal level and give them something of value for free.
“For Free” you say?! This might seem counter-intuitive, but the method is proven and sound. People don’t have time to read anything that they don’t see as “valuable.” So sharing your expertise in your particular industry or writing something that is entertaining gives people a reason to go to your site. Gratitude for providing something that a person needed can be a very powerful motivator to help convert browsers into buyers.
You’re not only making connections and building relationships, you’re also scattering bait for search engines. You’re attracting an audience that otherwise might never find you. You’re increasing traffic to your site which increases page-rank which, in turn, increases conversion.
This brings us to the second reason why a blog is so important for your business:
2. It Helps your Website to Perform
The number of business websites out there that are “static” –without new, regularly added content is staggering. Without a steady supply of new and valuable content, continued interest in your site, and the perception of your company’s value, will wane.
But consistent, fresh material increases your site’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Google robots index your site every so often and if, over time, they don’t see anything new guess what? Your page-rank tanks. What this means for your company is that when a potential customer searches for your product or service, your site might be listed waaay at the end.
- 60% of all clcks go to the top three search results. 75% of users never scroll past the firstpage of search results.
- SEO is critical to your company’s success on the web and a great blog is a great strategy to put you at the top!
- No matter what your business website’s main objective is, informational, eCommerce, lead-generation, blogging will increase your traffic.
According to a recent survey by HubSpot, businesses that blog increase their site visits by as much as 55%. Not too shabby.
3. It’s Better than Traditional (Old Fashioned) Marketing
Blogging is more interactive than newsletters or email blasts. If your posts are interesting and informative, or even a little controversial, your readers will be much more likely to engage, post replies and share socially. You’ll have a much better understanding of your customers, and every marketer wants that, right?
- Good blogging is highly social. Encourage your readers to share and repost links back to your blog on social network channels. This increases the reach of your brand and your message.
- Companies that blog have 434% more indexed pages. That means more leads.
- Companies that blog have 97% more inbound links resulting in huge increases in pagerank.
- Blogging costs significantly less than traditional marketing such as direct mail, telemarketing and tradeshows.
So blogging on your company website seems like a no-brainer. It’s a great way to boost your brand, turn up the juice on your site’s performance and get more for your marketing dollar.
Plus, a good blog gives users a reason to come back to your site! (*hint – come back to our site!)’
Courtesy of Unikeep
Take Care,
JB’s
