Back when I started this website, one of my first posts was 7 reasons to have a business blog. It talked about why you might not want to have a blog…
I’m not a writer.
My business takes up all of my time. I haven’t a second to spare on writing blog posts.
I’m not interesting. Why would anyone want to read my blog posts?
I wouldn’t know what to write.
and exactly how it could help your business:
- Build a bridge between you and your customers.
- Prove to prospective customers that you could work together.
- Answer your customers’ questions.
- Show your personality and tell your story.
- Create content that you can share (and that can be shared by others).
- Take your very own slice of the internet and own it.
- Get in front of that traffic.
Now, I’ve come up with even more reasons to have a business blog. Want to find out what they are? Read on.
Blogging builds your authority
Whatever your business is – retail, virtual assistant, accountant – you are an expert in that field. Don’t be shy now. You know your business inside and out.
Creating regular, relevant and high quality blog posts allow you to show your expertise to the world.
Become the ‘go to’ in your field and industry and it doesn’t matter how small your business is.
Make search engines your friend
Search engines like what they see as ‘high quality content’:
- content that is unique and isn’t duplicated anywhere else online
- content that speaks to a specific audience
- content that is honest and doesn’t try to trick the reader
Blogging on a regular basis with articles that are completely new, written specifically for your targeted audience and that don’t use dishonest practices like keyword stuffing and clickbait titles will increase your search engine rating. Your website and blog post will appear higher up on search engine results pages, making it easier for your ideal customer to find you.
Blog posts are perfect for CTAs
CTA stands for ‘call to action’. It’s that button that says ‘Sign up here’ or ‘Join Us’ or ‘Send me my freebie now’. It tells the reader what you want them to do next.
Each blog post presents you with an opportunity to direct the reader to do something. For instance, you’ll find a CTA at the end of this blog post.
Your CTAs could:
- direct them to a landing page on your website,
- offer the chance to buy your product,
- or ask them to sign up to your newsletter.
Providing a blog post that grabs the reader’s attention and maintains their interest will increase the possibility that they will follow your CTA and do what you want.
React to a changing world
No blog post is an island.
Or to put that in normal-speak, your blog posts shouldn’t exist separate from and regardless of what is going on in the world.
Show your customers that you have an active interest in their world, that you are listening to them and looking for solutions to their problems, and that the products or services you offer are developing in line with your industry.
Build a forest of evergreen content
Along with posts that react to changes in your industry or world, evergreen content (including blog posts) has a multitude of benefits.
This blog post and the original post on business blogging are evergreen content. They won’t become outdated.
Why use evergreen content?
- Evergreen content doesn’t date. Search engines like up-to-date content and will rate it higher up the search engine result pages.
- Evergreen content requires very little maintenance, which saves you time in the long run.
- It can be re-shared, by you and others on a regular basis.
Regular blog posts show that your website/business is still active
Why is this important?
First off, search engines prefer websites whose content (e.g. blog posts) is regularly added to. Google will give a higher rating to a website that it perceives to be still active.
From a human point of view too, the appearance of new blog posts on a regular basis will show that:
- your business is still live
- you want to connect with your audience
- you have expertise to share and something to say
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If you already have a website in place, then it’s an easy next step to set up a business blog. For all the reasons in this blog post and my previous one, blogging can be one of your most valuable tools in bringing traffic to your business.
Of course, if you don’t want to write blog posts for yourself, I can help you with that. I specialise in writing blog posts. Click on the button below to find out more.
