Many websites and businesses have a blog, but I still have a few clients not convinced. Even if they have a blog, they don’t use it as effectively as they could. With that in mind I am going back to basics. Here are my top 5 reasons why your business needs a blog.
1. To build a relationship with your potential customers
People do business with you for a multitude of reasons that often have nothing to do with your services and products alone. A blog is a great way to start building a relationship with potential clients and customers. In a blog you can relax a little and show your personality. You can allow different staff members to take center stage and show the human side to your business. As your audience gets to know you and your business a rapport can be built that will put your business at the front of their mind when they need services or products that you supply.
2. To sell without a blatant sales pitch
No one likes a website that is just one big sales pitch. A blog is a great way to draw traffic to different parts of your web site in a more subtle way. You can blog about the creation of different products. Give a behind the scenes peak into what you do and then link to services and products that match blog posts when appropriate. Concentrate on showing the passion behind what you do and that enthusiasm will do the selling for you.
3. To demonstrate your expertise and knowledge
You and your staff have a wealth of knowledge about what you do. This is your chance to put that knowledge on display and show just how much you know. Become an expert in your field and draw on other areas that will interest your audience.
4. Focused content will improve your SEO
Google likes good content. A blog is a great place to focus some of your keyword research and increase the likelihood of being ranked for those keywords and phrases. However, you should still write good content not just keyword filled blurb. Regular subject focused blogs will increase your chances of getting to those prized top three places on the first page of Google. Google recommends around 300 words per page to get you good ranking for your content. With a little focused keyword research you can increases the chances of being found. Think about the problems you solve and what people with search for that relate to what you do. You can target a far larger pool of keywords and phrases on your blog, than would be possible on your website alone.
5. To give your visitors a reason to return to your website
You need to give people reasons to return to your website. While you may have put a lot of effort into the main copy of your website it is probably not enough to keep drawing people back on a regular basis. Build a following on your blog and you have the potential to feed those readers to other parts of your website. At the very least regular readers will have your name and your business in front of them on a regular basis.
Need some help to get started? Don’t forget to download our Blog writing challenge it comes with weekly email challenges to keep you motivated and writing.
