by Anna Gondzik
As a business, you probably compete with the thousands in your industry who already have a website. Each website follows the same old “Home | Products.. / Services.. | About | Contact Us” content structure. Everybody is basically presenting the same info rehashed in different words (unless your website targets some obscure or unique niche market – in which case, a blog would still benefit). A blog is pretty much mandatory if you want meaningful online exposure with minimal monetary investment. Here are 2 good reasons why you should spend more time blogging instead of tweeting and facebooking:
A blog is a powerful SEO tool
It’s no secret that search engines love content, especially new content. Blogs are like traffic boosting steroids for websites. There is nothing that Google's algorithm loves more than quality, up-to-date website content.
General web pages don’t offer enough value to search engines; they’re static, common and usually buried to the bottom of the search results. Google favors content that is fresh, exciting, dynamic and frequently updated. Notice the emphasis on blog entries in current search results.
Changes in Google’s algorithm over the last 2 years have catapulted blog entries into the spotlight.
Content marketing should be at the heart of your internal SEO strategy. Search is the number one driver of customers to websites still beating number two, social media, by a landslide (a blog is a type of social media too – more on that later). Companies that blog regularly usually have at least 20 times more indexed web pages. More indexed web pages equal significantly more inbound leads. Not only are inbound leads way cheaper than outbound leads such as cold calling, direct mail or print ads, but the closing rate of these leads is substantially higher.
Establish credibility and brand awarness
Blogging is an easy way to establish yourself as an expert in your field. It gives your company or brand a personal touch, a face and a voice, showing you are also a human with thoughts, and not just a generic list of “services” or “products.”
If you write meaningful blog posts that speak to your customers and indirectly answer their most frequent questions or concerns, they will see you as a leader in your industry. It does not matter if you’re an accountant or you clean homes, and you wonder who on earth would read about that!? Your potential customers want to know that you know your stuff. If you share your knowledge on a particular subject matter, customers will feel more confident in purchasing your products or services, or contributing to your cause.
Business blog ideas or topics to write about:
At the end of the day, blogging is just sharing knowledge, and we all know that knowledge is power.
