If your company’s website has a Blog or News page that hasn’t been updated in the last few weeks (or months or years), you are missing out on opportunities that can help with marketing, sales and customer service.
A surprising number of small businesses out there have unused or outdated blog pages on their websites because they just don’t have the time, desire, or confidence for blogging, or because they don’t have a solid plan in place for generating content (writing meaningful blog articles).
Maintaining a blog can be an important marketing tool for businesses of any size. Large or small. Blogs can be used to quickly add fresh content and relevant keywords to websites for search-engine optimization (SEO) purposes. Search engines look for websites with fresh content—blog articles are an easy way to add fresh content!
You may know that blog articles can also be used to announce company news, share product information and educate potential customers about your industry, but did you know that blog articles also allow businesses to generate their own news and control the messaging being distributed? Articles you create and publish can be shared locally and globally via social media sites.
Here are 5 more reasons why blogging for business is important.
- SEO booster. If you want to boost your website’s rankings with organic search engines, then search engine optimization (SEO) is an important piece of the online marketing puzzle. Using appropriate keywords in your online content can help your business get to the top of search results on sites like Google, Yahoo and Bing. When customers are searching the Internet for a product or service your company offers, it’s in your best interest to be one of the first businesses that appear in the search results. One surefire way to get search engines to notice you is, you guessed it, adding articles to your company’s blog.
- Increase website traffic. Blogging for business is a form of content marketing. Blogging pertinent information about your business and industry can increase the number of visitors to your website. One pro tip is to identify frequently asked questions about your products and services and then create blog articles that accurately explain the answers. Consumers searching for similar answers online may then find your informative articles in their organic internet search results. Using blog articles to educate consumers can lead to more sales.
- Personalize your brand. Humanizing a company’s brand can help users feel more connected—humanizing can make your company more likeable and relatable (both good things). Use blog articles to tell the story of your business by occasionally sharing behind-the-scenes activities, philanthropic efforts, employee features and more.
- Generate content for social media pages. Some companies struggle when it comes to generating content to share on their business Facebook page or on Instagram. Share links to blog articles as they are published and then consider circling back and re-sharing articles throughout the year, as timely topics or seasonal activities pop up.
- Prove you’re a pro. Show your knowledge and expertise in a specific niche with updated and consistent blog articles. We recommend a minimum of one really solid, well written, blog article per month. Professional blog articles will showcase your expertise and/or products and services without feeling sales-pitchy.
How about you? Does your company use blogging for business to its full potential or is there room for improvement?
If you are a DIY marketer looking for tips to improve results, consider downloading a copy of this free eBook,
15 Business Blogging Mistakes & Easy Fixes.
If you are a business professional looking for someone to outsource blogging to, consider contacting PR Consulting—you can hire us to write blog articles for your company once as a test, or on an ongoing basis. We help companies of all sizes generate meaningful and strategic blog articles.
