Blog Posts
Blogging is an essential part of the internet these days, giving a voice to any person on any topic. No longer just used as an online journal, blogging has a very real place in the world of business. Though creating a blog post can take up valuable time, it is a process that most companies find invaluable for a number of reasons.
The 6 main benefits of including a blog as a part of your business website strategy are:
1. Connecting: A blog allows you to connect in an informal way with your customers and prospective customers. By writing about different aspects of your business or showcasing your products in a more personal way, your customers will spend time considering your business in a way that they previously would not have had the opportunity to. A blog allows your business to have a more personal voice with many people, rather than having many one-on-one conversations.
2. Search Engine Optimisation: The more keyword-rich content you have on your website, the better chances you have of being found online. Blog posts allow you to create short or long blocks of keyword rich content on various topics relevant to your business, and posts will appear in the search engine results pages. The more blog posts you create, the more content you have on your website, hence the more you will show up in searches. Blogs are a key aspect of a comprehensive SEO plan and should be updated regularly.
3. Become an expert: When people use search engines to look for information on a topic, your blog posts will appear as an answer to their question. When you write with confidence on a topic you know, your voice may be noted as an expert opinion. You can break down complicated ideas into more simple terms, or turn simple ideas into complex well thought out arguments. You can include images or graphs to back up your position, and use logic to lead a person from their way of thinking to your way. When you showcase your products as an expert, including all the features and benefits of the products, you have the opportunity to create a connection beyond just sales, and this will lead to a higher conversion rate.
4. Gain customer insight: Enabling comments at the bottom of blog posts can allow your readers to give you instant feedback, whilst refreshing the content for SEO purposes. You can then use the feedback to craft your next blog or to enrich your products or services. You can also reply to the customer or reader comments with a perspective they may not have considered or handle objections before they become issues. However, you must always be careful with your tone in replying to readers as your replies will not only stick around in cyber-space, but may also be used by other potential customers in their decision-making process as to whether or not to use your business.
5. Blog posts are good for marketing: Once you’ve written a blog post, you can market it to your existing database and use it as an opportunity to once again get them onto your website. You can send an email to your e-newsletter subscribers advising them that there is new content they will want to read, or you can use the blog post to attract your social media followers over to your website. Any chance you can get to bring people back to your website is good. If you sell products online, it is another chance for a sale. If you sell services, it is a chance to get in their faces and promote your business, reminding them that your business is there for when they next need your services.
6. Blogs are good for sharing: If you write something really interesting or juicy, your customers will want to share it with others who may be interested. As such, blogs will increase your potential customers and help with your word of mouth advertising. Creating an interesting blog post about a product, with lots of pictures, is great for sharing on social media platforms like Pinterest, and these platforms are indexed highly in Google and other search engines which in turn will help your SEO strategy.
Given the importance of blogging for business, it should be a regular part of your marketing plan once your website is up and running. If you don’t have time to create killer content for your blog, it’s worth outsourcing the blog post writing to someone who can fully understand the content you want to create and the image you wish to present. But keep in mind that you want to create well written meaningful content to get customers and potential customers interested in your business. The last thing you want is to just throw something together with no thought of concept or punctuation, as this will not get people to come back and won’t help in your SEO efforts.
If you don’t have time to craft well-written blog posts, then leave it to the experts. Contact us for a quote and we’ll put together a blog post package specifically for your business.
