Every Small Business Should Be Blogging
Blog, blog, blog! Everywhere you look, everyone seems to be blogging! Does the world need yet one more blog? If your business doesn’t already have a blog, then the answer is yes! Because there are plenty of reasons why your small business should be blogging!
However, before we get to the reasons, let’s first clear up what blogging is and what it isn’t. The word blog is short for web log. And yes, personal blogs are often little more than a public online diary, but a business blog is much more than that!
Blogs are short, informative, timely articles that relate to your business’s products or services. If you write helpful blog entries, your website will be better optimized for search, drawing more visitors, and possibly turn more of those visitors into customers. You really need to be blogging!
Let us count the “whys”
Why do we love blogs? Let’s count the “whys” by keeping it to the top five reasons why your small business should be blogging. Then you can get back to work. Besides, if we haven’t convinced you with five strong reasons, another dozen won’t matter.
Reason #1: SEO, SEO, SEO!
Search Engine Optimization. You understand that search engines rank websites. Those rankings aren’t static! Your beautiful new website can lose ground. Blogging increases your chances of gaining a higher ranking every time you upload a new blog.
How does that work? Search engines use algorithms based on the keywords or phrases people use to search for information. The more keywords you link to your website, the better your ranking will be. And as we’ve said before, if your ranking doesn’t get you on the first page of results, your chances of being found diminish greatly – how often do you look past the first page in a search?.
Of course, it also means you need to pay attention to proper spelling and grammar, because, yes, that’s part of your grade! You didn’t realize until now that that dreaded high school English teacher was doing you a favor when she graded you on both content as well as grammar and mechanics! Here’s your pay-off!
The upshot? Frequently refreshing your website by blogging is good for your SEO. And what’s good for your SEO is good for your business!
Reason #2: Increase Traffic
Okay, in a car, increased traffic can be a pain, but we’ve never heard of a small business owner who didn’t want to increase traffic at their place of business. Foot traffic equals potential customers, and increased internet traffic to your website (your virtual storefront) also equals more potential customers.
You open the doors of your business, but if you don’t have a marketing plan to get customers’ attention, it’s likely that they aren’t going to just wander through your doors. The beauty of the Internet is that it helps people find what they’re looking for. Sometimes that’s a product. Sometimes that’s a service. And much of the time, it’s simply information.
Blogs provide the information people are looking for. When they find that information, they also find you! And blogging accomplishes this without annoying advertisements popping up on their screen. That’s another reason they’ll like you: free information!
Reason #3: Position Your Brand
What’s your reputation? Do customers appreciate your knowledge about products? Are you the local authority? Is it your customer service that folks rave about? Are you known as a problem-solver? In the old days, businesses relied primarily on word-of-mouth to build a brand. You strive to position your brand as the best.
Word-of-mouth is still important, but the new form of it takes place on social media. That’s why your business has a Facebook page where your loyal customers are encouraged to like you. That’s why businesses have Twitter accounts. That’s why businesses upload video to YouTube. Blogging also contributes to your brand.
Reason #4: Long-term Investment
We’ll admit that you might not get an immediate return on your investment, but blogging offers a sound ROI. Unlike an ad that informs customers about a two-day sale and then is obsolete, blogs provide information that customers need today and other customers will need next week or next month.
If your most recent blog doesn’t get much traffic today, don’t worry. Day after day, it’s there for customers to find. And they do find blog posts! The hits just keep coming, and eventually that adds up to an impressive amount of traffic.
Reason #5: Build Relationships with Your Customers
Customers have questions. You have answers. Answering your potential customers’ questions can convert them into actual customers. Blogging provides you yet another opportunity to engage with potential customers.
Let’s face it. You can have the best products or service, but if customers don’t build a positive relationship with you, they won’t stay a customer. Customers return to you because they like doing business with you. Blogging contributes to your ability to develop a rapport with customers.
Reasons you don’t blog
Even business owners who are convinced that blogging is essential don’t always follow through and do it. For every reason there is to blog, there’s a reason business owners don’t:
- I don’t have the time.
- I’m not a writer.
- I’m not sure what to write about.
- I don’t know where to begin.
- I don’t know a split infinitive from a comma splice.
If that sounds like you, don’t despair! There are folks who actually enjoy writing! And Solutio will be happy to match up one of our writers with your business.
If you’re going to do it, do it well
There are those who will tell you to go ahead and blog because all blogging is good. At Solutio, we think that taking the extra effort to produce the best blog possible is time well spent.
That’s because good content matters. Simply tossing out any old keyword in weak content won’t sustain your SEO ranking for long. When visitors don’t find the information you’ve promised, they’ll go elsewhere. Don’t shortchange yourself.
Let’s be honest. When you complain that you don’t have time to write, you’re mostly thinking about the blog itself. You’re not thinking about the time it takes to select topics and do any research or analysis.
- What topics are trending?
- What keywords or long-tail keywords will work best?
- How frequently should you blog?
Now you’re even more pressed for time! And sure, you could learn to blog by trial and error. Or you could hire Solutio to manage your blog for you.
Time to Get Blogging!
Solutio’s expertise in web marketing and design goes way beyond website design. Blogging is an essential business tool these days. You already hire employees with specific skill sets, and you outsource for the other services you need. Blogging should be one of them!
If your competitors are blogging and you aren’t, you could be losing customers to them. Give Solutio a call at (989) 486-9283 or Contact Us today. Tell us about your business. We’ll help you come up with ideas for your blog. We’ll write solid content. We will write in an engaging voice.
Make the call. We’ll get blogging right away. You can cross this off your to-do list and get back to doing what you do best—running your business!
Links:
http://blog.wishpond.com/post/47804902390/4-reasons-why-blogging-is-important-for-your- business
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/the-benefits-of-business-blogging-ht