What is a blog?
A blog is a regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style.
The purpose of a blog is to aid marketing to a point where the content you deliver is targeted specifically to the wants and needs of your audience. It typically provides answers to their most commonly asked questions or provides advice to areas within your niche that your business is an expert on.
For example, if you're a graphic designer you could write a blog giving businesses tips on their branding or you could write a blog around the does and don't of logo design.
So now we have a better understanding of what a blog is, I'm going to tell you five benefits of blogging and why your business should be doing it.
Helps to Drive Traffic To Your Website
We would all love more traffic to our website am I right? But how do you attract a new audience?
Ok so most websites don't have many pages and once those pages are up and running, they often sit there for some times years, without being updated. This means, only so many users can find your website through search engines like Google.
Well, blogging can help solve this problem.
Every time you write and upload a blog, it's one more page indexed on your website which means you have one more opportunity to appear in search engine results. If your business appears in more search engine results, you're more likely to increase website traffic and attract new leads.
Blogs are great for posting on social media too, something we'll talk more about a little later. By sharing your blog on social media with a clickable link back to your website, every time social media users click on that link to read the blog, you're increasing your website traffic. The hope is that users will read your blog and explore other pages on your website.
Helps to Convert Traffic into Leads
Now you have more traffic coming to your website, it's time to convert that traffic into leads.
One of the easiest ways to do this is by including a strong call-to-action at the bottom of every blog post you write. The majority of call-to-actions lead to things like free whitepapers, webinars or free trials, basically content that users would be willing to exchange their information for. At the very least, include your contact details or a way for users to get in touch with your business to enquire about your services or products.
Boosts Search Engine Optimisation
A key reason why every business should be writing and publishing blogs on their website is to boost Search Engine Optimisation(SEO).
Every business should know what keywords they would like to rank for on Google. For Avem Marketing as an example, when a user searches for the term 'social media marketing Harrogate' we want to appear on page one of those search results.
Blogging is an opportunity for businesses to insert those relevant keywords that consumers will use to search for the types of services or products that the business offers.
All of the major search engines like seeing fresh, relevant content and blogging is one of the most simple and cost effective ways for a business to create this.
When a business writes and publishes blog posts consistently, they are constantly providing Google, Yahoo and the other search engines with fresh content to index.
Establishes Authority
We all want to be seen and thought about as leaders in our industry and what better way to do this than blogging.
The best business blogs answer common questions their leads and customers have. If you're consistently creating content that's helpful to your target customer, it'll help establish you as an authority in their eyes as well as building trust.
By providing content that will be viewed as valuable, expert information, your potential customers get to see your knowledge and experience and over time, you will become the "go to" person within the industry, leading to more enquiries and higher conversion rates.
Creates Opportunity for Sharing
Many businesses struggle to think of new, engaging content that they can post over their social media platforms, well writing and publishing blogs creates opportunities for sharing new content with your followers.
You can also share your blog posts over other marketing channels like your weekly newsletters.
Not only can you as a business share your blog posts over different marketing channels but others can share your blogs between friends and family, creating the potential for viral traffic and market growth. With so many different sharing platforms available, visitors can share the direct link to the blog, tweet it, or email it to a friend. This is a perfect example of free marketing.
Thanks for reading my Avem blog! If you need any help with your social media or content marketing, get in touch! You can call us on 01423 714984 or drop us an email: hello@avemmarketing.com.