The blogging landscape has gotten a lot more competitive in the last several years, which has led small businesses to wonder whether this strategy is still viable for growing their business.
My short answer is … yes! Having a blog can provide so many benefits to you and your business. Read on for a few of the main reasons why you want to have one, plus how to leverage your blog to support your overall marketing strategy.
Blogging can help your SEO
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is an important strategy to help your business get found online. While there is a lot that goes into it, a blog can go a long way in helping to improve your ranking.
Search engines scour your website to see if it has content related to what someone is searching for. So the more ways you can incorporate keywords specific to your business throughout your site, the better you can rank. As you begin developing blog content, make sure to consider what keywords to incorporate that will show up in search.
Build Your Brand
No matter what your business is, or how long you have been in business, you have expertise and value to share with the world. A blog can be an amazing vehicle to share that knowledge with your tribe!
While your social media captions and website headlines need to capture attention fast, blogging provides the opportunity to share more nuanced information in a style that is all your own. This longform medium also helps you develop the voice of your brand and connect with your readers on a deeper level.
Support Content Marketing
Content marketing is all about providing valuable, inspiring, and useful information to your audience. To effectively do that, you need content to share! Blogs can be a great resource for this, because you can easily repurpose them into social media captions and emails to your list.
When you share your blog on social media or your newsletter, you can also help to drive organic traffic to your website. The more time your audience spends on your site, the more they can get to know you, and ultimately – become a loyal customer.
Other Blogging Tips
Now that you know why you need a blog, here are some bonus tips to leverage it the best you can!
- Get consistent: Like any marketing strategy, consistency is key. Develop a plan for how often you will post, the types of content you will share, and who on your team is responsible. Your blog strategy should fit in with your overall marketing plan, so consistency here translates to more consistency elsewhere.
- Start small: If the thought of writing long-form blog posts feels overwhelming, start small. Maybe you blog once a month, and keep the content short and sweet. Just make sure your blog posts are at least 300 words.
- Incorporate other mediums: If you aren’t into writing, you can still have a blog! Maybe you’d rather record a podcast or go live on Instagram or Facebook. These are both great sources of content that can be repurposed on your blog by adding a simple introduction, outlining the key points, and then linking to your audio or video file.
I hope this leaves you feeling inspired to start, or get back to, blogging! Comment below with a link to your blog, I would love to see what content you are sharing.
