Business Blogging: The How & Why
According to WordPress, about 409 million people read blog posts monthly. This statistic means that if a business does not have a blog yet, it is losing a large audience and a chance to generate new leads and customers.
Creating useful blog posts depends on just one factor – starting. Writing and optimizing the blog is crucial in ensuring that is captivating enough for people to read. Before we delve into tips that can help build a successful business blog, let us discuss why blogging is important.
The Benefits of Blogging for Business
1. Drive Traffic To a Website
When creating a blog post, it is necessary to add an indexed page to the website. This increases the chances of showing up on search engines and drives organic traffic to the site. It lets Google and other search engines know that the site is consistent and active and that it deserves attention for future blog posts.
Blogging also increases attraction on social media. Anytime someone creates a blog post, he or she is creating shareable content for social media platforms – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest – which will increase exposure to a new audience that is uneducated about a business.
Blog content is a great way to ensure activity on social media, rather than creating different content entirely for social media pages. Blogs can be a content depository. Not only will this ensure powerful social media presence, but business owners will also be driving traffic to websites through social media pages.
2. Conversion of Traffic Into Leads
When generating traffic to a website with a blog, this is your chance to turn that traffic into leads. As we mentioned earlier that every new post on a site is a new index page, every post is also a way to get new leads. This method is very simple – include a converting call-to-actions to blog posts.
This calls-to-action could be a link to free eBooks, fact sheets, webinars, or trails – anything that could prove valuable enough for users to part with their information. The lead generation works in this simple process:
- User visits the website
- Notices the CTA for a free trial
- Clicks on the link and gets redirected to a landing page asking for his/her information
- Fills the form, submits the information, and receives the free offer.
Remember, not every visitor will become a lead, and that is normal. What is essential is blogging and including the CTA buttons.
3. It Helps Build Authority in the Industry
When consistently updating a blog with answers to questions that customers have, you are setting your reputation as an industry leader. This works, particularly for sales and service experts.
If visitors find answers to their queries through a website, there is a high likelihood they will follow through with a purchase. Previous posts have settled their concerns regarding the product or service before they made a decision. If visitors are familiar with products and sales process with others’ reassurance, they are likely to have more productive and informed conversations with sales reps.
4. It Generates Long-Term Results
Dedicate time to publish one blog post daily– you manage to get 100 views and 10 leads. The following day, you get about 50 views and 5 leads as more people discover it on social media or read their emails. After a while, the attention dies down, but you have gotten about 150 views and 15 leads.
The blog post is not visible on search engines, which means that in the following days, weeks, or months, one will keep getting traffic and leads from the article. The result is not instantaneous. Results come along the way and will generate hundreds of leads and views.
These types of blog posts are better called “compounding” posts. Not every article published will generate results this way, but the more quality and relevant posts made, the higher their chances of becoming compounding posts. A study has shown that about one in ten blog posts eventually become compounding blog posts.
This should show the potentials of business blogging, although the results may not be immediately evident, with time, and see a considerable increase in the traffic and leads generated without necessarily having to make any further investment. The bulk of the job was completed when the decision was made to post.
Why Is Blogging Important?
There are different reasons for blogging aside from those listed. However, they are not as important. For instance, use a blog to test run campaigns before investing time, resources and money heavily in them. This will give insight into what to expect.
Use a blog to identify the kind of audience that finds the business appealing. While this may not be the most important use of a blog, use it as an outlet for communicating relevant information about a business. This is usually in the form of press releases. This works if one already has an audience and saves time from sending a story to journalists and praying they will publish it.
Business Blogging Tips
If the decision is made to pursue a blog or if a current blog needs help, some of the following tips can help.
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Consistency is Key
Blogging doesn’t have to be perfect, though consistency is important. It is not healthy to post five blogs in a week then take a break for another one or two months. A blog will lose its value without consistent content. The process gets more comfortable with time. What we recommend is creating a posting schedule for regularity.
Typically, on the average, plan to have four posts weekly or 16 times monthly. Companies who post 16 or more posts months get three times more traffic than companies posting less than four times monthly.
No, you don’t have to commit all your time to create blog content. The primary job is to run a business, not to write. However, allocating part of your time to blogging at the chance you get will contribute to the business’s growth. If possible, assign the blog to an employee or outsource.
A blog can include topics related to a business and the products or services rendered.
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Conduct Keyword Research
Also, consider what people are searching for. There is no point publishing posts that no one is going to read. This is how keyword research helps.
Keyword research entails finding popular keywords that people use on search engines. For instance, people often search for how to color hair. If running a hair extension business, create an article titled “How to color your hair easily.”
Include the keywords in a blog post as written and distribute them evenly. This will give an article a better chance to rank on search engines where people will see it. Also, performing keyword research is a great way to get ideas on what to write.
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Use Visuals
Incorporating visuals like images or videos help improve user engagement on a page. Many readers have a short attention span and therefore want to have as much information as they can within a short period. When they are through reading, they should have an overview of the article. When combining visuals with written content, users are likely to remember up to 65% of the information it contains, in contrast to only 10% when there are no visual cues.
Use infographic art or chart to note the critical points in articles. This would increase the rate of page retention and engagement. Readers will also remember the content quickly.
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Make Blog Posts Long Enough
Ideally, blog posts should be long enough to contain all the necessary information necessary to pass to an audience. Also, ensure that the article can include all the essential keywords.
Mostly, the article should be informative and valuable to an audience. Evaluate the article – if it is something that would interest you, then it will probably intrigue your readers too.
Usually, longer blog posts perform better in search engines. A study conducted showed that the top articles contained at least 2,000 words and above. This does not mean that articles always have to hit the 2000-word mark. Aim for 1,000 words at least and always remember that quality trumps quantity, always.
Don’t forget titles. Blog titles are crucial, not just for attracting the attention of readers, but also for the attention of search engines. Ideally, titles could contain between six and thirteen words.
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Address Customer’s Concerns
Find ideas for blog posts from customers. When customers ask questions about concerning a business or anything related, note them down and use that to generate blog titles.
Addressing customers’ questions and concerns through blog posts have twofold benefits. First, it helps in answering frequently asked questions that customers are worried about. Secondly, it allows one to come up with the content that will potentially address others with related issues.
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Invite Guest Contributors
Blogging can be difficult. Inviting guest publications on a blog will help save time and give the blog a different tone and perspective.
Also, having a fresh perspective regarding a business can be illuminating. It might give you a different outlook on a matter.
Invite a brand influencer or industry leader to publish an article. Set up interviews with business leaders and document the questions and answers in the blog post.
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Create Summaries of Industry News
Another way to get fresh content for a business blog is by making a weekly or monthly summary. This can comprise high traffic articles that readers would find interesting from the past week or month; summarize them and explain the benefits of each.
Business blogging should be a crucial component of marketing strategy, aimed at getting more visibility for a brand online. Business blogging is a marketing medium, the same way social media and emails work, for boosting business growth.
