It may not seem like much (or maybe it seems like too much), but blogging is one of the best things you can do to engage new and repeat business. According to Percolate, blogging makes up 45% of the single most important form of content for their business. It beat out visual, videos and podcasting. Furthermore, businesses with blogs attain 20% more business than those without. I can give you four reasons to invest the time in developing a blog.
1. Blogging drives traffic to your website and social channels.
Why pay for traffic when you can offer valuable insights that people are searching for anyway and have them find it on YOUR website? Blogging is a great, organic way to drive traffic to your website and social channels. Since every blog you create should be promoted on your social networks, blogging will help keep your channels active, engaging and exposed to a new audience.
2. Establishes you as an authority.
Regularly maintaining your blog with timely insights helps you establish your company as an industry thought leader. Instead of Googling to find information, people will know to come straight to you for insights, first. Any leads generated from your blog will be more educated about your company, about industry best practices and thus more likely to trust you and turn into a customer.
3. Your blog works for you even when you’re not.
Once your blog post is live, it stays in the World Wide Web until you unpublish it (and why would you do that). That means that if you focus your posts on popular issues that your industry faces, it will be continuously searched and will continuously bring in new leads. Hubspot for instant, says that 70% of their website traffic each month comes from old blog posts. Furthermore, an active blog will help your company’s website rank higher in search engine results, meaning more people will find your company.
4. It can turn traffic to leads.
How many times have you visited a websites blog and by the end of the day, received an email or phone call asking about your interest in their company? By setting up lead generating call to actions on your posts, you can easily determine who’s interested in your company and what information they’re interested in getting. This is a huge bonus for your sales team, enabling them to target their pitch to the leads specific needs instead of shooting around in the dark for something to stick.
Quality, Not Quantity
In full disclosure, creating a successful blog takes time and work. If you can’t dedicate someone to manage the blog, then set aside a couple hours a week to write and aim for two blog posts a month. Consistency is key, so try your best to stick to
that the schedule. The more you write, the easier and the stronger your writing will become. Keep it short and sweet to start. Your blog should be at least 350 words to ensure that will rank in search engines. Remember, you are the expert — tell the people what you know!
