5 Benefits of Business Blogging
Posted by Renee Watkins, Marketing Specialist, fi360, Inc. on January 06, 2016
The other day I had a friend ask me about blogging and websites. As a new business owner, she was instructed to create a blog or website. She didn’t know much about either marketing platform. So to make sure she had her bases covered, she chose to create a website that included a blog. Smart move!
However, it occurred to me that even though blogging is a very beneficial, cost-efficient marketing platform, it can also be intimidating to first time bloggers. Therefore, for this week’s post I will be covering the benefits of business blogging as well as sharing some best practices and tips to get you started.
Benefits of business blogging
- Blogging generates revenue. You might be surprised to learn that 57% of companies have acquired a customer from their blog. 61% of online consumers in the United States have made a purchase decision based on recommendations from a blog and small businesses with blogs generate 126% more leads than businesses without them!
- Blogging drives traffic to your website. Every time you add a new blog post to your website, you have a chance to increase your website’s page ranking. 15 blog posts per month. Each post you publish adds another indexed page to your site, demonstrating to search engines that your website is actively maintained and updated. This is great for improving your search engine rankings. But how many times a month should you blog? The answer is as much as you can. However, keep in mind that companies who blog 15 times or more a month, get on average 5 times more website traffic than companies without a blog. However, only blog if you have relevant content to share. Once you have created these blog posts, it’s time to share them on social media. Social media allows users to find your blog and share it with others who will also find the information useful and helpful. Moreover, SEO rankings are partially determined by social interactions.
- Blogging helps convert website traffic into leads. Every blog post is a new opportunity to generate new leads. By simply putting a lead generating call-to-action on every blog post, you have the opportunity to gain new leads. Call-to-actions should be written in a clear, concise, actionable request to your potential customer. For example, Julie could write a blog post on tips for retirement saving. At the end of the blog post she can put a call-to-action that asks readers to submit their contact information in exchange for a free retirement savings consultation. This exchange of information helps Julie generate a list of new leads.
- Blogging helps you build credibility, trust, and distinguishes you as an industry leader. This is one of my favorite benefits of blogging. Some of the best industry blogs answer common questions that their leads and customers have. By answering those common questions, you are positioning yourself as a credible, trustworthy, industry expert. For example, one of the most frustrating things about saving for retirement is understanding how much savings you will need. Well, blogging gives Julie the opportunity to address this common challenge, share insights in deterimining a savings goal, and provide readers with tips that have worked for others. Would this blog post make you trust Julie as your financial advisor? In fact, 81% of consumers trust advice and information from blogs!
- Blogging drives long term results. Once a blog post is published, it will continue to attract web traffic and leads. For example, a blog post may attract 50 new leads this week, 25 the following week, and so on. Just remember to keep marketing your blog posts through social media!
Are you ready to start writing your first blog post? Check out 10 best practices for corporate blogging to get you started on your first post!
