Small Business

How to Use a Blog to Boost Your Business

Nowadays, a business website is considered incomplete if it doesn’t have a blog. Blogging started out as a mere hobby, an online journal where individuals would share their thoughts, feelings, experiences and opinions. However, businesses have found that blogging is also a valuable resource for lead generation, customer service, boosting search engine rankings, and brand marketing and promotion.

Today we give you a number of ways starting your own business blog could give your business a much needed boost in the right direction.

1. Get More Online Exposure

Businesses devote entire departments to marketing, where the only goal is to constantly think of the next big promotion, event, or advertisement that can lure customers in. Nowadays, instead of investing money in other online marketing tactics, more companies are opting for the creating a company blog.

According to a recent study, company websites with blogs get 55% more traffic, with 37% of marketers saying that blogging is the most important type of content marketing. A company blog, as long as it is carefully maintained, can be an infinite source of leads for the company. Engaging content will bring in interested viewers, who will then share your blog posts to other people who might need them. Free advertising at its best!

2. Cement Your Reputation as an Industry Professional

Customers are more likely to give you their hard-earned money if they can see that you, as a company, know what you’re talking about. Blogs are a great way to disseminate important information that your target audience might find useful. For example, if your company is a provider of loans, having a few articles on how to save money, raise one’s credit score and ensure loan application success gives off the impression that your company is knowledgeable in all matters concerning your field.

3. Promote More Customer Interaction

Before, customers could only reach a company through phone, or email. Customers felt that businesses were distant and uncaring of their needs. Blogging is a great way to close the gap between consumers and businesses. At the end of every blog post, consumers can share their thoughts about the post and the company as a whole through the comments section.

Businesses can place someone in charge of answering these comments to encourage interaction. This makes businesses seem more “human” in the eyes of a consumer, which helps convert leads. Existing customers are more loyal to companies who will take note of their suggestions and make changes in the company accordingly.

4. Boost Search Engine Rankings

Blogs make business websites appealing not only to visitors, but to search engines as well. Imagine, each blog you write is a separate page that can be indexed, giving you more chances of being found on search engines. Around 5-7 billion searches are made by people each day. Now imagine if even a small fraction of these people find their way to your website. Let’s say your company sells dietary products online and you have several blog articles on dieting. So the next time someone searches for “common diet myths” for example, if you have a blog post on diet myths, your blog post has a chance of showing up on the search engine results. The more blog posts you have, the more likely you’ll have something that someone out there is searching for.

Google’s algorithm keeps changing, but some of their basic rules don’t change. Search engines like Google favor pages with longer content (around 1,140-1,285) and value viewer retention more than number of views. So it matters less how many people view a certain page, and more how long they stay engaged with that page. Blog posts with interesting content, especially those with images and videos embedded on them, can sustain the interest of viewers for several minutes.

5. Get Extra Income For Your Company

While the main purpose of company blogs is to attract new customers, interact with old ones, convert viewership to sales and boost brand reputation, there’s nothing wrong with making a little bit of money on the side. There are a variety of ways for you to monetize your company blog, from well-placed ads to affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is basically earning commission for referring another business. For example, if your business provides renovation and repair services, you can apply as an affiliate for manufacturers of construction materials and fixtures. Then, on your company’s blog, you can write a review on these manufacturers, linking to their website in the process. Every time a viewer clicks on the link and makes a purchase, you make a commission from it.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*