We get it; writing is hard. Coming up with ideas for blog posts and then actually sitting down at a computer to write them is, for many people, the marketing equivalent of a root canal.
But it’s worth it.
So worth it.
Take Jenn Herman, for example. She started her blog, Jenn’s Trends, in 2013. It was basically a hobby. When I spoke to her ahead of her planned visit to Perth in 2019 for the State of Social conference, Jenn told me: “There was no strategy; there was no content schedule; there was no end goal. I just started cranking out blog posts whenever it felt right to do so.”
Now thousands of people engage with Jenn’s content every day and she travels the world speaking at conferences. That’s an amazing result for her. She’s gone from zero (online presence) to hero (of the social media speaking circuit), and none of it would have happened if she hadn’t embraced blogging.
Blogging worked for Jenn and it can work for your business, too. If you’re wavering (and I get you might still be reluctant to sit at a keyboard trying to crank out 400 words about your award-winning widgets), here are seven compelling reasons why you should be blogging for your business.
This is perhaps the most simple reason your business should be blogging. Blogs can help potential customers choose you over your competitors.
Blogs inform your customers and potential customers about what you do, who you are, and what you stand for. Your blog is kind of like your portfolio. It’s your channel – a channel you own. It’s a place where you can tell your story, provide case studies, and demonstrate your skills.
The secret sauce:
The trick here is to know whom your audience is and what they want to know and then create blog posts that provide the answer. Be the font of all knowledge. Be the obvious place to come for answers. Be so helpful they can’t wait to do business with you.
READ MORE: 7 blog post ideas to kill your writer’s block
A blog is a fantastic platform for proving your expertise. By sharing your knowledge and experience with your audience (your customers and potential customers), you’re demonstrating why you’re the single best person for them to do business with.
That’s what Jenn achieved with her blog. She started blogging about Instagram, providing all sorts of tips and advice, and soon became the number one Instagram-related blogger on the internet. Since then, she’s been traveling the world talking about Instagram and social media.
Blogging can also lead to traditional media (newspapers, radio, television and magazines) coming to you as an expert. That’s great exposure for your brand.
One of Typeset’s clients in Perth, Western Australia, is in the recruitment industry. They’ve been publishing blogs consistently for about four years now, for several different audiences (jobseekers, recruiters and business leaders). These blog posts are sometimes shared with journalists and that has often led to coverage in major newspapers and “trade” publications – which gets their brand name right under the noses of their ideal clients. (Edit: in fact I got an email from them just this morning with links to two news articles they appeared in today.)
The secret sauce:
Quality. It’s all about providing high-quality information.
It can be tempting to hold back: “Why should I give away all my secrets? What if my competitors are reading my blog?” But think about your audience instead. Would you do business with someone who held back on important information? Or would you give your business to the person who demonstrated they really know what they’re talking about?
Something special happens when you share your expertise with your audience.
As long as you focus on the information they want or need, rather than focusing on your desire to sell them something, sharing your expertise also builds trust.
Trust is a magical word in marketing and in business. Once your audience trusts you, you can achieve anything. If they trust you, they are more likely to buy from you, donate or subscribe. If they trust you, they may share their contact information with you, and then you can contact them again and again – providing more content, converting them into customers, and building that relationship.
The secret sauce:
But the secret ingredient really is that you need to make your blog all about the audience’s needs, not your own. You want subscribers who look forward to your content and customers who become advocates for your brand.
This is a big one.
Google is constantly crawling the internet, cataloguing websites like a supercharged librarian. When someone punches their search terms into Google, Google tries to find the most relevant and most authoritative pages on the entire internet.
Your goal, as a business, is to turn up in position one on the first page of the results whenever someone is searching for a question you could solve. Rank there and there’s a good chance someone will visit your website. Get them on your website and there’s a chance you will turn them into a customer.
RELATED: How to improve your blog’s Google ranking
If your website is just a homepage, an “about us”, a few product profiles and a
contact page, Google may well NOT tell that potential customer about you even if your business could provide the ideal solution.
By blogging you’re increasing the amount of relevant content you have on your website and increasing the chances Google will realise you’re the best place to send that potential customer.
The secret sauce:
Be consistent. Google wants to see that you’re updating your blog regularly. Think about how often you have the time (or funds) to write and publish a blog post and commit to it. Once a week on a Tuesday, twice a month, every day – whatever it is, it’s important to be consistent.
When you create content for your blog, you’re not just creating a blog post. You’re creating an opportunity to engage with new and existing customers.
Don’t just sit back and wait for Google to find you; reach out and tell the world about your great new piece of content. Get noticed.
The secret sauce:
Speaking of links, that’s another thing blogging is great for.
Remember I mentioned Google ranking your website based on relevance and authority? Well, one of the main ways you can demonstrate authority is by having other websites (especially sites with high authority) linking to your site.
READ MORE: 10 ways to become a better writer
To get links, you need excellent content that other sites are happy to link to. You need to be creating high-quality, well-structured, well-written, well-argued pieces that other websites believe will provide their audiences with important extra information.
Other businesses, the media, bloggers, influencers, and so on are not going to link to your product page. But they might well link to a blog post.
The secret sauce:
Try reaching out to websites that have published relevant blog posts or articles and see if they will add a link to your site. Do your suppliers, partners and allies have blogs? Could you work on some relevant content together and include links?
Whatever you do, do not buy links. Google is on to you. That way ruin lies.
Are your competitors already blogging? If so, they’re taking advantage of all the benefits listed above. They’re the ones getting the Google traffic and finding new subscribers, building relationships with them, and converting them into customers.
Blogging expands your brand presence. It helps you get found and be seen. It builds your audience and creates engagement with your customers, encouraging them to become brand advocates.
A great blog post is a very shareable piece of content. If you manage to inform or entertain, with relevant content, there’s a chance your audience will share the post with their own audiences (friends, family, colleagues, social media followers), which introduces your brand to new people.
The secret sauce:
If you do not have the confidence to create relevant, high-quality, engaging blog posts on a consistent basis, outsource it!
Blogging is an incredible opportunity to expand your brand presence, convert new customers and generate an increase in revenue. Don’t go about it half-heartedly. Invest in it, do it properly, and you will experience the benefits. Do it badly and you risk not only missing out on the positives but doing brand damage as well.
If you’re sold on the benefits of blogging but still find writing too hard or too time-consuming, give us a call. The Typeset team has years of experience creating content that informs, entertains and converts. We’re based in Australia and the UK, but we create content for clients all over the world.
Know what you need?
Get in touch for an obligation-free chat!
Site by StudioJS