According to Adespresso.com, 61 percent of U.S. consumers have made a purchase based on a blog post they read. Add that to the fact that small businesses with blogs receive 126 percent more leads and you see why it’s impossible to deny the value of blogging.
It doesn’t matter if you are a small business or a fortune 500 company, having a blog is one of the best ways to establish your brand and engage with potential customers. Here are 5 reasons you should consider starting a blog for your business:
1 – It Helps With Brand Reputation
One of the biggest challenges you will face is getting your brand seen online. Before you can ever make a dime you must first get people to know your business exists. A blog gives you the opportunity to easily provide valuable information to your target audience. As a result awareness of your brand will improve.
2 – It Helps You Build Your Email List
Contrary to popular opinion, email marketing is not dead. As a matter of fact, it is still one of the most effective ways to market your products and services.
According to the DMA National Email Client Report, for every $1 you put into email marketing you can expect a return on invest of $38. Even better is the fact that two thirds of consumers have made a purchase after reading an email. That alone should show you that email marketing is still alive and well.
The problem is you can’t incorporate email marketing without a list. And building a list is not easy. While offering special discounts for those who sign up can help you get the ball rolling, if you want to build a list of potential customers who don’t mind paying full price for your products and services, the best way to attract them is through valuable content.
A blog is a great way to constantly share valuable content. Every time you make a new post you can email it to your subscribers. This is a great way to build trust with your list. The more value you provide the more they will trust you. And the more they trust you the more likely they are to invest in your products and services.
3 – It Allows You To Easily Publish Ongoing Content
If you have ever considered doing content marketing then you will first need to set up a blog. The most important part of content marketing is being able to publish high quality content on an ongoing basis. A blog will help you do that.
Please note when we refer to content we are not just speaking of written content. Your content marketing strategy should also include other forms of content such as videos, podcasts and infographics.
Before you start posting content on your blog take some time to come up with a content marketing strategy. Having an effective content strategy will not only help you drive more website traffic, but it will also help you generate targeted leads.
When coming up with an effective content marketing strategy the first and most important thing you should do is determine who your target audience is. This will be the toughest part but it is the key to getting the most out of every piece of content you create.
The best way to narrow down your target audience is to study what your competitors are doing. Who are they targeting and on what channels are they targeting them? Knowing this information will make it easier for you to get your content in front of the right people.
Having a blog makes it easy for your target audience to keep up with any new updates that are happening with your company. By having all of your content in one place you can easily promote other pieces of content that visitors might find valuable.
While blogging is only one part of an effective content marketing strategy, for most businesses it is the most important part. Don’t neglect it!
4 – It Helps With Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
One of the main reasons blogging has become so popular is because businesses are finally starting to understand the huge impact it can have on search engine optimization. The team at Google has made it very clear that high quality content is one of the most important factors when determining search rankings.
Blogging also helps with link building and time spent on site, two other important factors that also play a role in how your blog ranks in the search engines.
One of the best ways to improve search engine optimization with your blog is to focus on one or two long tail keywords. Instead of stuffing your posts with as many keywords as you can, which can hurt your rankings in the long run, you should focus on a few long tail keywords your potential visitors would be searching for.
For example, if you are a florist you can optimize your posts for keywords such as “best flowers for weddings” or “best flowers for graduation”.
The great thing about optimizing for long tail keywords is the traffic you get will be more qualified. When qualified visitors come to your website they are more likely to convert into a subscriber or customer.
For each blog post you write focus on one or two long tail keywords. This way your post will be focused on solving one particular problem.
5 – It Gives You The Opportunity To Engage With Your Visitors
Studies show that it takes up to 11 interactions for a visitor to become a paying customer. And the more interactions you have with your visitors the more they will spend on your products and services.
A blog gives you a great way to engage with your visitors. By sharing useful information they are more likely to visit your blog on a regular basis. They are also more likely to share your posts, leave comments and become an email subscriber.
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